Heart of Fire

Entwined Fates

As I am trying to reign in Callisto from forcing me to shift to eat this Vampyre for intruding in my home, Ember races to my side with worry in her eyes. She grabs my shoulders and forces me to look into her eyes. They are shifting rapidly from hers to Fern's. They settle on Fern's.

"Jade! Mr. Slaughter has explained to us why he is so interested and desperate to talk to us. He has a very valid reason. Please trust us and listen to him."

I hate when Fern uses logic on me, but I also know that getting Fern to stand up for him means he has been honest with her, and she trusts what he is saying. Damnit! I am definitely going to need a run! Holding Callisto in and regaining my composure is difficult. I look at Fern and see it is Ember once again.

"I will take your word for now, but the explanation better be quick and to the point. Callisto and I are short on patience at the moment and easy to snap." I ground out at her. I see her sigh deeply and she shakes her head to acknowledge my needs and showing her understanding. The Vampyre has walked back to the sofa and is watching this interaction with great curiosity. Ember turns and picks up the tea tray from the counter and walks into the living room. I followed and planted myself against the wall where I could see the Vampyre and the door. I see him quirk an eyebrow at my position and I return the look. A small chuckle escapes him.

"I can only imagine the distrust you have for me, and I understand it very well. You did an amazing job of slipping my tracker. I was afraid you two had left the city. So, I dug into the auction papers and found Ember's name and address. I was sitting at the door when she returned." He tells me and I continue to maintain my distance and keep my senses open I can tell that he is here alone.

"That does not explain why you are stalking two young females?" I snarl at him. I fight Callisto back scolding her about how we promised Ember we would listen. She huffs at me and stops fighting for control but remains up front watching. The Vampyre continues to watch me with curiosity. "Ever seen a wolf before? It's rude to stare!" I snark out to him. This seems to bring him back to himself as he openly laughs out loud at my question.

"Yes, yes, I have seen many wolves in my time little one, but I have never seen one so gifted and so far from home." He tells me as he controls his laughing. I am peeved by his comment about me being little. I am normal sized for a wolf. Callisto starts barking out in laughter at me as well..

"Jade, he means age wise, to him we are like an infant, he is very old." I roll my eyes and huff at her but concede. He does not appear to be older than 30 but now that I look at him, he has strong laugh lines around his eyes, and his mouth. Vampyres like Fae can live for thousands of years, but unlike Fae they only begin to age after their first millennium. So, this Vampyre has been alive for a long ass time.

"Alright, who are you, and what do you want from us?" I demand. I want answers and I am not in the mood to beat around the bush. He smiles at me and picks up the teacup Ember had given him.

"As I am sure your wolf just pointed out, I am very old. I have walked this realm and dozens of other realms but there is one that eludes me, and I believe you are the one to help me. Now, before you ask why I want to go there, my answer is simple, fate."

"Fate?" I question my curiosity peaked. I shifted over to the chair and sat down, I can still see the door from here, but it is much more comfortable as I have been running and hiding for the last few hours. He smiles at my choice to sit and leans back into the sofa. I see him close his eyes; he stays that way for so long I wonder if he fell asleep. Just as I was about to open my mouth he began to tell his story.

He started at the beginning, telling us about his mother and how she was a gifted Vampyre who was raised by Witches. She learned all the arts of majic. When she met his father and left to live with the Vampyres she learned she had to be secretive about using majic. His mother would often talk about how Vampyres could be a pestilence of a species at times, and their desires for power was never ending. She only helped those she trusted, but she was eventually betrayed. A powerful coven of Vampyres who craved power and control captured his mother, forcing her to use her majic to imbue them with more power.

She fooled them by giving them temporary powers, and she used all of her strength opening a gate to a realm she believed to be uninhabited. She cast the entire dark coven into the realm ridding our world of them. However, the realm was inhabited, and after the dark coven had decimated everything and gained more power; they returned and started the Hundred-Year War. I was flabbergasted, the Hundred-Year War was the most gruesome war between the Vampyre covens, it almost wiped out their entire race. When the war was finally over, there were only a handful of covens left and they all signed a treaty, bound by blood majic that could never be broken or the covens and the Vampyre race would perish.

His mother was punished for her part in the decimation of a realm. The Witches tried to repair the realm, but their efforts were in vain, the realm collapsed on itself and turned to dust. His mother was bound from ever using majic again. And her line was blood bound or cursed to restore the balance and until that happened they would never be able to settle or find their destined consort, never know the comforts of a home, they were nomads. So, he has spent the last three thousand years learning, traveling, and helping realms. But he has never been able to lift the curse. When he learned about Ember and I buying the Mystics Sacred Tomb, he decided to come to the auction himself and see who we were and why we wanted the book. And now he is here because his Daemon has told him we are the way to end his curse. 

©2023 Lisa Enstrom / @JadeFyre2018. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without written permission from the author. This body of work is available exclusively on Wattpad. If you are viewing it on a different website or platform under a different username or title, it has been illegally stolen, and you may even be at risk of malware. Please do not support these sites, as writing is hard work and effort on the original author's part. Head over to Wattpad and let me, the original author know if you have encountered this situation by finding me @JadeFyre2018

________________________________________________________________________________I am hoping to make this a series... With that being said, we are getting close to the end of this part of Jade's journey. I have already started the outline for what is to come for Jade. I hope you are enjoying so far and continue to read, vote, and comment!