3#Awakened by the Vampire Prince (Thorn) (11 page)

Starlight
swept her eyes from Selina to Glendril then back to Selina again. Her hands
were knotted tightly in front of her.

The
old healer kept her eyes on the female and then she finally lifted her
eyebrows. “Off you go then.”

Taking
a deep breath, the little elf seemed to snap out of it and she turned and fled
from the room.

“Right…”
Selina turned back to Glendril, her eyes were squeezed tight shut and her mouth
was set in a thin white line. “You used the lotion last night.”

Glendril’s
eyes shot open, a hint of fear in their depths.

“Was
it one of those bottles over there?” Selina gestured to where the cupboard was
still open.

“You’ve
been going through my things?” Glendril narrowed her eyes, not looking half as
sick as what she had just a few seconds ago.

“We
were trying to find out what was wrong with you,” Selina said in a no nonsense
voice.

Glendril
pursed her lips for a few seconds. “I don’t really remember.” She said without
even looking at the cupboard.

“It
was just a few hours ago,” Xavier growled. The female didn’t flinch, she kept
her eyes on the ceiling and her lips sealed tight.

“One
of my males is going to see Keto, he should be here at any minute. I would
advise you to work with us so that we can get to the bottom of this. Right now,
it looks as if you have something to hide.”

Grimacing,
Glendril shook her head.

“Tell
us which lotion you used. Do you have any idea how this happened?” Selina put
her hands on her hips.

Glendril
shook her head hard. “I don’t know. It was the brown bottle. I prepared the
powders days ago and added the water when…” She licked her lips, moaning when
her tongue touched the swollen and inflamed flesh. “You know.” She mumbled,
trying not to move her mouth too much as she spoke. “Your vampire male came
back to my chamber.” A vee formed between her eyes and she didn’t speak for
about a half a minute. “I used the water in the green bottle over there.”

“This
one?” Selina gestured. “This brown one had the powder and now contains the
lotion and the green one over here is the water that you used when preparing it?”

Glendril
nodded. Her face had turned a deathly pale making her lips look all the more
red. Another attack of choking and heaving overtook her.

Xavier
turned away, his focus on the array of glass containers inside the cupboard.
What the hell was going on? One thing was for sure, he was going to get to the
bottom of this.

The
elven healer shook his head, putting his fingers to his temples. “Both the contents
of the green as well as the brown bottles have tested positive for silver.” He
picked up the green bottle. “Although this looks like our normal unassuming
water, it contains a suspension of silver particles. We will need to conduct
further testing on the lotion to find out exactly what ingredients are in it.
It may very well be that one of the ingredients was responsible for preventing
the silver from acting immediately. There are a number of herbs that do that. It
is the only logical explanation.” He pointed at a third bottle which was also
green but shaped a little differently. “That one contains regular water. It
doesn’t look like it was used.”

“I
will question the female myself,” Keto growled.

“I’m
coming with you.” Xavier fell in next to the male. Although Keto glanced his
way, he didn’t object. The elven prince ate up the walkway with big strides.
The wooden bridge shifted from side to side, creaking from the pressure of their
combined weight.

“I
don’t like this.” The big male’s hands closed into fists at his sides. “I don’t
like it at all.”

“Then
at long last we both agree on something,” Xavier said.

Keto’s
mouth twitched and if it weren’t for the situation, Xavier was sure that he may
have even cracked a bit of a smile. “Indeed,” he said as they arrived at
Glendril’s door. Without waiting for any sort of permission, Keto marched into
the room and Xavier followed.

Selina
was still busy working on the female. She was smearing a white, gel like
ointment on the female’s chest. The medicine already thickly coated her lips
and mouth and thank fuck, a large bandage had been wrapped around her
midsection covering her sufficiently.

Glendril
winced and moaned. The female didn’t seem to notice their presence in the room,
either that or she was just ignoring them.

York
moved in behind them, staying at the door.

“Would
you care to explain why you have silver infused water in your room?” Keto
folded his arms across his chest while glaring down at the female.

She
gasped, squeezing her eyes shut, clearly in pain. After a few moments she
cracked her lids open, her gaze firmly on Keto. “I don’t know what you are
talking about.” She shook her head, though carefully enough not to cause her
wounds to flare up.

“The
water that the lotion was made from contains silver particles. There has to be
an explanation.”

“There
is none that I can think of.” She refused to meet his eyes as she spoke.

“Where
did you get the water in that green bottle from? It must’ve come from
somewhere.” Keto ground out. Tension radiated off the male.

Glendril
swallowed thickly. “I would rather not say.”

“Well
that’s just too bad.” Keto growled, taking a step towards her. “We haven’t had
to suspend a silver cage in many years.”

“You
would throw me in a cage?” Glendril’s eyes filled with tears.

“You
had better speak and had better do it very fast. I’ve just about lost my
patience with you, female.” His neck muscles were corded, his jaw was clenched
tightly.

“It’s
just that…” She mumbled, her eyes darting from side to side. Xavier could scent
her fear, it was bitter in his nostrils.

“Speak,”
Keto snarled. Xavier had never seen the male so enraged. He looked ready to
tear the female limb from limb.

She
shrieked in fear and panic, clasping herself into a ball. Crying out in pain
when the big movements agitated her wounds. “I got the water from Cheri,” she
blurted. “Please don’t hurt me.”

A
deep frown appeared on Keto’s forehead. He made a sound of confusion, even
shook his head. “When? I want details.”

“I
prepare the tea. Set everything out on the tray for Cheri every day to take to
the King. There was some leftover water yesterday after she had been to see
him. I put some into the bottle because I planned on seducing one of the
vampire males and wanted to mix up the lotion. I don’t understand.” Tears were
streaming down her face. “Please, can someone explain to me what’s going on? Am
I in trouble? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Xavier
could feel a shift in the room. It was like everything paused. A coiling
building of energy, which erupted in a loud snarl from Keto. “I will fucking
kill her. If this means what I think it does, I will fucking kill her.” He
growled as he ran from the room.

“Stay
here.” Xavier locked eyes with York as he strode outside. He made sure to stay
closely on Keto’s heels. Absolute, seething rage consumed the big male as he
ran. It impressed him that the male was so quick. Elves didn’t normally have
the speed of vampires, yet Xavier had to work to keep up.

Keto
pulled the door from its hinges, wood crashed against wood and the thick door
splintered as it landed with a crash.

Cheri
didn’t have time to gasp or even to turn her head to see what the noise was
about. Keto had a hand around her throat in an instant. He threw her up against
the wall in a move that had the potential to shatter bones. Xavier took note
that although Keto seemed intent on harming the female, he hadn’t used his full
strength on her.

“Don’t,”
Xavier growled. “We need to question her.”

He
was ready to intervene if Keto decided to take this further. Xavier could
understand the emotions that must be coursing through Keto. Didn’t mean he
would stand by and watch the elven prince kill this female. The thing was,
although Keto could be a dick, he didn’t peg the male for a killer of unarmed
females. Cheri, next to his large frame, was tiny and weak in comparison. The solid
grip around her throat didn’t lessen and Cheri’s eyes were bugging out of her
skull.

“Let
go of her.” He tried to make eye contact with Keto whose gaze was locked on
Cheri’s. “Don’t do this, you’ll regret it. Look at me, Keto.”

By
now, Cheri’s face had started to pale, blue tinged her lips.

Thank
fuck, Keto’s mouth, which up until then had been a thin white line, eased up
slightly.

“Let
go of her. This would be too easy on her. If she was responsible for the things
I think she was. She needs to hang in one of your cages, or rot in the dungeon
below our castle.” He could see that his words were having an effect when Keto
inhaled a deep breath. “Kill her and she gets off easy.”

The
male’s fingers finally eased their hold. When he released her completely, Cheri
fell to the floor on her knees. Both her hands went to the red area around her
throat, she coughed and gagged for half a minute taking in deep, ragged breaths.

“You
have a lot of explaining to do,” Xavier said.

Keto
was working hard to get himself back under control. The irises of his eyes were
blood red and his chest heaved.

Just
then Xavier’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He withdrew the device and answered
with a curt, “Speak.”

“The
elven female, Glendril, is trying to get up,” York growled. “She’s looking really
agitated but it could be because she’s still so out of it.”

“She
doesn’t move. She doesn’t touch anything. I don’t care if you have to tie her
to the bed.” Xavier ended the call, returning the phone to his pocket.

By
now, Keto looked more himself. His red eye situation was back under control. “I
know you were trying to poison my father. The only question I have for you is
why?”

Cheri’s
eyes widened with shock. Either this female was a damned good actress or this
was serious news to her.

“Don’t
play all innocent with me,” Keto growled. “I know all about that tea you’ve
been feeding him every day. What?… Did you get antsy yesterday and decide to
give him a double dose?”

“I
have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her hands were still firmly around her
throat in a protective manner. Her legs curled up underneath her.

“There
was a bit of an incident today. Glendril and one of my males had a run-in with
silver infused water. The results are not very pretty. Glendril claims that she
got the water from you. It was leftover after you made tea for King Katar.
Since he took a turn for the worse yesterday, this is not looking very good for
you,” Xavier explained.

She
should really take up acting, she would be up for an Oscar in no time. Her
mouth fell open, her already white skin paled further. “I have no idea about
any silver infused water. Yes, I bring the king his tea every afternoon.
Something I assure you that we both look forward to. I would never try and harm
him.
Never.
” She repeated the last more harshly, her eyes narrowing.

“And
what?” Keto chuckled humorlessly. “I’m just supposed to believe everything
you’re saying because you’re such an honest person, Cheri? You wouldn’t lie
about anything would you?” Sarcasm dripped from every word.

Something
was up between these two that had nothing to do with the silver infused water,
that was clear.

She
swallowed hard, her face turned a lighter shade of siren red. Cheri clambered
to her feet, her eyes firmly on Keto. “I’ll admit, it was me that day in the
forest with Zafar.” Her blush deepened. “I’ve rutted with him before then…” She
made a sound of exasperation. “I rutted him just a few days ago.”

Keto
kept his eyes on her, it was as if his expression had been carved out of stone.

“And
yes, I did offer my body to the vampire prince.” She glanced Xavier’s way
before looking back at Keto. Cheri lifted her chin and even though Keto was
much taller, she still seemed to look down her nose at him. “I made up all of
those things about Esral.” Cheri laughed sounding like every bit the deranged
bitch she was. “She’s such a prude, such a goody-goody. I can’t believe you
ever bought that about her. I doubt she’ll even be able to rut that vampire
when the time comes. It wouldn’t surprise me if her stem was prematurely shut.”
She made a disgusted noise. “Born with a crown on her head and as boring as
they come.”

Xavier
growled. “Don’t you dare speak that way about the princess. She has more
dignity and grace in her little finger than what you will ever have.”

Keto
stepped forward, but Cheri lifted her hand. “Relax, I’m done putting down your
little sister. I can see it’s got you both quite rattled. What I’m trying to
get at is that yes I might lie and I might be a bit underhanded, but I’m
certainly not a cold-blooded killer. Actually, I quite like the king.”

“Bull-fucking-shit,”
Keto snarled. “You don’t like anyone but yourself. You couldn’t wait to become queen.
To put that damned crown on your head. That title means everything to you. You
never loved me. It was all about becoming the queen.” His eyes narrowed on her.

Cheri
laughed so hard that she became a little unsteady on her feet. When she finally
got it all out of her system, she had to use a hand to wipe away the tears that
had formed in her eyes. “I never loved you? Hell, it’s not like you ever loved
me back either. I was just a convenience, something to hang on your arm, warm
your bed at night. You never loved
me
, it’s why you’ve been dragging
your feet with the blossoming ceremony.” She pointed her finger at him. “If you
wanted me, you would’ve taken me.”

“Something
in my gut was holding me back. Now I know why. You tried to murder the king,
Cheri. My father.” He choked out the last word but quickly gained his
composure. “I’m going to see to it that you rot in hell.”

Her
eyes clouded and her lip wobbled. “I had nothing to do with it. Listen to me,
please.”

“I’ve
listened to enough of your lies. It’s enough already.”

“You
say that Glendril had the silver infused water and that she’s pointing fingers
at me? I’m telling you now, Keto, I didn’t do it. She must be involved
somehow.” Cheri was starting to sound desperate. Her eyes held that panicked
look.

“Why
would she do that to herself? I don’t buy it, Cheri. She’s in a bad way and
could’ve even died. I don’t buy it.” Keto pulled a cell phone from what seemed
to be a hidden compartment in his robe.

His
own pocket began to vibrate. “York,” he answered.

“The
female tried to give me the slip. Something’s not right with her. I did what
you said and tied her to the bed. She’s a little fucking hell-cat,” York
growled. “I’ve got the claw marks to prove it.”

“Sit
tight. Don’t let her out of your sight,” he said.

“I
won’t.”

Xavier
pushed the end button and relayed the message to Keto.

“She’s
trying to get away because she knows she’s guilty. Search my belongings, search
this room, search everywhere and anywhere you want. I’ll give you samples. I’ll
do anything to prove my innocence. I didn’t do this.” Her eyes were wide and
pleading.

Maybe
she wasn’t just a good actress? Her initial shock and general reactions seemed
genuine. Sure, she was a colossal bitch, but he didn’t peg her for a killer.

“Call
some of your males.” Xavier locked eyes with Keto. “We need to search both
rooms, both females, until we find something. There might be more to this.”