“Miss Collis is a hybrid, although we aren’t sure what she’s crossed with.” Mr Carr says before I can protest.
The Prince looks shocked for less than a minute, then smiles as though he’s relieved by my hybrid status. “Oh a hybrid, well, we can work around that. As she isn’t aware of who would be her other Liege Lord, I’m still her only one.” He says carefully.
“We should all sit down. With you knowing her status and the fact that she has a stalker, we could really use your help figuring out how best to keep her safe.” The Prince waves his hand and a throne-like chair appears out of nowhere. To say I’m shocked that a Psy can do something like that is an understatement. I thought we could only do certain things, but the longer I’m around the Prince, the more I’m learning. I make a mental note to myself to experiment more with my own abilities later.
As we all take our seats, Mr Carr begins explaining about my lack of feeding and the Prince offers to assist me in keeping on top of it. He then tells Mr Carr that he’ll walk me to and from classes and accompany me home at the end of the day. Mr Carr explains that Kal has already offered to do the same and they argue for a few minutes over making a schedule to share the duties.
After what feels like forever they agree to allow Kal to walk me to and from SCU on the days our classes finish at the same time and to split the classes between them via the classes we all have in common. The more they talk, the more I feel like my life is being controlled and forced into a direction not of my choosing. I’m grateful when the time finally comes for my next class and they have no choice but to end the discussion.
Unfortunately none of us put an eavesdropping shield up prior to our conversation so the moment we exit Mr Carr’s office, we’re confronted with three angry faces. Kal, Princess and Brax, all of whom have heard everything. Princess is the first to angrily say, “What fucking stalker?”
I groan, pushing past them all before stopping and turning back to face them all, “Not one of you had permission to know my personal business, as far as I’m concerned you don’t know nothing until I decide to tell you!” I know it’s a stupid thing to say but I’m pissed at them for eavesdropping. I’m pissed at Mr Carr for telling Prince Douche about my hybrid status and I’m pissed that I have to deal with all of this shit in the first place.
None of them say a word, so I turn my back on them all and walk away, heading to my next class which ironically is Vampire Integration and filled with all of the assholes who can’t keep their noses out of anyone else’s business. With a sigh, I walk into the room after Mr Carr opens the door and then make my way over to the other side of the room and take the same seat I sat in on the first day.
Mr Carr’s lecture is similar to the one he gave the first lesson, except this time he also goes over the basic laws for Vampires, which has me actually sitting up and paying attention.
“The realm laws have always been the same, No killing mortals except in the event that you are exposed and have no other options. All Supernaturals must remain hidden in plain sight and each Supernatural must abide by their Clan’s hierarchy. For Vampires the Hierarchy is; The King, Queen, Princes, Princesses if there are any, then down the line until you get to the watered-down bloodlines such as Hybrids.” Mr Carr physically cringes as he mentions this point and I feel my face heating up. “What many do not know is that this Hierarchy wasn’t always in that order. Originally it went; The Queen, Hybrids, King, Princesses, Princes and then down the line, however hybrids were outlawed due to their influx in power that the current King believed could destroy our hierarchy. The current King changed the laws to suit the fact that over the last century female Vampires have been reducing in numbers to the point where there is now only one female for every hundred or so males.”
I look around, curious what the numbers are like in this class and almost fall out of my chair. He’s not wrong about there being less females, in this class alone there are only six females and if I had to guess there’d be approximately fifty males. The numbers don’t add up, which has me raising my hand to question his figures.
“Lower your hands everyone, yes, I am well aware that our current class has six females, however, the females in this class are very rare, not only do we have the highest number of females in a single location, but your age group -between eighteen to twenty-one- has the highest number of females we’ve seen in almost fifty years.” There’s a collective gasp as he pauses to let that information sink in.
“Not only does your age group have the highest numbers, but the Royal family has decreed that females are far more precious now than they have ever been, which means as males, it is our duty to ensure their survival at all costs.” He glances my way as he says that last part and I give him a glare in return. As far as I’m concerned, he can’t lump me in with the rest of the females as I’m not even a full-blooded Vampire. I’m fairly certain, I’m the only Hybrid-Vampire even attending this school. Usually Hybrids aren’t accepted to any other school than the Academy of Hybrids hidden in Australia.
“Hybrids once were outlawed as I said earlier however with our dwindling numbers, the King has decreed that Hybrid females are now being pardoned and given all the same rights as full-blooded Vampire females. Although Hybrids are also rare, they are no longer outlawed as they once were.”
“Are you serious, our men are going to be breeding with those disgusting mongrels?” The same girl who was ogling Mr Carr during our first class, shouts out making me cringe. I don’t want to draw attention to myself, but once again, Mr Carr looks in my direction. The entire class breaks out into angry murmuring, mostly from the girls, but several of the guys say loudly that they’d never stick it in a mongrel. It takes Mr Carr several minutes to get the class to calm down enough to be heard again.
“This kind of bigoted attitude is exactly why you’re all taking this class. As a species, we’ve lived in exclusion to the point where we’ve only two choices left to keep our species alive; Accept that our bloodlines are going to be diluted or slowly die out and become extinct.” Again the class breaks out in outrage and to my surprise Prince Douche gets up and walks to the front of the classroom. He doesn’t shout or even speak but the entire room goes so silent I can hear every intake of breath from the students farthest away from me.
After several intense moments where he just stands there glaring around the room at everyone, he says, “My father, your King has decreed it so, if any of you dare go against his word, I will personally tear you apart limb from limb.” His threat hangs in the air for a long time. “So if you discover the identity of any of the Hybrids, you’d best treat them with the utmost respect, you may very well be speaking to your future Queen.” This time his words are met with furious outcries from the few females in the room. Not only has the Prince just told us all that he’s going to make a Hybrid his Queen, but he’s just put himself off the market. While I don’t believe for one second that I’m said Hybrid, I do feel a pang in my chest at the thought of him no longer being available.
My own thoughts shock me enough that I have to force myself to focus back on what Mr Carr is now saying. “…courage you all to have a serious think about how you’d feel if you were born under other circumstances. Your own lives may be changing in more ways than you know and as such you will need to adapt to survive the coming months.” With that eerie declaration, he calls for the blood bags to be distributed and everyone moves around the room, mingling and drinking. I stay where I am, refusing to give into the stupid cravings of my body while so many other people are around.
Unfortunately since drinking from the prince, blood bags have left me feeling sick to my stomach. I've only tried two so far, but both times made me throw up and I don’t want to admit that to anyone. It’s one of the main reasons I’ll be avoiding Mr Carr’s attempts to make me set a feeding schedule. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but I know it’s not normal.
Class finishes and I take my time gathering my things, determined to at least talk to Mr Carr about the stalker issue. I haven’t found any other notes in my bag, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about the one that was left on my pillow this morning.
I make my way to the front of the classroom just as the last student exits the room. “Mr Carr.” I say hesitantly.
“Ah Miss Collis, I’m glad you stayed behind. I wanted to talk to you about everything we discussed in class today. I know it’s a huge revelation, but I was hoping you weren’t feeling attacked or singled out because of what we were discussing.”
“Is it true that Prince Doo- I mean Prince Samuel is betrothed to a Hybrid?” The second the question is out of my mouth, I regret it. Not only does Mr Carr’s eyes harden, but his lips pull up into a sneer before he turns on his heel and starts fiddling with papers on his desk. “I wouldn’t presume to know anything about the royal family, but if the Prince says it’s true, then it must be.” I’m not sure what’s going on, I’ve never heard Mr Carr talk so coldly before. He’s not all sunshine and rainbows but at least his usual tone has some emotion in it, the way he’s talking now is as though someone’s stripped him bare of all feeling.
“Are there more Hybrids here at SCU?”
“None that are female, but yes there is one other.” His answer surprises me, I hadn’t even thought about there being other supernatural Hybrids on campus. I’m curious though, “Do you think any of the other Hybrids would be able to help me figure out what I am?”
“It’s possible, but he’s not exactly sociable.” He warns as my eyes light up. “I’ll pass your number onto him if you like, but be warned, too many people already know your secret, you don’t want any more knowing, even if they seem like they could help.” Once again his voice sounds off, almost as though he’s lying to me about something, but I can’t figure out what it could be.
“Ok Sir, thank you.” I hesitate then add, “Any luck figuring out the stalker?”
“No, but His Highness did raise a valid point. You need a better plan moving forward, perhaps you should allow both Mr Forsythe’s to also accompany you places.” I open my mouth to protest but he holds his hand up, “At least until we determine if this stalker is dangerous or just creepy.”
“Alright, I’ll accept their help, but only until it’s figured out. I do enjoy my independence, you know.” I wink at him before making my way out into the hallway, only to find myself suddenly surrounded by four far too tall and handsome for their own good, men.
I never thought I’d be someone’s hero, but I rather like the sound of it. Especially since I’m playing hero to the woman who has captured my attention so thoroughly. If only she wasn’t the woman my father wanted me to be with. I can’t say I’m not surprised he chose her though, she’s a truly remarkable young woman.