When Damion goes back into the house, he sees that no one is in the hallway anymore. He turns left and enters the hall to find everyone assembled around Tasha who is lying on the sofa, still unconscious.“Why isn’t she waking up,” Damion asks anxiously.“I think whatever the Junta did, impacted her more than us because she is human,” says Nadia, whose face is streaked with tears. “It happened because of me,” she says miserably.“What are you talking about?” Damion asks her because he has no idea how Nadia could blame herself for all this.“I spoke back to her, and that’s when she did all this, and now Lilia is gone because I couldn’t keep quiet...”Fresh tears well up in her eyes.“Absolutely not,” says Damion, “don’t beat yourself up over it. She would have taken Lilia anyway. All you did was stand up for Tasha and the truth.”“Exactly,” says Esther as she reaches over to squeeze her hand. Adeline sits beside Nadia and hugs her.Damion sits opposite Tasha, looking at her face. He co
I feel dazed. The amount of information running through my head is crazy. Rhen’s voice and clear terms echo within this lavish mansion's walls, yet I feel like I might not have a better choice. I have always known what to do and how to take my life ahead. This time, I’m helpless. And miserable. Rhen vexes me. He would undoubtedly be popular among women, and I would have never handed him the control he demands. But the damage is already done. I hold my head in frustration. I don’t like this.A woman, mostly in her mid-sixties, brings me a tray of freshwater and aspirin. I gulp it down, and just like some poison, I decide to gulp my pride and make the decision.‘Puppet, huh?’He didn’t reply. Nor was he guilty.‘Bring the terms. But on one condition. You get my father out.’ ‘He’s better in Jail, though. We can try that.’‘No, Rhen, promise me.’An expression of apparent mockery leaves his face as he scoots closer to me. Rhen holds my gaze with his psychotic face again. Oh, the way I wi
Damion and Tyrus have reached Damion’s grandmother’s place. They have told her everything that has happened since last night. She is now performing her spells to pinpoint the location of the Junta. Last time, she had done something to send them a message and call them here. But this time, she has to be as discreet as possible.After a while of muttering and chanting, she says, “Yes, I have them. They are at Arrowall.”“I’ve never heard of this place,” says Damion.“Neither have I,” Tyrus says.“It’s a small village about five hundred kilometers to the east from here.,” Anastasia explains.Damion notices that she looks more worried than she had before, and he is about to ask her why when she says, “How can you be sure that Lilia is at Arrowall?”Damion is confused by this and says, “We know because the Junta has taken her, and she would be wherever they are.”“No, you don’t understand,” Anastasia says, “the spell I just performed traces the location of the junta tribe i.e wherever the
Although Evarius has agreed to the trade, Carl is skeptical. What if he learns the information and still tortures him for the stone? He knows he might be stretching his luck thin by saying what he is about to say, but he has no choice.“How can I be sure,” he says slowly and carefully, “that you will follow through with the deal?”“You can’t,” says Evarius simply. “You cannot be sure, but I give you my word. If what you tell me is valuable to me, I will leave without the stone. People may consider me selfish, evil, or ruthless. They are not entirely wrong, but I keep my word.”*The confidence with which Carl is claiming to have some information is intriguing to Evarius though he makes sure to seem mildly indifferent.Carl takes a deep breath and says, “As I said, I know you want the Binder and so do I, as a matter of fact, which I think you already know. This is the reason I am always up to date about wherever she is even though I can’t get near her. Now, last night, the Junta kidnap
Tasha and the others are sitting in the hall. Brent has just informed Damion and Tyrus about Lilia’s location. The phone is on speaker, and Damion is explaining what his grandmother has told them. Tasha’s head feels a little heavy. She doesn’t know whether that is because of what she is hearing and her fear for Lilia or because of the injury. A bit of both, maybe.“So, what do we do!?” Damion asks in a panicked voice.“We call Sabina for help,” says Tasha.“Yes,” Brent continues, “Both of you return as quickly as possible. Tyrus, contact Sabina, and we all assemble here to plan.”“Okay, we are coming right away,” says Damion and cuts the call.All of them sit around the hall, thinking.“Do you think we should call other people for help as well?” Brent asks.“What we need,” Esther says, “is witches. We only have Tasha, and they must have a hundred witches there. We need magical help.”“But witches don’t go against their own kind,” Nadia says in a worrying tone.“Unless we find someone
Tasha looks into Evarius’s eyes which are full of determination, passion, fire, and something else that she can’t pinpoint. They look at each other with their lips inches away, and she moves closer to his. Just then she hears a voice from somewhere behind him.“What the hell are you doing here?”It’s Damion.Tyrus and he have returned. Tasha and Evarius move away as they approach.“What is wrong, Tasha?” Tyrus asks, looking concerned. “Why are you crying?”Before Tasha can say anything, Damion turns to Evarius and says, “We know you are the original vampire and whatnot, but you can’t just come here and assert your dominance over us!”“I admire your bravery,” says Evarius calmly, “and your loyalty towards your friends, but that’s not why I am here.”“Then?” Damion asks, looking unconvinced.“Let’s sit and talk,” Tasha says. “This is important. Very. Call the others, will you D.”“I’ll do it,” says Tyrus and goes inside.*About five minutes later, Evarius is standing in the small garde
Damion is driving. Tyrus had offered to drive but Damion had declined. He needs to keep his mind occupied, and driving is a decent way to do it because he could not have borne sitting and waiting in the car doing nothing. His mind is drowning in thoughts of everything bad that could have happened to Lilia by now. It is eating him up.They are all driving pretty fast. They have turned on maps on their phones for accuracy. Damion's car is in the front followed by Brent and Evarius'.*“Are you mad at me,” Evarius asks Tasha.“With the kind of things you do, it’s hard not to.”“What can I do to change that?”“I don’t know. You messed it up, so it’s up to you to find a way to fix it, isn’t it?”“Fair.”They have now been driving for almost two hours.“We’ll take a reroute before we join the others at Arrowall.”“A reroute? Why?”“I know a witch who can help.”Tasha looks at him skeptically and says, “I don’t trust you, you know that right?”“And yet you are here with me in my car and not
Tasha just stares at him as he looks back at her again and continues, “You don’t understand what being you mean because you are you. With all your beauty, wittiness, and grace. You won’t understand. But it is driving me insane. After centuries on this planet, the one thing I can’t get past is this.”He places his hand on her face, and goosebumps erupt all over Tasha’s body.“You have no idea what you do to me,” he breathes, inching closer. “Every moment that I spend with you I stop myself from doing something I might regret, and every moment that I am not with you, I think of when I will be.”Their faces are now just inches apart and Tasha’s eyes move down to his lips as he is talking, and the urge to bring her lips against his and breathe him in is rising like a volcano inside her.“You don’t know what this does to me," he says in a whisper. "So, yes, I came here to do just one thing, but now, I don’t know, and I know you borderline hate me -““I -“ Tasha begins, but is cut off as he