Chapter 41
Lucie stared at the wolf in front of her.
This was a nice distraction from the inward spiral she was feeling.
How was this even possible? Abaas was dead, right?
She watched as the wolf transformed into a muscular man with black hair and eyes that were a mixture of deep brown and darkness.
His face was handsome in a predatory way.
He was fully clothed, setting the ensemble off with a black cape.
He took another step toward her and she stood there, just looking at him.
This? This was the half-demon that had terrorized her family?
She wasn’t impressed. It was weird … she didn’t sense any malice from him.
“You are very interesting, princess,” Abaas said as a smile spread across his lips.
“I’m pretty sure my Aunt Reiya killed you.
At least so I’ve been told. Care to explain?
” Lucie wasn’t afraid of him. She had no doubt that she could take him out if needed.
So she walked past him and sat on the edge of the fountain.
She also wasn’t stupid. If Abaas was here, the vampires already knew it.
“I did die. This …” He motioned over his body.
“This is my soul. Rather than cease to exist, I chose servitude. The vampires can claim souls as servants. But it isn’t quite that simple.
I am bound to the royal family for all eternity.
I can’t ever betray them. It’s impossible.
Trust me. I’ve tried.” He chuckled and shrugged.
“I’m a half-demon, not a saint. I’m bound by their blood …
a blood oath. I exist, but only as their servant and protector.
But being soul-bound means I can instantaneously travel and have handy powers. ”
“So you are the one traveling back and forth for the prince.” Lucie finally understood why Jasper hadn’t mentioned who the other servant was. Still … this shouldn’t have been kept secret. Regardless of whether he was harmless or not.
“It beats not existing. And I’m no longer plagued with the lust for power I had before. You know the reason I went after the fairy princesses …” His voice trailed off quietly.
“That was really pathetic and gross. And this is really weird talking to you. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel about you.” He was the servant to the vampire royals but he was also an old enemy of her family. Right now, though … he seemed harmless.
Abaas chuckled. “Well, we might as well get along since you’ll be my new master soon too. Look I can’t do anything unless one of the royals commands it. I can only act based on their will. I won’t excuse my past, but I would like to work toward my penance.”
“You’re different from what I expected.”
“I am different.” Abaas looked away and shook his head.
“I was poisoned before and blinded by power and greed … well, that’s not important.
In a way, when your aunt killed me and the vampires claimed my soul, I was saved.
I see things differently. I’m no longer blind, and despite being bound by servitude, I feel like I’m really living now.
I am different. I’m not that person, and I want to prove that to you, since it’s your lineage I’ve harmed the most. I won’t ask for forgiveness since it isn’t something I can ever dream to obtain. Just an acceptance of my existence.”
“I guess time will tell who you truly are.” Lucie wasn’t interested in adding a psycho demon as her new BFF. But maybe she could use him. “What skills do you have?” She watched a smile slither over his face. “Can you hide my presence so I can’t be found?”
Abaas frowned and furrowed his brows. “I can, but I can’t allow you to leave here. If you stay here, I can do that for you. However, Derrick’s orders are for me to keep you safe here until you leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I just don’t want to be found right now.”
“It’s done,” Abaas said effortlessly. “You know, about that woman, Stella …”
Lucie glared at him. “Don’t. No matter what you say, I can’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth. So just don’t talk.” She watched as Abaas nodded his head in understanding. “You’re still strong in this form, aren’t you? So why can’t you just pop in there and kill this witch?”
A dark chuckle resounded from the half-demon.
“I’d love to. The most I can do is protect and shield.
I can even do damage, but I can’t kill. If I kill someone, I will basically die all over again.
One of the rules I am bound by. Guess most don’t want to contract a demon soul and allow them the ability to kill. ”
“Makes sense,” Lucie said with a faint smile. If this was true, then he was pretty harmless. Self-preservation was a driving factor for him, especially if he’d agreed to an eternity of servitude.
Whatever. Soul-bound servant Abaas wasn’t a concern right now.
She leaned back on her hands, pressing them into the cool stone around the fountain.
The whole situation was actually a mess, whether there was truth to it or not.
If there was truth … oh, there was going to be some casualties on the vampire side.
And if it wasn’t true … when Derrick announced himself as the real prince, the people would think the prince was fooling around.
It was a rumor that would circulate quickly, since this Stella seemed to love showing their pictures together to everyone.
Which made her doubt the integrity of her story.
However … the why continued coming back.
Stella didn’t know Ryan was the prince, so what would she gain by lying?
She said Sabrina was her cousin, so she had plenty of opportunities to meet up with “Ryan” and get to know him.
But … hmmm. Sabrina insinuated that she wanted to get with “Ryan.” Would she still think that way if her cousin was dating him?
There was that Freja logic seeping through again.
Logically, it didn’t add up. Her mother had taught her to think and analyze all the evidence.
She trusted Derrick. End of story. She believed him, and she would keep having faith in him.
On top of that, it didn’t make sense. Tonya had said that Ryan wasn’t with anyone and was faithfully waiting for his mate.
All signs pointed to this Stella lying …
but she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she had a crush on him, and she asked him for the picture?
Now she had to figure out how to deal with the deceit without blowing Derrick’s cover. She inhaled deeply and looked up to see Abaas watching her thoughtfully.
“What is the best way to deal with something that could soon become a vicious rumor but without exposing the secret itself?”
Abaas smirked. “Quite impressive. You are more clever than your predecessors. The solution is more clear than actually reaching the truth. I am curious as to how you deduced what was a lie and what wasn’t.”
Lucie looked up at Abaas, annoyed. “What is the solution?”
Abaas clicked his tongue. “Jasper. He will handle the rest.”
Lucie froze and furrowed her brows. She didn’t want to tell Jasper.
She was honestly worried about how he would react.
It wasn’t like the girl knew she was doing this against the prince, though, so maybe it would be okay.
The sound of Abaas’ laughter snapped Lucie from her thoughts. She lifted her gaze to him.
“You’re afraid of what Jasper might do.” Abaas smirked and shrugged. “It’s the easiest and most simple solution. It really is the killer choice.” He snickered at his own lame joke.
Lucie rubbed her head slightly as a weird pain washed over her. It came and went quickly. She looked up to see Abaas’ eyes grow darker as he watched her.
“Where is your guardian, princess?” His low growl rippled out angrily.
“He’s still being trained. How did you know I would have a guardian?”
“It was my life’s mission to search for the fairy princess. I recognize your scent like my own …” He sighed. “You’re going to need a guardian with you. You’re still waking up, and without a guardian, the pain will be severe.”
“We’re planning to leave this evening to go to the dragon kingdom.” Lucie waved her hand dismissively. “But I need to figure out how to solve this issue first.”
“I already told you how to handle it.” Abaas then frowned. “Sorry, princess. I can’t ignore orders.”
Abaas vanished for a moment, only to return a minute later with Jasper.
“You can teleport with people?!” Lucie was immediately thinking of Derrick and teleporting to him.
“Only short distances, so what you’re thinking can’t work.” Abaas laughed. “Well, I guess this is where I leave you for now.” He looked at Jasper’s dark eyes and bowed slightly before he vanished.
“Lucie, what happened?” Jasper’s eyes were almost black as he approached her. “Why did you have Abaas hide your presence?”
Lucie scoffed. “How about ‘Oh, sorry you found out about Abaas being kept as the vampires’ slave.’ I think that’s a big detail my family missed.”
His eyes flickered slightly. “I’m sorry.
It was a discussion that needed to happen a long time ago.
When the vampires agreed to keep his soul as a servant, they had no clue that he was an enemy of your family.
And afterward, I think they were afraid it would ruin the treaty, so they kept it quiet.
I was going to tell you about him, though.
He isn’t the same anymore, and you don’t have to worry about him. ”
Lucie chuckled and folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not worried about him.” She watched his eyes darken.
“Who said something to upset you? What happened?”
This time, Lucie could feel a strange energy emanating from Jasper.
Green energy swirled out from him. It was something she’d never seen before.
She stood up and stepped into Jasper so that she could run her fingers through this strange energy.
It felt as if it had a life of its own. Her actions must have startled him, though, because the energy began to fade quickly. She needed to see it more.
“Yes, someone did say something,” she said quietly as the energy flowed out of him again. Maybe if she grabbed onto it …
“Lucie, don’t!” Abaas suddenly appeared and pulled Lucie backward from Jasper. He watched as Jasper’s eyes began flickering back to normal before he dropped his protective stance. He turned and glared at Lucie. “What were you thinking?! Do you know what you were about to do?”
“What is it? You know what it is.” She looked at Jasper, who seemed to be coming out from a fog. “What’s controlling him?”
“It isn’t like that …” Jasper answered in barely a whisper.
“You said no more secrets between us, right?” Lucie said, raising her brows at him expectantly.
Abaas sighed. “When the two vampire princes were born, the Great Vampire King planted something in the youngest. It was something to make sure he never tried to take the throne for himself. This made him completely loyal to the royal bloodline. So loyal that he would kill without question. Once Derrick was born, it stayed with Jester and was passed on to his son.” Abaas watched Jasper, making sure what he was saying was allowed.
“Oh my gosh, that’s horrible. What is it?” Lucie gasped, looking at Jasper with pity.
“It’s a djinn … a type of demon that is bound to its master. The master, in this case, is the vampire royals. But it isn’t that bad. I make my own choices. It’s just that sometimes its bloodlust can take over,” Jasper admitted quietly.
“And you were about to grab onto the djinn’s energy, Lucie. It would have set its sights on you.” Abaas sighed loudly.
“Let it,” Lucie said confidently, making Abaas and Jasper’s eyes widen. “Let it put its focus on me. This djinn seeks a master, right? Which is why it serves the royals. That means it can be controlled. Maybe I can rein it in. I won’t have you disappearing like your father did.”
Jasper shook his head. “It’s powerful, Lucie. Just let it be. I’ll be fine.”
Aedan and Ryan showed up in the clearing. Aedan looked curiously at the stranger next to Lucie but was relieved to see his sister was fine.
“Ah, reinforcements. This is the perfect time. Besides, it’s this guy’s job to keep me safe, right?” Lucie said, smirking at Abaas.
He let out a low growl and nodded his head. “By doing this, you could very well speed up what is happening to you—”
“I’m not worried about it. I’m helping Jasper,” Lucie said confidently.
“Lucie you have only just started being a fairy princess,” Jasper interjected, shaking his head.
“But I’ve always been a fairy. Jasper, just let me try. Please.”
“Okay, I walked in on the test but missed the lecture. What’s going on?” Aedan asked with a low growl. Whatever it was, he’d already figured out it could be dangerous to Lucie.
“Jasper has a djinn in him, and I’m going to try to help. I don’t know what I can do, but as a fairy princess …” Lucie pleaded with Aedan. We have to help him. It takes over sometimes and he kills. I can’t leave him like this. She locked eyes with her brother.
Aedan scowled and looked at the stranger next to Lucie. “Who are you?”
Abaas smirked. “You remind me so much of your grandfather. You have his arrogance. But I dare say, you’re stronger than he was. Yes, much stronger …”
“Long story short, he’s a soul bound in servitude to the vampires. Oh, and he also happens to be Abaas,” Lucie said, scrunching her face up slightly. Aedan’s eyes flickered to the half-demon. “He isn’t a danger to the fairies anymore. He isn’t what’s important right now. So, Aedan …”
“Okay, fine. Give it a shot. But after this, we’re getting the hell out of this place.
I’m putting you under Aunt Reiya and Uncle Levi’s care.
Let them handle my headache for a while.
” Aedan gave her a crooked grin. The whole Abaas thing was whatever.
He didn’t know the demon personally. He didn’t understand much of it, just that he was a servant now.
Jasper was family to him, though. If he needed help, they would help him. He just hoped things didn’t go wrong.