The library was quite and the same as she remembered it.Poorly lit, white lights placed at distance too far from each other, maybe because of the vampires overly sensitive sight or maybe not, Zezi really didn't care. The large hall was filled with numerous high shelves with books in them, rightly ventilated and with the Librarian missing from his or her seat.Everything.Just the same. Except that this time around, she was visiting the library at the middle of the night.There was something or someone that had been present the last time she had been here though. Lady Delice. It wasn't until that thought had crossed Zezi's mind did she consider the fact that she might run into her again, just as she had the first time she had visited the library. Zezi hoped she wouldn't though, not because she didn't have believable lies to tell as her reason for being here, but because she just felt that she had seen enough of Lady Delice for tonight.Too much encounter between them and she might
"I am Akeem, follower of the White Circle, a messaneger of one of the High pillars. On behalf of the White Circle, My High Pillar offers you a hand of alliance. Are you here to take it?" He stretched his hand towards her again.Zezi's lips tugged upwards in a smirk and his lips slowly fell back into the thin line it had been in before.He was asking her this after he had already revealed his face and told her about "The White Circle"? They must be so confident in their powers to remain unfound if they wanted to be, because that had to be the only reason for going about things this way.He slowly stretched his hand more to her in a form of a handshake, like the only reason she had not accepted it the first time was because she hadn't seen it in the first place, but Zezi still disregarded it, folding her arms across her chest, her eyes concealed.She wasn't stupid, he still hadn't answered her question yet."What are you? You have no scent," her pearly white teeth came to sight, her lip
"Or you could let me live," he looked down at her finger that had snaked under his chin, feeling her claw prick his skin. She moved her finger, tilting his head upwards, making it harder for him to see. "And...?""Get a chance to speak with your family."She blinked. What did he take her for? A fool? She knew there was a block to her link. She found that out a long time ago."That's impossible.""I can make it possible." She chuckled instinctively."Go ahead. Humor me."Without looking away from her, he brought out a small round gem, like a globe, in his hand. The blue soft light emitting from it, made her look down at what he had with him, but she was still very much at alert just in case Akeem tried to do anything funny."Once you place your hand on this, you can communicate through that link you werewolves have." He paused, then added quickly. "Pack link."Her gaze snapped up at him. "And what's in it for you?" He eyed her claw that was still underneath his chin. "My life?" He
Feeling her body go weak, before it all crashed and her eyelids tore open."Are you alright?" Akeem asked. She leaned against the shelf for a moment, trying to regain herself and take in her environment, while she wiped the blood away from her nostrils. Her gaze moved to Akeem and her mind went over what he represented. An opportunity.An opportunity to take down the very person that had put her into this situation. They needed her to get to the King and she needed them, because she couldn't do it alone. None of the two sides could. Maybe their offer wasn't that terrible after all. Maybe they could work together.So even if they were not out to cause demise to all the vampires, as long as the King was part of the ones they targeted, having him out of the picture at any cost would make her satisfied.Although she still couldn't figure out how they could possibly kill him, they seem to have a witch in their midst, the witch should figure it out."Are you---""Yes," she stood uprigh
Delice turned in bed, her eyebrows furrowed, her facial features twitching sharply under the dim red light of her room.A groan of pain. An unintelligible whisper through trembling lips.Nightmares were battles. Battles Delice always fought with but never won, because they kept coming back. Hitting her with more intensity than the last, more real everytime as she relived the saddest moments of her life in her dream, just like she was doing right now. She turned violently in bed, her attempt to wake up futile, her mind been pulled further into an abyss of memories she would give anything not to relive.But suddenly everything became blank and she was doing that exact thing she didn't want to do. Reliving. Dreaming.Once again, there she was, in that cottage, on that raining night, that was filled with flashing lightening and deafening thunder.The room was dark and it was noisy outside with the rain beating against the transparent window glass. Delice moved around with her protrud
She stood up, dragging out a box from under a her bed quickly.In a blink, she flipped it open, then snatched out one of the carefully arranged packaged blood in the box, draining with desperation till it's very last drop before she collapsed on the floor, her gaze fixed on the dim red light at the up, center of her room, tears running down her face.It had been ten years and still, the pain remained the same. Would she ever heal?___The idea of becoming friends with the King last night had sounded almost easy to her despite how she had taken the proposal, but waking up this morning and realizing how real it was and that she had to start putting action for it to happen, made her feel absolutely pressurized.She could almost feel the weight on her shoulders, pulling her to down to the ground.On one side, she had her hatred for him to battle with and on the other side, she had his possible suspicion to avoid.First, she had her breakfast and Gwen had been her usual calm self. She tri
Trigger warning - The word "blood" comes up a lot in this chapter.___It was a bloody mess.Blood on the floor, blood on the walls, blood on their bodies. Just splashes here and there, not a enough to form pool of whatever size, yet it was no exaggeration that they had gone at each other crazily.Laura had Zezi trapped on the floor beneath her, her claws raised, her eyes red with burning rage, while Zezi looked up at her with sick smile on her face. "Why do we always got to find ourselves in this position, uhn?" She chuckled, the slight cut across her face healing, it was just a nick anyways. "Do you need more encouragement again?"Laura hissed. "Alright then." The smile wiped off her face. "Do it.""You fucking bitch!""You curse like a trainwreak. Good thing we don't have kids around, right?" She chuckled again.Laura frowned, standing up and offering her a hand to do the same, but Zezi didn't accept her hand, she stood up on her own, dusting off her gown. "You almost tricked m
"You are all the King ever talks about," he added the cherry on top with a goofy smile."Is that so?" Zezi asked, her lips tugged up in a smirk. "Did you really attack him? Like with the dagger thing right through his heart?" Oliver asked, his hands folded across his chest, his eyes glimmering with excitement and expectation.Zezi nodded and immediately, laughter bubbled from his throat. "Maybe you can do it some day again and I'll be there to watch."Zezi's observing eyes didn't leave him as she accessed him thoroughly.Oliver was just like a child. A plain book to read. But she couldn't be so sure, people with this kind of personality were often dangerous and easy to miss out in the line of suspects. Chameleons.She would have to be careful with him.Besides he was a vampire. He must be just like the rest. A monster."What do you say about dinner? You and me? I think we'll get along very well, infact, I can see the future." His hands formed into circles around his eyes, and h
Regret threatened to overcome her but this was not the time to think of her past actions and question herself as to why she had made those decisions without thinking properly. Every second was important and she would not waste of by dwelling on the past. If her assumption about the White Circle was right, Zezi knew she would need the help of everyone she could get, and to test Lord Rosil, she had asked her if she really didn't want her head for killing her son."I totally understand if you do. What kind of mother wouldn't want the head of her son's murderer?"Well, it seemed like she had hit a nerve because, after that, Lord Rosil had plenty to say. "The kind her son wanted to murder. That silly boy thought draining my blood would give him magic, then gave his sister a hard time because she had orchestrated my escape. Sometimes, it had felt like he was two vampires, stuck in one body. He has one that played the role of a Governor perfectly, and the other that displays just how much
"It is different." Zezi finally declared and Lord Rosil frowned, taking a step closer to her. "Are there any other bonds you know of that could be mistaken as a matebond?""No... This..."Zezi shook her head. This wasn't the time to get overwhelmed by sadness or Lord Rosil's stuttering answer. This was the time to get her head straight and think probably.Lord Rosil snapped her fingers like she had just gotten a groundbreaking idea."Well, of course, it is different! Both of you are different." Her green eyes glinted with excitement at her coming explanation and for that brief moment, Zezi remembered Gwen and missed her. "The King is a Soul Seizer and you, are his mate."Zezi nodded, waiting for more, there just had to be more. "And?""Your Majesty, the King had to make a really big sacrifice to kill his father." Everything somehow felt a little quieter to Zezi, and all her focus zeroed in on Lord Rosil as she approached her. "Only self-sacrifice could kill him and he made that. He s
Had Akeem also been taken by the Volakys?That was what Zezi started to worry about when she still hadn't gotten a message back or seen Akeem and it was already some minutes past midnight. She had also gone to the library to check on him, but as expected, his seat was empty. The library had looked untouched by the chaos going on the the castle, it felt peaceful and Zezi lingered around longer, hoping to walk into Valerick.He had said his mother loved the library, and she thought that he was probably here to find peace in that knowledge.But no, Valerick wasn't here either. With a long and heavy sigh, Zezi stood up. She should probably ask Delice if she had seen Akeem, it was good to confirm everything before jumping to conclusions. She wouldn't want to report anything and arouse suspicion regarding her relationship with the librarian, if things turn out differently. Zezi didn't want more walls thrown between her and Valerick, they already had so many problems to deal with at the m
Zezi's heart was pounding with regret as she ran up the stairs of the castle at an unfathomable speed.Why had she left to watch the execution in the first? She should have never left. She should have never convinced herself that she needed to be at the Execution for all the reasons she had thought it was important before. Right now, they all felt very useless.George and Aunt Alice had stayed behind to be with Mira. Not like they would have been allowed to watch the execution, not like they wanted to either. Gwen had stayed too.Oh, by the Moon, Zezi hoped they were all okay. She screeched to a stop right in front of her daughter's door, flinging it open as fast as she could. Her eyes combed the room and horror seeped through her veins at what she found... or rather what she didn't. Mira's bed was empty. George and Aunt Alice were nowhere to be found, along with Gwen who was...Wait!George and Aunt Alice were on the floor, unconscious. Zezi ran to them, accessing the situation
Valerick looked unmoved and it was hard for Zezi to figure out what he was feeling through the bond. His side of it was still blocked.This was frustrating!She was sitting right by his side but it seemed like a whole wall had been thrown between them. Her attention moved to the Princess, who sat upright, her gaze unmoving from Riza as she clocked her claws together. Zezi wondered if she had poison beneath them, and mentally noted to herself not to get too close to Laura no matter what. She couldn't be trusted right now. But then, when was she ever worthy of trust? They were all unworthy.From the other corner of Zezi's eyes, she watched Lady Delice's reaction. The Royal Advisor kept a calm demeanour but something about hers and Laura's aura were off.From what Zezi could deduce, they were scared that Riza was going to talk about the White Circle.That made Zezi curious. What about the oath she had made before joining the White Circle to keep their business secret? Everyone had
After that, Zezi had gone to see Delice. She didn't even have to share her suspicion, the Royal Advisor had beat her to it."Just be vigilant," Lady Delice had said, as they hurried away from the den, and up the stairs. "I think there is more to this than we know, I will ask Laura soon." Leaving Lady Delice, she had ran into Akeem, whose path she had blocked. His eyes which were originally filled with worry turned into those of attack but she refused to move. Instead, she pulled him aside into the Hall of Statues. So much was going on in the Castle lately, their presence here would most likely go unnoticed. "She turned you, didn't she?" Zezi said the moment the door was shut behind her. "But something had been different in the process. That is why you are different."Hope lit in Zezi's heart. Maybe she would be able to get what her daughter was before the tests would be conducted.Maybe her daughter was just like Akeem. Akeem's face shadowed with secrecy. "I don't know what you a
"I don't have it. I gave it away.""To whom?"Her eyes found his, it had only been for a moment before she looked back at the King, pleading."Please, he didn't do it. He didn't mean it--""Who did you give it to?""Oliver. I gave it to Oli, my mate.""It was a gift of trust." Oliver stood up from the chair, his eyes twinkling with the glint of the ever-present humor. "I didn't even use it. I didn't do this, I didn't do anything. Tell them, Laura!" He ended with a smile. Rage blazed in her eyes, seamlessly mixing with helplessness. It was such a sight. Beautiful."You did it."His smile dwindled."I know you did it and that is why things haven't been the same between us.""Things haven't been the same between us because I spent a night with Riza."Gasps filled the court at the implied reference to cheating. It was a scandalous thing and very distasteful thing to happen between mates, fated or chosen. It was an act deserving of punishment.How hypocritical these vampires were, Zez
"What gives you the audacity to put a royal Pureblood in these filthy chains?!" The Princess's voice rang through the hall, bouncing off the walls, her glare directed to the guard that had just dragged her in and pushed her into the Accused box.Raising her head, she accessed her surroundings, a formation that seemed so high, that it made her feel like she was in a pit, with iron railings camping her. On the high chairs on her left side, different Lords were seated, while on her right, the Governors along with her sweet Delice, Oli. Behind her were the people.Wait!Next to her brother was that fur bastard whose existence was an absolute irritation. This was the Royal Court of Lavida, what an absolute disgrace it was to be in this box. Laura felt repulsed by everything. "You stand in the presence of the King and Queen of Lavida, Royal Adviser, Governors, Lords, and the people, to speak in your defence against the accusations that you are the one behind the Volakys attack!" That br
Valerick was nowhere to be found and even though she didn't want to, Zezi started to panic.Until, she had met Nicholas who told her that the King had to attend to other pressing issues that had more priority than "chit-chatting" with her. When she asked about Mira's health, he tried his best to seem reassuring but Zezi could see straight through his lie.Dr. Nicholas didn't know if her daughter would ever wake up. It was strange. If she really was a vampire, then why was she at the risk of dying without the Volakys venom ever being in her veins in the first place?This just didn't make any sense. "She has been starved for too long. Years! I don't even know how she had survived this long. My guess is that she is some kind of hybrid and that other part has been the one keeping her alive, and the overworking has been killing that part of her. That is why she is always sick. It will be a medical breakthrough to get to the root of this."He had declared in absolute excitement."My daug