Royal shuffle: Vampire's mate

ANDREA

I flushed the toilet after emptying the contents of my bowels. This was becoming a regular occurrence. I looked in the mirror and gasped at my reflection. My hair looked like a bird's nest. My eyes were swollen, that wasn't surprising, I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long while. I sighed and headed back to bed, the symptoms were very familiar, but I didn't want to believe it to be true.

I waited for Stacy to drive to work before driving to the hospital farthest from where I lived on Staten Island. The ten minutes I spent waiting for the result turned out to be the longest I've ever waited. I got home and the first thing I did was tear the result open, surprised that I was patient enough to wait that long.

My heart fell into my stomach as I read the contents of the result. I was indeed pregnant. And I knew who the father was. It wasn't Leo. I sat on the floor of my living room crying. Wondering on my next course of action and lost in thought. I was brought back to reality by Stacy opening the door and bounding in with smiles all over her face.

"Andrea, I have the best news!!!" She yells.

Her eyes fall on me and her smile disappears. I faked a smile but I barely had the energy to force my face to make that action.

"What's wrong?" She asked and sat next to me.

"It's nothing. I'm just tired."

"Don't fucking lie to me. You don't look fine at all. What happened?"

"I promise, it's nothing..."

"Andrea!!!"

I looked at her and could see the panic and fear in her eyes. I sighed and lay my head on her thighs, and closed my eyes at the feeling of her running her hands through my hair, and massaging my scalp. "Please tell me what's going on..."

I took a deep breath and sat up, wiping my face with my hands, and wrapped my hair up into a messy bun.

"You really want to know what happened?"

"Yes, please."

I nodded and reached for the paper on my far left and handed it to Stacy. I watched her face as a million expressions ran through it. First, confusion, then realization, further confusion, surprise, shock, and then finally anger. When she looked at me, her brows were drawn in.

"That fucking bastard. Fucking you while you rotted in that place?!"

"It's not Leo's."

Stacy gasped, "Whose is it then?"

I sighed, "You won't believe it."

"Try me," she said and sat up straighter.

I sighed, "It belongs to William."

Silence reigned in the room. I could see the wheels turning, her brain was trying to understand and digest the information given to her. I watched as her eyes moved from side to side, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand..."

"I'm going to start at the beginning. Pay attention."

"I'm all ears," she replied.

I told her everything. From the night of the stabbing, to how Leo died, to how I had killed out sister. I told her all about Esmeralda, and how she had a death grip on everybody using dark magic. I told her how she had drugged me to induce heat and had sent William to me. I told her how I had felt Leo with someone else that same night and found out that he did Esmeralda. By the time I was done, Stacy had her mouth hanging open.

"I know about Esmeralda. Her witchcraft."

"How? Did you do something to you?"

"No. But a lot of things didn't make sense. They didn't add up. I mean, no way Leo would allow her have that much leverage in the palace, or make decisions. She was more or less running shit." "I know...I still can't believe how she was able to learn black magic. Witches have been extinct for decades."

"They might be dead, but their books aren't."

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"That might be true."

"Oh, it is true. Like I said, I'm aware of Esmeralda's witchcraft. I confirmed it myself," she said, smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"I did a little digging around her room, and found a few books."

"Books?" I asked.

She nodded. "Books. Books about witchcraft. Dark powers. Dark magic. So, I began doing a little of my own research, looking into a few things. Like how to counter and reverse spells." "Wait, what do you mean by 'looking into'?"

"I'll show you," she said, and ran to her room, returning with a large carton box.

"What's in there?"

"Books," she deadpanned.

I watched as she pulled out several books. Just looking at them gave me the chills. There were seven books in total, all about witchcraft and the likes, I looked at Stacy, and she simply shrugged, as though carrying about these books were the most normal thing in paranormal America.

"Where did you get these, Stacy?"

"Some were from the libraries across town. I don't have a job, Andrea. I've devoted my time to this."

I nodded. "And the others?"

Stacy looked away.

"Stacy, and the others?!"

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She cleared her throat. "I got them from... Esmeralda's chambers."

"What?!!"

I sprung to my feet and began pacing my living room. Why was was the child thinking? I doubt anything was going through her head when she thought it would be a good idea to go into Esmeralda's chambers and take her books. "Listen. I was very careful. I doubt she even knows they're gone."

"And what makes you think that?"

"You were locked in there for months, Andrea. She would have known by now, don't you think?"

"What were you thinking? This is Esmeralda we're talking about here!!!"

"I know!!!"

"I cannot lose you too, Stacy...it would...it would break me."

Stacy wrapped her hands around me, "I'm being careful, I promise. I've been able to learn a few things. We need to break her spell. If not for anything else, for Adela."

"And what have you learnt?"

"The books contain a lot of ancient text, some of which were translated. They are really powerful books. If she had studied these for the past ten years, it only makes sense how she was able to become that powerful." "So, you're learning dark magic. That's going to make you a witch."

Stacy shrugged. "A good witch that is going to save her niece and help her sister get back everything that she had lost. A win is a win, I guess. Besides, why do you plan to do with the baby?"

"I'm going to have him. I'll raise this child, and I'll love him."

"How do you know it's a boy?"

"I just know."