Two choices ...

I had two choices, either stand my ground and try to prove the nurse was poisoning me, or turn back around and return to my room. I stood in front of Nico and Luc, and silently weighed up my options. Sure, I could make a dash for it and attempt to push past Luc and Nico, and continue my search, but I was 99% certain it would end in failure. Either Luc or Nico would catch before I'd even managed to run pass them, or if I was fortunate enough to slip past these two formidable vampires, it would be only a matter of seconds before they caught up with me. Perhaps if I was lucky I might open a single door before I was caught, sedated and dragged back to my room.

"Luc," I began, hoping that a last minute plea might change his mind, "Please, Luc. I know this sounds crazy, but I swear someone is trying to poison me - " my plea was cut short.

"You have two choice, Mia - don't make me choose one for you," he snapped, unapologetically.

He stood his ground, unyielding and as cold as granite. I glanced towards Nico, my old adversary who had now become my only ally. Nico subtly inclined his head towards my bedroom door, silently urging me to retreat back into my room. But how could I? If I relented then the nurse would continue to poison me, and I'd continue to grow weaker, and everything that I'd gone through in the bathroom would've been for nothing!

"Luc - " I began, but my voice faltered when my eyes clashed against Luc's cold dark unforgiving stare.

Damn it, I've never seen him look so mad before.

I exhaled slowly through my teeth and lifted my hands up in a gesture of surrender. Backing away slowly I said, "Fine, I'm heading back to the bedroom."

Okay, this wasn't strictly an act of submission. This was a strategic manoeuvre - live today, fight tomorrow. Luc couldn't guard me twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; at least not with his crazy younger brother still running around. I'd just have to bide my time and wait for Luc to disappear for a few hours, and then slip out my room and explore.

Hell, if I was lucky, Nico might even help me.

Luc watched me back slowly into the bedroom until he was satisfied that I'd firmly abandoned my foolish plans of tracking down the nurse's station. Once I was fully in the room, Luc turned to Nico and said, "Ask house keeping to send someone to clean up the bathroom, and call Henrietta. Tell her she was right, and ask her to prepare the Royal suite. She'll understand what you mean ... We can't keep Mia down here after whatever the hell happened in that bathroom."

Nico acknowledged Luc's orders with a curt nod, and disappeared up the corridor leaving us alone.

Standing in the middle of the bedroom, and I coolly waited for him to return back into the room. But instead he chose to stay outside in the corridor for a few uncomfortable moments. Maybe he wanted to compose himself before facing me, or maybe he wanted to heighten my dread by holding me anticipation. Eventually when he did finally chose to come back into the bedroom, he walked slowly through the door carrying himself with a deceptive calm. His dark eyes swept over me and then moved towards the bathroom. The bathroom door was wide open revealing the blood spattered room littered with pieces of shattered mirror.

Crap. It looked like a murder scene in there.

"What the hell happened in there, Mia?" he asked in a low voice.

"I - " my eyes dropped to the floor as I struggled for an answer.

"For fuck sake, Mia!" he hissed, raking his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know what happened," I said.

"Bullshit," he spat.

He turned abruptly, and grabbed the door and violently slammed it shut. An explosion of noise filled the room and I jumped in surprise.

Luc pointed at me and yelled, "I want the truth Mia, and I want it now!"

I folded my arms across my chest and snapped, "Well, I told you the truth and you didn't believe me!"

Luc let out a humourless laugh, "Oh yes, about the nurse poisoning you. So tell me Mia,meow did you magically see the nurse poison you, while you were in a coma? !"

"Okay," I sighed, "I know it sounds crazy - "

"Crazy does not even begin cover it!" he shouted.

"But, I just need you to trust me," I explained.

He shook his head, "Why should I trust you? All you've ever done Mia, is lie to me. You shut me out of your head. You keep secrets from me. You do everything to push me away... Do you realise how painful that is? Or how tiring it is?"

The pain in his voice was heart wrenching. His anguish and misery was beating at me, gradually becoming my own. I could feel my eyes burning with hot tears, but I blinked them away. I mustn't cry. No, I absolutely could not cry. I had to be strong. I had to maintain the pretence, otherwise ... My eyes drifted to the tapestry that hung behind Luc, and my eyes focused in on the women burning to death, screaming in the flames. My hands protectively wandered down to my belly, I reminded myself that it wasn't just me I had to think about anymore. I had to protect my baby.

Taking a meditative breath, I waved a dismissive hand at him and said, "Oh stop being so theatrically. I fell over in the bathroom, hit the mirror and cut myself."

"Damn it Mia, I heard you screaming! I saw the mirror pieces embedded on the inside of the bathroom door! Don't you dare make out that I was over reacting." he yelled.

Feigning a yawn, I shrugged, "Whatever, just make sure that all the mess in the bathroom it is cleaned up before I wake up tomorrow. Obviously, I am going to need a bath and a fresh set of clothes when I get up."

The sudden coldness and disinterest in my demeanour shocked Luc, who watched at me in astonishment as I turned on my heels and went back to bed. As I climbed in between the sheets, I could feel his stare burning a hole into the back of my head. He wanted the truth out of me, and he was prepared to drag it out of me, kicking and screaming. I ignored him and lay back down against the cold pillows, and I closed my eyes.

His heavy footsteps moved towards the bed and stopped in front of me. "You're fucking kidding me!" he snapped grabbing the blanket and pulling it off the bed.

"What are you doing!" I yelled at him.

"We are not finished!" he explained.

I rolled my eyes at him, and pushed myself upright against the pillows and said, "For goodness sake Luc, can't it wait until tomorrow!"

He shook his head, "No, I want answers now!"

"I've already told you everything I know, and now I am tired and want to go to bed," I said, trying to make a grab for the blanket which Luc held in his hands.

Luc threw the blanket to the ground and sprang onto the bed. I let out a squeak of surprise and tried to push myself away, but he crawled over me, straddling me. I began shoving the flats of my palms against his hard chest, but he quickly grabbed both my wrists and held them over my head.

"Have you lost your mind!" I gasped.

"Perhaps," he growled, leaning over me, "I feel like I am going crazy."

He looked crazy. His eyes were wild, and his was breathing ragged. His grip around my wrists was like an iron vice, threatening to squeeze that little bit harder and break the delicate bones in my wrists.

Wriggling underneath I whispered, "Let go of me."

"No," he snapped and an unexpected cruel crept across his face, "You know, I could be a real bastard like Louis. I could simply force my will upon without ever sparing you a thought. I could make you do whatever I wanted, where ever I wanted and there wouldn't be a single thing you could do about it. But I felt you deserved better. For fuck sake Mia, ever since I've met you, I've had to fight my own desires, and my own family's expectations, in order to respect and accommodate your wishes and desires. Did you know I could have dragged you back to the palace the moment I married you? I could've taken you away from your home, and your campus life the moment I sank my teeth into you."

"Wow - you're such a prince Luc. I should really thank you for not throwing me over your shoulder, and dragging me back to your lair like some prehistoric caveman." I said sarcastically.

"Fuck you," he growled, releasing my hands. He rolled off of me and the bed, then sprang onto his feet. Muttering a string of curses under his breath, he scooped up the blanket from the floor and threw it back onto the bed. I immediately pulled the blankets around me, and watched him storm off.

"Where are you going?" I called after him.

"Anywhere but here!" He yelled over his shoulder.

"But, what about me ... " I asked nervously.

"Nico can put up with your bullshit. As for me I'm done."

"What do you mean?" I replied

Luc turned his head to through me a withering look and said, "I'm done with you Mia. I am done with your lies, and I am done with your manipulation. I am simply done with you."

Every syllable felt like a knife's point, digging and tearing into my heart and soul. My chest tightened, and it felt hard to breath. The way he was talking to me ... it was like he wanted to break up with me. Clutching on to the blankets I anxiously called after him, "What do you mean Luc? When will you be back?"

Luc shrugged, "I don't know, and I don't care. As far as I am concerned, I curse the day I ever married you Mia Hayden."

*************

Author's Note (please read)

Hi angels,

Explaining this hard because it's not something I like sharing or talking about, however I feel I owe you guys an explanation on why I have been absent from wattpad for the last couple of months. For the past nine years I have suffered with depression and anxiety, and over the last couple of months I have been trying to cope with a bad depressive episode. When I get depressed I find it really hard to 'human', let alone write, and this is the reason why I stopped updating. I wanted to tell you guys at the time, but I didn't know how, and very quickly I became very overwhelmed with both the pressure and expectation to finish the book. There was so many people who wanted the book finished, including myself, but I couldn't write, and this made me hate myself for letting you guys down.... because you guys are awesome and I really, really hate disappointing you

But, as of now, I am feeling much better. During the past three months I have been undergoing treatment, and in the last couple of weeks that I have really started to feel the benefit of that treatment. I am starting to feel normal again, and more importantly I am starting to write again! Yay! So I will continue the updates, and they should be regular (hopefully a couple of times a week), now that I am better.

Thanks for your understanding, and I am really sorry for making you wait so long

Vicky xxxx