283 Heartbeats (1/2)

Alex slightly tilted his head. ”Maid,” He echoed and his eyes finally realized that she was indeed wearing a maid's uniform. ”So you… the future king of the vampires actually danced with a human maid and even brought her into your room, eh, Zeke? It seems you finally learned to break the stupid protocols of your family.”

”Don't change the topic, Alex. Listen, from today onwards, this woman will be with you at all times,” Zeke said before his gaze fell on Abi. ”Follow him wherever he goes, if you fail to do that, you will be punished, understand?”

Abi gulped. Seeing the serious warning in Zeke's eyes immediately made her understand that he was not bluffing. This guy would probably really punish her.

”What's the reason for all of this, Zeke? Why do this now? Are you that afraid that I will escape?” Alex asked, finally moving away from Abi and walked towards Zeke. ”And what's with the punishment thing? You really think a human maid can manage to follow me everywhere? She must be a glutton for punishment if she accepted those terms.”

”Well, she could if you let her. But if you want her to be punished, then that's a different story.”

Zeke's response silenced Alex. Even Abi looked at him in surprise.

”Listen. I've been observing you lately. The thing that happened to you a while ago, I know you're thinking about it. I believe someone is trying to manipulate you.”

”Witches, again?”

”Most likely. You should know how powerful these witches are and how good they are in disguising themselves to be one of us. They are willing to do everything in their power to manipulate you, to turn you against your own kind. You know that I will never let that happen.”

”So, you're giving me this maid to watch me?” He pointed to Abi. ”Why? She's just a human! Wouldn't it be better if someone more powerful did the job?”

”This human has the ability to easily identify a witch. Humans have the innate ability to sense danger around them and she will be useful in that respect. She knows the feeling of fear she gets from us vampires so she should be able to tell when someone is pretending to be one of us. I definitely can't watch over you all the time and you always seem to make the human butlers, maids and soldiers that I order to follow you, disappear. That's why I chose this girl instead, since it seems you definitely wouldn't make her disappear.”

”And how are you certain that I won't make her disappear like the others?”

”Because you didn't let me harm her. That's enough for me.”

”Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Especially since this little lamb looks really stubborn.” He smirked, glancing over Abi.

”You go and fix yourself, Alex. I will have some words for your maid first,” Zeke told him before Abi followed him outside the room.

Zeke shut the doors and looked at her.

”He won't hear what we're going to talk about?” she asked, curious why Zeke had to speak with her outside. Well, she thought that vampires could hear someone's voice even when they were far.

”Alex doesn't have the hearing ability. That's one of the abilities he doesn't have because he's not pure blooded. The fangs and the eyes are pretty much all he has in common with pure blooded vampires,” he explained briefly before his eyes focused on her. ”Now, I hope you understand your job.”

”Yes, but, what you said about humans sensing witches. Is that true?”