Page 24

After some basic field healing that only helped with the pain some, a cold shower for inflammation that Slevin had to assist me with, the meal Harper and an Imperial Guard ran to Pike Place Market to get, and many phone calls later, we headed to a runway located not far from the hospital.

A private jet was waiting for us.

I assumed it was the same way I had gotten there.

Harper supported most of my weight as I walked. He wanted to know what I was keeping from him, but there wasn't anything to say that he didn't already know for the most part.

Commander Azrael and nine of the Imperial Guard accompanied us, but I wasn't sure why.

When I asked, I was told that the King and Queen of the Unified House owed it to my parents to make sure I was safe since they have been dedicated employees for decades. Once they were certain that Prince de Babineaux and I were safe, they would return to the Imperial Court.

Azrael's reasoning was sound, and it wasn't something to question, but it felt as if I was missing something.

I had to press it since I was paranoid about everything now.

Azrael said I must have had brain damage if I truly believed that he would allow his niece-in-heart to return to campus without him signing off on security, and confirming it was safe, first.

That, I couldn't argue with, so I gave him a shopping list that he was only slightly amused by: I wanted some pampoenkoekie, dro?wors, koeksister, vetkoek, and biltong.

A lovely list of South African snacks that would be harder to get in a timely manner than finding whoever tried to kill me, I'm sure.

The drama all of this was going to cause at the Academy would be reputation-ruining. But it wasn't my reputation I had to worry about, it was Prince de Babineaux's reputation that stood to be ruined because of me. Even if something was deemed to be kept quiet by Royal Decree, everyone at the Academy would know about it within the hour.

You had to admire how teenagers and young adults could gossip.

Carefully I took the small set of stairs leading into the plane with everyone in tow, carrying a stack of bento boxes in one hand; they were my leftovers for the flight.

When I stepped inside, I stopped.

Standing in the back by the minibar was a young male wearing a uniform; black slacks with burgundy pinstripes and a matching slim fit, long-sleeve dress shirt with burgundy satin cuffs and black silk-wrapped buttons, over it was a fitted burgundy double-breasted vest with black buttons and piping, and a high collar that protectively covered his entire neck.

The matching cape was slung over the seat not far from where he stood, and instead of knee-high boots, he was wearing fuzzy zombie bunny slippers.

His skin tone, eye color, and hair shade and highlights matched mine, even his teeth when he smiled looked just like mine from the two years of orthodontics we were subjected to.

He tilted his glass of scotch into a single-sided toast. "Hello Baby Sister," he greeted before taking a drink.

"Zannie!" I squealed and hobbled down the aisle then threw myself at him and hugged him tight, nearly knocking his head off with the stack of bento boxes in my hand.

"Huh. Excited to see me much?" Zane teased.

"You have no idea," I said, sniveling, and he tenderly caressed my head. "What are you doing here?"

Zane kissed the side of my head. "We have an hour flight to discuss that if you are up for it," he said. "Think you can loosen your hold on me so I can refill my drink? I am rather talented, but even I require at least one hand to pour a drink with."

I loosened my hold on him so he could refill his drink.

"Ooh, please tell me that you brought me a snack," Zane said, taking the bento boxes.

I shook my head. "No, but we can share what's left. I nearly put it all down myself while we waited for our ride, but I got extras: , two dozen each of Temaki, Hosomaki, Uramaki, Futomaki, , Temarizushi, Gunkanmaki, that we should be able to polish off between the two of us before we get back to Vancouver."

Zane sighed with a warm smile. "I truly missed your insatiable appetite and how fat you should be, Baby Sister."

I glared at him, causing him to smile wide.

"I hope that is not scotch, Master Li," Azrael warned, taking a seat in the front of the jet.

"There could be soda in it if you want, Uncle," Zane offered before blowing his falling bangs from his eyes then smiled a teeth-baring smile, one that Azrael always caved to.

Azrael sighed in resignation but didn't press it.

Zane motioned for me to sit down. "What in the hell happened?" he whispered, joining me once he had me situated and buckled in. "And why the hell is de Babinbitch here?" he asked, glaring at Viggo when he entered the jet and sat up front with the Imperial Guard. "What happened to his hair?" he asked, unpacking the bento boxes.

"How do you know him?" I asked, speaking quietly in the language we made up as children, our way of having privacy since we grew up surrounded by roaming Sentinel patrols; our twin-speak. "How long was his hair?" I asked before folding up a Temaki and then shoved it in my mouth.

Zane covered me up with his cape, careful not to touch my many bandaged wounds. "We were both at the Academy in the Clouds together," he said, making a face before taking a sip of his drink and then shoved a Nigirizushi in his mouth. "His hair was stupid long," he said, talking with his mouth full. "And when he was wearing his uniform, he looked like he fell out of a damn anime, it was ridiculous with how long and flowing his hair was. It was supernatural! The constant breeze that blew over the bridge connecting the dorms to the academic buildings always caught in his long hair and blew it away from him like he was on the cover of a stupid romance novel or was doing the opening credits for a Vampire anime," he grumbled before helping himself to a slice of Futomaki. "I'm pretty sure that's the entire reason there were so many damn Vampires at that Academy in the Clouds, so they could look like they fell out of an anime. Though, none had hair like de Babinbitch."

Huh, for some reason I really would like to have seen that; Viggo with long, flowing, supernatural hair.

"Why did he leave?" I asked when Zane took a Nigirizushi and shoved it in his mouth.

The easiest way to get information from my brother was to distract him with either boobs or food.

"Rumors are running rampant, and you can imagine the outlandish reasons as to why he left," I said in our twin-speak. "One rumor is trying to give him credit for your little Headmaster's daughters' incident."

"What?!" Zane shrieked with his mouth full of Nigirizushi. "That was me and you know it!" he shouted, peppering the seat in front of us with rice and partially masticated raw fish.

The others turned to regard him, and I giggled.

"Sit down before they separate us," I scolded.

Zane huffed and sat back in his seat. "They wouldn't be so foolish," he sneered before shoving the rest of the Nigirizushi in his mouth. "And why do you care why de Babinbitch left Stockholm? You don't want to sleep with the bloodsucker, do you?" he mumbled with his mouth full, making a face.

I laughed, and it wasn't forced.

Zane can always make me laugh, even if I didn't want to, especially with how off the wall his comments can be, and how he effortlessly turns everything around so it has to do with him.

"No, Viggo is a Hemoglobe, but that is beside the point. I'm curious about him, wouldn't you be?" I rhetorically asked, relinquishing the rest of the sushi to him.

"Curiosity killed the cat," he reminded me, offering me a Uramaki and I took it.

"So did Grandma Li's truck, but that isn't the point, now is it?" I said, and we laughed, drawing the attention of everyone on the jet. "Are you avoiding my question, Zannie?" I asked before shoving the piece of sushi in my mouth.

"To a point," he admitted. "But I don't know why he left the Stockholm Academy. From what I know, he's been to nearly every Academy in the world over the course of his first and second year, he was home-schooled like we were apparently, but his longest stint was at Stockholm when he arrived two weeks into his third year and we were roomed together."

That was interesting to know. Not many are homeschooled in our world.

"Vancouver and three others are the only ones he technically wasn't enrolled at; Chelsea, which is a female-exclusive academy, Moscow is male-exclusive and he was there for two weeks while waiting for his paperwork to process for the Stockholm Academy, and the Mannin Academy on the Isle of Man, and we all know what happened there," he continued, peppering the seat in front of us with rice. "I can confidently say that whatever rumors you heard, aren't true. That personality-challenged Vampire is as mundane and vanilla as they come. He doesn't even drink!"

That wasn't entirely helpful.

"I never imagined that he'd be here with you though. Why is that?" Zane asked, suspiciously, especially after he opened the last bento box and found the Temarizushi I normally wouldn't share.

I shrugged and then winced.

Zane offered me one of the Temarizushi and I took it from between his fingers with my teeth. "Don't bite me, Brat. Why is Prince Non-Bloodsucker here with you?" Zane asked, shoving a Temarizushi in his mouth. "Are you sleeping with him?" he asked again.

I gasped and softly smacked him, causing my annoying brother to chuckle before shoving more sushi in his mouth.

I looked down the aisle to Viggo; his attention was on his hands, his posture stiff.

"Stop asking that before you cause damage to his reputation since he's of the first Five Houses," I scolded. "And why is he here? I don't know," I admitted. "I passed out at school, and the next thing I know, I woke up with Prince de Babineaux and the rest of them at the hospital just outside of Seattle. I haven't a clue as to what is going on, but something isn't right, I think the Imperial Guard knows but they're not saying. Why are you here?"

Zane stacked up the empty bento boxes then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him before kissing the side of my head. "You have always been the paranoid one, Baby Sister," he teased.

"One of us needed to be," I reminded him, my fingers instinctively going to the amulet he was wearing, and I fingered the pendant.

It was Zane's prize possession, and anytime he held me I always ended up caressing over the runes carved into the precious metal surrounding the sapphire disk. There was something comforting in caressing over it; it was something Zane did when idle as well.

"True," he admitted.

"And that was supposed to be my late-night snack you just finished off," I complained.

Zane smiled wide.

"Not funny," I grumbled.

"I'm charming as hell and you know it," he retorted. "There are still two bento boxes with sushi left in them, I just can't promise they'll make it to Vancouver since I haven't eaten in hours. And why am I here? Mom and Dad thought it'd be better if we were on the same continent this time, so I will be going to school with you, keeping an eye on you and monitoring your wellbeing. You know, making sure you stay out of trouble and you don't hook up with stupid Vampire Princes."

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

Zane wagged his brows with an evil smile.

"You are going to be babysitting me?" I dryly asked, not amused. "You of all people that are the most irresponsible creature to ever live, are going to be watching after me, the most mature and grounded person you know?" I asked, wanting to clarify what he said because he was speaking crazy now.

Zane's smile fell and he shrugged. "That's accurate, I guess. I am thirty-some seconds older than you, so I don't think it's considered babysitting. But it is rather ironic that I was asked to keep an eye on you when you are usually the one that has to keep an eye on me."

He roared with laughter because it sounded just as ridiculous to him as it did to me.

"Oh, Baby Sister, I've missed you," he said, kissing the side of my head. "Only you can make me laugh like this." He finished his drink and then carefully pulled me close. "Relax and take a nap. I will be here when you wake up," he promised when he noticed my panicked expression. "We have all the time in the world to catch up. Besides, I know you want to hear all about my love life and all of my impressive sexual conquests."

"Ew," I complained.

Zane laughed again. "You know you live vicariously through me."

"Not really. I love you, but I don't want to know where your cock's been," I reminded him.

"I thought you always liked my stories," Zane said with a pout.

"Fantasy and erotica are two completely different things," I reminded him. "Unless you banged the Headmaster's daughters while battling a dragon, I don't want to hear about it."

"There was no dragon, sadly, that would have been cool and made it worth it though."

"Again, ew."

He kissed the top of my head again. "Sleep, Baby Sister."

I wanted to argue with him and play catch up, but I was tired.

"I don't want to sleep," I complained through a yawn, causing him to chuckle.

Softly he hummed under his breath against my hair, just as he used to do when we were kids and I was upset about something, and it lulled me to sleep.