The Dark Prince's Captive • Complete

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 - 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙

When I go to the airport, I usually look like a hungover bum switching jobs for the day... I guess we can't all be Grammy-nomimated super models.

Life's unfair that way, isn't it?
*sigh*

Alex didn’t stop to try to figure out what happened. He just ran for River. She’d dropped to the ground like a stone.

“River!” he shouted, pulling her torso and head into his arms and up onto his lap. “River!” he cradled her face in his hand, lightly patting her cheek. She had to wake up. He needed to see her gorgeous brown eyes. “River. River, honey. Wake up!”

She stirred just the slightest bit and a huge breath expelled from Alex’s chest. She was alive. Oh God, she was alive! “Oh thank God,” he whispered. “Oh thank God.”

Alex hugged her to his chest, and barely heard her gasped response. “Goddess, you mean.”

“What?” he pulled back, laughing in confusion, but she just shook her head, then reached up and rubbed her temple, wincing.

“Are you okay?” Alex rushed to ask. “Are you hurt?”

“What the fuck was that?” Savannah demanded, standing over them both. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us you were a diviner?” She was furious and not hesitant about showing it.

Alex felt River flinch in his arms and bared his teeth at Savannah. “You need to take a step back. She just saved your damn life. So give her some space.”

There was enough light from River’s discarded flashlight to see Savannah’s face turn red. But she at least had the presence of mind to keep her mouth shut. She must have seen by Alex’s face that he wasn’t kidding. River needed space right now and Savannah was going to give it to her. Alex would make damn sure of that.

Alex turned his attention back to River. She was literally trembling in his arms. “Come on. Can you stand up? Let’s get you back to the car.”

But she started shaking her head. “No. We can’t go yet.”

“River, we’ve got to get out of here, and you’re in no condition to—”

River yanked away from him then. “Stop it! Listen to me. I found the bones. Dracula’s bones. And there’s no way I am leaving here without burning them to ash.”

“What?” Alex asked, even though he’d heard her just fine.

“I found the bones of Vlad Țepeș. And we have to go burn them.”

“How?” Savannah demanded. “How did you find that one particular set of bones in this huge forest where no one else has ever been able to find them? Alex, this is such bullshit. She’s a fraud, and she’s dangerous. She’s probably working for your Uncle—”

“I would never work for that man,” River said, her voice calm and clear. But she wasn’t backing down, either. For the first time in a long time, she sounded strong. Decisive. She sounded like the powerfully-minded woman he’d first met in that basement all those days ago.

“I can’t tell you everything that’s been happening to me because I don’t understand it myself. But I know what I found. The headless skeleton of Vlad Dracul is about six hundred meters southwest of us.” She pointed, still remaining calm and cool, almost like she was laying out a case for us.

“I think I was led to them by the same supernatural…influence that just helped save all of our lives. I also believe we should burn them before we leave this property, or we’ll all regret it. I can try to do it myself but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to. I need help. Will you help me?”

Alex stared at her. Her back was straight, her chin lifted. She looked like a different creature than the frail shell of a woman he’d discovered shivering in terror on the parapet of Poenari castle just last night. She was…fucking brilliant.

“I’ll help you,” he said firmly.

“Alex!” Savannah cried.

Alex spun on her. “Savannah, I’m tired of your shit. You pride yourself on being a loyal friend, but you never let anyone really close. You’re always protecting that deep-down-inside part of yourself that’s afraid the people you love only want to use you and can’t love you just for you.”

Alex grabbed Savannah’s shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye. “That’s bullshit. You’re amazing. You’re so worth loving, just because of who you are. Your mom is a piece of shit. Fuck her! She never should have put so much pressure on you to be some super-diviner or made you feel like the only way she could love you was if you performed.”

Savannah’s face crumpled and she tried to pull away, but Alex wouldn’t let her. He kept going. “That was way more about her bullshit than yours. But I need you to let all that shit go right now and be there for your friend, River. Stop doubting her. She needs you to love her right now and be there for her. And even if it’s not for her—even if she is a double-crosser, then do it for me. I’m not a double-crosser. I’ll never ask you for another favor in our lives. I swear I’ll love you, sister, just for you, because you’re a goddess of a girl. You—"

“Your leg.”

“What?” Had she even heard a word he’d said? He was trying to tell her deep truths she needed to hear about her mom and—

“Dude, your leg!” Savannah was grabbing his arm and pointing down at his leg. “You got shot! How the fuck are you standing up like this? Where the fuck is the bullet hole?”

Oh.

Right.

He’d been shot.

He’d forgotten that part. How had he forgotten that part?

Maybe because River was glowing like a lit up New Year’s Eve ball and smiting all their enemies with her magic lightning? Oh yeah, maybe ‘cause of that.

But now that he thought about it…

He looked down at his leg. He’d been shot in his left leg. He doubled over and felt up and down his leg, shoving Savannah’s hands away so he could feel for himself.

No bullet wound. Or any wounds at all, even though those secret society motherfuckers had dragged him through the forest without caring about how he was getting ripped up by stray fallen branches and brambles.

Maybe it was his other leg?

But his right leg was just as untouched. Covered in dirt and some blood, but skin was unmarred.

“What the fuck?” Savannah screamed. She stood up and he did too.

Then she slapped him hard across the face. “That was for the shit about my mom.”

Then she hugged him so tight he could barely breathe and whispered in his ear, “This is also for the shit about my mom.”

Finally, she let him go, swiping roughly at her eyes and looking over at River. “So where the fuck are these legendary motherfucking bones? Let’s go get this horror movie bullshit done with then move on to some low-conflict romantic comedy escapism, yeah?”

Without waiting for a response, she continued, “That’s what I motherfucking thought,” grabbed the flashlight from where it had fallen on the ground, and started off in the direction River had pointed.

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