Six years later.“Tasha! Where are you?”Lilia is standing at the bottom of the stairs in a sea-glass green colored off-shoulder gown and looking up. She sees Esther stepping down the stairs in a halter neck gown of the same shade as hers.“Have you seen Tasha?” Lilia asks her.“She was with me like five minutes ago, and then she went downstairs.”Lilia groans.“I can’t see her anywhere.”“She’ll turn up,” Esther says, now climbing downstairs, “she is very excited for the day after all.”Lilia smiles, “Yeah, she is. I’ll check with the men. Maybe she is there. Does Sabina need anything else?”“Not for now. I just gave her her perfume of demand. She wants everything to be perfect! Honestly, I don’t blame her.”“Mumma.”A voice comes from their right, and they see a small blonde-haired girl in a light green frilled frock running towards them from the hall.“There you are!” Lilia exclaims. “I was looking for you everywhere. Where did you go?”“I was with Uncle Ty. He said he wanted to se
"Come on D, it's already late."Damion sighs. Pulling his pants back up, he plants a kiss on the neck of the girl lying beside him, half-naked. Nibbling softly on her left ear, he whispers, "Sorry darling, I got to leave. But don't worry, I'll see you around." 'Or not,' he thinks to himself.He stares directly into her eyes and says, "You will not remember me or anything that happened between us. You were tired from working, came up to this room and took a nap."Then, in a mere flash, he exits the room.It has been difficult getting around lately, and they have been using hideouts, mingling with the human population to stay out of sight. This is their last day in Brecksville, and they are hoping to finally make some headway. Though in either scenario, they leave for their hometown after nightfall."What have you been up to?" Brent inquires irritably when he sees Damion walking down the stairs."Oh, just getting to know people better, making myself at home," he tilts his head to one s
"Probably an attack," says Tyrus with his eyes frantically scanning the direction from which the scream had come, "Come on."Without wasting another second, all three of them start running at top speed in the direction of the voice, all their senses heightened and on alert. They looked like three strong gusts of wind winding their way through the trees. Soon they hear a deep howl. They know now that it was surely an attack and the Lycan was inviting the other members of his pack to join in. They had to reach there before his mates. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible to save whoever was attacked if by any chance they were still alive.Finally, they see a werewolf hunched over a girl who looked like she was still alive. Brent turns around and notices that Damion had transformed into a wolf and was ready to attack."We will take care of our wolf pal and you save the girl. Take her to the place we stayed in two days ago, we will meet you there," says Tyrus and goes on to transform a
"Brent, you there?" Damion's voice comes from downstairs, "I've got news!"Brent turns around to leave the room. He is in a daze. Lilia is a friend. A good friend. It has been so for the past two years. There is no reason for that to change now. Then, what was all that?'I hope she doesn't think I was being inappropriate. I had no such intention. I hope she didn't realize what I was feeling, through my expression and my eyes.' His mind raced.He takes a deep breath as he reaches the bottom of the stairs."Yes? What is it?""I've got a tip. There's an attack planned tonight.""What!? Where?""Ty tipped me off, but he isn't sure about the location. He is trying to find out more."Brent glances out of the window, worried. "It's a full moon tonight, right?"Damion nods."Do you think they are ready for the ritual?" Brent asks."I don't think so. It's too soon. Plus, it would be nearly impossible for them to reach all the required ingredients without us knowing. I think it's one of those h
Brent is looking at her. It was such an effort to move away after the kiss. He knew that she was no longer just the girl he had carried to safety two years ago. She was no longer only a friend. She meant a great deal more to him now. He wanted to be a lot more to her as well. Everyone starts moving around again, towards the dance floor, some towards the food and drinks. Brent notices Tasha and Emily walking toward them and snaps out of his reverie. He realizes that this cannot happen. It is not appropriate. He cannot get carried away by his feelings for Lilia. She doesn't even know who he is, and he is sure that if she ever learns the truth, she would not want to associate with him in any way. He takes a step back from her, "I need to make an important call. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." He walks through the crowd of people, all laughing, chatting, dancing, and drinking, out into the front lawn. It is much quieter here. He walks around to the left of the building, leans agai
"Lilia was attacked by a.....uh...someone," Brent explains hesitatingly, pointing to the mark on her neck.All three guys exchange tense looks and then turn to look at her. No one speaks for a few minutes.Lilia is standing with her arms crossed, looking at them."We can use compulsion." Tyrus whispers"We can..." Damion says as he looks at Tyrus."But we won't." Tyrus completes the sentence for him.Damion looks back at Lilia. He knew that the time had come to tell her the truth. He had known this day would come sooner or later. They had hidden their secret for over two years, deflecting questions and spinning lies when needed, and Lilia had also been respectful of their privacy. She had never meddled in something she wasn't supposed to. All three of them had developed a very close bond with her, and today, with a vampire attack on her, he knew she deserved to know. He also knew that the other two would agree with him. But the problem was how. How do you begin to reveal to someone th
Tyrus looks at Lilia as she goes up the stairs. Once she had left, he let out a deep sigh, placing his head on the backrest of the couch and covering his eyes with his hands. What a day it has been!"Some day huh," says Damion, "by the way, did you know the vampire who attacked Lilia?""I think I do, and I have been trying to remember where I've seen him, but I can't recall." Brent pauses and then says, "Anyway, tell me about what you guys saw. Anything worthwhile?""Very," says Tyrus as he sits back up, all alert, "it was one of those full moon ritual attacks, just as we had suspected, but they weren’t Carl’s. It was some other clan. You know what this means”“That there is one more clan which has joined the ranks of Carl,” says Brent in a tone of disgust.“Exactly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been allowed to hunt in the area.”“This isn’t turning out to be a good show,” says Damion, “the more werewolves that join Carl, the less we have left to persuade otherwise, and the numbers o
"Any news?""Not yet, master."Carl is pacing in his house. He has been anxiously waiting for something the whole day. Actually, he has been waiting for this for years, and he is finally very close. "Master, Garrit is here."Carl feels his anticipation rise. Finally, it is happening."Send him in, quickly."He settles himself on the sofa. Garrit is his right-hand man, and not once has he disappointed him. Carl sees him enter."Have a seat."Garrit settles himself on the sofa in front of him."So?" prompts Carl."I was able to trace down a descendant of the Oswyn bloodline back in Greece..."Carl shifts a little forward on the sofa."But, it was a male descendant." Carl feels his anticipation die down, "And?""He had the mark on his back alright, so we questioned him at length about his other relatives and extended family. He did not have much information in this regard. Said he was an orphan, was adopted, and brought up by a family in the UK, who then shifted to Greece. He does hav