Their Hidden Princess (Zora and Maximus) novel Chapter 294

Chapter 294

He set me down on the edge of the bathtub, then went searching for the medical kit that was behind the mirror in the medicine cabinet. Finding it, he lowered it to the counter near the sink, opened it, and withdrew the one of the antiseptic wipes.

His focus was entirely on his task as he lifted my pant leg, exposing the wound. It was a little worse than it had felt like, and seeing it made it hurt more somehow. I hissed as he applied the wipe, carefully removing any dirt and germs from the open sore.

“That stings,” I said.

“That means it’s working,” he replied.

He continued to work in silence. When he was satisfied, he threw the wipe into the trash and then reached for the bandage.

“I was trying out there, with the others. Like you had asked. Did you see?”

“I saw,” I said. “And I appreciate it. They were trying too.”

“Maximus was. I don’t know about the others.”

“Thorne and Kairos will take more time.”

“Thorne looked at me like I had stolen something from him,” Neo said. “I thought you said they were used to sharing.”

“They just don’t know if they can trust you yet,” I said. “Give it time, and they’ll come around.”

Neo carefully applied the bandage to my knee, covering the worst of the wound. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I should have been more careful.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “On the battlefield, worse could happen. The vampires would kill me if they had the chance. I can’t let a scraped knee hold me back.”

His hands stayed on my knee, even though he had done cleaning and bandaging it. His gaze lifted up to my face. He was searching my face for something I couldn’t name.

“You think they would try to kill you?” he asked.

“I’m sure of it,” I told him. “I’m a threat to them, especially to their leader. It’s all in the prophecy.”

Neo hummed, non–committal, and stood up. Looming over me, he looked down. “Do you ever think it would be easier just to run away?”

I laughed a little, and shook my head. “I was raised as a human, remember? I thought that was tough. Now I carry the weight of an entire kingdom on my shoulders. Everyone believes in me, and I believe in myself too, I guess. But there are moments of doubt.

“Sure, it’d be easier if I ran. But I don’t think I could live with myself. So many people depend on me. I can’t just leave them to die. I have to try to save them, even if… Well, even if the worst should happen to me.”

His gaze was inscrutable. “You think you will die.”

“All the vampires are strong. Facing their army, their King? Everyone says I’m some kind of weapon, but I still don’t know what that means. I want to believe that I’ll survive, and that I’ll have a happy future with all of my mates, including you, Neo. That’s part of what I’m fighting for. But I just don’t know. With everything so uncertain, I don’t know what will happen to me.”

“What if…” he paused, suddenly seeming unsure. When he spoke again, his voice was stronger. “What if we ran away together?”

I blinked. “Leave everyone?”

He nodded. “We could go back to our little cottage in the woods. Things were peaceful there. We could leave the rest of this for others to figure out. We could find happiness in each other.”

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Chapter 294

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