I stared at the Prince for the longest time. There were so many emotions that I didn't know what to focus on, so I didn't. Instead, I turned on my heel and walked away. It was that easy and yet, I felt my throat close up. He only asked for help when it was convenient for him and I, for one, wasn't going to get mixed up with whatever he was into. The Prince had caused this mess. He needed to figure it out on his own. Besides, I had no power. I could barely even take care of my own problems let alone someone else's.
"I command you -"
My feet stopped on their own. There was no anger. Not anymore. There was just tiredness. I sighed and turned around.
"You have no control over me," I told him. "I'm not going to keep doing this. I'm not a toy. Go home. Ask your father for help. Talk to your lawyers. They'll think of something."
The Prince walked towards me and his face was expressionless. I swallowed thickly but I didn't move. I didn't drop my gaze. I just watched him approach. He stopped a few inches away. He really didn't know the definition of personal space.
"What's it going to cost me?" he asked in a low voice. "To get you to help."
I closed my eyes searching for inner strength. He really wanted me to hurt him. I still couldn't fathom where all of this was coming from? Why was he like this all of a sudden? This had to be a game. He wasn't worried at all. He wanted attention but he had to learn that his actions had consequences and father wasn't always going to be there to help him out . . .
The realization hit me hard. He couldn't go to his father or lawyers because they weren't going to help him. The only person who could maybe help was me. I peered up at him.
"The King doesn't want to help you," I stated. "You have no lawyers or anything. No wonder you're desperate."
He didn't respond.
For some reason, that made my lip twitched. Was I really that happy? I bit my lip. Yeah, I was little happy. I thought I would never see the day when the Prince was caught off from his protective shields. This was a dream -
"If you help me, I will nullify the contract."
My stomach dropped. At that moment, it was hard to breathe. I took a step back. He really was desperate but -
"Don't screw with me," I forced out. "Don't say something you don't mean."
"Are you going to help me or not?"
I turned away from him and my gaze settled on the clock on the wall. Lunch period was going to end.
"N-not here," I muttered. "We - need to go . . ." I trailed off and started walking.
Could I really believe him? Was he telling the truth? What if he wasn't? What if this was all a joke to him? In a daze, I headed upstairs. Somehow I knew my fingertips were trailing against the wall and I could see the Prince at the edge of my vision trailing right beside me. His hands were in his pockets. A few minutes later, my feet came to a stop in front of a familiar door. I went inside and stopped. The desks were still piled to the back of the room with only two at its center. I heard the door close behind me.
He didn't say anything.
Was this really it? Would I really be rid of him? "Can - I trust you?" I heard myself ask. "Are you telling me the truth? Or is this a joke?"
"This isn't a joke," the Prince told me.
"Would you tell if it was?" I asked.
"It's not a joke," he repeated.
I nodded to myself. Could I bring myself to trust him?
"You have my word."
"What does that even mean?" I scoffed. I turned around. "Were you really framed?"
The Prince stared directly into my eyes. "Yes."
I looked away. Why did I believe him? I inhaled deeply and let it out, slowly. "Alright," I said. MY heart jammed against my chest. "Fine. I'll help, but let's be honest. What can I possibly do?"
"Be my alibi," he said simply. "Tell them that we were together. You can vouch -"
"No," I said shaking my head. "No. I won't lie for you. I might believe you but you need to prove to me that you were framed."
The Prince crossed his arms. "That's not how trust works."
"What do you know about trust?" I spat out. "All you've ever done is take advantage of the situation."
I placed my bag pack on the floor and walked around the room. "You're best bet is to rally all your fans and pray that someone somewhere took a picture of you. That's going to be your alibi. Maybe there's a witness out there." I chewed on my lip. "Then again, nothing is easy when it comes to you. The people who 'framed' you might be threatening humans to keep quiet."
I stopped pacing and looked at the Prince. "Is there any vampires that saw you?" I asked. "Anyone at all?"
"I doubt that," the Prince supplied. "Even if by some miracle someone did see me, my father would make sure they can't speak."
I frowned. "Why not?" I asked.
"My status as a Prince would compel them to tell the truth."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Loyalty to the crown," the Prince explained. He didn't add the 'duh' but I knew it was there.
"But if someone who doesn't have any loyalty to the crown says something to confirm your whereabouts that night, people are more prone to believe them." The pieces started to fit together. My role in this became clearer.
"I'm still not going to lie for you," I muttered. "We just need to find evidence that proves your innocence."
I started pacing again. Since I was already entertaining the idea that I was going to be free of the Prince, I had to make sure the Prince's innocence came to light. Sure, I wasn't sure if I believed him completely but I was going to give him a chance.
"How do you expect to do that?"
I stopped again. "Where were you that night?" I asked.
The Prince's eyes hardened. "That's not relevant."
"And you're not helping," I shot back. "If I know where you were that night, then I would have a better understanding of how to handle everything."
"It's not relevant," he repeated.
I clenched my jaw. "Then find a lawyer."
Pivoting, I turned to the door and started walking towards it. As I reached for my bag pack, a sudden grip on my arm stopped me. He wasn't squeezing so it wasn't painful.
"You already decided to help," the Prince growled in my ear. "You can't back out now."
At his voice, I couldn't help but shiver. I didn't try to pull my arm free. I had no intention of having a tug-of-war contest with my arm as the rope.
"How am I suppose to help if you haven't said anything helpful?" I asked him. "You're suspect number one and the culprit to some. "
Without looking at him, I put my hand over his and gently pried his fingers off. He didn't resist. His arm fell to his side.
"The two groups that I can think of that would want to incriminate you are the Purists and those vampires that attacked you the night of the conference," I said.
"We need a spy."
I glanced suspiciously at him. "No," I told him. "I'm not going to join the Purists as a double-agent. Everything about them is wrong. What if they ask me to prove my loyalty? What am I suppose to do then?"
The Prince narrowed his eyes at me. "You said you would help."
"Yes, I will help but I didn't agree to put myself in danger." I gestured to him. "What about you? Are you going to spy on those vampires? They know what you look like."
"This is the only way," he insisted. "Ask those Purists if they have anything to do with this. If they don't, we know it's the vampires."
My face scrunched in confusion. "That's your logic? That's so dumb. What if neither group did it and we're getting into something deeper than we should?"
"There's only one way to find out."
"No," I protested. "I won't do this. You have no risk in all of this. Why should I do it? I'm not the one being called a murderer."
The Prince's hand curled around my neck all of a sudden. My breath got caught in my throat. I swallowed thickly and gave him a long, hard stare.
"Let go," I rasped out. "You say you didn't kill and injured those people but honestly, when you do stuff like this, I can't help but think that they're right."
A low growl emanated from his throat. I glared right back at him.
"Do you really want to turn your ally into an enemy?" I asked.
After a moment, he released me. Tenderly, I touched my neck. Why was he so violent? I took a deep breath.
"I'll ask the Purists," I told him, "and if I do, you better start improving your attitude and start being helpful."
I snatched my bag pack from the ground and stalked out of the classroom. Sheesh, why did he always have to make me regret my decisions? I half expected him to stop me but he didn't. Jerk. I didn't have to help him. I should have let him suffer in despair. Serves him right. This is what happened when you pissed off too many people. Maybe if had an ounce of humanity, everyone would be prone to believe that he would never kill humans.
But you didn't believe that video, said an annoying voice in the back of my head. You knew he wouldn't do something like that.
"Shut up," I muttered.
It didn't matter if I believed him or not. The Prince had to convince everybody else. What did it matter what I thought?