Inject Me Sweetly / Dusk Until Dawn

:Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Thirty-Six

I kept quiet, seeing two flaws in his plan. One, he forgot to mention Vincent. Who was watching over him? Two, Sebastian could easily lie and say he'd renounce the throne and get away with it. There was no assurance that Ashton would gain the crown. Sebastian could easily tell the counsel, or whatever, that he was forced to lie.

A rustle of clothing announced the presence of a new vampire. Luca. He grinned evilly at me. "Well hello there, Emily."

"Luca."

"You don't look pleased to see me."

"There's just something about your ugly face I can't stand," I shot at him.

He scowled. "Watch your mouth."

Ashton stifled at a laugh, placing a hand over his mouth. Luca changed his glare to him. "Sorry," he apologized, clearing his throat. "It's just weird seeing someone say something like that to you. Usually the insulting person would be afraid of having his neck snapped."

"She should be," Luca growled.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You won't kill me. You need my blood."

Ashton nodded. "We might as well make use of what we can, right? After that, you're useless."

"What do you mean what you can?"

His eyes twinkled in amusement. "Ah, could it be you don't know?"

"Don't know what?" I demanded, the tightness in my stomach returning. It was becoming hard to swallow. Was he about to mention what Sebastian was going to tell me? "Does my blood return to normal eventually or something?"

He nodded. "Something."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Something what?"

"Stop asking questions," Luca snapped.

"Shut up."

"You little—"

"Children," Ashton interjected, throwing Luca a dirty look. "Can you please not argue?"

Joel chuckled, his laugh reverberating through his chest. "I like a girl who can stand up to Luca."

A bit of hurt washed over me at his words. Why was he talking like I was a stranger? I was the same Emily! He was the one who was different! He was the backstabber her who'd betrayed everyone's trust!

My ears perked as I faintly heard someone calling my name. Ashton smiled broadly, coming closer to me. "Ah, it seems that your knight in shining armor has arrived."

"Oh no," I breathed.

"Oh yes," Joel chirped. "This is my favorite part! I love seeing people's faces when they realize they've been stabbed in the back!"

I shook my head. I didn't want to hear that coming out of Joel's mouth. It was hard enough trying to accept the fact he'd double-cross the Rutherfords and myself.

"Emily!"

My heart skipped a beat. "Sebastian! Go away!" I shouted as loudly as I could. "Don't come over here! Go get help!"

"That's not right," Ashton said, frowning at me. He easily cut off my shouting by cover my mouth with his hand.

My cries were muffled as I continued to try and warn Sebastian. It didn't work. A few second later he appeared in front of me, his eyes wide. "Joel?"

"Hey," Joel greeted him.

He continued to stare at him, not understanding the situation. "What are you doing with Emily?"