Page 57 of Cinderella and Her Vampires (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 5)

“Great start,” Brock said.

I nodded and watched them take off.

Silas, Brock, and Xavier got busy with collecting their donors. With as many rooms as I had seen, I assumed they were filled with donors, but minutes later, they returned with only a handful of people. Apparently, they were selective with who they chose to feed off of. Which was another interesting discovery.

“Hide,” Xavier said. “Try to be as inaccessible as possible.”

I nodded and we all scattered, searching for places to hide. I took the one I had just left. It was easy enough to get in and out of but appeared as nothing more than toppled over stone from the outside. From there we all stayed in the shadows, protected from human eyes as the first responders had pulled in front of the property and cut the sirens.

For the first time in my life, I was worried I was going to lose someone. Me. Miss Independent. The perpetual single lady. The love ‘em and leave ‘em girl. I had grown attached somehow and now I was afraid of losing someone. One of the three men, more specifically. It was the strangest sensation. One I didn’t want to look at too closely. But it did make something abundantly clear to me.

I didn’t want to leave them… I couldn’t leave them.

Nor did I want them to leave me. Especially if it meant moving to a different world.

And that was a different sensation I couldn’t shake. It rattled me through and through.

The first responders stepped inside what was left of the mansion and began their search, but none of them wanted to come inside too far for fear that the mansion was going to crumble on top of them. At least, that’s what the chatter on the radio said.

They all believed the mansion was abandoned, just liked in the stories, and assumed a gas line or water main had ruptured. Once they did all their checks to make sure nothing else was going to explode, they packed it up and headed out.

Once the coast was clear, we all left our hiding spots, and I raked my gaze around, taking in the state of the mansion as things continued to settle and clear. The sheer destruction of what used to be a beautiful and historic building. It was never going to be the same.

Much like me.

No matter how much I wanted to go back to the way my life was, I was responsible for part of the damages and knew I needed to do the right thing by helping them find a new place to live. Even if they didn’t want anything to do with me after tonight.

“Now, where were we?” Silas asked.

“Figuring out where to go now that our home is destroyed,” Xavier offered.

“We could always cross over and join our community there,” Brock said.

“We need someone over here,” Xavier said.

“I’ll help you find a place… wherever that may be,” I said. “Especially since I’m partially responsible for all of this.”

Brock smirked. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can go back to the way my life is. Especially now. At least, not yet. But if that’s what you all want, then I’ll respect that.”

“And the mark has nothing to do with these feelings of yours?” Xavier asked.

I shrugged. “I doubt it. I feel responsible for Collin, and I didn’t even know his name until I got it from you. I’m responsible regardless, and it’s only right for me to help. Bond or not. Mark or not. Besides, that will either wear off soon, or it won’t. Until I know for sure, I need to help you find a new place to settle.”

Silas huffed and shook his head. “As much as I hate to say it, we really can’t stay here. Not anymore. Not on this realm. We need to return to our people. Protect the humans and broker a long-lasting, peaceful life. Meanwhile, we allow things to settle here, and we can eventually return.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “Though I don’t know what I’m in for.”

“The biggest surprise of your life,” Brock said.

Xavier and Silas agreed.

I smiled, loving the sound of it. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

“You can come on one condition,” Silas said.

“What is that?” I asked.

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