Read Online Almost Lovers by Cassidy Raindance - Free Book Online Page B

respect, head bent. I followed and stood behind Lydia as jailer.
The fact that my captive came so willing had me baffled.
     
    "I failed," said Lydia gravely, "Sebastian
prevented me from carrying out your order,"
     
    "I see," said the Queen.
     
    I couldn't believe my ears. I couldn't
believe what I had just heard.
     
    "You ordered what?" I asked, "You-"
     
    "Silence!" said the Queen.
     
    Her hand was swift, it came inches within my
face, palm flat and facing me as if to forcibly silence me without
actually touching me.
     
    Lydia bent her head lower. I knelt beside
her as quickly as I could. The Queen really had lost her mind. She
had ordered me to protect Prussia and ordered Lydia to kill
Prussia, giving me explicit orders to kill anyone that made an
attempt on Prussia. The Queen had set us up to kill one
another.
     
    I could feel the haughty 'I told you so'
rolling off of Lydia in my direction in waves. I could see the
slightest smirk on her face as she bent looking at her toes. I let
my eyes drift sideways toward her and glared. She enjoyed this, not
even caring that the Queen didn’t care that we could have killed
each other. She only cared that she was right and I was wrong.
     
    "Prussia is alive?" the Queen asked.
     
    "Yes," Lydia and I said at the same
time.
     
    "Yes," said someone behind Lydia and I.
     
    I caught a glimpse of a Royal uniform. It
was one of the stealth operatives for the Royal Guard.
     
    "Was there any indication to Prussia that
her life was in danger or that either of them was there?" asked the
Queen.
     
     
    "No, your Majesty," said the guard, "We
staked out the building as instructed and waited,"
     
    He went on to report the series of events as
he had seen them. I hadn't noticed him at all, let alone more than
one operative. The Queen hadn't trusted me to protect Prussia. It
made sense. The life of a human to the vampire is the same as
cattle are to humans.
     
    "Anything else?" asked the Queen as the
Royal Guard wrapped up.

    He paused. I thought for certain he would
mention that they were the same team that I had called to recover
Lydia after she had escaped. They had been my team. It made it cut
deeper that she had used my own team against me. I wanted to know
which guard it was but movement would have drawn unwanted
attention. And asking a guard to lie to the Queen could get me, and
others, killed. I held my breath …and waited. What felt like an
eternity must have only been a few seconds but it shredded my
insides.
     
    "We did neutralize an additional threat that
had tried to breach the perimeter during the altercation between
Prince Sebastian and Lady Lydia." said the guard.
     
    "An additional threat?" I asked.
     
    I hadn't caught that either. I had been too
busy dealing with Lydia. Though I would have if I hadn't been
fending off Lydia. That is what Lydia was good at though, causing
complications though put in motion by the Queen this time. Victoria
had manipulated us both masterfully.
     
    "We were able to I.D. him," said the guard,
"A vampire from a coven in Brazil,"
     
    "I want a full report on my desk this
evening," said the Queen.
     
    The guard bowed and took his leave, the
other guards closing the door behind him. She dismissed the two
guards at their posts and they both removed themselves to the
hallway. We were alone, the three of us. I breathed out. Relief
that my greatest mistake had been left out overwhelmed me. He would
not let me forget, if I could keep my head – literally.
     
    "Lydia," said the Queen, "Rise."
     
    Lydia stood up and I continued to kneel with
my face pointed at the floor. I had been confused before but now I
was just angry. I was angry at the Queen for what she had done to
Lydia and I. It was unforgivable. No matter if she thought we were
a poor match or not. She couldn't pit us against each other on a
whim to have us fight to the death and certainly not over a
human.
     
    "Shall I finish my mission, my Queen?" asked
Lydia as she stood