Heart of Radiance | Eternal Bonds: Book 3

Chapter Nine

AN: So I'm still hiding due to the events of the last chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to come out soon. Anyway, we'll be starting in Leon's head this time and then we'll shift gears. Hope you all enjoy! Be sure to drop some comments as you read! Now onward and forward to Chapter Nine!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*Leon*

I found Raine out in the gardens. She was sitting on a bench, crying and I felt awful for her. Whatever had occurred on the balcony had really affected her. I suspected it had something to do with Gabriel, but I wasn't sure.

"Raine?" I called out.

"Leon," Raine gasped. She stood and quickly wiped her tears. I wasn't surprised. She must have felt the need to be formal with me. Being Gabriel's Fledging gave me a certain level of respect among vampires. It wasn't much, but it was better than most Fledglings.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned for her.

"Nothing," she assured me. I raised an eyebrow at her. "I...I told King Gabriel...that I've fallen in love with him," Raine admitted, "But he told me that he doesn't feel the same way about me."

My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply.

"That stupid little righteous idiot," I muttered under my breath, not caring that I'd just insulted my Sire, something that was severely frowned upon in vampire culture.

I turned to Raine and sighed. Should I tell her about the contract?

I knew that if I did, I'd be betraying my Sire. He didn't want Raine to know about the contract.

But at the same time, I also thought he was being really stupid. He was in love with Raine and yet he was going to fulfil the terms of this ridiculous contract and marry Melisande.

And the worst part was that Raine loved him. He was doing this and denying both himself and Raine the love they deserved.

I told him.

I told him that someone was going to get hurt.

And it was terrible Raine was the one that had.

I didn't need to think about it anymore. I knew what I had to do. I had to tell Raine the truth about the contract. She deserved to know.

I took a deep breath and looked into Raine's eyes.

"Raine, there's something you should know," I told her, "My Sire didn't reject you because he doesn't love you. In fact, he's fallen madly in love with you. He rejected you because of a contract."

"What?" Raine gasped, "What are you talking about?"

"King Lucian made an agreement with Queen Tatiana that my Sire would marry Crown Princess Melisande, give up his vampirism, and become a faerie," I explained, "My Sire is just too righteous for his own good. He views the contract as a promise his Father made and feels he has a duty to fulfil that promise."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked.

"Please," I scoffed, "I'm his Fledging. No one, save for his siblings, knows Gabriel Drake like I do. Besides he didn't exactly hide it well. I could see it on his face whenever he looked at you."