Three days had gone by, and Chester nor his clan had returned home. Mrs. Collin was beyond stressed that both her sons were missing, and Mr. Collin did all he could to keep her calm because her stress was affecting her pregnancy. She was due next month, so Dr. Riley had her go on bed rest because the stress might induce her to go into labor sooner.
Dr. Riley also wanted me to take it easy and rest as well because my stress level has been off the rocker, so I haven't gone back to college. Everybody else has been fairly quiet in the mansion.
I typed that in my daily diary before I heard someone knocking on the bedroom door, so I moved my laptop to the stand that was beside the couch.
"Come in!" I hollered since I was struggling to get off the couch.
The door opened, and Darlene walked in with some new sheets and blankets. "I have some freshly heated sheets, my Lady," she announced, shutting the door.
"Call me Victoria," I affirmed, finally getting up onto my feet.
Darlene draped the clean sheets over the couch as she insisted, "Master would punish me if he were to hear me address his mate so improperly."
I sighed since I never liked the idea of Darlene being Kai's minion because she's a sweetie. Long before my existence in the world, the Collin Coven defeated Darlene's Coven in the ancient periods because they wanted to make every vampiress in the Collin's Coven a breeder and courtesan. After the Collin Coven won the battle, they detained most of Darlene's Coven, including her royal family. Whoever they didn't detain was chosen for slavery purposes. For the short time I've known Darlene, I've learned she does whatever she can to stay on Kai's good side. She is sure to do her best to satisfy him. In turn, for her good behavior and assistance, Kai is lenient on her, but compared to her, he is tougher with the male minions he had enslaved.
"Well, he's not here, so feel free to use my first name." I hinted before I saw an albino baby snake coming out of the long-sleeved black lace corset she wore.
"Did your baby snake finally hatch?" I chimed as she was stripping the bed.
"She hatched last night," Darlene happily announced as she pulled the baby snake from her sleeve to kiss her. Darlene was a Slither species, so they had a special connection to snakes, like how the wing species have a connection with larger birds. Whether she was a slave or not, Kai didn't deny her to have pets or expensive clothes, and it goes the same for the enslaved vampires. Kai may sometimes have a mercurial temper, but he is fair about fulfilling everyone's needs.
"I'll take her." I offered since the little snake wasn't making her job easy. She kept trying to slither away while Darlene was trying to work.
"I'd appreciate it, Victoria," Darlene smiled, using my first name.
So I kept her new baby snake busy slithering in my hands while Darlene quickly changed the sheets, the pillowcases, and the bedding on the king-size bed.
"Let me take this to the laundry room, and then I'll get you some tea that Dr. Riley recommended for you to drink," she informed me, and I nodded my head.
After she gathered the dirty sheets and blankets, I gave her back her snake, and she left out the door. Minutes later, she returned with a tray that had a small gothic-designed teapot, a matching teacup, and some yummy treats on top of it.
"I brought you some freshly baked cookies and chopped fruits," Darlene said as she set the tray down on my coffee table. She poured me my tea and made sure I had what I needed.
"Will you stay for a while?" I pat the cushion next to me from the couch. "Certainly," she smiled, taking a seat.
I frowned, "Thank you, I could use the company."
"I'm sure Chester and his clan will find them before too long," Darlene warmly reassured me.
"You've known Kai longer compared to me. Has he ever disappeared like this?" I questioned, and Darlene's radiant red eyes gravely dimmed.
"No, he'd always return when he says," she admitted.
"I figured." I sighed as I saw a deeper trepidation Darlene was trying to hide. "You love Kai, don't you?" I questionably wondered out loud, and she lowered her head with embarrassment.
Darlene confided as she shamefully frowned, "Master has raised me since I was six. I somehow ended up having feelings for him once I reached twenty. Which I know my older brother will scold me for it."
"I've been starting to question if you did," I stated because it made better sense as to why she was always seeking to do her best around him.
"Please don't allow my feelings to make you think differently about me," Darlene pleaded. "I'd never dare try to stand between two destined mates. I understand my place as a minion."
I touched the top of her hand and eased her. "I know you mean well, Darlene. You are always seen as my friend but never as a minion."
Darlene's eyes glistened with watery tears as she beamingly smiled. Whenever she parted her lips to speak, the bedroom door busted open with such force.
"KAI!" I panicked when I saw Chester and Mr. Collin limp Kai to the bed from being carried between them.
Right away, I rushed over to see him. Kai's vintage gothic-style suit and his dark purple vest were ripped. And his skin was discolored into an ashy pigment. His eyes were sealed as he groaned, and then his cheeks were sunken in. After Mr. Collin laid Kai's body along the bed, he tore his upper suit in half, exposing his defined chest and brawny abs.
"Darlene, get me a warm washcloth!" Mr. Collin barked, and she quickly went into the bathroom.
As she rushed to do that, I gaped at the black round oozing wound on Kai's lower abdominals. Black lines were streaking along his muscular abs, and his breath was rapid. Each time he wheezed, black ooze seeped from his unhealed puncture wound.
"What happened to him!" I panicked, scanning Kai's body, and Darlene came out with a wet washcloth. As instructed, she gave it to Kai's dad, and he then cleaned out the wound as Kai would rawly hiss from a pang that throbbed along his abs.
"We were attacked by a large insect. It stung Kai when he killed it. He was protecting us," Rome answered after he came in with Zoey.
"I have the antidote," Zoey said, handing a clear oval-shaped glass bottle to Mr. Collin. He pulled the cork and then poured it into Kai's wound.
"Grrrrr!" Kai roared a growl as he tried to sit up, but Mr. Collin shoved him back down while he hissed painfully.
"Easy, my son," he gently hushed him, and Kai passed out from the pain.