54

Sophia’s POV

The doorbell rang and I hurried dropped the kitchen napkin I was holding and rushed to the door. Jenny was sleeping and I knew even if she heard the doorbell, she going get up to check who it was. I opened the door and Ian’s scent hit me instantly. He was standing in front of me, a bouquet of roses in his hands and a box of chocolates in the other.

I raised my brow at him but grinned anyway as I stepped aside for him to come in. The first thing he did was to kiss my cheek and I giggled.

“What’s burning?” He asked as he walked further into the house.

“Oh shit!” I groaned as I slammed the door shut and locked it before using my vamp speed to get to the kitchen. The waffles were already burning.

I groaned, rubbing my forehead as I glared at Ian. “You distracted me,” I said as I took it out and served it in a plate.

“Don’t blame me,” he said as he sat on the kitchen stool, dropping the flowers and the chocolates on the kitchen island.

“What’s the occasion?” I sked, eyeing the chocolates and the flowers. “Why did you get me those?”

“You?” He scoffed. “What made you think they’re yours?”

“They aren’t?” I asked with a frown, eyeing him.

“They’re for Jenny. Where is she anyways?” He asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked around.

“Sleeping,” I answered and scowled at him. “Why are you getting Jenny flowers but not me?”

“Oh are you getting jealous?” He asked with a smirk, his eyebrows raising.

“Me? Jealous? Why would I be?” I asked. “She’s my best friend, not some random woman.”

“Good. I bought them as compensation,” he answered with a mischievous smile.

“Compensation for what?” Jenny walked into the kitchen in shorts and a singlet, rubbing her eyes sleepily and her hair messy.

“Hey Ian,” she added and sat on a bar stool, taking a waffle from the plate and biting into it, and then opening the chocolate box and taking chocolates.

“I’m going to have to steal Sophia for a few days,” he said and smiled at me then looked back at her. “Jacob will be here to watch over you for those few days.”

“You can’t be serious,” Jenny snapped, her eyes wide open now and her body stiffened.

“I’m sorry. But I trust only him around you,” he said as if that was supposed to be enough excuse for bring Jacob here to watch over her.

“Why can’t I come with you guys?” She whined.

“You can’t. It’s for Sophia and I alone. There will be no one to watch over you or find you when you get lost there,” he answered her.

“I can’t stay here with Jacob. He hates me!” She whined, her eyes already red with unshed tears.

“You hate him just as much,” Ian pointed out.

“He’ll kill me,” she shot back.

“He won’t,” Ian assured her, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Stop being dramatic. The chocolates and flowers are yours.”

“Oh,” Jenny murmured, her eyes brightening instantly. “Cool.”

“Cool?” I asked, raising a brow at her.

“What?” She asked, getting up from the bar stool and taking the box and flowers with her as she walked up the stairs. “You guys have fun at your vacation.”

“And you have fun with Jacob,” I shot back.

“Fuck you!” She yelled and then slammed the door to her room loudly. I laughed and turned to Ian.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise,” he answered.

“I want to know now. I won’t go with you if you don’t tell me where we’re going to now,” I said flatly.

“Okay, fine. It’s a private island. You have a lot of things to learn. You need to learn how to protect yourself and that’s where I thought of taking you to practice,” he explained.

“Oh,” I said and smiled sheepishly. “Just you and me?”

He got up from the stool and walked around the kitchen island till he was standing in front of me. He slammed his lips on mine, kissing me softly. “Just you and me,” he murmured against my lips and then kissed my forehead. “Pack up and let’s go.”

***

My ass landed on the sand for the umpteenth time and I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut. Ian and I had been dropped here in an helicopter about two hours ago. He only gave me time to freshen up in his grand villa, and immediately I did that finish, he had told me to meet him outside and he had began training me on how I was going to defend myself.

I was failing horribly. I was failing seriously. This wasn’t what I was expecting. Plus I was expecting myself to do well. I had even told me to not go easy on me.

And now my while body was aching. I got up with a groan and took up a fighting stance but then he shook his head. “Let’s do something else,” he said.

“You said we’ll be training,” I reminded him but he shook his head.

“You’re too exhausted. Let’s go do something else. Probably eat and freshen up,” he said as he took my hand and began leading me to the villa.

It was more than I had expected. The private island was beautiful and I was in awe when we landed here but the mansion had left me awestruck.

And there was no one else here apart from him and I.

We went in and I quickly had my shower and changed into a free dress. He did the same too, showering and changing into only shorts.

He came down and kissed my forehead then my cheek while I was pouring chips into a bowl for myself. I wasn’t really hungry, I just wanted snacks.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” He asked but I shook my head.

“I want you to tell me all about the vampire world,” I answered him. “I want to know all about your world. Our world”

“What do you want to know?” He asked, rubbing his face and then stretching his legs out.

“I want to know everything. I want to know all about the realm. I want to know how everything is…how it is.”

He sighed. “Well, my father ruled the vampire realm before he died. There are rare vampire breeds…there are some who can father children and there are some who can give birth, but they’re very rare,” he explained. “My father happened to be one of those who could father a child, and then...he married my mom who could bear a child. Only these people can rule.”

“And now that you’re the one in power, does it mean that…that…you will have to find yourself a vampire spouse that will bear a child for you?” I asked, my heart dropping. I suddenly felt stupid for asking such a question.

“You’ll be the one to do that for me,” he assured me but I shook my head. I didn’t need him to deceive me.

“I can’t bear a child,” I whispered.

“You don’t know that,” he pointed out but I shook my head.

“I do. You do too.”

“Let’s not talk about that,” he murmured, shaking his head.

I gulped and looked away. “How did your father die?”

“Vampires can live for long, but at the end it begins to tell on them when they’re getting weak. And when a ruler is getting weak, he has to be killed. By the person who is going to take over from him,” he explained quietly and I gulped.

“You mean…you killed your father?” I breathed out, my eyes wide.

“It was tradition. I didn’t want to do it but I had to,” He defended himself. “I had no choice but to do that.”

“I’m not judging you,” I told him softly. “It’s just so surprising.”

He said nothing.

“Can you…compel?” I asked. “I read up on it.”

“I can. You can too,” he answered.

“So that means any vampire can compel her to invite them in,” I said, my voice going up in panic.

“Not if she’s wearing vervain or if she has vervain in her system,” he explained.

“But she doesn’t know about that…”

“You don’t have to worry. We’ll arrange that once we go home. Jacob is keeping her safe now,” he assured me.

“Okay,” I nodded. “And this vervain, it’s not harmful?”

“Not harmful to humans but harmful to vampires,” he answered.

“What else is harmful to vampires?” I asked.

“Werewolf bites. Wood. The same way silver and wolfsbane is harmful to the lycanthrope,” he explained.

“And the witches?” I asked.

“Nothing. Nothing harms them. But they’re human, so that’s a weakness,” he replied.

I nodded my head, getting to understand more about our world. “When do we go hunting?”

He looked at me. “You want to hunt?”

I nodded.

“Let’s go.”