Chapter 134

Tessa’s POV

“So, you knew Joseph was a vampire this entire time?” Ruby asked, peering over at me with an alarmed and yet curious look.

My face warmed as she continued to stare daggers at me, and I found myself lowering my head before answering.

“Yes,” I finally said after a short pause. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I promised him I wouldn’t say anything…”

“This entire time we’ve had a vampire as a professor…” she breathed; it wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. “And it’s safe to be around him?”

I couldn’t help but smile at my best friend; it was nice to have someone to talk to about this now.

“There’s a lot of stereotypes when it comes to vampires,” I told her. “Like they don’t need blood to survive. Joseph doesn’t drink blood like that.”

She rose her brows.

“If that’s the case then what happened to you? How’d you get hurt? They said you suffered from severe blood loss.”

I met her eyes and bit onto my bottom lip almost nervously as she assessed my face and every bruise that occupied my features.

“That was one bad vampire…maybe two. But I don’t think either is going to be an issue anymore,” I explained.

“How can you be so sure?” She asked and I knew she couldn’t hide the nervousness in her voice.

“Joseph wouldn’t let anything more happen to me,” I told her.

“Where was he when you were taken?” She muttered and I saw she carried some resentment towards Joseph.

I frowned at her.

“He was working,” I told her. “The elders all have specific jobs and he was just doing his.”

“Jobs?” She asked, raising her brows; now she just looked intrigued. “I have so many questions. Like that Connor guy… what’s his job?”

I chuckled.

“He’s the head warrior,” I told her.

“He seems like a warrior type,” she said, almost fondly.

“You like him?” I asked, half teasing but her face grew very red, and she gave me a nervous laugh.

“What? Of course not,” she said, brushing her fingers through her hair as she often does when she’s nervous.

I opened my mouth to say something more, but the door of the infirmary swung open, and a warm presence washed over me. When I looked, I saw Joseph standing before me and I felt a flood of relief washing over me.

Our eyes locked and it was as if time had stood still. At that moment, it was just me and him and it took everything I had not to jump out of bed and run to him. If I didn’t think I’d immediately fall over upon standing, I would have.

But the moment was cut short when I glanced at his clothing and saw that he was completely covered in blood. My smile fell immediately, and I could hardly even speak.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to. Ruby spoke the question we were both thinking.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

He looked at her confused before following our gaze down to his clothes and then I saw the horror on his face.

“I forgot to change before coming here…” he muttered.

I heard Dr. Cornelia quickly standing for his desk and rushing toward us.

“I have a pair of scrubs you can change into,” he said, motioning for Joseph to follow him.

Without meeting my eyes, Joseph disappeared into the back room. I was completely frozen.

Whose blood was that?

I felt Ruby trembling from beside me; I knew she wasn’t used to this kind of thing, and neither of us was. But I at least have seen some stuff while I was here; this was still completely new to Ruby, and I knew it was going to take a while for her to adjust to everything.

I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I knew it wasn’t reaching my eyes.

Joseph returned moments later and this time he was wearing a pair of dark blue scrubs and there wasn’t an ounce of blood on his body.

When he came over to my bedside, he looked sheepish and almost ashamed.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he murmured, keeping his tone low. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“Whose blood was that?” I asked, eyeing him carefully.

“It doesn’t matter…”

“Joseph,” I said firmly. “Whose blood was that?”

He looked at me for a moment longer before sighing.

“Ryans.”

My heart fell deep into my stomach. Ryan truly was back. What had Joseph done to him?

“It’s going to be okay though,” Joseph reassured me, looking around my panicked face. “He’s never going to come near you again.”

“Is he still alive?” I found myself asking, my voice going hoarse.

He nodded his head once and took hold of my hands.

“Yes, he’s alive. Bearnard is taking him to the dungeon because there’s a lot of questions we need answered.”

I nodded, sighing. I was relieved Joseph didn’t stoop low enough to kill him, regardless of how evil Ryan was.

“How are you feeling,” he asked, running the back of his hand across my cheek and down the length of my chin.

“Getting better,” I answered honestly. “I feel less damaged. I can actually move and speak.”

He looked relieved to hear this.

“I’m really sorry I wasn’t here…” his voice trailed off and I saw the pain hidden behind his gorgeous eyes.

My heart tugged painfully in my chest; he must have been beating himself up about this for a while.

I hated that he was blaming himself for something Ryan had done. This wasn’t Joseph’s fault and he needed to know that.

“Don’t do that to yourself…” I whispered to him. “This isn’t on you. This is something Ryan set up…”

He met my eyes, and I could still see the hurt behind them.

“I know…” he whispered in return. “I thought I was going to lose you…”

“You are never going to lose me,” I told him, a fond smile playing on my lips.

However, upon hearing my words, I could see the uncertainty appearing on his face and I wondered what that was about. But then he replaced it with a small smile, and he bent down to kiss me gently on the lips. He kissed me in a way that made me feel as if he was afraid of hurting or injuring me. It was very sweet, but I wanted so much more of him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, finding the strength to pull myself upward and closer to him. He wrapped his arms gently around my waist and to my surprise, he deepened the kiss. His tongue entered my mouth, and he explored every inch of me curiously. His kiss, his tongue, his touch, it all felt so perfect, and I never wanted it to end.

Ruby’s throat clearing was enough to end the moment though. We pulled apart, breathless and red-faced as we turned to look at her.

I completely forgot she was in the room.

“Sorry,” I said to her, giving her a light chuckle.

At that moment, I grew very sad as I thought about Fae and the fate that she had. My heart hurt just thinking about her. I didn’t have any right to be laughing or joking knowing that Fae would never be able to get to experience that again.

I shook my head, trying to remove the thoughts from my brain but failing.

“What’s wrong?” Joseph asked, touching my face gently. “Are you in pain?”

“It’s not that…” I said, meeting his eyes. My eyes instantly had tears in them. “I was just thinking about Fae… I’m sad that she will never get to experience the joy of laughter again…”

He furrowed his brows at me, seemingly confused. I wondered if he knew about Fae at all; he was off working at the time of her death.

“Why wouldn’t she?” He asked.

“Because she’s dead…” I said hoarsely. “Ryan killed her after he broke the bond… her body was too weak, and she didn’t make it.”

I left out the part where Bernard broke her neck; I felt it wasn’t very relevant.

“Who’s Fae?” Ruby asked curiously.

I looked at her and gave her a sad look.

“She was a human that lived here… some vampires have blood slaves. It bonds the human to the vampire and that human can live forever. Their purpose is to provide blood to their vampire. Vampires don’t need blood to survive, but some still want it. So, instead of terrorizing a bunch of humans and even killing them, they dedicate one human to the job and make them immortal. They are bonded together and when the bond breaks… the human can suffer greatly. Some will even die…”

“Oh, my god,” Ruby gasped. “That’s awful!”

I nodded as more tears filled my eyes.

“It is awful yes,” Joseph agreed. “But Tessa… Fae isn’t dead. She’s alive.”

I looked at him confused.

“No, I saw her die…” I told him. “She was definitely dead when I left.”

He sat on my bedside and wrapped his arms around me to hold me close to his chest.

“I know what you saw, Bernard and Anna filled me in. Bernard had given her his blood and then broke her neck,” he said gently, making me wince at the memory. I didn’t want to think about that anymore. “When a human dies with vampire blood in their system, there’s a chance they will turn into a vampire.”

“She didn’t look like she was waking up,” I told him, glancing up at him.

He nodded.

“I know…” he breathed, kissing the top of my head. “But she did. She’s a vampire. She’s the reason we were able to find you. She showed up where Ryan’s hideout was.”

“What?” I asked, my eyes widening. He was serious. “She’s alive?”

He nodded, giving me a gentle smile.

“Yes; and I took her to the vampire academy. She’s there right now and she’s safe,” he told me.

Relief flooded over me; tears sprang from my eyes, but this time, they were filled with happiness and relief.

“I have so many questions,” Ruby said, shaking her head at us in wonder.

I smiled at her through my happy tears.

“And we have plenty of time to explain everything to you,” I chuckled, reaching over and grabbing her hand.

Then, I felt Joseph tensing.

“Actually… about that,” he said, looking between the two of us.

We both frowned up at him and then he sighed.

“Ruby can’t return to the city with the knowledge of this place or vampires…” he said slowly; my heart fell deep into my stomach.

“What do you mean?” I dared to ask.

He sighed again, meeting my eyes.

“I have to make her forget… everything.”