A Slave to Love

Chapter 68: Pertinent

"Aros?" I practically growled. That crazy old man planned this? Ace's grandfather?

Somehow, it didn't seem like it fit. Maybe Dante, or even that crazy rapist from Aros' blood feast...oh God. The blood feast.

"It's nice to see you, dear." He took my hand gently in his, and shot cutting looks to his 'guards'. They all disappeared quickly from the room. It was a weird place, it resembled some kind of throne room.

It had two large throne chairs at the front of it, slightly elevated with a few stairs. The rest of the room was relatively small, stone floors with a deep burgundy carpet running from under the chairs to the other end of the room, right down the middle. There were tapestries on the walls, and portraits, but I didn't see a window and there were only two doors. 

"Nice to see you? Aros what the hell is going on? Why am I here?" I demanded, wrenching my hand from his. "Does Ace know about this?"

Aros didn't even flinch, his face was calm and relaxed. "Kiana," he smiled condescendingly, "Don't you realize? You're here because you're part of a much bigger picture. A larger purpose than what you thought."

"What would that purpose be exactly?" I asked, arms folded over my chest. What the hell was wrong with them? With him?

"My dear...you are here because you were an experiment," he told me gently, then offered his arm to me, "Walk with me, I'll show you to your room while I explain."

Surely, he was joking. He could explain everything on the way to my room? Like what? Like this was some fancy hotel service with prime pool facilities, a gym and an arcade that he could sell me on?

"I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me exactly why the hell I'm here and why in the world you would make me do that to Blade," I snarled, shoving his arm away from me.

"Very well," he sighed dramatically. "You recall, back in June when you visited my blood feast?"

"Visited?" I nearly screeched.

"You and Blade were bonded, yes? And do you know what day that was?" he prodded, like a school teacher helping a difficult student through an even more difficult problem.

"Enlighten me," I hissed. I had no patience for this.

"The twenty first of June. Do you know what was so special about the twenty first of June?" he asked, and I grudgingly shook my head. "The summer solstice."

"So? What's the big deal?" The dots were not connecting, and right now it all felt like a really bad, albeit elaborate, prank.

"The deal is that summer solstice and days as such are days that have a sort of...magic. It's quite important to the witches, because on these days they feel that they become closer to their Goddess, and they celebrate their Her, the changing seasons and the souls of those who have gone to join their Goddess in another realm. So you see, that day was special in a very important way," he explained, walking away to walk up to the thrones.

I hesitated, then followed.

"So I decided I wanted to try something. The day was powerful, but I wanted to see what would happen if a vampire and human were to be bonded. That is a different type of magic, but magic just the same. The two, if they worked, could produce something truly wonderful for the world." He turned to face me from his place on the steps with a small smile. "You and Blade."

"How exactly is that 'wonderful'?" I asked, still waiting for a punch line. This was all so ridiculous. What was this crazy old coot on?

"Don't you see?" he suddenly swept in front of me, so quickly I nearly screamed in fright at the sudden motion. He gripped my shoulders, holding me in place better than any chains. "Your bond is different, it's stronger. The relationship is stronger. What you can do is otherworldly."