Chapter Twelve: The Truth

Monday!

A new week!

The first day of work!

It was D-day!

Valerie held her breath as she knocked on the door of Aiden's office. She was nervous and she didn't know why. She wasn't the one with a secret, but why was she feeling nervous? She couldn't find the reason.

She heard a soft "come in" and entered the office. It seemed warmer than previous times and she unconsciously let out the breath she was holding.

Aiden stared at her from his seated position. He leaned back on his chair and propped his hand under his chin, silently studying her as she stood there, innocently staring at him.

His nose twitched.

She smelled funny.

He racked his brain trying to figure out where he had perceived that offensive odor before. It didn't take long for him to remember though and he let out a loud laugh.

Valerie looked puzzled.

Why was he laughing?

She furrowed her brows and tightly held onto the garlic she had with her. She couldn't afford to let go of it as she was literally in a room with a frigging 'vampire'

Aiden's laughter finally died down and he glanced at her. "What in the world did you rub?" He asked in between chuckles and she blinked

"Uhh garlic"

She half answered and he burst out laughing again.

She didn't understand why he was laughing. She had personally grinded garlic roots and mixed them in her water when she was bathing this morning and even held one with her.

She did her research. Garlic, silver, holy water amongst other things repelled vampires as they were undead. Even though Aiden already promised her he wouldn't do anything, she still had her doubts.

She neither moved away from the door nor took a seat when she came in. She just stood there, ready to bolt should the need arise.

Aiden stopped laughing and cleared his throat. He found the situation really comical "Dear Miss Henders, garlic doesn't work on vampires. That's all cock and bull story"

Valerie was stumped.

Sh*t!

Garlic doesn't work?!

But all the movies she watched and the novels!

"They're all just a bunch of lies. Humans tend to over exaggerate what they don't understand" Aiden calmly explained to her as his lips curved upwards into a smile.

Her confused face made his heart race and yearn for her. That is, if he had one.

He was an undead creature, technically, he didn't have a beating heart.

He just didn't find any reason to get mad at her for not trusting him. Oddly, he understood why; her whole world was about to be flipped upside down.

"Have a seat"

Valerie stared at him in suspicion. She bit her lip and glanced at the seat. Finally compromising, she sat down. But she was still on full guard.

Aiden cleared his throat "Well, what do you want to know?"

"The truth"

"That's kinda long, sure you want to hear everything? You might skip out on lunch"

"I have time and I work for a certain boss who's generous enough to let me off the hook"

Aiden chuckled at her sharp tongue. He knew there was a reason why he felt drawn to her

"My name is Aiden Donovan. Owner and CEO of Larceff Companies Inc. I am a vampire prince, which makes me a noble and i-"

"Wait!"

He was cut short by a wide eyed Valerie "You're a prince?! Like, a real life prince?!"

Aiden smiled and continued "I come from a faraway kingdom called Evander, though it's not accessible to humans and-"

Valerie interrupted again "You have a kingdom?!"

Her voice pierced his ears "Ouch! Miss Henders, your voice is off the roof. Stop interrupting me or you'll never hear the story again" he warned and she pouted and folded her arms but her sparkly eyes urged him to continue.

He took a deep breath "We're five children, plus Mom and dad that makes us seven in total. And being nobles means we have special powers. Magnus, my eldest brother has the ability to blend with the shadows. He can travel to other places using the shadows of objects or people. Bayne, the second eldest can manipulate minds and make you forget things that he wishes. This might sound cool but believe me, it's very risky. Sometimes, the person whose memory has been wiped completely forgets everything about them. There's me, the third, I have the ability to read minds"

He paused, waiting to see her reaction.

Valerie stared at him for a few seconds, and then it finally hit her

He could read minds! Meaning he had been reading her all these while and he knew every single thing that she had been saying within her!

Aiden chuckled "Yea, I know everything. It's a really nice nickname you have for me; Creepy Ice King. Sounds unique, I like it"

Valerie felt like buying her head under the table "That's invasion of privacy! Don't do that!" She protested but he smirked and just continued

"There's Luther, the fourth. His power is actually scary, even for me. He can compel you to do things. Turn you into his little minion, willing to obey his every command and carry out every will. Like a mindless puppet with no self awareness. So everyone basically tries to stay on his good side. Then finally, our baby sis Gaia, she's just a devil, her power is to kill you from the inside. Manipulate the human body. Shockingly, she can also make your blood boil as if it was under heat. I miss them though"

Valerie didn't say a word but there was only one thing on her mind

"No! You CANNOT be a vampire! And the power's aren't cool! Remember, only nobles have them! Normal vamps do not" Aiden scolded her by reading her mind before she could even talk.

She pouted her lips again and opened her mouth to say something but Aiden beat her to it "Even if a noble bites you, you won't turn into a noble. You have to be born by one"

Aiden was exasperated. The lady in front of him wasn't afraid of risks at all!

Valerie sighed "Could you stop reading my mind?! It's really frustrating! Besides, you didn't tell me about your parents"

"Oh right! Mom and Dad. Well, dad can morph his body and face to look like another person and he can make himself partially invisible. Mom controls fire and healing element. Which explains why she's hot headed. It's been a long time since I came to the human world. If I remember correctly, I think it's 56 years"

Valerie's eyes almost popped out of her sockets

56 years?! That means that he could be at least -

"I'm currently 476 years old. I'm still a baby, I know" he informed her but her jaw dropped.

476 still a baby?! Then how old were his parents?

"I lost count of dad's when he got to the thousand, but I never forget mom's birthday as she throws a party each year. She's now two thousand, seven hundred and thirty two years old. Vampires can live really long as long as they stay by themselves and out of trouble"

Valerie stared at him in awe.

This secret was just too much for her to handle!!...