The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Evaluation

Sometime during Alexander's visit, I must have dozed off. There was something about holding onto a cat that made me drowsy. Or I must have been more tired than I realized. It's not like we'd talked during that time. Both of us were silent and enjoyed each other's presence.

My room was dark when I woke. I'd been tucked into bed. Yawning, I searched around my bed for my phone until I found it. The sudden light pierced my eyes. It took me a moment to read what time it was. To my surprise, it was only 2 am.

"Alexander?" I called out.

Something wiggled underneath the covers before a ball of fur crawled out. One second it was a cat, the next, Alexander.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to fall asleep." I yawned. "Honestly, I thought you would have been gone by now."

Alexander pulled me closer. "The King sent some people for me, but I told them I'd stay here tonight."

I sat up. "Your dad let that happen?"

Alexander shrugged. "Well, they haven't come back so, I guess he did."

"You said there were some royal families in town, aren't you supposed to entertain them?"

"I had dinner with them," Alexander retorted. "That should be enough for them."

Shaking my head, I laid back down. He hadn't changed too much.

"So, how does that work exactly? I thought there was only one royal family."

"It's complicated," he answered. "There's like a handful of royal families that can take the throne. See, in the Old World, families took turns ruling. It was like a contest of sorts. The people wanted to see what life would be like under each family's rule."

"So, your family won."

"Yeah. Except the other families were pissed off and their supporters didn't like us. Hence, all those vampires that are against vampires and humans living together." He paused. "You have to understand Rin that, at one point, we did rule over humans. They were like . . . well, cattle. My great-great-grandfather rebelled and freed the humans. Those who helped were the royals families we have now.

"Your people were left alone to prosper. There were too few and many on both sides died. It couldn't continue. My great-great-grandfather was killed;  great-grandpa took over the movement; the contest, so to speak, was put in place, etc. We ruled the vampires."

"The ones your great-great-grandpa defeated were still pissed off though."

"Yeah. They instigated all the problems between humans and vampires. It was between vampires and vampires too."

Alexander suddenly stopped. "Sorry. I don't mean to bore you. You must be exhausted."

I snuggled into him. "It's fine," I told him. "I won't find any of this in any history books. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me stuff like this."

Alexander rested his cheek upon my head. "Well, you opened up to me about Micah and, put up with my absence. I also haven't been the greatest boyfriend."

"You can improve," I told him. "So, with all these royal families, does that mean the King will step down eventually?"

"Well, maybe. See, the families were okay with the King taking the throne, but they aren't so happy to hear that I want to sit on the throne."

I turned towards him. "They're here to evaluate you?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"What do you mean, you guess? It's a yes or no question." It dawned on me too late. "You should be with them. They can't think you're slacking off or something. You've wanted the throne forever, I don't want to be the one who makes you lose it."

Alexander sat and took my hands. I couldn't understand why he was so calm.

"Rin, it's fine," he said. "Being here with you isn't going to change anything. I want to be here. If you don't want me . . ."

He trailed off and my heart squeezed. I felt so guilty. Wasn't I being a bad girlfriend?

"I can go if you want me to," he continued. Even when he said that Alexander didn't let go of my hands.

"I - I don't know," I told him. "I don't want you to leave, but I know you should."

"Which one is stronger?"

I bit my lip. What could I say? I should have paid attention to the news. I should have known when the families arrived. If I had, I'd know something wasn't right.

Alexander cupped my face and pressed his lips against mine. This one wasn't as quick as the other one. I melted against him.

"I guess we have an answer," he mumbled.

I turned away. Wordlessly, he pulled me into his chest.

"It'll be okay, Rin," he said. "I deserve a break once in a while. Besides, if the King had an issue, he would drag me out of here."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," I whispered.

"If you want to not feel guilty, make sure nothing bad happens at school. Talk with vampires and get to know them. Make friends."

"I don't know about controlling what happens at school. It's not like I have much influence there. People are going to do what they want."

"Just try, okay?"

"No promises. I mean, you're there right? Why can't you do that?"

"Because everyone will think that I only want this to work because my family proposed it."

I sighed. "As I said, no promises, but I'll try."

Alexander planted a kiss on my head. "That is all I ask."