Hey guys thank you so much for the support. It means a lot. Don't for get to vote. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
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Deva woke up to the sound of Lacey rambling on frantically. By the tone in her voice she was not happy, not happy at all.
“I can’t believe you did that to me yesterday?” Lacey’s voice flared on.
Deva groaned and pulled the pillow over her face. “Why are you yelling?”
“Because you back stabbing prick made my first impression with Darius awful. I see how you’re playing the game now.” Lacey huffed while crossing her arms over her chest.
Deva almost forgot about the little stunt she pulled. “Oh please he knew it was a joke.”
“You tried to ruin everything for me, you sneaky little tramp.”
Deva lazily threw of the covers to get up and glared at Lacey. “I really resent that. He knew it was all my doing. You’re innocent. Don’t worry so much about it.”
Lacey’s flared her brows. “Don’t worry about it. Do you know how long I’ve waited for a guy like this, for an opportunity like this? He is a prince!” She shouted while Deva took a seat at the table and bit out of an apple.
“You’ve waited your whole life to be kidnapped by a vampire prince and taken to a different world in the hopes that one day you may become queen of the underworld?” Deva sarcastically put together, mockingly raising her brow.
Lacey blew out a jagged breathe. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Right,” Deva rolled her eyes to the left. “You know they say you are what you eat so maybe you should lay off the nuts.”
“You’re so funny,” Lacey glared again which didn’t bother Deva at all.
“I like to think so.”
They stayed quiet for a little while but Deva knew the short lived paradise of silence was just waiting to be broken.
“He didn’t even kiss me,” Lacey confessed disappointedly.
“Really?” This even shocked Deva because Darius practically begged her.
“No and trust me I tried. I gave him hints left and right all night but nothing happened.” She pouted.
“That’s really strange. Darius defiantly looks like the type of guy that would try to hit first base on the first date.” What kind of game was he playing, she had to wonder.
The next few days Deva made herself busy by going to the library or stopping by the kitchen to pay a visit to the chef. His name was Antonio and he was an Italian born and raised man. Deva loved visiting him because he always told her stories of his childhood. His thick accent and sweet adoring voice reminded her of her own father. She tried her hardest not to think of her family.
She promised herself she wouldn't cry over it because she was going to find a way to see them eventually. She refused to be stuck in this world without say goodbye to her family. She was determined to get back. Antonio always found a way to cheer her up. He made her meals giving her tips every now and then slowly becoming her father figure in the castle.
She tried to stay away from all the larger rooms that she knew the other girls would be in. The three princes were busy making relationships with the other girls so she rarely saw them. She prayed they would forget about her. It had been two days since she actually spoke to one of them. She heard the other girls rant about their dates with them but in truth it didn't really bother her. Her days were spend either in the hands of a book in the library or the kitchen.
She was sure she had read everything she could about vampire history that the library had. When she grew tired of reading she would go to the gym. None of the other girls used it and she was thankful for that. She would listen to the Ipod Darius gave her and just jog till her legs ached. Then if that didn't distract her enough she would move to the punching bag sometimes picturing one of the brother's faces on the bag.
Every evening the girls were called on to join the brothers for dinner and every evening Deva would find an excuse to leave the table. The brothers would protest but she always insisted it was important and that they had plenty of company to keep them entertained. She could see the disappointment written on their faces but she didn't care. She would hang out with Julia on occasions but she always liked to talk about how cute the brothers were or how hot they looked. Julia stayed away from their names because in truth she still couldn't really tell them apart. Deva let her friend rant about the boys but on the fifth day it was getting to be too much.
"Ok Julia I need you to shut up now." Deva said rubbing her temples.
"You want me to shut up?" Julia said with a frown.
"Yes because for the past five days all I've heard is they did this and they did that and to be honest I don't give a rat's ass what they did or how they looked or what they said."
Julia sighed. "I'm sorry I know you don't like them that much and you really want to get out of here but why don't you look at the bright side of the situation."
"What bright side are you looking at?"
Julia threw her hands in the air. "They are looking for a queen Deva. A queen. One of us gets to become a queen and not just that, you have three hot guys trying to grab your attention."
"Julia I don't think we are looking at the same picture. They are looking for a human to rule a vampire kingdom. VAMPIRE." She exaggerated the last word. "They might be cute but Julia they are seeing 8 other girls. Does that not repulse you in anyway?"
"A little but what can I do about it? I'm not going home any time soon so why not go with it. You never know."
"I don't want to be queen. I'm not who they're looking for anyway." Deva said slowly getting up off the bed.
"Where are you going Dev?" Julia asked anxiously.
"For a walk." She said already half way to the door.
"I'm sorry I upset you." Julia whispered making it barely to Deva's ears.
"I'm not upset at you Juls. I'm sorry I'm being difficult. It's this place and I have a lot on my mind."
Without saying another word Deva left the room leaving her friend behind. It wasn't the place really making her feel this way it was the fact that she was never going to see her family again. The fact that she was forced into this without grasping the meaning of it all. She still didn't understand why they needed a human as a queen. And she still didn't understand why it was her that they took. She didn't belong here. There were so many others who would have been willing. Why did it have to be her?
Lost in her thoughts she forgot to look where she was going. She accidently ran into something rather hard and almost fell back from the impact when she felt muscular arms wrap around her to hold her up. She slowly brought her gaze up and saw the oh so familiar smirk.
"Sweetheart you didn't have to run into me to get my attention. You could have easily approached me and gotten the same reaction."
She tried squirming away but he wouldn't allow it. "Trying to run away again I see. Sorry sweetheart there are no excuses getting you out of this one."
"Running away now why would I want to do that?"
"You tell me?" He asked loosening his grip slightly.
"I prefer my days prince-free." She shrugged.
His smile fell as he stared at her intensely. "Have we offended you? Has something happened?"
"Oh but prince you should know your mare presence offends me."
"Does it? Or is it that we aren't paying you much attention lately?" He asked running his finger through a strand of her hair.
"That's it. Can't you just see the ooze of jealously coming from me?"
"I knew you wanted me from the moment you saw me." His devilish grin was back on his face.
"You? Wait, which brother are you? I can't quiet remember." She asked stepping back and he let her reluctantly. She stroked her chin playfully as she ran her eyes up and down his body silently admiring his Greek statue like physic.
He in return studied her face not sure if she was telling the truth or not. She was a very good liar, holding a bluff even a card player would confuse.
"Very funny sweetheart. You know exactly who I am."
"Of course I do Marcus. How could I forget that face?" She said innocently but her eyes were the vision of mischief.
"Deva you-"
Darius was cut off when a tall blonde started walking and shouting, "Prince, oh prince." Sounding like she was a damsel in distress. She finally reached them and she laced her arm around Darius' own. Deva saw him flinch and his jaw clench. "Oh prince you left me so fast I didn't think I'd catch up to you."
The blonde finally turned her head in front and saw Deva. The blond stared her up and down obviously not liking her sense of sweatpants and t-shirt and gave her a possessive glare that basically told Deva to stay away. Her hold on Darius' arm also tighten which only made Darius more irritated. He roughly pulled out of her grip and said, "I had matters to attend to."
"What matters?" The blonde said trying to look cute but in Deva's opinion made her look like an annoying two year old asking too many questions.
Darius' face hardened and Deva knew he didn't want to answer her so she quickly interrupted. "Yes Marcus what matters?"
He turned to Deva and frowned. "Matters that need attending to."
"Such as?" She continued hoping to get on his nerves.
"Sweetheart I was looking for you." He confessed not looking guilty at all.
"Looking for her. Why? You were with me." The blonde said looking distraught yet angry at the same time.
"Aww Marcus little old me. Well you found me so I guess I'll have to work on finding better places to hide."
He reached forward grabbing her wrist. "Oh no you don't. No more hiding. You're coming with me." Darius said taking a step closer to her.
"But Marcus it was my day with you today," the blonde whined. Even with Darius' blue shirt on the girl still couldn't get his name right. Deva laughed and Darius just looked annoyed at the girl.
"Wow even with the color coding they still get it wrong. You know what that means right?" Deva said looking at Darius playfully. "Plan B, name tags. I will be more than happy to write your name on your forehead. Then they really have no excuse to mess it up unless they can't read." She giggled some more earning her the death stare from the blonde.
"What are you talking about twit?" Scrunching her nose making her look a little like Taylor Swift.
"Wow okay Taylor, if I'm a twit what does that make you a moron?"
She narrowed her eyes and then looked at Darius with a childlike expression. Darius was staring at Deva the whole time. "Marcus make her stop being so ridiculous," the blonde pleaded.
"Yeah Marcus make me stop." Deva said annoyed while trying to walk away but she felt an iron grip on her arm again.
Darius turned to the blonde. "Stacy, I'm Darius and Deva isn't being ridiculous. You were the one who called her a twit. So don't start something you can't finish."
Stacy stared at him wide eyes and dumbstruck. He had never acted like that to her before. "Fine I'm sorry," she mumbled in Deva's direction then turned to Darius. "Now can we please go?"
"No. We're not going out anymore today." Before she could protest he continued. "Go Stacy before you get me mad."
When she was finally gone Deva spoke, "You really shouldn't have done that."
"Yeah, why not?"
"Because you would have gotten more action with her." Deva bluntly said pulling out of his grip and walking down the corridor.
"I doubt that. You are far more interesting." Matching his walking pace with hers.
"If by interesting you mean trying to ignore you then yes I guess you’re right."
"Deva-" He said sternly but was cut off by Marcus' approach.
"Hello love." Marcus said looking at Deva who in returned rolled her eyes.
"Wow two princes at once must be my birthday or something." She replied hoping they would get her irritated hint.
"Well then happy birthday love, you’re coming with me today." He said firmly not caring for her response.
"Yeah since when do you get to tell me what to do?"
He took a sly step closer to her. "Since the day I was crowned prince. You can't refuse a prince."
She laughed, "Yeah watch me." Deva turned on her heel and began to walk away but was stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around her. She was really getting tired of their stupid vampire strength.
"Not so fast baby." She heard a deep voice whisper in her ear which made her slightly shudder.
"Loosh let me go." She struggled to get out of his tight grip.
"I don't think so." He said pulling her back around. She was now facing the three princes who were all wearing a mask of indifference and possession.
"She's already spending the day with me," Darius interrupted.
Marcus shook his head. "Since when?"
"I arranged it before you got here actually." He said harshly getting his point across.
"Darius you know you're busy so I'm taking her off your hands." Lucian included not caring if his brother didn't like the idea. They looked like they were about to get into a heated argument to Deva quickly stepped up.
"Wow I have the privilege to be in the company of three princes." She smiled and the boys finally broke from their own conversation to listen to her. "I guess I'll have breakfast," she said pointing to Darius. "Lunch," she said then pointing to Marcus. "And dinner," landing her finger on Lucian.
The boys seemed to contemplate her proposal and didn't say anything.
Continuing she spoke, "Well I already had my breakfast so I guess that leads me to lunch."
"What," she heard Darius say. "You know that's not fair sweetheart."
"Life's not meant to be fair but don't worry you got the blonde bimbo to keep you company in your time of need."
He stared of her with sudden frustration. Their stare was quickly broke by Marcus who picked her up playfully. "You heard the lady. I'm next. I guess that means she love me more."
"You shouldn't flatter yourself so much Marcus it's not attractive." She responded.
He smirked and began pulling her away from his brothers. They went down the halls in silence. Deva wasn't bothered by it but more relieved.
"Why have you been avoiding us?"
"Maybe cause I'm tired of seeing your face," was the only response she could say. Marcus easily lifted her in his arms.
"That's it," he said walking with inhuman speed. Deva didn't have much time to protest because he stopped seconds later. "If you're going to be mean, I'll be mean right back." He said and that's when she felt herself falling and then hitting water.
She held her breath and released it as she reached the top of the pool. Deva looked around; she had never seen this room before. It was a room with an indoor pool that had full length windows reaching from top to bottom giving them a wonderful view of the outside scenery.
She finally tore her eyes away from the fantastic view and narrowed her eyes on the smirking Marcus. "What the heck? That is not how you treat a lady."
"You, love, are anything but lady like."
"Fine I confess I'm not a lady but did you really think that throwing me into a pool will help your cause?"
"No," he confessed walking to the edge and sitting down while dangling his feet in the warm water.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you’re miserable and hate this place."
She swam closer to him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. "Marcus...I just miss home."
"I know but love, you're not going home any time soon maybe not ever." He spoke truthfully.
She reached his dangling legs and rested her wet hands on his lap. Marcus smiled to himself loving the fact that she felt comfortable enough to be so close to him.
"Marcus," her eyes searched his. "I'm not who you are looking for. I'm not the next queen. Please just let me go. Eliminate me and let me go home."
He raised his hand to her wet cheek, brushing his fingers against her skin. He wanted so badly to take those creasing and pleading lines off her face but he couldn't do it. He couldn't give her what she wanted. "It's not that easy love. It doesn't work that way."
She dropped her face in defeat and he quickly grabbed her by the arms before she swam away from him.
"Deva please don't be sad. Be that girl I first met. I know she's still in there and I know it’s hard for you now but I promise everything will be okay. Everything will turn out the way it needs to be."
She heard his words and somehow believed them. Coming from his mouth she knew that everything would fall into place. She threw on a reassuring smile. "Be the girl you first met you say."
She repeated with an evil glint as she tightened her hold on his arms and yanked him forward. He fell into the water with his expensive clothes. He should have known better than to stand next to water with her around.
Deva was laughing. "You shouldn't have said that."
Marcus shook his head and went after her. They began to splash around pulling and tugging each other in the water. Even though his strength outnumbered her he still let her have a few advantages. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed her company and carefree attitude. Deva had pushed away all her bad and negative thoughts and focused on enjoying herself. There wasn't much she could do in her position so she decided to take Marcus' advice. She didn't want to worry anymore and she didn't want to be mad at everyone just because of it.
After an hour of nonstop horse play they were now relaxing. Deva had her back on the water and was floating aimlessly.
"Marcus?"
"Yes, love."
She reached the edge of the pool and pulled herself up. Sitting on the ledge she stared at Marcus’ still godlike figure in the water. His wet shirt was now clinging to his every muscle giving her a wonderful view.
"What made you choose these nine women?"
He sighed and stood up from the water. He ran his hand through his glistening wet hair that looked even better soaked. "What do you mean?"
"Is there a pattern? Or did you pick them randomly?"
His eyes fixed on her face as he made his way towards her. She watched shamelessly as he stood in front of her there faces level. He dropped his eyes and began to play with her hand.
"There was this prophecy stating that the three princes what were born on the same day will someday have to choose a future queen together.
The prophecy also gave a date to when this plan will take into action. The girls choosen were girls that were born in the same year." He brought his eyes back up. "You are all the same age. We knew which ones to choose because our senses brought us to each one of you. It's like I felt it inside me when I saw you. I was drawn to you."
"That sounds so cliché."
He shook his head at her stubbornness for romanticism and lifted himself out of the pool. "You would think that wouldn't you? While all the other girls would think that's romantic or even love at first sight."
"Oh please. That feeling you had could have been indigestion."
He laughed. "Oh love It’s amazing how much I love the way your mind thinks." He bent down and picked her up in his arms with ease. She didn't think much of it because it was always comfortable with Marcus whatever it was they did together.
"But my mind isn't the only thing you love about me."
Marcus was walking outside the pool room and into the open yard where the calm serene sun was still in the sky. "No, it is not."
"Where are we going?" She wondered.
"On the hammock."
She turned her face and saw a rope hammock hanging from two sturdy looking trees. Marcus was holding her bride style so all he did was sit himself down first and she easily stretched herself across him. They both lay leisurely on the hammock. Deva rested her head on his shoulder and her eyes instantly closed.
The outside air smelled of fresh wet woods but she didn't remember it raining at all since she came to the castle. But the smell was calm and inviting and Deva let herself slip into its warm embrace. She didn't know how long they just laid there tangled in the hammock but soon enough the sun was setting.
A shadow covered her vision and felt she knew who it was.
"Dinner time." She heard Lucian say.
She shook her head in Marcus shoulder refusing to get up. "No, I'm too comfortable. I don't want to get up." She said while wrapping her arms more securely around Marcus' torso.
"Baby you don't have to get up. I'll carry you if you want."
She heard Lucian move a little closer to them and she turned her head away from him. "No."
"Deva don't be like that."
Marcus tightened his arms around her as he spoke to his brother. "If she doesn't want to get up she doesn't have too. Just leave her be. She wants to be with me now."
Lucian let out an annoyed sigh. "Deva baby I promise it will be worth it. I want to take you out."
She could hear the impatience and desperate tone in his voice and she honestly didn't want the boys to break out into any fight. She slowly loosened her grip on Marcus and tried to get up. "Fine," she replied.
Lucian smiled to himself as he reached for her arm helping her get off the swing bed. When her feet finally touched the ground she noticed her clothes had dried but she figured her hair was still a mess. She ran her hand through her dark hair to only feel frizz but she didn't care.
"I'm not changing and I'm not getting ready for where ever we are going."
He took her hand in his and she felt relaxed in his warm touch. "I didn't expect you to."
Before she knew he teleported and they were standing in front of a clay looking building that resembled an old Mexican style home. Lucian was smiling devilishly at her shocked expression then it turned into a scowl. "You could have warned me you were going to zap us somewhere."
"Zap?" He asked while walking through the real ethnic Mexican looking restaurant that was crowded with olive tan skinned people with dark black hair.
"Yeah I said zap," she said matter of factly that only made him laugh. She scanned the room and saw multiple colors of red, green, and purple. The many decorations on the walls helped emphases the whole aspect of the Spanish culture feel. Listening to the small chatter around her it had indeed confirmed her suspicion. They were speaking Spanish.
"Where are we?"
"In Peru," he said leading her to a small empty table towards the back. He pulled out a chair for her and eagerly sat down.
"What if I said I don't like Spanish food?" She challenged him when he sat down in front of her. He didn't alter his features he only moved closer.
"Then I'd ask you what exactly you do like to eat because I would take you in a heartbeat."
She let out a sigh. "Show off. Not everyone can teleport. At least you’re lucky I do like Spanish food."
A small petite girl in a floral dress came to their table and they ordered food. Deva still couldn't believe that Lucian could teleport but the fact that she was the only one to know about it really did make her feel different and in a way special. They indulged in conversation over simple things never really touching up on any serious matters.
He wanted her to feel comfortable like the way she was with Marcus. He couldn't help his jealously when he saw her with his brother so leisurely. She had been so cut off and distant the past five days that he wanted that response she gave Marcus. He wanted to be the one to make her feel relaxed and happy.
"So Loosh have you met any promising ladies over the past few days?" She asked while finishing her last bite of the enchilada she had.
Lucian leaned back in his chair and observed her with his full attention. "It's hard to tell."
"How so? It’s a simple question. Do you like any of them?"
"They're tolerable," he said with a playful smile on his lips.
She shook her head in disappointment. "What, not that satisfying in bed as you thought?"
His smile fell. "I haven't slept with any of them."
His firm answer surprised her. "Somehow that's hard for me to believe."
"Neither one of us has slept with the girls even with their pleading."
"Why not?" She asked curiously. She figured they would have gone through all of the girls by now. The brothers we drop dead gorgeous and with the way the girls were throwing themselves at them Deva just figured they would do the typical guy/male thing and take advantage of the situation.
"We are promised to the future queen so until we find her there is no intimacy in that form during the trails and challenges. Which means no sex unless it is with the queen."
"WOW," she said while her mind was whaling in disbelief. "That must be hard for you."
He laughed and didn't say anything else. He was studying her face and reaction.
"Loosh can I ask you a personal question?" Lucian nodded. "Are you a virgin?" She highly doubted it be she still was completely sure.
He took a long moment to answer. "No, I'm not."
"I didn't think so, living for that long. But I wasn't too sure."
"Are you little Deva?" He asked crossing his arms and placing his elbows on the table.
"Yes I am. I promised myself I wouldn't do anything until I was in love." She confessed.
Lucian smiled admiring her persistence. He silently sighed in relief. The fact that she was never in love and had never given herself to any other man romantically made her all the more alluring.
"Loosh have you ever been in love?"
He didn't respond. He stared at her froze not quite sure if he should tell her his story. He wanted to, he even believed he could because a part of him trusted her but still it always hurt open wounds up from the past.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. My curiosity gets the best of me I guess." Her eyes were innocent and sorrow filled like she was already giving him pity.
"I thought I was once." He eyes went down as he fiddled with his wine glass. "Her name was Cornelia and she was human. She was a wonderful outspoken beauty that knew no bounds. When I met her she was seventeen and her husband died of a terrible fever. But Cornelia didn't really mourn for him. She never truly loved her husband the only joy he ever gave her was her son. Matthew looked exactly like her it was uncanny."
His eyes grew warm at the memory of them.
"My parents didn't approve of it because of the prophecy so I kept it a secret for a while. I grew to love the little things about her. The way she curled her finger in my hair or the way she laughed when I'd try to sound romantic. Everything about her called to me and for a little bit I loved playing the family man. I would look after her and Matthew as if they were mine. But something changed in her when I told her what I really was. She tried to hide her true feelings from me but I knew what she wanted what she was thinking. My immortality was like a tempting forbidden desire for her because she was falling ill. She had cancer."
Without really thinking about it Deva reached over and placed her hand in his. His eyes shot up met her melting brown eyes.
"She wanted so badly to live. But I couldn't do it. In order to change her into a vampire she would have had to drink my blood. It was forbidden to let anyone drink from three royal princes. Our blood is supposed to be saved for the future queen. She tried and tried to seduce me, convince me to turn her because she loved me. And I believe that a part of me loved her too but not enough. Even if I did change her she might not have made it." He paused and started rubbing circles in her palm.
"It’s tricky with humans who have cancer. The cancer has a way of taking over the body and during a transition the cancer can either accept the vampire blood and intensity to make them as strong as a vampire who has lived for hundreds of years or the cancer can reject the blood and kill the human instantly."
"Did she know this?" Deva asked with a sad voice.
"Yes but she wanted to take her chances."
"You didn't love her enough to do it." The need to know was clear in her mind.
Lucian sighed. "No. I loved the idea of her. The idea of a family and being loved. She loved me and I think that is what I wanted the most. I felt loved and after that I craved it."
"So she died of cancer. What happened to her son?"
"I sent Matthew away to live with an aunt of hers. I saw him from time to time but stopped when he turned into a teenager. He lived a long and happy life despite the loss of his parents."
She nodded and registered everything in her head. "A human with cancer has a 50/50 chance to survive a vampire transition."
"Yes. I only know of three other cases were the human survived."
"It sucks to have cancer." She said with a small weak smile.
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