8. Loyal

Nevea was lying hopelessly on the cold ground. Her eyes stayed watching the ceiling of the cell that seemed to stop spinning. She did not know how long she had been sleeping on the floor. All she could remember was that Logan injected something into her. He asked her the same question over and over again until he eventually gave up. After that, Logan just left her alone.

Sadness suddenly filled her chest as she remembered that nothing was happening to her that would lead her to the path of happiness. Instead, everything boils down to death. She wondered how long it would take until people in the building started dying. 

The small light from the cell's windows shone on her face, giving her a little warmth. She hugged herself, making her position akin to a fetus in the womb. 

The grumbling sound of her stomach came back again. She was beyond hungry, but those people did not even bother to give her a glass of water to suppress the hunger and satiate her thirst. They were a bunch of heartless people.

"I thought Logan would be different," she said lowly. She had thought that Logan would at least treat her nicely since he laughed with her before they entered the prison. But who would have thought it was the man himself who forbade his staff not to let her eat? 

"Kid just answers the question, and I will give you this toast." The guard told Nevea and showed a plate with toast on it and a glass of warm milk. 

Nevea's mouth watered at the sight before her. She extended her hand to reach for the plate. However, the guard pulled his hand back. She glared at the man like a cat who got its fill of food stolen.

"Answer the question first. Did you see anyone else?"

Nevea turned her back on him, avoiding the question again. She knew she should have snitched on that Zachary. But she did not understand why she was unwilling to do that. To think that Zach was a stranger, yet she went beyond her power to protect the man's name as though it was imperative for her to protect him.

'You can't even protect yourself, yet you want to be a shield for a grown adult man. Ridiculous, Nevea.' She grumbled in her head.

Fortunately, Nevea used to hold her hunger when she stayed in her third mother's home. So right now, she was not feeling overwhelmed by hunger. 

"Uncle, can I take a bath? You see, I reek of blood." Nevea asked since she still wore the same pajamas from the orphanage that were colored with blood beautifully. 

"The question." The guard answered simply.

"Forget it," Nevea said. 

Since they won't change their mind, she would harden her will not to give in. In the future, if she ever met with Zach again, Nevea would ask for money and hurt him with a knife again as compensation for what she had been through. 

***

While Nevea was wallowing in her misery, Zach was enjoying his time watching two humans shake greatly as they stood before him. He sipped the blood from the glass like he was enjoying wine. He savored every drop of it. 

The advantage of getting blood portion from the blood bank was that they got good quality blood. He never once had to taste the rotten blood of a sick person. But the downside was that he could not enjoy the expression of a human face as he drained their blood.

From time to time, Zach missed the feeling when his fang sank into a human's neck. It felt more delicious than drinking from a blood bag. 

"You, come here." Zach pointed at the short hair woman to come closer to him. 

The woman complied immediately. She did not want to anger the vampire before her since she was aware that if the vampire wanted to kill her, then even if she tried to run, she would not be able to escape. 

"So slow, tsk." Zach abruptly moved and appeared right in front of her. 

He touched the woman's neck, feeling the pulse beating hard like she was on the run. The smell of fear from the woman almost drove him crazy. God, how he loved to inflict terror on another being. 

"Don't be scared." He said in a low voice, almost dangerous. He stroked her neck before he lowered his head and sank his fangs into her neck.

"Ah!" The woman screamed as the pain invaded her sense. 

Zach could feel his excitement increase significantly when the blood flowed into his mouth and entered his throat. As a result, he ignored the human's plea and decided to suck her dry until her body withered like a dead plant. 

"Delicious," He stated as he wiped the trace of blood from his mouth. 

Zach's eyes darted to another woman. The sinister glint in his eyes could not be concealed as he made his way toward the other woman. Without saying anything, he also enjoyed the woman's blood until the last drop. 

After he was done, he eyed the two corpses on the floor flatly. Then, finally, he kicked them out of his way and called for Silas. "Silas!"

Silas was seen running like his life was on the verge of dying. "Your Majesty," He greeted while his eyes trailed into the two women. 

"Take the trash with you." The trash he meant was the dead body.

"Understood, Your Majesty." Silas sighed as he took care of the body. He felt terrible for them, but again, the women he chose were criminals, so his guilt was not as immense as when Zach killed a pure soul. 

"Wait, Silas. What about the little girl?"

Silas froze on the spot. He forgot to report that the little girl was in the cell. He gulped nervously and turned to face Zach again. "From the last information, she was put into the cell."

"Why?" A frown marred Zach's temple. 

"Logan wanted to interrogate her. But she did not talk even after they injected truth serum."

"I did not expect her to be a loyal human," Zach muttered to himself. His mouth curled into a grin of satisfaction. "Call The Academy and make sure she is out of the cell before the day ends. I don't care how you do that; I just want the result. Understand?"

Silas sighed heavily. All the dirty work always fell upon his shoulder. "Understood, Your Majesty."

Zach glared at Silas' back as his butler went out the door. He rested his head against a chair that looked almost like a throne. A sly grin bloomed on his lips as the image of the little girl entered his vision. He loved the fire in her eyes. The insanity danced in her eyes so freely, but there was a glint of innocence there as well. She was not completely mad yet. But he would make sure Vlassta would take away the innocence in her. 

Zach would take her for himself when she learned the beauty in killing and the satisfaction of seeing blood dripping in her hands. Then, he would use her to kill people who annoyed him and those who dared to disturb his peace.

Zach could hardly wait to meet her again. He hoped she wouldn't disappoint him. 

***

Logan looked at Nevea, who was sleeping soundly in the cell, making him exhale heavy breaths. He totally did not expect her to survive like this. A little girl like her should be easy to break, but she turned out to have a strong will. 

Before Logan went to the cell, he received a call from the palace. And just as he expected, someone there wanted the girl to be out of the cell. The person behind Nevea must have had a significant influence on the court since Silas Rowan made the call. 

Who was Silas? He was the right hand of the former king, and now he works as the advisor of the current king. Therefore, for Silas to make a call meant Nevea protected someone with great influence. Logan did not understand why they did not just kill the girl. It would be easy to cover their track if they did.

"Take her out, Adam," Logan ordered a young human behind him. 

Adam opened the cell, stepped inside, and touched the little girl's shoulder to wake her up. 

Nevea rubbed her eyes with her tiny hands, and her eyes opened gradually, adjusting the light that entered her vision. Seeing a new face made Nevea wary. She tittle her head innocently and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Adam West," Adam said. He helped Nevea to stand as his fellow human was weak. 

"Am I free to go?" The hope in her voice could not be concealed.

"No. You will be staying in the academy. Train with all the students, and after graduating, you will work for Vlassta." Logan interjected, which made Nevea jerk her head in his direction. The confusion on her face forced Logan to explain a bit more. "Someone from the palace wanted you to work in Vlassta." 

"But I don't know anyone from the palace…." Nevea's voice got small as she realized that maybe the man named Zachary was one of royalty. Her face went paler than before as she knew the mistake she had made by stabbing someone important. 

"You seem to remember something. Mind to share?"

"I don't remember anything." Nevea denied as fast as the winds blow. 

"If you say so," Logan replied. He had a lot of time to unravel the man behind her, and after that, he would ask Nevea to kill that man herself. "I forget to inform you that working under Vlassta means you will kill a lot of people. Both humans and vampires." 

Nevea felt the hair at the back of her neck stand up. And her body turned stiff. She did not want to learn how to kill. She was not heartless enough and did not want to be one without a heart. She did not want to lose the angel in her. 

"You can reject," Logan uttered, and Nevea's eyes glimmered with hope, "But after that, we have to kill you." He added. It was a lie. There was no rule like that. He just wanted Nevea to agree without having too much drama. 

Nevea gulped hard. To kill or to die. Neither choice was good enough for her. Why could there not be an option where she left this place intact and had a happy life? She wanted to cry and scream at Zachary and Logan for putting her through this predicament. 

"Your choice, kid."

"Okay," Nevea said in a weak voice. 

"Okay what?"

"I will train hard and work for Vlassta."