Hellbound Heart

This bonus chapter is dedicated to @Yaritza_16!!! Thank you ao much for the supergift!!

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"What...?? You two know each other?" Alexander tilted his head at Caelian and Elle, shocked at the discovery. He would not have thought that Elle was an acquaintance to the bodyguard he had assigned her to.

"I bumped into her and we chatted for a while in the bar the other night." Caelian rubbed the back of his neck as he explained to Alex.

"Oh, I see... wait... you didn't actually hit on her or something did you, Cael?" Alex narrowed his eyes at the man, causing him to chuckle awkwardly. His tone was bordering on dangerous as he asked the question.

"I didn't, Alex. Don't make it sound like I hit on every lady I meet." Caelian rolled his eyes, sounding as though he was being wronged for being thought of as a ladies' man.

"Well, I do know you're intuitive enough to realize that she's not someone you can so casually hit on. Well, anyway, I'm leaving Izabelle in your capable hands, Cael. You already know the drill. Stick to it, or else..."

"I know. As you know, I still value my head."

"Good." Alex faced Elle and his stern and serious face suddenly melted into a cheerful smile as he looked at her. "This guy may look and sound friendly, but don't be fooled by his appearance. He's the most capable guard I have at my disposal right now."

"Geez... did you really have to mention that last line?" Caelian complained in a low voice.

"What. You have never complained before whenever I said this previously. And did you forget that you were the one who said that very same line back then? Calling yourself the best man at my disposal?" Alex did not spare him any face and retorted smoothly, not caring if Elle had quickly covered her mouth and was snickering behind her hand.

Caelian looked away, rubbing his neck and climbing into the car. "Now get in, big boss. You're going to be late for your errand."

The banter between Alexander and Caelian continued until the car stopped in front of a certain mansion.

"Well, I'm getting off here, Izabelle. Make sure to enjoy yourself at the library."

"I will. Thank you, Alexander."

Elle and Caelian traveled quietly for a few minutes until Elle decided to break the silence. "How long has it been since you started working with Alexander? You seem to be pretty close to him though you call him your boss."

"It has not been all that long actually, Princess. It's only been three years since I started guarding Alexis and Alice. But Alexander and I have been acquaintances since a long time back."

"I see... how old are you, Caelian? If you don't mind me asking..." Elle could not help but ask out of curiosity.

He tilted his head and glanced at her through the rear view mirror.

"I already know... that you guys are vampires." Elle added when Caelian seemed to be hesitating to answer her question.

"I've lost count already, Princess. Haha." Caelian awkwardly replied.

"Is it... like... hundred or... hundreds?"

"We really don't like talking about our age, Princess. But if you insist on knowing, my age in my ID is thirty-one." He smiled mischievously as he said that.

When they reached the library, just as Alexander had said, the librarian was already expecting her and had closed off a certain spacious area from the public, just for her to use. The old lady handed her some books about the history of Viscarria, and Elle knew that she had retrieved the books from somewhere else and not off the library shelves.

"Please let me know if you need anything else, Princess." The old lady whispered to her and Elle nodded with a soft smile on her face.

She immediately sat down on the nearest available chair and started reading as soon as the librarian left. Caelian was by the door where he could see her directly but Elle was not bothered by his presence at all. Right now, all she wanted was information and needed some distraction. She wanted to know everything about this country, about the vampires that were apparently hiding in plain sight in this world.

"Princess... Princess." Caelian's voice caused Elle to lift her head.

"Yes?" she creased her brows at him and Caelian immediately knew she did not appreciate the interruption of her intense concentration on the book. This princess had such insane focus!

"It's already past the library's closing time." He informed her, looking at his wristwatch and pointing at it.

Elle blinked and then quickly swung her head to look at the windows, only to realize it was already dark outside.

"I've already informed Alex, and he didn't really give me a curfew. But... I think that it's time for you to take a break anyway. You have already done like... a straight several hours of intense studying. I'm sure your back and neck are tired out by now."

She bit her lip and stared down at her book.

"And no, Princess. Even you can't take this book home because it's a confidential one and needs to be stored in a safe place once you are done with it. Well... in your case, done for the day." Caelian explained patiently.

Elle looked behind him and saw the librarian smiling and nodding with agreement at what Caelian had said.

She could not help but purse her lips a little and reluctantly closed the book.

"I'll come back tomorrow then," Elle told the old lady earnestly.

"Of course, Princess."

And with that, Elle and Caelian finally left the library. She already could not wait for tomorrow to come quickly because everything that she had read had fascinated her beyond what she had ever imagined. Now she knew that these vampires were actually not like the zombies that get infected by some kind of virus or something else. These vampires were a species, a race! She was mind-blown by that fact because she had always thought that vampires used to be humans that were later on turned by being bitten by another vampire! That was how it had been portrayed in most, if not all movies and books.

Now she understood why Alice and Alexis and Azy were also vampires! And it seemed that most of the population of this country are actually vampires too!

Elle was smiling and laughing quietly to herself as she looked silently out the window. How unbelievable was this? How unbelievable was it to find out that vampires were not only real, but there was also a whole nation of them and yet the whole world had never found out about them?

She could only shake her head in disbelief.

It only came to her notice that it was raining when Caelian opened the door for her and he was taking his long coat off.

"Sorry, Princess. I don't have an umbrella with me. So please bear with my coat for now." He said and as she came out of the car, he gently draped his coat over her head, bringing himself closer to her to properly shield her from the rain. And with a look and nod at each other, they both ran towards the house.

Just as Elle was about to reach the door, she halted at the sight of Sebastian standing there, staring at her.

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A/N: 2 more days left for voting guys! If we finish at top 1 in GT ranking this month, there will be more than 5 chaps mass release. ^^