Mated To The Dead Prince
Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Rose had her eyes locked on Eliot as he walked over to the chair beside Cassius.

What the fuck was happening?

Her human boss, whom she’d worked with for many years, was a prince to some fantasy dark world.

Laura would really freak out at everything she’s witnessed.

She moved back from him as he got closer to her, frowning.

Eliot noticed Rose the moment the door was opened, he felt his heart break from the sacred and shocked look he saw on her face.

He knew she was mad at him, and rightly so. If he were in her shoes, he’d definitely feel the same way she did.

"Eliot," Rose whispered very quietly in shock when he came close to her.

Eliot felt bad seeing her in this condition, and hearing her call his name reminded him of the last time they spent in his car before they got to the forest "Rose." He paused in front of her, raising his hand to touch her, but Cassius’ voice stopped him.

"Do not touch my slave, Athan, or is it...Eliot?" Cassius said, sounding as if he was mocking Eliot in the end.

Eliot stared at Rose, using his eyes to console her and hoping she understood, he gave her one reassuring nod before he turned to face the table.

"Young prince," One of the slaves came forward and drew out the chair for Eliot.

He nodded politely at her as he lowered himself on the chair, "Hello, brothers," He greeted his brothers as he joined the table.

Cassius ignored him and poured himself a glass of blood, opening his plate and forking a half-cooked liver into his mouth.

The triplets exchanged looks between themselves; Dabmond was the one to speak up, "Welcome home, brother," He smiled at Eliot.

Eliot nodded at him, staring at Damien and Damon. "Not saying anything to me? Don’t pick his traits," He pointed at Cassius, "It’s no good."

"No, no, Welcome home, brother...we’d never be like him..." Damon said, sipping his glass of blood.

Cassius suddenly glared at Damon, causing Damien to kick Damon’s leg below the table, shaking his head at him.

Damon immediately understood the situation and turned to look at Cassius, his facial expression changing instantly.

"Uh, what I meant was, I’d love to be like a big brother when I grow up; he’s the best, he’s... he’s um...Rose, help? How do humans say it?" Damon turned his face to his back to look at Rose.

Rose couldn’t believe that Damon was dragging her into the vampire’s family conversation. She quickly looked beside her and saw the other slaves minding their business and facing away from the dining.

She turned to the table and looked at Eliot for help, opening and closing her mouth, not knowing what to say.

"He’s super cool, you meant to say?" Eliot asked, tilting his head at Damon.

"Yes, yes, eldest brother is super cool," Damon gave Eliot a thumbs up.

Eliot gave Rose a secret smile before turning to face the table.

Rose quietly released her breath; she knew replying to Damon would have gotten her in trouble with Cassius, but she was thankful to Eliot for his intervention.

But, from her peripheral vision, she saw Cassius looking at her, and it made her unconsciously take a step away from beside the table.

The dining hall went quiet for a while, just the sound of utensils was heard in the large room

Rose was uncomfortable with the whole atmosphere, but she tried to distract herself by staring at Eliot, trying to see if she could still feel those things she felt for him before.

She did...but not the same anymore.

Maybe because she was disappointed in him for lying to her by keeping his true identity hidden, or maybe because she no longer saw him as handsome.

He was still handsome in her eyes, just that, comparing him to Cassius almost made him look faceless.

Cassius was beautiful and handsome at the same time. His face had a way of drawing you in and enchanting you, making you forget every other face you’ve seen before.

Even though he was a monster, she couldn’t take his handsomeness from him. If he were to go over to the human world, he would be in every woman’s wet dream.

Rose suddenly looked up and saw Cassius staring intently at her, his eyes almost making her believe that he heard what she was thinking about him, and it made her cheeks blush in embarrassment.

She quickly looked away from him by lowering her head to stare at her feet, her toes suddenly turned to be the most entertaining thing in the world for her. She could still feel Cassius’ gaze on her, making her extra aware of her surroundings.

"Come here, little human," Cassius calmly beckoned on Rose, stretching out his hands by the side for her.

Rose’s lungs instantly contracted, threatening to choke her.

Why was he suddenly offering his hand to her? This was by no means, normal.

Rose took a deep breath and walked toward him, noticing the hateful glare from the elven slave as she moved forward, but she ignored him, at the moment, she was the least of her problems.

Eliot was nervous as Rose walked closer to Cassius. He knew his elder brother well; his calm exterior was evidence of a dangerous turmoil within him. He could only hope that he didn’t hurt Rose.

Rose slowly raised her hand and placed it on Cassius’ hand. The moment her hand touched his cold one, he firmly closed it around his.

The icy touch was making her nerves turn cold, signaling that something bad was about to happen to her.

Cassius felt the warmth of Rose’s hand and consciously closed his around hers, wanting to feel it for a second. It was subtle, but Eliot noticed the hesitation in his brother’s eyes as he held Rose. He frowned.

His brother never hesitated.

But maybe he was wrong because when he looked again, Cassius’ face was cold as ice as he drew Rose close beside him.

Eliot’s eyes widened when he saw Cassius pick up the knife he was using to cut his half-cooked liver, "What do you want to-"

"Argh!" Rose’s voice echoed in the large dining hall as she stared with horror at the bleeding cut Cassius had made on the palm of her hand.

Everyone but Dabmond was surprised by the scene. But Dabmond knew what Cassius was trying to do.

"Cassius!" Eliot stood from the chair, charging to snatch Rose from Cassius’ hold.

Cassius slowly raised his hand, stopping Eliot from doing what he wanted to do.

The three brothers exchanged a surprised look, they’d never heard Eliot call Cassius by his name. They wondered if the relationship Rose had with Eliot in the human world was enough to make him lose his cool with their eldest brother and master.

"She’s not as innocent as you claimed, Athan," Cassius stood and faced Rose, then tilted her sliced hand over on his wrist, letting her blood drop onto his skin.

Eliot watched with curiosity and concern as looked at Rose.

The moment Rose’s blood touched Cassius’ skin, the sizzling sound of skin burning was heard, and the burnt mark immediately formed on his wrist.

Cassius hissed and immediately removed Rose’s hand from over his wrist, then turned his scalded wrist to Eliot.

"She’s even more dangerous than we are, Brother, she’s a threat to our world, and you know what we do to threats," Cassius easily healed his burn and picked up his glass of blood from the table, gulping it down elegantly.

Rose was wincing from pain, biting down on her teeth to keep herself from crying out from pain.

’Cassius,’ She thought hatefully. She hated his name too.

She wished to glare at him, but she didn’t; she just focused on pressing down on her wound to keep her blood from wasting; she would have even preferred to waste it on Cassius’ skin; that way, it wouldn’t really be considered a waste.

"Rose?" Eliot suddenly called, his face looking shocked.

Rose looked up at him, wincing.

"Your blood...how’s it the way it is?" He asked, walking up to her and taking her wounded hand in his.

Rose shook her head, "I don’t know," She replied.

Eliot looked over at Cassius who had his eyes narrowed at Rose.

Eliot removed his eyes from Cassius and turned to Rose, "I’m sorry, I’ll tie it up for you," He took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and tied it around Rose’s bleeding hand.

Cassius’ features turned hard as he saw Rose’s interaction with Eliot. Why did he feel odd seeing them get close?

"Thank you," Rose whispered and slowly stepped away from him.

"Um...brother, you’ve got her blood on your hand," Damien said, pointing to a part of Eliot’s hands that had Rose’s blood on it.

Rose widened her eyes and quickly looked at Eliot, ready to apologize for hurting him, but she was surprised to see him unharmed, burn-free.

"And he’s not scalded...how?" Damon said in shock and confusion.

Cassius frowned hard for the first time. What had just happened made him believe that Eliot might not be unaware of Rose’s blood as he claimed to be.

He was forced to think that maybe Rose did know about the power of her blood, and she also had control over it, using it for her defense when she felt threatened, like when she was with him.