Tainted Love

Chapter 7

**Above: photo of Abby (as requested)

Rose's POV

He looked at me, and all of a sudden his stare turned gentle. Kind. I was prepared for anything he threw my way, but not something so vulnerable. I had just tried to kill him, had I not? The one opportunity he gets to finally destroy me and he doesn't follow through.
He was weaker than I thought.

"I'm done fighting. If you choose to continue, I won't stop you, but I can't say the same for every other vampire here," he said, running his fingers through his jet black hair.

I snickered. "You expect me to believe you?"

"I expect you to choose the option in the best interest for both of us."

"And what would that be?" I snapped.

"No one knows you're the White Shadow, and no one needs to," he said. "Clearly you got this far without getting killed, and you've already impressed one of my officials. You could have a life here." He actually seemed excited about the idea for a moment.

"I have no life, first of all," I spat. "And second, I'm leaving. You get to keep your little kingdom safe, while I clean up the mess your kind makes among the humans."

"Killing vampires for no reason isn't right," he said. He knew what I had done all of this time while he built his empire. At least what I was doing kept vampires and humans separate and the entire world intact.

I laughed. "If they're in the Human Domain, I have every right to get them out of it, one way or another."

"You're not in the Human Domain anymore," he said.

"But I will be soon. So if you aren't going to kill me and I'm not going to kill you, I have no reason to be here," I said. "So, will you tell me where we are so I can get back to the United States?"

He paused. "We are on a small island near the eastern edge of the Bermuda Triangle."

I was quick to come up with an aggressive response. "Oh, so I can't kill vampires, but you can kill any innocent human that gets too close to here!" I yelled.

He shrugged, seeming surprised that I would know the legends of planes and boats disappearing in this area. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they contributed to the stories. "It's protocol," he said without a moment of hesitation.

"Who's protocol, exactly?" I asked, already knowing the answer. He answered anyway.

"Mine," he replied. He sighed and picked up the clipboard on the table, which the man had left behind in the rush. "Just fill this out. I don't have time for a petty argument on my past."

I opened my mouth to speak, but he quickly interrupted me, holding out one hand to add to his authority. "Again, no time." I rolled my eyes, but still snatched the clipboard out of his hand.

I've never been more confused than I was right now. Reynold hadn't told anyone who I was, despite being completely furious at me. I was fuming. One of should have died in that room, and it wasn't me. But for some reason, I didn't kill him. I walked out of the room without a scratch after I had quickly written down false information on a notepad and threw it at him: