The Vampire's Executioner

Chapter 7

The next morning, Lizzie woke up to her stomach growling. She grabbed an energy bar from her bag and slowly ate it, trying to figure out what to do now that she and Nikolai had had their first fight. She had known that she would be like this; besides the fact that he was a vampire, and an arrogant one at that, it was generally difficult for her to deal with people (or vampires) that thought they were above others, simply because of their status, money, or name. However, as she looked back on what happened last night, she realized that she probably should have been politer to him, only because he was a royal and she did work for the Nocturnal Defense Society.

Many people believed that the NDS was an agency that protected human society from the species that were obviously stronger and faster than they could ever hope to be. While there was definitely a unit that enforced the safety of human populations from corrupt members of vampire or werewolf civilization, the Nocturnal Defense Society's main goal was to keep everything equal between the three species and to keep the peace between everyone. Since she was a potent member – assassin – of the NDS, she knew she needed to respect the different societies that could be found in Somerset, even royal pains in the asses.

It took her another half an hour to finish eating because she wanted to let her food digest, but once she was satisfied, she put on her workout clothes – shorts, a loose t-shirt, ankle socks, and tennis shoes – before putting her hair up. She took a long gulp of water out of one of her bottles, grabbed her iPod, and headed down the stairs and out the door. It was early morning – she wasn't used to the time switch yet – and started jogging despite the fact that she wasn't familiar with her current surroundings.

Lizzie loved to jog, especially when she was frustrated with something (or, in this case, someone). She just put in her earphones and went wherever the wind took her. When she got out of the castle itself, she took a moment to check where she was and where she wanted to go. The castle grounds were huge and beautiful, especially given the fact that the fog encompassed everything – the trees, the trails, the flowers, and the sky. She made a mental map of what she knew and what she didn't, and after another moment, decided to explore a direction she wasn't as certain of.

As she started her run, her mind went back to Nikolai. Something was bothering her about the entire situation, something she wasn't yet ready to admit to anyone, least of all to herself. Still, a part of her persisted until she actually thought about it. What if Nikolai's arrogance really wasn't his fault? He grew up as the first-born son to the king of all vampires, and would most likely inherit it from his father. He was born, roughly, in the late thirteen hundreds, or at least, that was what Lizzie had been taught in one of her many sociology classes, so the man had lived to see war, death, and famine. She was certain he had probably loved a few times, and since as far as she knew, he was single, had endured heart break as well. She wondered how he would treat his people, if he really was the right choice to inherit the throne. His father was supposed to be an excellent ruler, and his people seemed to love him. It must have been a shock to them to hear that he was stepping down.

The rumors ran rampant on why Vladislaus allowed such a thing was happening. Lizzie liked to think, though she would never admit it, that it was to spend more time with Elise. Being a king probably put a strain on their relationship unless he involved her in things, and she wasn't sure if he was the type of person to do that. She got the impression that both Nikolai and Lewis were too prideful to ever let a woman help them, and she wasn't sure if it was because their father was the same way, or if it was because he was decidedly different.

Oh well.

The fact of the matter was that Lizzie truly believed that neither Nikolai nor Lewis was ready to inherit the throne from their father. Despite their longevity of life, they still acted selfish, immature, and entitled. How were they supposed to successfully rule the people when all they cared about were themselves? And they should know that they weren't ready. If they truly cared about the vampires, they would step up and get themselves together so that they were ready, or they should admit that they probably weren't the best choice, and Vladislaus should stick around for another couple hundred years until they were ready. Luckily, by that time, she would be gone and wouldn't have to worry about vampire politics.

Well, now, it was her job to worry about it.

There were no suspects just yet – save for Lewis, and that was a slim lead at best – and when she returned to the castle, Lizzie planned to look at the case files both Jackson and Nikolai supplied her with. Until then, she just wanted to run. Wanted to forget the way Nikolai looked at her that first night. Wanted to forget the way it made her body tremble with something akin to...need.

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