Page 46 of Cinderella and Her Vampires (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 5)

I slid my hand into his, allowing him to pull me from the bed. He then led me to the door where he unlocked and opened it and stepped into the hall, gesturing for me to join him. From there, he took my hand again, tucking it around his arm, and guided me through the halls.

“What are we doing, exactly?” I asked.

“I’m giving you the grand tour, especially seeing as how you keep insisting on coming here. You might as well know where everything is,” he said, keeping his eyes forward. “No more stumbling aimlessly through the halls.”

“Oh, how thoughtful of you,” I muttered.

“I thought so,” he said through a chuckle.

But I thought about what he said and came to the same consensus. He wasn’t wrong, after all. Though I had little intentions of coming back after tonight.

A strange sense of agony washed over me with the thought.

Weird.

I shoved the unwanted sensation way, way down, and focused on where we were going. Just in case I did need to come back. Knowing of a few key locations could benefit me at some point.

We started on the third floor. That was where most of the storage was and where their three rooms were. They kept themselves separated from the rest of the house, which I found interesting. Also, incredibly relatable. Still, the concept struck me as odd for vampires, whose lore was darkness and ground and death, would choose the highest level. But I wasn’t curious enough to ask.

The second floor was the donor rooms, guest rooms, and other rooms I wasn’t told about. I let the not knowing go, because I was out of the room, and I hated the idea of going back into it. Which probably would happen if I made too much of a stink.

I hated small spaces that much.

By the time we made our way to the main floor, Brock and Silas bumped into us. Xavier let go of my hand and stood straighter.

“We have a problem,” Silas said, flitting his gaze between the two of us. There was a dark shadow that crossed through his vision. One laced with accusation and betrayal. “My office now.”

He settled his eyes on me. A flash of hurt. I gulped. Why? I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t believe I wanted to discover the reason either.

“You too,” he said. “Seeing as how you are part of the reason we are in this mess, to begin with.”

I scoffed. “Well now look who’s calling the kettle black.”

Xavier glanced at me briefly before following Silas and Brock to Silas’s office. It was on the second floor with the rest of the donor rooms. I remembered passing by the door during our tour and I thought it was weird Xavier didn’t point it out to me. Maybe he figured I already recalled the room, which was partly true. I recalled the door and a great deal of what the layout inside was… just not where the location was exactly.

Plus, when we walked by during the tour, I had a strange sensation flow over my body that was both warm and cool all at the same time.

Minutes later, we all either sat or stood around Silas’s desk. He leaned forward and settled his attention on the top of the desk. “We have a problem.”

“Clearly,” I muttered. “That much has already been established.”

“Collin is missing,” he continued as though I hadn’t said anything. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he heard me though.

“Brock followed his scent to a park nearby, where it then disappeared. We believe he crossed over to the other side.”

I snorted. “What like died and went into the light?”

“No,” Brock said with a smirk. “More like took a portal to the parallel world that mirrors our own.”

“Oh,” I said and sat with the new information for a few minutes. The words that ended up spoken around me came out muddled and blended together. At first, I assumed the remark was simply another one of Brock’s smart-ass jokes. But the more the words cycled through my mind, the more they clicked together with a ring of truth. Then I caught up to everyone else.

“Wait. What?” I asked. “There’s a parallel world? Like, legitimate? And you can get there through a portal?”

All eyes rested on me.

“Like there is an actual world I could travel to using a magical portal?”

“She catches on quick,” Brock said with a smile. “Imagine that.”

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