The Heartless Hybrid Queen

Chapter 5 - Aurora's POV

Everyone is staring at me. The prisoners look at me with unrestrained fear, the vampires observe me with suspicion, but some of them carry a sick kind of thrill in their eyes from witnessing me murder someone in front of them.

We are all frozen in time for about five seconds. Then, three vampires take simultaneous steps in my direction. Before I can think, my arms are wrenched behind my back, and I feel a metallic coolness as my wrists are cuffed.

"He deserved it" a voice comes from behind me. "He assaulted her."

We all turn to face Everett who has left the comfort of his hammock to... come to my defense?

"What?" spits out the vampire still holding my arms behind my back in a vice-like grip, even though I'm cuffed.

"That pile of shit was rubbing all over her and trying to force himself on her. She acted purely in self defense," Everett states firmly. Then he turns to look at the prisoners standing in the immediate vicinity, "Didn't she?" he asks them, and there's an underlying threat in his hard voice.

They cower under his gaze and nod frantically. My heart thunders in my chest. I acted out of rage, not thinking of any consequences. But it seems Everett might actually help me get away with murder.

"I saw it too," Adrian says, walking in front of the vampires still holding me in custody. "I was about to rip him away from her when she..." he trails off but holds my gaze with uncertainty in his eyes.

Another vampire makes his way over to our little standoff. It's the big burly one who was barking orders back in the dungeons. "Release her Quintin. Lux, Ulric, step down." The three vampires surrounding me follow his orders immediately.

Quintin unlocks the cuffs, which fall from my wrists with a satisfying *clink* and the other two – Lux and Ulric – back away still watching me cautiously.

The large vampire, who is obviously in charge, begins barking more orders, "Take the prisoners back to the wagons. Time to get back on the road before we lose any more of them." He shoots me a glare then turns to another vampire, "Silas," he says, "Take care of the body."

The vampire – Silas – picks up the body at my feet without sparring me a glance. There's a gust of hot air, and he's gone.

The vampires begin herding us prisoners back toward the wagons. Everyone avoids my gaze, which is fine by me. I'm still trying to calm my racing heart.

I've been touched too many times by depraved men who think they have a claim over my body. The first one to ever lay his hands on me was also the first one I ever killed.

As I settle into my seat, I realize we are one prisoner short in our wagon. I didn't even take in the man's features – aside from his muddy eyes – before I killed him. And now I realize he had been sitting two seats away from me for the last three nights.

The remaining ten men sitting around me are trembling with fear. Only it's because of me this time, not the vampires.

Does it make me an awful person if I take pleasure in terrifying these pathetic men?

I look to my left, where Adrian and Dimitri are busy preparing to leave. They sit in front of the horses reins and are securing various bags and satchels to the inside of the wagon as the horses begin moving without any needed direction.

As we get further away from the Eternal Flame territory, the air cools, and a refreshing breeze flows through the wagon.

After a few hours on the road, I look at Adrian and Dimitri. They've been mostly silent since the first night. They ignore us except to alert us to an approaching stop to relieve ourselves. They speak to each other sparingly. Mostly just to point out something about the horses or the scenery around us.