The Vampire Twins' Breeder

The Empty Nest

Chapter 08

Caelum’s POV

The Council meeting was a headache.

Frankly, I thought those old vampires love the sound of their own voices. They spent hours talking about blood quotas, border patrols, and the boring details of tax collection from the human villages.

Every minute I sat in that high-backed stone chair, I was thinking about Aurelia. I was thinking about the way she looked at me with those wide, terrified eyes and the way her skin felt under my hands.

I wanted to be back in the Royal Suite, not listening to my second in command, Silas, drone on about grain shipments.

When Silas finally slammed his staff on the floor to signal the end of the session, I didn't wait. I stood up and walked out of the chamber.

I was in a great mood. I had big plans for the evening. I wanted to see her in the crimson dress I’d picked out. I wanted to see her reaction to the luxury I was giving her.

I reached the Royal Suites and pushed open the double doors. I expected to find her sitting on the edge of the bed or perhaps looking out the window.

"Aurelia?" I called out, my voice echoing off the walls.

But all I heard was silence.

I frowned. Maybe she was in the bath. I walked into the bathroom, but the tub was empty and cold.

The damp towel she must have been wearing earlier was still on the floor. The room felt empty. It didn't have that nervous, sweet scent she carried.

I walked back out into the hall. I felt a small prickle of annoyance. She was a human in a castle full of predators; she shouldn't be wandering around alone.

I saw Mara, the maid I’d assigned to her, coming out of a side room with a pile of linens.

"Mara," I said, stopping her.

She jumped and bowed low, her eyes flitting to mine. "Yes, Prince Caelum?"

"Where is she? Where is the girl?"

Mara’s expression turned sour for a split second before she smoothed it out. "The human? Last I saw her, I left her in the room, My Prince. She was supposed to be changing. I told her to stay put."

"And you didn't check on her after that?" I asked, my voice tightening.

"I had other duties, My Prince," she said, her voice sounding a bit too sharp. "She is just a servant. I didn't think I needed to babysit her every second."

I ignored the attitude.

I figured Aurelia had just gotten hungry and wandered off toward the kitchen or the dining hall. She was probably lost. This castle is a maze, and humans are not the brightest when it comes to directions.

I headed down to the main dining room. The long table was set for dinner, but the room was empty except for one person.

Draven was sitting at the far end, a glass of blood red wine in his hand. He looked as miserable as usual, staring into the liquid like he was trying to drown himself in it.

"Draven," I said as I walked in.

He didn't look up. "What do you want, Caelum?"

"Have you seen her? Aurelia isn't in the bedroom."

Draven took a slow sip of his wine. He leaned back in his chair, looking bored. "I am not looking for the weakling, brother. Why would I care where she is?"

I walked closer, pulling out a chair and sitting opposite him. "Look, Draven. I know you’re acting like a brat about this, but you have to get used to the fact that she is the new breeder. She is here now. She is part of this family. We have to learn to live with her. You can't keep acting like she’s invisible or a disease."

Draven finally looked at me. "I never accepted this, Caelum. You brought a stray into our home and told me I have to share her. I don't care about your plans for the bloodline. She is nothing to me."

"It doesn't matter if you accepted it or not," I snapped. I was losing my patience. Between the Council and now this, I was done being nice. "She is here and she is the mother of the future of this Court. Now, I simply want to know where she is. She’s not in the bedroom. Did she pass by here?"

Draven stood up. He smoothed out his jacket and looked at me with a blank expression that told me absolutely nothing.

"The breeder is not my business, Caelum," he said coldly. "If you can't keep track of your own pets, that is your problem. Don't come crying to me when she gets lost in the dark."

He turned and walked away. I watched him go, feeling a surge of anger. He was being difficult on purpose. He hated that I had made a decision without him, and he was punishing me by being a jerk.

I stood up and started to walk. I went through the entire palace and checked the library, the kitchens, the solarium, and even the music room.

I asked every guard I passed and none of them had seen a small, blonde human wandering around.

"Where the hell could she be?" I muttered to myself.

I went back toward the Royal Suite, thinking maybe she’d returned while I was searching.

But as I crossed the courtyard near the main gate, something caught my eye. The ground was soft from the afternoon rain and there were footprints in the mud.

I knelt down, my heart starting to race. They were small prints. More like human feet.

"Aurelia," I whispered.

The prints led away from the main doors, heading toward the side fence. I followed them, my eyes scanning the ground.

I saw a scrap of white fabric caught on a jagged piece of metal. It was a piece of the bedsheet I’d seen her wrapped in earlier.

I looked through the gate, out toward the dark, looming trees of the forest. The tracks continued into the grass, heading straight into the woods.

"No," I said, the word feeling like a punch to the gut.

I looked at the tracks, then back at the castle. It didn't make sense.

Why would she run? I had given her everything. I had promised her a life of luxury. Why would she run back into the woods where the rogues and the wolves were waiting to kill her?

I felt a cold realization settle over me. She had escaped. She had waited for me to leave, waited for the maid to turn her back, and she had run for her life. She was so afraid of us, so afraid of being a breeder, that she chose the certain death of the forest over a life with me.

The anger I’d felt earlier vanished, replaced by worry. She was out there alone.

"Aurelia, you stupid, brave girl," I whispered. "I don't mind finding you a thousand times over.”