The crazy old woman's words did the trick.
The King and Queen were out of their seats faster than my brain could register that they'd even moved. Jared looked alarmed, his wide eyes fixated on the vampires as he slowly backed away, heading in the direction of Celia.
I just stayed put, pleased that I hadn't been the one to break the news to everyone. Then again, Gertrude's confirmation solidified the fact that another war may be about the break out, a much more violent one.
''From which direction, Gertrude?'' The Queen asked calmly, although her tense stance contrasted strongly with her tone.
''They're coming from the North!'' Gertrude still sounded panicked, her hair in such a mess that she really did look like a witch.
Her words meant nothing to me since I definitely wasn't good with directions at the best of times. On the other hand, the others seemed to launch into fight mode, the Queen whispering in her husband's ear, her eyes glowing a deadly shade of red.
Aiden had leapt up from his seat, his eyes locked on his parents as he undoubtedly could hear what was being said. That meant that only the humans couldn't hear, a smart move on their part considering the plans the slaves had in place.
I sent a worried glance in Jared's direction, keeping up the pretence that I didn't want the plan to fail, although in some ways my anxiety was well and truly real. I couldn't believe that this is what it had all come to.
''Then we must go and stop them. We can't let this escalate any further!'' The Queen was losing control, that was quite obvious. Her anger was rolling off of her in waves, fangs fully lengthened so that they dug terrifyingly into her bottom lip.
I could feel my breaths come quicker at the sight. The Queen's fury made Aiden's look minuscule in comparison, it was petrifying.
Much to my relief, she disappeared using her vampire speed. I wondered whether she had gone to fight them alone, or whether she was going to play this strategically. From what we had seen of the rebels, the latter would probably be the best idea, although I wasn't going to suggest that to a raging vampire.
Aiden's gaze then turned to me, causing me to completely lose my train of thought.
Not good.
''Don't even think about it, Violet.'' His dark voice captured my attention, my eyes dropping involuntarily to his lips.
''Think about what?'' I asked innocently, noticing that we were alone in the dining room. I didn't know when the others had left, but I didn't really care honestly.
''There's no way I'm letting you out there to find those rebels. We both know you want to stop any of this from happening.'' He spoke, his eyes watching me warily.
Stopping the rebels definitely hadn't been what I was thinking about.
But it should have been.
Scolding myself for being distracted, I focused on the conversation and problem at hand, ''Aiden, my father is the leader, there must be some way I can stop him from attacking. You and me both know that the rebels will fail again, and I won't be able to live with myself without knowing if I can stop all of that death from happening.'' I tried to convey how much I meant those words, no matter what my father had done, I couldn't allow more to die.
As it was, the destruction we had left in our wake after our escape from the camp had haunted me at night. How would I feel if my father died and I didn't do anything to stop it?
I moved to walk past him, out towards the foyer and the front doors where the others must have gone, but he stepped into my path, ''Violet, you won't be able to influence anyone, you'll die.'' His voice was low, void of the anger that had become so familiar when it came to his moods.
''I have to try.'' My words were sincere, even with the risks involved.
His eyes grew hard a second later, his hand gripping my arm tight enough for it to be uncomfortable. A flutter of emotion shot through me, both anger and excitement coursing through my veins at his fierce actions.
''I can't let you.'' Slowly, his face drained of all emotion, the depths of his blue eyes darkening as the swirling colour of crimson appeared, ''You will not leave this mansion until I come back. You will stay downstairs, in your room and away from the rebels.'' His voice sounded strange, and it was only a moment later that I realised what he was doing.
He was compelling me.
A power beyond my control took hold of my limbs, my thoughts becoming distorted as I struggled to focus on overcoming his influence. The internal battle didn't last long and Aiden noticed it too, his hand dropping back to his side as he watched my movements.
I knew that my eyes were full of rage at his cruelty. I'd never thought that Aiden would compel me, but obviously that had been a stupid assumption.
My body locked up, my mind seemingly becoming disconnected as my limbs moved of their own accord. I turned from Aiden, striding purposefully towards the spiral staircase that led down to the slave quarters. Without being able to do so much as glance back, I descended against my will.
It was humiliating, the feeling of becoming the puppet as somebody else tugged on my strings and controlled me. That somebody just so happened to be Aiden.
When I pushed through the door at the bottom, the familiar surroundings not giving me an ounce of comfort, I was faced with the many staring faces of the slaves. Some looked panicked, whilst others seemed focused as they all quickly averted their eyes from me and began speaking amongst themselves in a mass of hysterical voices.
I spotted Rose off to the side of the group, taking in the scene as worry lines appeared above her eyebrows. It still seemed that I couldn't approach her, the effect of the compulsion still active as I weaved through the bodies and entered the bedroom. Only when I plopped down on my bed did I feel that I had regained any sort of control.
''Violet?'' Rose called, heading towards me through the door as I scowled in her direction, ''What's wrong?''
''That douche compelled me.'' I let out a frustrated sigh, running my hands through my smooth hair, ''Now I can't leave.''
''Aiden? Aiden compelled you? Why?'' She perched on my bed, folding her legs beneath her as she stared at me with concern.
I narrowed my eyes, ''I told him that I was going to stop my dad and he for some reason didn't like that idea.'' I crossed my arms childishly, knowing that I probably looked like a young child throwing a tantrum. But it was for good reason.
''This isn't good. The others are planning an escape tonight and if you can't leave, then you can't come with us.'' She jumped up and began pacing before me, a movement that made me even more annoyed.
''I know.'' My shoulders slumped, if she'd been expecting me to not know about their escape, then she didn't waste time on being surprised that I did.
''So you can't leave here at all?'' Rose stopped pacing and stood at the foot of my bed, inspecting me.
''No-'' That's when an idea hit me, the memory of the vial that Jared had given me drifting to the surface. The vial that supposedly contained the key to breaking the compulsion, ''Wait! The potion!'' I practically shouted, frantically searching around in my bra for the vial and praying that it hadn't dislodged itself.
With a girl's safest storage place being her bra, it wasn't a surprise when I pulled the vial out, flooding relief through me. Thankful that the compulsion hadn't prevented me from using the potion, I chugged the liquid hurriedly.
A burning sensation travelled from my throat all the way to my stomach, a feeling that instantly made me want to vomit, but I managed to keep it down.
The fog lifting from my mind was a noticeable sign that the potion wasn't a fluke. The compulsion must have been broken.
Rose was watching me carefully, one eyebrow raised in question as I couldn't hold back my grin, ''Are you going to tell me what the heck you just did?''
I laughed, the kind of genuine laughter that I hadn't allowed myself in weeks, ''Jared gave me it, the compulsion is gone, I can feel it is!'' I jumped up, stumbling slightly due to my clumsy movements, ''Now, we need to stop this war.''
The words sounded ridiculous and extremely cliché, but it had to be said.
Without waiting for her response, I searched around in my bedside table, my fingers wrapping around the delicate clip that I'd worn the first day we'd come here. It seemed fitting to wear it on what could be my last. A past memory of my mother.
We then hurried into the living room where the others were still gathered but a muted silence had fallen. I noticed that Jared was stood in the centre of the circle of people, and at his side was Silvia, looking as smug as ever.
''All of you know by now that the rebels are making their move tonight,'' Jared paused, his eyes flitting across the crowd, ''But, now we have lost the element of surprise, it's going to be much harder for us to sneak out.''
This produced murmurs amongst the other slaves, which were quickly silenced as Silvia began speaking, ''We can't let that stop us, the rebels have more technology than the vampires could ever predict, it gives us the advantage.'' There were a few nods in the crowd, ''We will still rendezvous at the meeting point as planned.''
Silvia's smirking face made it clear to me then that this had been her plan all along. The reason she had accepted to come back with us was not for her sister, rather it was to recruit more humans to the rebel's ranks.
''And how do you plan on 'sneaking' this many of us out?'' I interrupted the chatter that had begun to start up again. Curious gazes turned to me, but I made a conscious effort to stand my ground.
''Oh, so the vampire lover wants to come with us now, does she?'' Silvia taunted, causing a bubble of nerves to erupt in my stomach, ''You help the vampires to escape and then think that we'll believe you will help us?''
''What are you talking about?'' Jared spoke up, his eyebrows furrowed as he surveyed the both of us. I kept my expression blank, not rising to Silvia's challenge in an attempt to play off her accusations.
''She thinks that I am on the vampire's side purely because I'm Aiden's slave.'' I tried to control the situation, though it didn't feel right to be lying, it was definitely necessary.
Silvia scoffed, ''Don't be ridiculous, I know you helped those wretched creatures destroy the rebel basecamp. I'm not dumb you know.''
''Have you ever considered that I may be under the influence of compulsion?'' I grasped at the last idea I could find, desperate now to get myself out of the spotlight. With steady hands, I presented them with the empty vial held in my palm, ''It's broken now. There's no way that I would help vampires willingly.'' I spat the words, praising myself internally for the fact that my acting skills may have actually improved.
I held my breath.
Jared's face broke out into a massive smile as he approached me, swinging his arm around my shoulders in some sort of embrace, ''I knew there was something different about you.'' He then turned to address the others, Silvia's eyes narrowed into slits as she watched me suspiciously and I tried not to sigh in relief, ''We will meet with the others as we originally planned. Get ready, because we're breaking out of here.''
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A/N Thank you for reading! I'd just like to take this moment to say how amazed I am at how many readers I have gained in the last few days after being featured. I'm over the moon right now and absolutely loving your support! It has actually motivated me enough to be able to finish my story completely and the final chapter will be going up later today!
Thanks again! :)