Phoenix blinked in surprise, his gaze raked over me in disdain.
As I stood from the ground, I wanted to shrink away from his intense stare, but somehow I managed to square my shoulders and narrow my eyes at him.
Be brave, Jane. No, be good!
"Why is there a human in the palace!?" Phoenix demanded.
A moment ago, he was cheerful. But now, he was the complete opposite.
Alexander sighed. "Who I bring inside the palace should not be any of your concern, Phoenix."
The blonde vampire responded by hurling one of the lounge chairs across the room. He does it with lightning speed. "Get rid of it!"
It!?
Lilith chuckled. "I told you he wouldn't be happy."
Alexander swung his head towards Lilith and growled. "Be quiet."
She responded by rolling her eyes.
Using his vampiric speed, Alexander appears in front of the other male and grabs him by his black tunic. "Leave this palace quietly and accordingly right now before I personally remove you."
Phoenix smirked. "Remove me? You!? You are of no match to me, Alexander. Surely you know that. I am older and much more wiser than you will ever be."
He leans into him and snarls. "Do not test me, Phoenix. I am not in the mood for your smart mouth."
"Do not give me a reason to test you and we won't have a problem." Phoenix shot back.
Lilith sighed. "Boys, aren't we forgetting what the real problem is here?" She glared in my direction.
I was a problem?
Alexander scoffed. "He's my problem by not leaving my property."
Phoenix points at me. "I'll leave your property when that thing is removed from my sight!"
"That's not going to happen any time soon. She is my blood servant and this is her home. Deal with it or not, I do not care either way." Alexander muttered.
They stare intensely at each other, then Phoenix roughly removes Alexander's hands from him and marches towards me. He stops in front of me and because of his towering height, I do my best to try and keep it together, but deep down I was scared. Terrified.
With a look of distaste on his face, he takes me all in and shakes his head. "Why does your kind exist? You are a nuisance and all you do is whine."
I hide my hurt reaction and stare at him in defiance, refusing to back down. "I could say the same about your kind." I spat.
In a split second, his hand wraps firmly around my neck and his fangs elongate. "Watch your tongue, human. Vampires have a very short fuse when it comes to humans giving us attitude."
Alexander warned. "Stop it, Phoenix."
I stared at Phoenix with a hateful glare. "You do not scare me."
"No? We'll see about that." He growled, squeezing my neck tighter. "How I would love to crush your windpipe. Humans have such a delicate throat that all I would have to do is give one sharp tug, and you'd be dead. It's a quick and painless death. You wouldn't feel a thing."
I could feel his fingers tightening around my throat, squeezing the air out of me. Panic floods my mind as I struggle to breathe, each gasp more desperate than the last. My chest heaves, my vision blurs, and a primal instinct kicks in, urging me to fight for air. But the pressure only increases, crushing down on me, leaving me feeling helpless and suffocated, as if the very life is being squeezed out of me.
Phoenix continued. "Asphyxiation is not the worst death I've given to a human, but it's definitely one of my favourites."
Fury shoots through me at his words and without thought, I bring up my hand and with a bit of struggle, I jump upwards and strike him. I bite my lip to stop from screaming out in pain as my hand begins to hurt. It was like hitting a brick wall. It almost made me think that for a second I thought I'd broken it.
The blonde vampire glares back at me, his nostrils flaring. "How dare you strike me, slave!?"
I glared up into his red eyes.
There was no emotion at all in their endless depths.
None.
Phoenix lets go of my neck only to backhand me painstakingly hard. I whimpered as my body fell effortlessly to the ground.
"Enough, Phoenix!" Alexander yelled. "Leave before I banish you."
Phoenix ignores Alexander and looks down at me, with pure hatred in his eyes. He points at me. "This isn't over, human."
And just like that, he was gone. Vanished into thin air.