The Dark Prince

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five
I sat in the meadow for hours before Stefan showed up. It takes him longer and longer each time. I can't decide if its because he loves getting under my skin, or if coming here somehow weakens him.

I stood up the second he appeared. I didn't wait for his usual snarky greeting. I just walked up and punched him in the face, again.

"You monster," I growled.

He didn't even react. Just stood there, waiting for me to finish. I didn't. I just stepped back and shook out my arms. I'm not going to fight a man who wants to be fought.

"Are you done," he questioned, his tone even.

"Why the hell is there a bomb in Christian?"

"Did you really think the vampire king would trust you enough without some kind of precaution," Stefan question, raising an eyebrow as if I was the stupid one.

"How is putting a bomb in someone a precaution," I growled.

"The bomb wasn't going to be set off if you actually went along with your end of the bargain. Sadly, the king was right about you. The garlic and lemon. That was clever."

I felt sick to my stomach. If we had just given him the real herb, Christian would have been returned to us unharmed.

"Alas, you broke your end of the agreement so he broke his. You have 24 hours to say goodbye. You're lucky he gave you even that," he scoffed, as if the thought of giving us so much time was ridiculous.

"What if I gave you the real herb," I questioned, my voice barely above a whisper.

Stefan merely laughed. "It's to late. Once you turn on the bomb, there is no turning it off. The king made sure of that. He doesn't forgive or forget."

"There has to be something I can do."

"It sucks, being worthless. Useless. All you can do now is watch your friend blow up into a million pieces. And know, deep down, that it's all your fault. I hope you have learned your lesson."

With those parting words, Stefan was gone. I dropped to my knees, burying my head in my hands. Christian is going to die. Despite everything I tried to do, he's going to die. If I would have just given them the real herb, this wouldn't be happening. Aiden is never going to forgive me.

I didn't open my eyes when I descended back into my bed. Just laid there, my body tenser than it has ever been before. How am I supposed to just sit here as an innocent man dies?

I need to find Rowan and Aiden. To tell them. But that's the last thing I want to do. Right now Aiden is sad, but he still has hope. The second I tell him... I don't even want to think about that right now.

But if I wait to tell him, then that's precious time that he will lose with the man he loves. If it were me, I would want to spend as much time with them as possible.

With that resolve in mind, I slowly got out of bed. I'm not even sure where they are. Rowan said something about getting drinks, so probably a bar of some sort.

My gut, however, told me that they weren't at a bar at all. My gut never seems to be wrong about where Rowan is these days, so I followed it. Soon enough, I was at a cliff's edge. Rowan and Aiden sat at the end of it, their feet dangling off with beers in their hands.

"How'd you find us," Aiden questioned, not turning his attention away from the cliffs edge.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.