Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Hailey sprinted in the direction Caroline had fled, following the sound of hurried footsteps breaking twigs beneath them. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the other woman, who was a year younger than her, and she finally came to an abrupt stop.

Placing one hand against her stomach, she called out, "Thank goodness...you finally stopped. I wasn't about to chase you all evening."

Caroline, however, didn't pay attention to what Hailey said. She took several stumbling steps backwards, her face draining of colour. Then, without warning, she spun around and ran straight towards Hailey.

"Move!" Caroline cried, the terror in her voice made Hailey frown.

At first Hailey saw only movement between the trees, then one figure emerged followed by another. When two more stepped into view with their mouths stained with fresh blood that continued dripping onto their clothes, while their eyes were pitch black, she muttered under her breath,

"Damn it!" The next second she was running again, matching Caroline's pace. "Who exactly did you bring with you?!" she demanded between hurried breaths.

Caroline cried, panic making her voice tremble, "How should I know?! Ever since I came here, it's been one disaster after another! I feel like I caught some bad luck!"

"You think?" Hailey shot back, though her lungs were beginning to burn.

A guttural growl erupted behind them and one of the corrupted vampires suddenly lunged forward. Caroline felt something brush against the ends of her hair and she shrieked. "Help! Somebody, help me!"

Hailey's eyes darted from one shadowed path to another, trying to remember where the road was. Every direction looked the same in the darkness. If they strayed too far from the carriage, they would become just as lost as they were being chased.

Through the blur of trees, Hailey finally caught sight of Sawyer. Relief rushed through her chest but it vanished when he stood alone beneath a towering oak, idly peeling away strips of bark with his fingers without making an attempt to help them.

Hailey stared at him in disbelief. Both he and Prince Edward possessed hearing far sharper than any human's. Through ragged breaths, she shouted, "Didn't you hear her?!" as she ran towards him.

"I did," Sawyer smiled pleasantly. "Though I wasn't certain how urgently the help was required. Drop dead."

He stepped away from the tree, his gaze shifting beyond her shoulder. Realising what he meant, Hailey immediately threw herself to the ground.

At that same moment, he raised his hands and flicked his wrist. The thin strips of bark shot through the air and they whistled past like sharpened needles, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye before burying themselves deep into the corrupted vampires' pitch-black eyes.

The corrupted vampires let out agonised screams. One stumbled before collapsing to the forest floor, while another veered wildly off course and slammed into a tree, the impact echoing through the woods. The others clawed frantically at their eyes, momentarily blinded by the bark embedded within them.

"Were Jinxy's classes useless to you?" Sawyer asked as he stepped past Hailey.

Hailey was still bent over with her hands braced against her knees, struggling to steady her breathing after the frantic sprint. At his question, she slowly raised her head to look at him, her chest still rising and falling rapidly. She replied dryly,

"Yes, because fighting four corrupted vampires after running half the forest sounds like an excellent idea."

Sawyer laughed before he murmured, "It appears you are worth more than a shilling."

Before either woman realised what he intended to do, Sawyer stepped towards the nearest corrupted vampire. His hand pierced straight through the person's chest as though flesh and bone offered no resistance. He then pulled out the heart, throwing it, which fell on the ground with a dull thud. The corrupted vampire collapsed without another sound.

Sawyer repeated the motion with the remaining three. By the time he withdrew his hand from the last body, blood splashed across the ground and onto the hems of the women's dresses. A few warm droplets landed against Hailey's cheek. She swallowed before forcing herself to look away from the lifeless bodies.

"Weren't they supposed to be kept alive?" Hailey asked, unable to hide the uncertainty in her voice. "So we could find out what happened to them?"

"Corrupted vampires rarely possess a coherent thought once they reach this stage," Sawyer answered, glancing down at the blood coating his fingers. "Keeping them alive serves no purpose. They become little more than beasts waiting to hurt the next person they see."

His eyes shifted to hers and he asked, "Why? Were you hoping to make acquaintances with one of them?"

Hailey frowned, "Of course not. I would very much like to return to the mansion."

A tiny hiccup escaped from beside them and Hailey turned her head. Caroline sat perfectly still but her lips trembled while she stared blankly ahead.

"I—I think. I think one of them got me," Caroline whispered.

"What do you mean?" Hailey's brows drew together before she looked at the young woman's body, who finally turned to show her back.

The back of Caroline's dress had been torn open. Just beneath her shoulder rested two unmistakable puncture wounds where blood continued to seep through the fabric. Hailey's heart sank. Ruelle had trusted her to look after Caroline, and somehow she had still allowed this to happen.

Caroline looked over her shoulder, panic already welling in her eyes. She asked, "Am I going to become infected?"

Neither Hailey nor Sawyer answered immediately. Their silence was answer enough and just like that, the last trace of colour disappeared from Caroline's face.

By the time they returned to the road, the carriage wheel was almost repaired.

The coachman was fastening one of the bolts when Edward emerged from the trees, brushing a stray leaf from the sleeve of his coat as though he had merely taken a short walk. He looked from one person to the next before his gaze settled on the blood staining their clothes. He remarked with a huff,

"I see you are all alive. I thought Hailey killed Caroline. With all the screaming, one would think the woods were haunted," the prince frowned before adding, "By the way, the carriage bolt is still missing. I searched everywhere."

Caroline barely heard a word he said. Her fingers trembled at the hot pain that she felt on her back.

Hailey then spoke with seriousness, "We need a physician, Your Highness. She was bitten by a corrupted vampire."

Edward's attention immediately shifted to Caroline and he assessed her physical condition. His hand slipped inside his coat and he said,

"Then there is only one way to go about this." A silver gun emerged and was pointed at Caroline's forehead and the human's breath hitched.

"Y-Your Highness..." Hailey turned alarmed. "You cannot kill her!"

"Why not? It is a perfect excuse," Edward asked as if he wasn't planning to kill her without a thought. "Do you know what happens when a human is bitten by a corrupted vampire? It turns into something worse than the original failed human turned vampire."

Sawyer rested a hand against the prince's shoulder, only to be glared at, and he pulled his hand away with an awkward smile. He then said,

"Your Highness. The corruption is still in the initial stage. If she receives treatment immediately, the corruption can still be purged. I doubt her death will go down well with Ruelle or the wedding."

The prince held the gun in the same position before he finally lowered it and said, "Very well."

Relief washed over Hailey. She then said to Edward, "The carriage might break down again before we reach the town. It would be quicker to ride the horses."

Edward gave a single nod.

The coachman hurried to obey, quickly undoing the harnesses and unhooking the horses from the carriage. Leather straps loosened one after another while the restless animals pawed at the ground, their warm breath rising into the cool night air.

As everyone busied themselves preparing to leave, Sawyer remained standing where he was. His eyes lingered on the stretch of forest they had emerged from, as though listening for something.

Hailey stepped closer to Edward and whispered, "You did well, Your Highness."

Edward looked at her from the corner of his eye before giving a small harrumph. "I always do well," and he folded his arms across his chest with a roll of his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to see Ruelle sad. "Take the carriage back to the Slaters' mansion. If someone asks, tell them we took another carriage. There's no reason to worry them."

One by one, they mounted the horses. With the coachman left behind to tend to the carriage, they urged their horses forward, disappearing down the dark road towards the nearest physician.