Damien's POV
I teleported right into my study room, opening my eyes I blinked a few times to adjust to my surroundings. It was late at night and the sun had already set, leaving the room dark and cold with only a few candles burning to provide some form of light.
Spotting the person who called me here telepathically, I walked closer towards him.
"What happened?" I asked Eric.
He was sitting in a chair, preoccupied with some documents, as his eyes carefully scanned each one. The way he was tapping his feet continuously informed me whatever he was staring at, it wasn't a good news.
His head snapped up as soon as he heard me, standing up as he almost dropped the papers on the floor. He clutched them in his hand before making his way towards my desk which was situated in the far middle of the room. He placed the documents on the desk before turning towards me.
"I just had the meeting with the council, like you asked me to," he said, clearly hesitant.
I recalled asking him to meet up with the council again and try to convince them out of the situation they had put me in. Since he was the second in command, I always trusted him to sort out matters for me where my presence wasn't required. But this time I asked him to take my place because I knew the council wasn't ready to reason with me.
Some of the court members were my elders, they had helped my father rule over the vampire realm. They would do anything to ensure the safety of the realm, to prevent it from falling apart. No matter the threat, they had always fought beside my father.
Although I was the king, they still held half the power to keep peace and justice alive among the royals. Their service and selfless acts has earned them much respect over the years, not just from other royals but also the commoners. Going against them would be equivalent to going against all people. I didn't want to risk being in the same room as them during this time and dent our relationship. What happened today at the meeting was enough to make my blood boil, they were trying to force me into a proposed marriage and have an heir.
"How did it go? Were you able to convince them I do not wish to get married?"
"Yes, Damien. I tried everything in my power to somehow change their minds. I even made up an excuse that you would like to wait for your mate to show up before settling down, also what if you do get married and then end up meeting her later on in your eternal life. But even that didn't work, if you didn't have a reputation of being a player and actually believed in love, they might've listened to me."
I groaned, frustrated by their stupid decision to interfere in my personal life. So what if I had a reputation of being a player? I never had to force myself onto anyone, it's not my fault every girl I crossed paths with wanted me in their chambers.
They can't seriously be punishing me for my good looks by tying me up with somebody for the rest of eternity.
"Here," he held out the papers he was buried in when I came into the room, "this is the contract they were talking about. But they've also added that you have a month to find somebody to marry or they will find you a suitor, an arranged marriage."
"What?!"
I ripped the papers out of his hand, reading over each word carefully.
I was beyond furious at this point. There was no way in hell was I going to let them treat me like a puppet and plan out my destiny.
He was right, the document was signed and dated for today. A month from now they will hold a meeting where I would have to decide on a bride and then announce her in front of my subjects. There is to be an event exactly a month away where the world will know who the next vampire queen will be. The marriage must take place within a week after that.
Failure to pledge to the agreement I would lose my title and no longer be the king of the vampire world.
Next in line would be Valentino.
I could not believe this was happening to me.
"They also said they believe you might be their next target. The vampire hunters' next target. That explains why they are escalating things by giving you only a month to settle down," Eric continued.
He then looked around the room, as if searching for something. My study walls were filled with ceiling high bookshelves, some of the books resting on them for centuries. There was a fireplace and seating area, where I was currently pacing around. His eyes landed on an enclosed shelf that had sliding doors, that was where we kept most of the records.
"What do we even know about these hunters? They are descendants of humans who were once brought in as slaves, years ago. Why do they have so much hatred for something that happened centuries ago? Why take revenge now and not back then? Something is not adding up,"
Eric walked towards the hidden bookshelf and eyed it carefully, running his fingers over the labels of books and folders that were stacked messily on it.
My doing.
Sometimes I would have to pull old records to deal with people who would falsely claim my father owed them some form of reparations or for other affairs that required peeking into the history to make better present decisions.
"There has to be some sort of bookkeeping, some records that indicate who was brought in and how many, exactly."
I stopped pacing, finally catching up to what he was doing.
"You're right, perhaps we find some information that might just help us defeat them, or figure out what they want. If they're out of the picture, then I won't have this sword looming over my head to have an heir in the first place. I won't have to get married anytime soon either," I joined Eric and started to shuffle through the records to find what we were looking for.
The vampire hunters have shaken up the peace of this kingdom and seriously challenged my reign. My subjects were losing faith and the court members were on an edge. Defeating them or bringing them to justice would literally solve all my problems.
We finally came across a title that grabbed both of our attention.
The Slave Trades (1820)
I pulled out the book and examined it, it was a rustic brown cover that read the title and had my grandfathers name at the bottom. That meant the movement was approved by him when he was the king.
Placing the book flat on my desk with a thud, my fingers started to move along on their own, as if to uncover the secrets of the past. Eric came and stood beside me, equally as curious. I flipped the pages one by one, the first couple of pages seemed like a plan to enter into the human world and notes on how to choose the targets.
I briefly glanced over the information and it made me sick to my stomach. I was never the one to sympathize with humans as I was raised to consider them weak and below our title. Even though they weren't slaves anymore, I never considered them worthy or a part of our community just like any other vampire.
Maybe that is why they felt so neglected and outcasted.
Maybe I should've worked towards bringing a change into our world.
Although they might be physically weak and don't possess as much power as us, they were still smart creatures who had succeeded in building defenses against us.
And now they were fully attacking us without any special gifts or abilities that we were born with. They changed their own reality to make it work for them.
I was closely familiar with their kind now, especially after meeting Aliya.
Aliya.
A big credit goes to her for changing my perspective on how I viewed humans. I loathed their species and would call her human to remind her she never stood a chance against me, as an insult.
She showed me it was okay to be weak and vulnerable at times, she was like an open book. Crying when she was hurt, throwing a fist when she was mad. She allowed me to open up too and not be afraid of judgement. The way she cared about others and would also empathize with someone like me. She didn't possess any special powers, but she was special in her own way.
"There it is," Eric pointed towards a number on one of the pages, "150 slaves brought in from the human world. I seriously cannot believe someone would stoop so low to treat living beings like objects."
"From the looks of it, they were sold like objects too. Here's a list of buyers and how many slaves were sold to them, and for how much. How do you put a price on someone's life?"
"You can't," he said, looking down.
I knew what he was thinking. I've ruined an innocent's life before too.
I cleared my head and tried to focus as I flipped the page, "Eric, this is it. Here are the names of all the humans, it has their age when they were brought in and a little description of them."
There were too many. Too many names and each one had their own story to tell if anyone was to listen. All of these people are obviously dead by now as it has been two centuries. But their children lived on to face the aftermath.
As I tried to find a clue as to what these humans had in common, I came across a name that sounded all too familiar.
Aryan Mallow.
Aryan Mallow was the name of their current leader.
His daughter and little army had broken into the palace months ago. I had her captured but she managed to escape when they sent another group to free her.
She and her father had been off the radar ever since.
Could it be that this Aryan was the grandson of the original Aryan Mallow, the one mentioned in the book?
I read the description under his name.
5 foots and 10 inches tall.
Weight 75 kg.
Black hair and blue eyes.
Age: 38
This lad is the toughest out of them all. He is the one to always put up a fight. His strength can be put to good use such a heavy lifting. His owner has to be careful as he often draws attention towards himself after setting up a plan to help his fellow slaves escape. They must be warned to look out for this demon in disguise.
Demon in disguise?
We all knew who the real demon was here, the person who wrote this.
"Aryan Mallow, we've never been able to track him down, Damien. He has to be the grand child."
I have Eric a "no shit" look.
"Yes, if we manage to get this guy, we might just be able to stop this chaos altogether since he is the one in charge here, he commands their every move. And I'm still pretty upset about the fact that his daughter casually walked out of here under the noses of my best trained guards. I've been occupied with.. other things and I've taken them far too lightly. It's time I focus on the future of my kingdom and also my own."
Eric placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I know they have done some terrible things like breaking into this castle and putting us in danger but we have to remember they have been wronged too," Eric tried to explain.
"I know. But that doesn't erase their mistakes or make them any less accountable, for all the lives lost and the fear they've implanted within our subjects. They must pay for that. We will just have to think a step ahead of them from now on.. I think I might have a plan on how to do that."
Watch out Aryan Mallow, you have chosen to provoke the most ruthless king in the history of vampire kings.
***
I groaned and rolled over in the bed, pulling the cover on top of me and shielding my eyes from the bright light coming from the windows. The curtains scraped and whined against the rod as if someone was pulling them to the sides, inviting more light into the room.
"Aliya, let me sleep. Too bright," I complained, sleepily.
I heard a giggle that clearly did not belong to Aliya, it was someone else.
Who was in my room?
The thought alone was enough to wake me up fully as I sat up to scold whoever invaded my privacy.
And why did I think it was Aliya?
Surely, it was out of pure habit, since she was the one who would wake me up when I came back late and slept throughout the day.
Strange that she was the first thought that came to my mind when I woke up, even after all these months.
My eyes focused on the maid who had just pulled the curtains back, her eyes instantly dropped to the floor as she bowed, "my king."
"Thanks, Nathalia," I heard my sister's voice from the entry way.
What were these two ladies up to and why were they in my room to begin with?
"Emma, what's going on?"
I rubbed my eyes and ran a hand through my hair to keep them from falling on my face messily.
"Good morning, my sweet brother," she skipped her way over to the side of my bed.
"I'm having our staff do some deep cleaning of our guest rooms for the wedding so I thought I send someone over to clean your room too. It's been a while since we freshened up this place, don't you think?"
I frowned, "I don't want anyone touching my stuff, my room is already clean."
"Your stuff or her stuff?" She gave me a weird look and crossed her arms.
A part of me was happy she knew without me telling her, as that would make look like some love sick puppy who was holding onto his toys.
I shuddered, cringing.
Yes, I still had some of Aliya's belongings in my room since she only took what she needed. She had gone on a shopping spree when I first took her out to the mall, but she barely wore half the wardrobe and left many things behind. I didn't have the heart to depart from them just yet.
Did I just say heart?
I do not have a heart to begin with.
What was wrong with me?
Why did I became this completely different person when it came to her or being in her presence?
My mind shifted to our meeting last night. I don't know why I visited her but all I knew was I had to see her. I was growing impatient and crazier by the second. It was becoming physically hard to function and go about my daily tasks without getting a glimpse of her. Something in me called out to her and the next thing I know I had crossed the portal and my wings took me straight to her. It's like they had a mind of their own and knew exactly where to find her.
And there she stood, a perfect lone star in the darkness of the night. Everything else after that was like a dream, our touch that still sent shivers up my skin. The way her eyes landed on me for the first time after months. It was like I was truly seeing her for the first time. To a vampire, a hundred years is nothing, they pass by like a blur. But being away from her for six months, every day felt like an eternity over and over again.
My mood was uplifted and all the anger disappeared into thin air, she had a calming effect on me which made no sense to me at all.
Even admitting this was extremely difficult for me.
I know I let her go to have a chance at a normal life, but yesterday I chose to be the selfish me. Who I had buried deep inside me when it came to her, without even knowing.
"Oh, perfect!" Emma suddenly exclaimed.
A few men walked in with what looked like a set of large mirrors and a table with another mirror on top of it.
"What is that?"
What is up with all these mirrors? I was seriously confused with what was going on in my room.
"It's a vanity, isn't it just perfect? I picked it out so it still matches the theme of your room. Which, by the way, this place is such a bachelor's pad," she looked around and scrunched up her nose, "I thought it was time we added some feminine elements in here and did some room makeover."
"Why do I need a vanity, am I going to do my makeup on it?" I asked with a straight face.
"Um, no. But you can help with someone else's makeup," she suggested, adding a wink.
"Not there, guys. Just place it against this wall and I want the oversized mirror to go beside it. As for this plant, this goes by the mirror. Yes, like that!"
Emma looked too busy to even look my way as I had so many questions floating in my mind, but after seeing her get excited about doing my "room makeover" I let her have her way. And maybe she was right, this room did need a little pick up.
"Okay, I am out of here," I got up and walked towards the exit, "do whatever you want but remember to not touch any of my stuff, or hers. And also, no pink walls and bedsheets."
She laughed, "don't worry, I was thinking about a yellow instead."
I gave her a don't you dare look.
"Wait, Damien!" She called out.
I turned around, almost outside the room.
"Can Aliya attend my wedding?"
Now that explains why she was prepping my room, or rather for who.
"Did she say she wanted to?"
The thought of Aliya visiting made me excited, but it shortly died down as I thought of the consequences. I don't think it would be a good idea to have her back in the vampire world, even for a few days.
It could trigger bad memories for her and hurtful ones for me as well. Remembering the last time she was here I was holding her on the brink of death when my asshole of a brother stabbed her.
"I'm sure she does, she mentioned how it broke her heart that she won't be able to attend my wedding. I didn't invite her at the time because I didn't know how you would feel about it.."
"I don't know, Em.. I'll have to think about it. I really don't want to put her in danger again or force her back into this world when she's finally free."
"Nothing is going to happen to her, she'll have us. She will have you to protect her. We will be extra careful and you can even order some guards for her safety. I really want her here for the wedding."
Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, I didn't realize they had gotten this close over the last few months. I knew Emma often went to the human world to visit her, and she would inform me how Aliya was doing too.
But was I prepared for her to be walking these halls again? Was it a good idea to let her back into my life when I was still dealing with her decision to walk out on me?