Chapter 26Battleground**DraculI felt my heart pounding in my chest, thundering against my ribcage. My breath came in quick gasps as I ran.Something was off, something was very, very off. I knew it from the moment I opened the bedroom door and found Elena gone.She was out there, somewhere in the wildlands of my kingdom. She was out there in a place where dragons roamed freely and did not suffer fools, or humans very well.As far as many of my kind were concerned, humans were food and nothing more. And if one stumbled upon their path, they would not care if she was royalty. In fact, no one knew that she was under my protection.Without my protection, she was vulnerable.She was prey.I felt a shudder move down my spine and I picked up the pace.I couldn't remember the last time that I had run wild through the trees of these forests. I had been ruler for so long that the simplicities of the hunt had long eluded me.I had been ruler for so long that it was easy to lose sight of what
Chapter 27Darkest Night***ElenaEverything was happening so quickly. One moment, I was sure that I was going to die, the next, Dracul was charging in and ready to fight for me.The man who had me in his grasp had let go of me already, letting me fall to the floor.I could have run. I could have fled, but where would I have gone? I had already gotten lost and into this mess, so where could I possibly go that would keep me safe?I felt sick, nausea rolling in waves in my stomach until I was dizzy with the sensations. I hated this.I hated this. I hated this place, this dead, horrible land, and the terrible people who lived here.And then there was Dracul. Dracul who had found me and saved me, Dracul who was taking on five men to defend me.Dracul had told me to stay here, to not run away.So, I hid instead. I moved behind the closest tree and shielded myself from the fight.And what a fight it was. In the dark, it was hard to see exactly what was happening, exactly what was going on.
Chapter 28Empty Spaces*Dracul pov.I felt like I was floating, everything around me was sinking and flowing until I had no concept of time. Nothing had meaning and for the first time in years, I felt weightless.I sighed, feeling the rise and fall of my chest. It didn't hurt. Nothing hurt, nothing ached, and there was no fear holding me back.There was no fear, no ache in my chest that told me that I had all of this responsibility. There was nothing that I had to worry about or keep in mind.The weight of hundreds of years of leadership fell away until there was nothing left. I had forgotten what this felt like. I had forgotten the taste of freedom, the touch of peace.I had forgotten what it felt like to be myself, unencumbered by the layers of leadership and stress that had enrobed me for so long.First, it had been protecting my people from humans, humans who thought that they should fear and destroy us. That had been a long and bloody battle, and it had exhausted all of us.The
Chapter 29Unexpected Saviour***ElenaMy breathing came in quick gasps as I tried my best not to cry. Nothing was going right, everything was wrong.I didn't know how I was supposed to save Dracul. I had gotten him into this mess, and I had no idea how I was supposed to get him out.The chill in the air was getting worse now, and I shivered without my coat. Dracul's skin was starting to cool too, and I felt the pressure of my responsibility land squarely on my shoulders.I needed to get us out. There was no one else, but I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I looked around, but only the fallen dragons lay around us. They didn't seem to be dead, just knocked out, and I knew that I needed to move before they work up. Dracul was out of it right now and he was in no condition to fight.And there was no way I could fight off five dragons. Dracul had been able to do it, but even he had gotten hurt.There was no way I had any chance of surviving something like that. No way. I bit my l
Chapter 30Bitter Words***ElenaI felt Dracul tense up beneath me, but I didn't want to pull away. Not yet. He was alive.I had never been so worried about someone in my life. I had never been so desperate to see them wake up. I had never been so tense,so concerned, felt my heart catch in my chest every time his breathing slowed.I hadn't moved all day, watching over him. Gulliver hadn't seemed confident about his survival, and I couldn't handle the thought of missing a moment if he woke up.But now he was here. He had woken up, and held me close. He didn't seem angry at me, just scared for my safety. But then, he had risked everything to save me.He had risked everything to keep me safe, to protect me, to make sure that I was well. He had fought five guys and survived. He had fought five guys and succeeded in beating them all.He was strong, he was fierce, he was amazing.And he was here. He was alive. I never wanted to pull away.Dracul shifted, and reluctantly, I shifted with him
CHAPTER THIRTY ONERevelations***ElenaDracul didn't move for a moment. For what felt like an age, he just rested, taking deep breaths and regrouping. His breath was short and trembling in his chest.He seemed to have a lot on his mind, a lot on his plate. My heart pounding as I watched him, everything seemingly suspended in mid-air.I took a deep breath and held it. I didn't know if I wanted to hear the answer, but I knew that I had to. I didn't know how to move forward from here, but I knew that the truth was the first step. I had been kept in the dark for long enough."It's complicated," Dracul said, finally. His words broke the silence that was hanging between us, but somehow, he still wasn't saying much, wasn't explaining anything.Part of me wanted to be angry with him, but I was still just relieved that he was alive, relieved that he wasn't dead.I couldn't be angry with him, not really, but I could still feel the pounding disappointment in my heart. I deserved to know more,
Chapter 32Revelations***ElenaDracul didn't move for a moment. For what felt like an age, he just rested, taking deep breaths and regrouping. His breath was short and trembling in his chest.He seemed to have a lot on his mind, a lot on his plate. My heart pounding as I watched him, everything seemingly suspended in mid-air.I took a deep breath and held it. I didn't know if I wanted to hear the answer, but I knew that I had to. I didn't know how to move forward from here, but I knew that the truth was the first step. I had been kept in the dark for long enough."It's complicated," Dracul said, finally. His words broke the silence that was hanging between us, but somehow, he still wasn't saying much, wasn't explaining anything.Part of me wanted to be angry with him, but I was still just relieved that he was alive, relieved that he wasn't dead.I couldn't be angry with him, not really, but I could still feel the pounding disappointment in my heart. I deserved to know more, especial
Chapter 33No Holding Back***DraculElena's question hit me like a sledgehammer. I didn't know what to say or how to react.No one had ever asked me that before. No one had ever cared about what I was feeling before now, not really.As a child, the focus had been on survival, and I had been grown for so long now that I barely even remembered that time. I sighed and tried to rein in my emotions, which stampeded along at a great speed.Elena was something else, she was.Right now, when I should be feeling guilty for what happened between Gulliver and me, I wanted nothing more than to pull Elena into my arms. It was insane. It was absurd.But she did that to me. Even in the depth of the hardest conversation of my life, she was still here, listening. Even in the depth of the most challenging part of history, I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms.She did things to me, things that I had never felt before, things that I didn't truly understand.I turned and she was looking