Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince
Chapter 11

I was nearly late to school thenext morning, by sheer accident. I stayed up too late finishing my homework. Ididn’t usually struggle in this area, but with the new knowledge of Finn and whathe was and everything that we discussed… well the information shook me to mycore and corralled itself into my waking thoughts. I found my mind returning tohim and the other mysteriously alive vampires that I never knew existed, morethan once. But even with the distracting subject I completed all of my work andtried catching up on sleep in the early morning hours.

Once the first alarm went off, Imashed the snooze bar and rolled back over only to jump awake thirty minuteslater and notice the gap in time. I had missed the bus, and couldn’t wait forthe next because by then classes would have started. I was forced intopedestrian alternatives. I dressed, gathered my belongings, and ran for it. Itook back alleys and side streets so I wouldn’t come across other people. WhenI spotted others that I couldn’t avoid, I slowed down, so they wouldn’t beattracted by my unusual quickness. But for the most part I literally fled tothe school.

I arrived with my hair windsweptand slightly frizzy by the breeze, and caught Seth waving at me from the maindoors before he disappeared inside. In the sudden plight from my apartment, Ihad only gathered up my papers, but I hadn’t stuffed them into my bag like Inormally would have and carried them in my arms. In fact, now that I thoughtabout it, I only had my keys and books with the paper stack of homework, but nobag and no writing utensils. Silently cursing myself for being so distractedthat I left my other necessities at home, I slowly made my ways indoors.

“Good morning,” he greeted,suddenly in front of me to the right.

I nearly jumped ten feet in theair, but the items I carried weren’t so lucky. They lay around me in piles onthe painted concrete surface. I glowered at him, no doubt looking flustered andmessy. I was sure I didn’t look as presentable as I usually did. My white shirtwas not tucked in, hanging loosely around the plaid skirt, and wrinkled from mysleep. I had forgotten to throw on the vest or the tie, which meant I was outof uniform.

“You look…” he trailed off whilehis blue dark eyes swept up and down my body.

I snorted and tapped my foothurriedly. “You nearly scared me.”

He pursed his lips but didn’trespond right away. His eyes met mine again. “Long night?”

I stopped my foot. “I’ve missed threedays of class…what do you think?” I retorted with my sarcasm. Thank goodnessthere wasn’t a wind today, otherwise my essay would be dirtied and trashed,scattered around the parking lot. Without waiting for his response, I startedpicking up everything.

The bell rang, and I cursed aloudthis time. I shut my eyes and nearly whined, but stopped myself because of hispresence. There was no point in looking like a baby.

When I opened them again, all of mystuff had been gathered, and was awaiting me in his arms. He held the pile outfor me, of which I took and thanked him generously. But as I rummaged throughthe stash, looking for Ms. Ingram’s pop quiz, I realized that I left my Englishessay at home. I gritted my teeth in frustration and looked away from Finn sohe couldn’t read my reaction. I was already late, but I needed that essay. Iturned back in the direction I came from and headed back towards the bus stop.

Finn grabbed my arm and tugged onit, trying to pull me back in his direction. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I wrenched my arm out of his,noticing that he used his given strength so that he could put me in my place,but it didn’t work out like he wanted it to, yet again. “I’m already going tobe late. I left my essay at home in a rush to get here, along with my bag andmy lunch. I have no money on me, and I look like a mess,” I growled.

His face told me all I needed toknow about the truth in those statements. I was right, and he knew it. But heshook his head. “The bus doesn’t stop here during the classroom hours.”

Like I didn’t already know that.The bus stop was only camouflage for my comings and goings. I would travel homethe way I came, by running, at the speed of sound.

“And you can’t run back home atthis hour.” He winked at me, hinting that he knew how I arrived here.

He must’ve been waiting for myarrival all morning. The question was did he notice my pace from two blocksover? If he had been paying attention, he would’ve seen the feat. I may looklike a blur to most people, but to his knowledgeable vampire eyes, he wouldknow what I was accomplishing.

I glanced over at his yellow car.It was always here, parked in the back, away from all the other cars so itwouldn’t get scratched or dented. Maybe he’d take the hint and let me drive it.

He smiled, following my gaze andshook his head. “The gate’s closed.”

I had forgotten about that. Therewas this iron fence that surrounded the school, with only one entry for carsand buses, and one entry for pedestrians. The pedestrian route always remainedopen with a security camera so that the staff could see who entered schoolgrounds. But the vehicle gate closed once school started and didn’t open againuntil it was over. To get out at any other time, you needed a special pass orkey code, which wasn’t given out unless you had an emergency.

It seemed I was destined for a zerotoday. I marched past him and headed for the door. I was already late to class,but that didn’t matter anymore. Ms. Ingram would understand.

Once we were inside, Finn corneredme in the hallway. “You can’t arrive looking like that.”

“Watch me,” I snapped at him andcontinued on down the hall.

He shook his head while keepingpace with me. “What are you missing?”

This time I raised an eyebrow andstopped. Why did he care? And what would he do about the situation? Therewasn’t anything for me to lose by giving him an answer. Sighing, I gave it. “Myessay for Dr. Edwards.”

He didn’t smile, but looked morelike he calculated some mathematical problem. Finally he nodded once. “I’lltake care of it.”

I frowned. Since when did he havethe power to dismiss work from the teachers? But I stopped myself from askingthe question. Knowing him, he’d probably use compulsion on the poor man. Ipushed the idea from my mind and hurried off to my Chemistry class.

I arrived in the middle of thelecture, found the empty seat at the table by the window where I usually sat,and plopped my bottom on the stool. Ms. Ingram didn’t as much acknowledge mypresence or stop her lecture at all, even though I disrupted her class byarriving late. Seth however noticed my distraction. Once her back was turned,he switched his seat for the nearest me one to me and passed a note.

Roughday?

He must’ve seen how I was under-prepared when I arrived in the parking lot for him to write the note soquickly. I frowned and shoved it back, momentarily letting my head fall into myarms. There was no need to respond, he could read it in my eyes. Yes, it was arough day.