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30| For Us, Yes
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2024-10-29 19:42:56~Rory~
A sound caught between choking and chortling slipped past my lips. “Is that even real?”
What I asked sounded stupid even to my own ears. Just a month ago, I would laugh at anyone who says vampires and werewolves exist. But in light of the events I witnessed since moving to Salvatore Hills, the possibility that what Elijah told me is true sent shivers down my spine.
Worry flowered on the pit of my belly, but I swatted it before it bloomed to a full-grown fright.
Nolani tilted her pretty head to the side. “Destiny? Fate? For us, yes.” She reached for the clothes scattered on the bed, lifting one after the other in front of her. “We are cursed, blessed; however you want to put it, to have a mate, soulmate, one true love, as humans like to call it. Some find their
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Hellbound: The Last Tribute 31|Intentions
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Hellbound: The Last Tribute 32|My Reason
~Elijah~“My God,” Tayen murmured as soon as I stepped inside their humble abode. “I never thought we’d cross paths again.” She wrapped me in the cocoon of her familiar embrace.I tightened my hold on her as her shoulder trembled, sobbing silently against my chest.Jace stood on the side, regarding Tayen and me with a look that could form an encyclopedia of questions. Even now that we’ve formed a bond, his thoughts are still shielded from my abilities, just like Tayen.~~It was a gloomy day. The lake reflects the clouds looming over the treeline. The evidence of the storm surrounds Salvatore Lake. Tree logs that didn’t withstand the punishing gale fell to the ground. Leaves swept by
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 33|Riled Up
~Elijah~If it were up to me, I’d rather fight alone than have people like Tayen, Nolani, and even my best friend Henry put their lives in danger for me. But as Mingan told me long ago, a commander could have a thousand soldiers under his command, but he is nothing unless he learns to accept that he is not a one-man army. And I understand this is a war I can’t win on my own.To keep things low-key, Tayen and I agreed to only meet when necessary. We put to good use what technology this generation offers. We don’t need to use magic anymore, unlike we did before. But I knew all too well that there’s always a loophole in these advances.She also took it upon herself to tell Jace what he needed to know but kept him in the shadows of who I truly am. It might not stop Jace from searching for the tru
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 34|So Wrong
~Rory~I expected Eloisa to slam the door in my face or an earful at the very least. She never liked it when people ghost her, especially me. But the moment she saw me on their doorsteps, she flung her arms around me, holding tight like a koala on a tree.“Rory…” she sobbed, waking me from my stunned state.“Hey.” I wrapped my arms around her trembling form. “What’s wrong?”My worry grew as she continued to sob and held me tight to the point that I was losing air in my lungs.When Eloisa finally calmed down, we sat on the couch in their living room. Crumpled tissue and empty ice cream container studded carpeted floor and coffee table. Eloisa hated baggy clothes, but she was pra
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 35|His Flame
~Rory~I followed Elijah out of James’ apartment. He kept a steady two steps ahead of me as we walked to my GMC parked in the visitor’s parking slot of the building.He opened the passenger side for me. I hesitated before hopping inside, confused at his calm demeanor. It’s not that I wanted him to act on his threat about ripping James’ head. I’m grateful, really, but he even apologized for breaking and entering James’ home.With a puffed-out chest, James threw us out of his place and slammed the door in our faces.I should be relieved, but I fear Elijah would explode any minute.He slipped on the driver’s side, started the car, and drove under the speed limit through the lively street
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 36|I Can Be Quiet
~Rory~We both remained frozen at the moment, lost in the simplicity yet intensity of our lips joining for the first time.Elijah was first to pull away, gazing at me with fondness in his eyes.I smiled at him; his thumb kept drawing circles on my cheeks. He breathed out as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest. Here, in the shadowed light of my room, I noticed his blinding smile. It exhilarated me beyond belief; everything had finally fallen into place.We laughed lightly before our lips met again. It lasted longer than the first time, and our lips moved in perfect sync.Elijah pulled away again, meeting my eyes before angling his face so he could kiss me deeper. He sucked my lower lip, tugging, then my upper one
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 37|Awareness
~Rory~Aiming to get dressed as fast as humanly possible, I pulled a hoodie and sweatpants on while Elijah fixed an overnight bag for me. I gazed at my reflection in the mirror, seeing a woman I didn’t recognize.This version of me is better than the one I saw while getting dressed this morning.Despite the crazy events that took place this weekend, I look happy, contented.This giddy feeling in my belly caused the stain on my cheeks. My lips, full and swollen from Elijah’s kisses, stretched to a wide grin, but I had to bite it, preventing the girly squeal from tumbling past from my lips.He told me he couldn’t read my thoughts. I’m grateful for that because if he can, he’d probably call me crazy
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 38|Gentle Giver
~Rory~I was still gasping for air when Elijah flipped me onto my back, depositing me in the middle of the bed with ease.“Hi.” He smiled, considering me in the dancing light of the fire. Tenderly, he brushed the hair away from my face, laying on his side.As if seeing him in another light for the third time tonight, I run the tip of my shaking fingers over his cheeks. “Hey.”“You’re so beautiful, Cara mia.” At this point, I was positive that my heart would burst from the affection he was showering me. “Bellissima.” The tip of his fingers tantalizingly traipsed down my collarbone. When he reached the middle of my heaving chest, I held my breath as he circled one of my nipples and lowered his mouth onto the other, roll
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Hellbound: The Last Tribute 101|A Lost Hero
“Jace…” “Sh…” I cooed, kissing her quivering lips. Her cheeks were wet from crying. I wiped it away with my thumb as our lips grew frantic, unwilling to pull apart. Her kiss was different. It wasn’t of love but of sadness, of fear. Fear of what? I do not know. “I love you, Aurora,” I said, cupping her face. “I will come back.” “There must be another way….” She whimpered, pinching her eyes close, setting her hand above mine. “You know there isn’t. Plus, I get to be the hero in this story.” She shook her head. An outcry followed, and she was snatched away from me. “No!” I pushed up from the bed, sweat rolling down my skin. Running my fingers through my drenched hair, I exhaled the emotions brought by that dream. This night was different. Usually, it would end with me telling Aurora I would come back. Now I am boasting about being a hero? What the hell does that even mean? A dream about Aurora was another sleepless night for me. The full moon made me restless. I shouldn’t have taken
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 100|Epilogue 2
~Elijah~Henry sighed. “Can you at least pretend that you’re listening to what I’m saying?”We are on our way back from inspecting the western border of Sapiro. The peace in the kingdom was monotonous, but boring is better than war. Last month, there was a conflict between the Lockwood pack of the west woodland and the Riverstone pack of the northern woodland. Alpha Lockwood believed that the members of the Riverstone packs were crossing the border to hunt for food. And Alpha Riverstone was throwing the same accusation towards the Lockwood pack. They could hunt in each other’s territory, but they had to ask for permission from the other pack.We did an investigation, and it turned out that Alpha Lockwood’s firstborn son had been sneaking out to meet Alpha Riverstone’s youngest daughter in secret. Both teenage wolves were afraid their parents would disagree with their blooming romance. They recently found out they were mates.Lockwood and Riverstone had a century-long rivalry. And it w
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 99|Epilogue 1
~Rory~For weeks, I’ve been dreaming of a boy with gray eyes, dark brown curls, and a snooty smirk. He was playing on the beach, sitting on the sand. His trousers were wet from the waves hitting his leg on the side, hands and toes were covered in sand... his cheeks too. He kept rubbing the back of his hands on his cheeks, leaving traces of wet sand there.He looked up and met my eyes, smiling brightly. Those gray eyes twinkled as his eyes narrowed to slits. He dropped the shells he was playing with and raised those tiny hands, opening and closing, asking to be picked up. When I didn’t, his lips quivered, eyes widened as a saucer, clouded with tears. His cry was so loud that I woke up from my sleep, discovering I was alone in our bed.Looking on Elijah’s side, a red rose lay on his pillow, weighing down a paper folded in half.The sun hasn’t risen yet, but he told me he’d be out the entire day to check the western border of Sapiro, accompanied by Henry.I reached for the rose, sniffing
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 98|Endgame
~Rory~ I refused to live in the castle. It was aesthetically beautiful but a constant reminder of what I lost when I stepped inside its vicinity. The council disagreed with my choice, but Elijah was adamant about giving me what I wanted. We compromised on building our home close to the castle. Surrounded by trees in the clearing ten minutes away from the citadel, they turned it into a keep, a fortress, yet I got to design how our house would look like. It was inspired by Elijah’s estate in Salvatore hills. The place where Elijah and I had been the happiest. I am happy to be with him, truly, and I could never ask for more. But life as royalty was not as glamorous as I thought it would be. As the crowned princess, responsibilities weighed upon my shoulder even in my sleep. It’s different from working a nine-to-five job where day-offs and holidays are offered. In fact, rest has become a foreign word in this household. Elijah was always out. He spends more time with his council, meeting
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 97|Rest In Peace
~Rory~The moment my eyes fluttered open and saw the familiar gray ceiling of Elijah’s room, tears brimmed in my eyes.I feel the same old me, but not. The fear in my chest deepened as the seconds ticked by. I’m alive. Jace’s plan worked.I pushed myself from the bed, hearing footsteps echoing through the hallway. Not a second later, Elijah barged into his room, hair disheveled and eyes wide with worry and relief in equal measure.“Rory…” he breathed out, eyes clouding as he ran to my side.“Elijah…” I buried my face in his chest as he cradled my body, murmuring how grateful he was that I was alive, worried, and much he loved me.Words are not enough to voice out my happiness. My throat was tight, with emotions storming inside me.We are alive, Elijah and I. We survived the ritual and that damn prophecy.“Cara mia,” Elijah cupped my face, leaning to press his lips against mine.His kiss did it if his touch wasn’t enough to convince me how alive we were. The familiar taste of him. The
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 96|Silver Eyes
~Elijah~“Do you want to have children?” Rory asked, glancing up at me with those big brown eyes. Her cheeks were flushed from our previous coupling, hair wild from my tugging and pulling. The warmth of her naked body entangled with mine was heaven under the silk sheets.“Children?” I repeated my thumb, drawing circles on the small of her back. “Plural?”She hummed a yes, circling the crown of my nipple. She knew it was my tickle spot, but she loved tickling me. I caught her fingers and playfully bit them.“Yeah.” She giggled, squirming. “Being an only child is sometimes lonely.”I honestly wouldn’t know. I didn’t actually have a normal childhood. King Emilian was kind and did everything to give me what a child my age must have. But circumstances didn’t allow him to be a father like he did with Greco and Orme. He was forced to take me out of Lira to protect me.I relished the way she talked about the future. A glow in her eyes only appears when she doesn’t worry about the prophecy or
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 95|A Backup Plan
~Rory~Tayen and Jace were just leaving with reinforcements when we arrived at Salvatore Hills. After bringing them up-to-date on what happened with Elijah, we had to devise a new plan in under ten minutes.They were keeping Elijah on the estate’s west side ruins. It was the highest part of the land and the best spot to see the eclipse at its peak.Even if Henry, Tayen, and Nolani knew this place like the back of their hands, planning this attack was difficult. We cannot be overconfident with the advantage we have.Jace and Henry did a quick sweep of the area, taking details on the number of the enemies waiting for us to come. Meca was with them. She was Agata’s witch friend and Greco’s mistress. Our best guess is that she’s the reason Greco was able to survive the Lycan venom he attained two thousand years ago. She has grown stronger, is what Henry told us. She also cast the warding in Greco’s room; hence, the witch we have to unbind Elijah from.About thirty vampires were guarding t
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 94|It’s Ironic
~Rory~“What do you mean he was taken?” I threw my hands in the air.After Elijah vanished from my grasp, I called Henry, Nolani, and Ali into Greco’s room.I told Ali what had happened after he left. There wasn’t so much to tell, anyway. He literally just disappeared, as if he suddenly harnessed Ali’s disappearing act and did the trick on me.We’ve turned the room inside out. Nolani and Henry went to the other quarters to see if there was a witch’s hex bag or any clue that might lead us to where Elijah went but came out bereft of answers.“It’s the only explanation I have right now,” Ali murmured dejectedly. The three of them looked tired and shaken. They have been in the heart of the war, and Elijah’s disappearance clearly imposes a toll on their morale.“But how can someone as powerful as Elijah be taken with no trace?” I asked, desperate to know where he was.We’ve completed the mate bond, but I can’t feel him or reach him. Our bond was supposed to be stronger than ever, which mea
Hellbound: The Last Tribute 93|The Only Way
~Rory~Something is happening to me. There was an unfamiliar, simmering energy inside me.Like a spring suddenly appeared somewhere in my core, an endless energy flow blossoming into a beautiful sensation that enticed my body to wake up from a deep sleep.It was exhilarating.“Open your eyes, cara mia,” Elijah’s melodic voice floated in my thoughts. “Please… come back to me... I love you.”I searched for the will to do as he asked. His pain was excruciating. He was in agony, and I wanted to ease his torment away.Forcing my body to move, I squeezed my eyelids and obliged them to part. The bright light blinded me. The war’s outcry brought me back to where, how, and why I felt so much pain in my body. Greco. Recollection of what happened before I lost consciousness flooded my brain.Like an image that suddenly made sense, my pupils adjusted to focus on the man holding me.Elijah smiled down at me. His eyes were wild with a mixture of emotions, cheeks drenched with tears and crimson liqu
