The Vampire Prince graduates High School (Book 3)

The Truth Revealed

When I woke again, Alexander laid by my side. The room had dimmed and there was an extra blanket on me. At least the lights wouldn't bother me as much.

"Good morning," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"'M okay," I whispered. "What time is it?"

"Just past 3 am," he replied. "Did you get enough rest?"

I rubbed my eyes. It couldn't be more than a handful of hours since I'd been awake. "I'm still tired."

"You can sleep more if you want."

"Then I won't get to see you."

He kissed my head. "That's sweet of you. I don't deserve you. I put you here."

Feeling cold, I snuggled into him. "How do you figure that?"

"Rin, you got abducted at our house. You were supposed to be safe."

I looked up at him. His eyes were red. He might be wearing the same clothes I had last seen him in. 

"You didn't know," I told him. "You couldn't have known."

He pressed his palms against his eyes. "I should have protected you."

I took a deep breath. This was my chance to figure out what happened. If he didn't tell me, then I was out of luck.

"What happened after I was kidnapped?"

Alexander looked at me. "Your parents haven't told you?"

I shook my head. "They've been keeping it a secret from me." I leaned against him, winded. "Tell me. I want to know."

He snuggled closer to me. He didn't speak for a long time.

"We didn't know you'd been kidnapped until that night. Your parents called to see if you were staying. It's when Noah looked into the car and realized it hadn't returned. He was the one who initiated the search."

He sighed. "I should have known you were taken. You always sent a message when you get home. But you hadn't."

"You were busy."

"It's not an excuse."

"Then what happened?"

"We weren't contacted right away," he continued.

"I wasn't cooperating," I said. "Then I got shot with that weird serum."

His grip tightened. "Yeah. Noah tried to track your location but he failed. I knew that wasn't you."
"What about Camellia? What happened to her?"

"She was ready to be traded. So, we agreed to a trade. We laid a trap for them but they never showed up."

"And Antoine?"

Alexander shook his head. "He has a solid alibi and other witnesses."

I sighed. "My word against his and I'm in the hospital. I don't look like a reliable source."

"Right," he said. "We can't touch him. But I guarantee he'll pay for what he did."

I teared up. It was nice of him to say that but we both knew the truth. "What happened at the trade spot?" I asked hoarsely.

Alexander growled. "Like I said, they never showed. We waited and tried to contact them but no one showed up. It's like they somehow knew it was a trap."

"So, Camellia is safe?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "She left without saying a word. We don't know where she is."

"I hope she's safe."

"I'm sure she knows how to take care of herself."

I felt myself dozing off and I tried to sit up. 

"Whoa," Alexander said, "not so fast. Doctor said you need to rest."

"I don't want to sleep. I need answers." My voice broke. "I need to know what happened."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be at your side."

"My parents forbade you for visiting me," I sobbed. "You weren't here."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wanted to follow their wishes. I don't blame them for saying it's my fault because it is."

"You've snuck around before. Why didn't you do it now?"

His chin trembled. "I didn't think I deserved to be at your side."

I looked away. "Antoine took me to another location," I forced out. "It was some sort of lab. New. I think it belonged to the Extremists."

"Are you sure?" he asked. 

"Why? You didn't see them? You rescued me, right?"

"No, Rin. I didn't. We didn't. Someone dropped you off at the hospital and the staff alerted us and the authorities."

I leaned back, feeling faint. So, that meant he might not know his mother was involved. I hadn't told anyone about her yet.

"Alexander," I whispered. "There's something I have to tell you."

He listened carefully as I told him about what happened in the lab. I had to pause multiple times but at the end of it, he didn't say anything. 

Then, he stood up and began pacing around the room. His lips moved but I couldn't hear anything. As I watched him, my eyes began to close. 

I woke to arguing. The lights were back on and I could see the sun from behind the window shades.

"Absolutely not," Dad was saying. "I'm not going to let some vampire doctor poke and prod my daughter."

"Sir," Noah continued. "We can help. The human doctors haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with Rin. Our doctors specialize in blood. If we could only get a few vials."

Groaning, I sat up or tried to but I didn't get anywhere. 

"Hey, honey," Mom whispered. "Let me get that for you."

The bed shifted with a push of a button. 

"What's going on?" I asked.

Mom glanced to the closed door. Even through it, we could hear Dad's voice.

"Alexander came to visit," she said. "Your dad chased him away."

"He kept me company during the night," I told her. "When did he leave?"

"When visiting hours started. Your dad wasn't too happy about it. Then, Noah came to us suggesting we change doctors to help you get better."

"Mom," I said. "We should let them." I cleared my throat. "I think the Extremists did something to me. I don't know what, but if our doctors haven't found anything, we need to be open minded."

Mom kissed my forehead. "I know. I'll tell your Dad. He won't refuse if it's you."

I smiled as she walked out the room. I couldn't help my eyes from tearing up. Maybe I shouldn't have told Alexander about his mom. He already thought he was responsible for my kidnapping. Now that I told him about Lady Hargrave, he was definitely would think he was responsible for everything that had happened to me.