Ryder's POV
Six fucking days. It's been six days since I've brought him back to the Palace and called the doctors to check his condition.
He was still unconscious and unmoving no matter what we did. I grew impatient as white robes kept on going in and out of his room to get blood from his veins.
Sleeping like this, Liam looked so peaceful, like he was still safe from the reality of our world. Running my knuckles along his face, I noticed that his skin was as pale as the first snow and there was a new allure to him that everyone noticed.
"He isn't awake yet?" Raegan asked as he opened the door and checked on Liam's condition.
I slowly shook my head in response and his mouth turned into a grim line.
"The doctors can't understand what happened and what is happening to him. They said the nature of his blood was now different, more..." I trailed off and ran a hand through my face. I still couldn't understand how it was possible.
"Vampire." He finished for me and I nodded my head once.
Silence settled over the room as he sat down beside Liam's bed.
"I can't say I didn't see it coming. I knew that there was a chance his immortal bond would surface...but not this way." He frowned.
"He wasn't himself." I told him what I saw the moment I opened the door. I described the chaos Liam brought, and the power humming beneath his skin.
"His first gift came from the blood of our house. The flames that incinerated the compound was Vermilion fire." There was a proud look in his face as he gazed down at Liam.
I could never forget that. The scorching whip that he conjured to wrap around his enemy's neck and electrocute them.
"How?" I swallowed before turning to meet Raegan's eyes. There was sadness in his expression, and I already knew what he was going to say before the name even left his mouth.
"Chris."
Grief weighed down on my shoulder when I learned of his death. He was among my trusted and strongest soldiers. Being Liam's guard and... friend, made it harder to deal with.
I thought of the pain in Liam's screams before darkness swallowed the skies. Learning of what transpired before that moment was the answer I already knew.
"His death was the trigger." Raegan concluded.
"Liam didn't recognize me. He tried to bring me down but his gift denied him. It couldn't hurt me."
"The bond between the two of you, it must've been the reason why. His vampire nature recognized you to be his other and it acted on instinct."
I was awed and thankful that it did. Because even though I knew my strength was unmatched, the fucking whip made me shiver. Still, the power in his voice could make me yield.
"His emotions may have invoked the turn. Relying entirely on the grief and rage inside of him to break all human barriers must've affected his mind somehow." He sighed and then I noticed that tiredness lingered to accompany us these days.
Liam's absence affected us and the whole Palace. The lights looked dim and the halls too quiet. Even the residents and the whole Legion was waiting for his recovery.
"His parents...I didn't know what to tell them so I sent someone to persuade their minds and made sure that Hannah's memory of what happened will be locked away. The less they know, the better." It seems like he and I agreed on this one.
"Inform me as soon as he wakes." I straightened up in my seat and placed a fist in my chest.
"I will."
----
Liam's personal doctor, Ian, checked his vitals and monitored the screens of the machines attached to Liam's body.
Raegan and I wouldn't afford to take any chances.
Ian looked at his patient with awe, but there was also pity in the way his brows furrowed. He sighed deeply and straightened his white coat.
I looked up to see him open his mouth and close it again.
"What?" I asked.
"I know I'm only his doctor but..." He trailed off and I waited for him to proceed, curious as to what he's going to say.
"I fear for his safety, commander. I've already lost count of the times I had to treat him. I have grown fond of the boy. His light and presence makes the death that hangs around us more bearable. But what if it comes at a cost?" His words slammed into me like a force of darkness, eating away at my core.
"And what if that cost changes who he is, or what he is?" Guilt unlike any other made me flinch. Fucking flinch. I, brought him into this world. I thought I knew the consequences, but I couldn't be more wrong.
This love was wrong in every right way. I knew it was forbidden, but it didn't stop me from drowning in its depths. It didn't stop me from consuming whatever it gave. I found peace and warmth in his love, but I never knew what he found in mine.
Fate was one cruel thing.
Ian left as I continued to drown in the cages of my own mind. Dark and guilt ridden thoughts surfaced as I thought of everything that befallen Liam.
He was too young, too good, and too gentle to deserve any of this. But his destiny was written in stone as soon as the bloodborne blood entered his veins.
Forcing away the guilt, I looked at my lover again.
His image would forever be engraved in my mind, and my memories of him will be caged in diamonds to lock them inside.
For the first time in over a century, the need to hold a brush and paint the most perfect creature in front of me took over.
I wasted no time in grabbing what I need before I sat closer to Liam and memorized each detail on his face.
His soft black hair that fell over his forehead, the long lashes that fanned out above his cheeks, slightly arched eyebrows, his button nose, those innocent lips that I love to kiss, and the small beauty mark under the corner of his eyes.
I let my hand trace every corner and angle of his face. As the sun continued to go down, his image was slowly put into paper.
Feeling the hunger and the thirst to feed, I put the paper down and stood to place a light kiss over his forehead.
"I'll be back soon, Eli."
Stretching my muscles and rolling my shoulders to the back to ease some tension, I went out of his room and nodded at Kayne. He insisted to stand by Liam's side all day after shit happened.
"You think you could watch him for a while longer while I feed?" I asked him and he just patted my back while wearing a grin.
"I'll make sure sleeping beauty is fine." He jested and I shook my head as I huffed out a laugh.
*****
Kayne's POV
I went inside the room and just as I was about to sit down, I noticed the pencil and the paper placed on top of the desk.
I knew who the drawing was at first glance, and my eyebrows shot up in disbelief when I thought of my brother, Ryder, holding a pen after more than a hundred years.
I understood why, as I looked at the person laying down on the bed. Capturing him in paper seemed perfect.
"Hey, Liam." I sighed as I looked down at him.
The princess jokes I teased him with, didn't sound too unreal now. He was damn beautiful.
Turning into a vampire really did grow on him. His innocent face and the new glow to his skin made him look like a fucking angel.
A whipping angel?
That whip must've stung like shit.
I shivered just by thinking about what it could do. Those vampires who caught the brunt of Liam's anger was unlucky as hell.
I saw the way he broke. The rawness of his screams after Chris's death. It unnerved me to hear something so... painful, and then feeling the shift in the air as Liam turned quiet.
He was the prince of our kind. And he proved it.
I couldn't take my eyes off of him now. This new glamour to him messed up with my brain.
Falling weak to its effects, I stroked his cheek once, feeling the cold and softness of it.
"Everyone's waiting for you." I told him and moved to take my hand away from his face, but then a slight movement on his fingers made me stop.
"Liam?" I immediately grasped his hands in mine and moved closer to him.
Time seemed to stretch out as I waited for him to respond or open his eyes, but after some time, it didn't. Blowing out a tired breath, I placed his hands down on the bed and stood.
A firm grip closed around my wrist, and I snapped my head back to him, only to see bright crimson eyes staring up at me.
And he hummed in delight.
Uhh...Shit?
A/N: Hi!!❤️🥺 It's been so long😭 It's been weeks since I last updated, and I really miss you guys so so much🤧😢 The reason why I was gone is because of my health, as you all know. I had Covid last year and I got hospitalized. It really affected my lungs, then I got reinfected again at the time I wrote my Hiatus.😢 I'm doing fine as of now and I'm taking care of my health as much as I can.😊 I really am grateful for all your kindness and support 🥺, it's one of things that keeps me going and keeps me writing❤️ I'm still sorry for the late update even though I know you guys understand 🤧 I'm lucky to have all of you!🙏 I love you!!💕