Tormented Mistress ( Book One )

Chapter 55

Amber waited a moment before letting an unsure laugh escape. There was no way she was royalty. Hailey needed to check her facts.

But when Amber focused back on the woman, her face showed all signs of seriousness. "Hailey... What do you mean?" Amber asked.

"It's true. Look, your family gained charge of the kingdom, but when your parents had you, they got kicked off the throne," Hailey explained. "Thus why Luna despises your family."

Amber blinked. "Are you serious?" She asked so softly it could have been considered a whisper.

Hailey nodded after taking a sip of her drink. "It's against the law for a vampire and a human to have a child."

Amber had not known of this. It was sad that the vampires and humans despised each other that much. Love was love. But the fact that Amber could have been in charge of the kingdom... especially when she had not even known she was half vampire before all this. It was crazy. She was a bit grateful since she was anything but royalty. She was not the kind to be a leader or be in charge.

"What are you thinking?" Hailey softly asked, cutting into Amber's thoughts.

"I'm...I'm just trying to take all this in," Amber said with a tense chuckle. "It's a lot."

Hailey's warm hand was suddenly rested on top of Amber's. She lifted her eyes to find herself staring into Hailey's pools of beautiful brown eyes.

"I know it is. But I'm going to help you through it, okay? You can't give up."

Amber knew her own eyes were threatening her with tears, but she held them back. She closed them for a moment and took a breath before reopening them to gaze back at Hailey. "Okay..."

Hailey offered her a gentle smile of encouragement as her hand sat still on top of Amber's. Amber had major comfort in Hailey's touch, and did not ever want her to let go, especially while she was still swallowing all this down.

"Do you have any other questions?"

The talk she had overheard with her and Asher immediately entered her mind. "What's up between you and Asher?" She spit out without really thinking. She knew if she over-thought it, though, she would have made a bigger deal out of something which most likely was not anything too important.

Amber swore Hailey looked taken aback. "Me and Asher?"

"Yeah, I overheard you two talking about something the other day." When Hailey did not speak a word, Amber persisted. "Come on, Hailey. Please tell."

Hailey looked down and sighed. "You can't tell him I told you," she said, her eyes kept downcast.

"I won't," Amber vowed.

Hailey's eyes shot up to stare at Amber. "Amber, seriously. Promise!"

Amber smirked. "I promise, Hailey!"

"Okay...He knows about your predicament as well."

Amber felt her own eyes widen in dismay. "What? How?!"

"He was on Luna's side, and was sent to Dark Shadows to find more about you. His job is to report everything back to the men who captured your father. But he talked to me and swore he was against them, claiming he wanted to help."

Amber had taken a drink of her coffee while Hailey spoke and practically choked on it. She knew that kid was hiding something!

"So what? You believed him? What if he's lying?!"

Hailey motioned Amber to calm down with her hands. "I know he isn't, okay?"

"And how?"

Hailey shrugged. "Something in his face told me he was being honest."