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Before he could pull the trigger again, I leapt forward and grabbed him around the throat, shaking him hard enough that he dropped his rifle.
"Do you know who I am?" I snarled. "I am Prince Alessandro Vitali. I come from a long line of gryphon princes dating back centuries. It would take more than a few bullets and a moron with a gun to kill me." I yanked him closer until we were nose to nose. "Bullets can't kill gryphons."
"No." The man smiled maliciously. "But they can kill vampires."
René!
* * * *
~ René ~
As soon as the double doors to Alessandro's suite closed, I jumped to my feet and grabbed my mother's arm. "Come on, Alessandro wants us to get to his panic room."
"Where is he going?" my mother asked.
My jaw clenched for a moment. "After the idiot shooting at us."
I couldn't believe someone had the balls big enough to try and assassinate the prince of gryphons. How insane were they?
They clearly had a death wish.
I wasn't sure where the study was, so I asked the guard with us. He directed us back to the first floor and down a long hallway to a large wooden door.
I turned to the guard. "Go help your prince."
"My apologies, consort, but I cannot. My duty is to keep you safe."
I knew he would say that.
"Fine." I pushed open the door and cautiously stepped inside. My jaw dropped as I took a few more steps and glanced around. This wasn't a study. It was fantasy in wood and stone.
One entire wall was nothing except bookshelves. Directly across from that was a massive stone fireplace. There was a small seating area in front of the fireplace and a large wooden desk in front of the bookshelf. The far wall was a set of floor-to-ceiling windows and one set of French doors in the middle, all separated by big stone pillars.
After picking my jaw up off the hardwood floor, I hurried over to the desk and reached under the right side until I felt a small button under my fingertips. I heard a small click when I pushed it, and part of the bookcase popped open.
"Here." I rushed to the bookcase and pulled it open all of the way. My eyebrows lifted when I saw the room beyond. It was about half the size of the office, but still massive. "Hurry, inside."
I waited until my parents and Pierre stepped into the safe room before following them inside. I expected the guard to come inside with us, so I was surprised when he didn't.
"Hurry up," I said. "We need to shut the door."
That's kind of how safe rooms worked. They weren't safe until the door was closed and locked.
"Oh, I know," the guard said as he grinned.
What?
I heard a loud bang and felt an agonizing pain in my chest. The red splotch that appeared on my shirt and quickly began spreading felt almost surreal.
The guard started laughing. "Tell the prince that there is more than one way to get rid of him, especially if he has a vampire for a true mate."
The heavy door slammed closed and the lock engaged as I slowly sank down to the floor and leaned against the wall.
Breathing was becoming hard, and I felt as if I had an elephant sitting on my chest. It was all I could do to draw in each breath.
"René!" my father shouted as he dropped down next to me. "Oh, my god. You've been shot."
He had been shot too.
