Out of everyone that had gathered there, Leo's presence bothered me to the point I felt like I had to be wary of him.
I wish you had left with Rem, or does this mean she’s still around?
He was her second child, and he was still there. It wasn’t unknown for her daughter or son to stay behind with the twins, but the last thing I needed was Rem coming by the hall, too. The necklace should’ve protected me from her, but it wasn’t something I was so willing to test this early.
However, instead of looking at me, Leo was staring at Zoe, who hadn’t even noticed the boys' arrival yet. No, my two sisters were glaring at Alistair with deadly intent, who faced Loki.
"Well, little brother, I saw her waiting here alone and just wanted to say let her know she has a better option than you." Alistair scowled at him, who smirked in return.
However, instead of letting them fight it out, I grabbed onto the floating familiar, Eli, before pulling him out of my way and into my chest. Instinctively, he shifted to a different, smaller size while in my grip.
Surprisingly, I found his scales almost comforting and smooth, as the heat that radiated from his body was also alluring. At that moment, everyone in the room shifted their eyes to me. People didn’t grab shadow demons with their bare hands, even if they were familiars as they tended to be zealous about who touched them and such, but to me, they were tame compared to the ones that came from the soul cairn.
These posed no harm to me, at least in the way I feared. Surprised by my sudden touch, the little snake turned to gaze at me with little to no complaints erupting from his mouth. His slender tongue whipped out of his mouth before retreating inside. Even though he appeared adorable, he wasn’t my target.
Slowly, I gazed up to meet Alistair’s gaze.
"I mean no disrespect when I say this, but I don’t see the better options you’re talking about, your highness. You don’t seem very happy about the prospect of mating with me either." I said bluntly, prompting his eyes to twitch as his lips curled downward.
Another flash of pain came from his eyes when they glossed, taking a step away from me.
"Watch it, doll. I was being nice. I could take you if I wished, but it’s your loss.” He huffed, turning away from me.
I tried hard not to smirk at his remark.
Take me? A mortal... That would be something to see.
"If that’s what you think, you can surely try, but I can’t say there won’t be consequences for you." I smiled, not caring about his threat.
It caused his orbs to give off a blue hue as if something snapped within him like a twig.
He didn’t mean a thing to me. Even if he had the same emotions I struggled with.
"Why, you little… Did you just threaten me?!" Alistair snarled, reaching for me.
Ah… Men and their brittle egos.
I stood there with no fear in my eyes, even though I stood against a royal vampire and their menacing blood control ability. However, this brother, even though anger flashed in his eyes, didn’t appear to have any malice in his actions.
Probably something on the moment's spur to scare me, but you… Something about you doesn’t feel…
However, what happened next surprised me when Oz cast a silent spell, preventing Alistair from reaching me by freezing the hot-blooded prince in place. Loki grabbed his arm at the same time as his grip caused Alistair to wince.
"Enough, brother, I’m the only one allowed to touch my toy. Anymore, and you’ll get me angry." Loki hissed.
“Let me go!” Alistair glowered at his little brother as Oswald released the spell, allowing him to yank away from his grasp.
The frustration reflected in his eyes was obvious. However, all I could do was stand there, surprised that the twins had protected me.
I thought… You wanted me gone, so why…
"Safe for the time being, little lamb." The eldest prince huffed, walking away before locking himself in his room.
I didn’t know what type of day he had, nor would I ask. The source of his pain was nothing for me to be concerned about, yet I cocked my head at the vampire that was left, who watched his brother intently before he closed the door.
"Lamb? Is he supposed to be a lion I’m scared of?" I sighed, unaware I voiced it out.
Loki cackled upon hearing me as he shook his head. "Oi, sweetheart, hold your tongue before you bite more than you can handle."
I gazed at my hand that contained the ring, as it didn’t shock me.
"But I haven’t been punished yet. So that means I haven’t been disrespectful. Right?" I mumbled.
"Hah, that means you didn’t think you were disrespecting him. The ring works with your psychological responses. So, if you feel you disrespected them, it’ll activate. Usually, people succumb when they get stared at as he did to you." Loki informed, shrugging, “It’s the first time I've seen him fail at intimidating the help.”
Oh… Crap... this is difficult.
If it truly depended on me, then I had to be more careful, but at this moment, I couldn’t help myself, especially after hearing his blissful laugh.
"Hm… Was that him wanting to be scary?" I queried, prompting the vampire to shake his head.
I guess it’s normal for a human to be scared of that, but to me, all mortals are like ants.How can I…
"For a human, you surely have a lot of confidence, or you’re incredibly dense. It can be either one, but I think you might be the latter." Loki noted, heartily smiling at me.
His familiar got cozy on his neck once again. It was a beautiful snake, with its distinctive scales and deep blue eyes. The feathered black wings were awe-inspiring, too.
They were so soft on my fingertips. Ah… I kind of want to touch it again.
"Am I?" I hummed, gazing at Eli's beauty before his eyes met with mine, which triggered me to shift them back towards Loki.
Crap! Don’t gawk at the poor snake!
"Yeah, now, come, let’s go." He declared, suddenly grabbing my wrist before pulling me out of the group we were in, only to be stopped by Emma stepping in front of us.
"Wait! You’re taking us too!" She announced, staring at the vampire.
Eh? Wait… I don’t need babysitters.
"What? No, I’m not. My brother here will keep you company if you wish." Loki scoffed, which caused Oswald’s tired eyes to fly open.
It was evident that all his blue, purplish eyes wished for was a bed. The poor boy was a walking corpse the entire day, leaving anyone who saw him to think a necromancer had brought him back to life.
"What?! No! I want to sleep!" Oz hissed at Loki, who winked at him.
Zoe was quick to catch on when she spoke up and pointed to the rogue twin. "You aren’t taking Vivian away from us!"
Funny enough, the little Lycan next to Oswald was still in awe of her as his gaze was locked on the young girl, who acted like our mother.
"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Loki smirked, shifting his gaze onto me.
“Don’t you dare!” She reached for me as he picked me up into his arms in the blink of an eye.
"Nu uh, bad girl, you can’t interrupt my fun like that," were the last words the vampire sprouted as a second later, he suddenly bolted out of there.