Royal Glass Hearts: Immortal Secrets {A Reverse Harem Romance}

Nine

Half an hour later, I struggled to climb atop the mountain of clothing piled on my bed. Flopping face first into a leather jacket, I moaned.

"How have you possibly made that much mess in such a short time?" Corrie had a towel around her body and another around her wet hair.Must feel good to be all nice and clean.

"I got skills." I rolled off the clothing mountain, knocking half onto the even larger floor pile and nearly losing the towel wrapped around my own body.

"Did you leave hot water for me?"

"As much as I love to torture you, yes. No need to get your feather's in a tizzy, the bath's warm. Though, it may be a lovely shade of neon green. Anyway, don't go expecting me to be your bath warming bitch for the year. Your mother is rich, buy some spells from the witches."

I would have replied that I didn't know any witches outside the Glass Kingdom, except I was already naked and submerged in the warm embrace of neon green bathwater. At least it didn't stain.

As much as we liked to tease each other, I'd do anything for Corrie. Besides my parents, she was the only person I trusted with the knowledge of my secret mortality. She understood my complicated relationship with my mother better than anyone, having herself grown up with the infamous Rapunzel. The same Rapunzel who had been known to tie her daughter to the ends of her long hair to 'keep her safe'. Tripping over her mother's hair was how three-year-old Corrie had fallen from a tower window. She'd hung there for hours. Only her mother's hair caught on a jutting hook kept her from plummeting to the ground and becoming a faerie pancake. No wonder she hated towers.

I rubbed soap into my skin. It used to be the three of us girls—Corrie, Ruby, and me. Corrie had her wings and Ruby had her vampire fangs, but we were just kids playing together. We weren't worried about our differences; all we cared about was racing and squealing down the hallways of the Glass Palace. Then everything changed. There was a tightness in my chest whenever I thought about Little Red Riding Hood's granddaughter. Ruby was at this academy somewhere, but emotionally we couldn't have been further from the children we'd once been.

"Kira," A knock at the bathroom door drew me from my musings. "Can I go on ahead? We're running out of time, and I really want to see Ash before the ceremony."

"Get out of here. I'm sure I can find the ceremony hall on my own."

"You sure? I'll leave the campus map for you."

"Go." I smiled. I loved that we looked out for each other but could also give each other space. I mean, we had just spent the last twenty-four hours squished together in a pumpkin.

Finishing my bath, I checked the time. It was near noon. I set to rummaging around for something to wear. I could finally wear whatever I wanted, and what I wanted was something that said: don't mess with the siren who can control your mind.

I buttoned a green blouse over my lingerie and tucked it into a high-waisted skirt. I finished my outfit by clipping my thigh-high stockings onto my garter and tying my dagger sheath around my thigh. I had no idea what the academy's policy was on carrying weapons but, until my siren awakened, there was no way I was going to waltz around without something to fight with. My mother raised me better than that.

I glanced at the clock before darting out the door. If I ran, I might make it. I was already out of the stone dormitory before I remembered ... the campus map! Oh well, future queens don't need maps. Just needed to find the ceremony hall. Couldn't be that hard, right? Big room, big doors, big assembly ...

The midday sun warmed my face and a breeze helped lift my mood. The thick walls of our new room were claustrophobic and stifling, like I was being weighed down on all four sides. It was nothing like the bright and airy Glass Palace. And yet, there was no one here to disapprove of me dyeing my hair or to force me to wear ridiculous outfits. How could a place be both stifling and freeing at the same time?

I made my way down the cobblestone path. With everyone at the opening ceremony, the campus grounds were empty.

A flash of colour caught my eye. A vibrant blue butterfly circled around a bush and then came to land on my outstretched hand. It's wings gently vibrated in the wind.

"You're beautiful," I murmured, trying not to scare it. I started at the sound of a woman's low moans. The sudden movement disturbed the butterfly, and it flew away.

Tucked into an alcove, a vampire hunched over a woman, his fangs sunk deep into her neck. He was hurting her so badly she groaned. Without thinking, I was on them.

"Get off her!" I twisted his arm behind his back until he released her, red saliva trailed from her neck to his bared fangs. He wiped a tongue over his bloody fangs and retracted them into his gums.

The woman whimpered, her pupils dilated. Wrapping my palms around her shoulders, I drew her away. "Are you okay?"

Her gaze cleared, and she thrust me back. "What the hell? You one of his exes?" She rubbed the rune charms—symbols inked onto small scrolls of parchment and strung together like a necklace—which hung around her neck.

"You're a witch," I stated unnecessarily.

"And you're a major buzz kill." She gave her hair a dismissive flip.

The vampire leant against the wall and laughed, like he was a spectator and not the one caught with his fangs out. He casually swiped back golden-brown hair. In fact, everything about him was golden, from his biceps to the cut of his jaw.

"He wasn't hurting you?" I dragged my eyes from the vampire back to the witch.

"No, you bitch. I asked him to bite me."

"Who whimpers in pain when they feel good?"

The witch adjusted her top which had been pulled down to reveal the top mound of a pale breast. She wiped away the blood trailing down her shoulder.

"You're definitely not one of his exes or you wouldn't be asking me such a stupid question." She turned to the vampire and briefly pressed her pink lips to his.

"Thanks, babe. See you later."

Then she sauntered off as if she hadn't just been a vampire smoothie.

I glared at the fanger. He had thick metal studs in each ear and a protection ring on his finger. All vampires wore them to allow them to walk in the sun unharmed. He used his thumb to spin the ring around his index finger. On some males, jewellery just looked tacky, but on him it was sexy. His leather pants were tight-fitting and moulded perfectly to his lithe, muscular body.

"Sorry for ruining your ... date." I turned to leave. He traced in front of me, crowding me back against the wall. His hand came to rest beside my head. The stone was rough against my back. His sky-blue eyes dilated and his nostrils flared as he breathed me in. I resisted the urge to drag my fingers across his smooth skin. Would it be warm or cool to the touch?

He leant in close, his lips only inches from my neck.