“Ohhhh, genius idea. Yeah. Devon? Devon!”
They wandered through the halls in search of the vampire prince, hissing his name in every hall in the hopes of him appearing in one of the doorways.
As they rounded a corner, Paige stared at the set of double doors at the end. “Wait a minute. This looks familiar. This is his room. Ha! We found it.”
“Awesome, let’s go tattletale on Ivy.”
Paige nodded at him as she hurried to the dark doors and pounded on them. “Hey, Devon, open up, it’s Pa–“
Her eyes went wide as one door creaked open. Dominic arched an eyebrow at her. “I believe you have the wrong room.”
He side-eyed Dewey, his eyebrow rising higher toward his hairline.
“Oops, yeah. Ummm, must have gotten turned around. This place is huge.” Paige offered him a nervous chuckle. “Can you point us in the right direction?”
“Actually,” Dominic said as he stepped into the hall, “your arrival is fortuitous. I have been meaning to have a word with you. Perhaps now would be an excellent time.”
“Nah, it’s a terrible time,” Paige said as her pulse quickened. “I’m tired. You’re tired. We are all tired.”
“Yet here you are, roaming the halls in search of my son.”
Paige puckered her lips at the words. “Right. Because…there’s a problem with my room. And I’m really tired and want to go to sleep and I can’t.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Huh?”
“What’s the problem with your room?” Dominic asked.
“There’s…a vampire in it who is trying to kill me.”
Dominic offered her a surprised glance. “Really? Ivy has tried to kill you?”
“Yes,” Paige said with a nod. “She has.”
“And you managed to escape.”
“I have, yes. And so now I would like someone to remove her limp body from my room so I can go to sleep. And who better than beefy Devon. Because…of the muscles.”
“You knocked out Ivy?” a new voice asked.
Paige’s eyes went wide as she stared at the woman who appeared in the doorway, wrapping an arm around Dominic’s shoulders as she pulled a silk robe closed. “Aren’t you Ivy’s mom?”
“I am, indeed,” she answered. “And I’d like to know more about how you harmed my daughter.”
“I didn’t harm her. Dewey smashed a vase over her head because she was trying to kill me. She came after me with a knife. I barely survived.”
“Yet, here you are. Dominic, I really believe you ought to send someone immediately to tend to Ivy. She could be seriously hurt.”
Paige clicked her tongue. “This is unbelievable. I could have been seriously hurt! Does anyone care about me?”
Marion arched an eyebrow as she let her eyes roam up and down Paige’s form. “Not really.”
Paige heaved a sigh and shook her head. “Look, just tell me where Devon is.”
“Don’t,” Marion said to Dominic as she caressed his shoulder.
“Seriously? You’re sleeping with Dominic so you can eke out favors in this stupid battle?”