I sighed as Drew wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He was covered in blood—both fresh and dried. Most were his. Some were Dageian’s, and some were mine. Still, I revelled in his embrace as if it was the best thing in the world. Because it was.
“What’s wrong?” Drew asked, and I then realised that my expression was probably distant and suggested that I was deep in thought. We paused as everyone’s eyes and attention drifted to me, and my skin crawled at the memory of Dageian licking my neck after he got rid of the dagger.
The dagger. That occupied my mind subconsciously. From the minute he took it, I knew I had to get it back. I think my veins have surpassed their limit for bleeding into molten gold, and I had no more daggers to spare. Besides, it was hell getting the last one out of the carved wood, so Drew ended up breaking it. Making a new one would take days—that’s enough time for Dageian to wake up in his sociopathic rage and come after us again.
We had to find that dagger.
“The dagger,” I finally mumbled.
“What?” Mason asked with his forehead pulled together in confusion.
“Did you give it to him?” Drew asked in a tone that I didn’t like too much. I threw him a glare, which surprisingly had him flinching back. If this was another situation, I’d probably laugh.
“Yes, I gave it to him,” I hissed. “He had you captive, and you expected me not to?”
“I didn’t mean….”
“You would’ve done the same thing if it was me.”
He sighed before attempting to pull me into a hug, but I shrugged away. “I know, baby. I really do. Sometimes I forget that this mate bond works both ways.”
“Just because you feel it stronger doesn’t mean I don’t feel it at all. Do you have any idea how I felt when I thought you died?” My voice betrayed me by breaking, and his eyes fell even sadder than before. “If you died, you would’ve expected me to move on and be happy, don’t you?” I asked, but he didn’t answer.
He simply hung his head.
“Answer me,” I demanded. I needed to hear him say it.
“Yes,” he said, defeated.
“And if I died, what would you do?”
“I… I’d die on the spot. I wouldn’t be able to go another day.”
“And you expect that it’s any different for me? Sure, the bond has its flaws. If one of us dies, the other won’t be able to go on. Even if we stay alive—”
“We’d barely be living,” he added softly, at which I nodded.
“So how could you possibly think that I’d be stubborn and refuse to give him that dagger when he had you— my mate? How? Did you know that he told me that he’d kill me? And I believed him. He told me that he’d kill you too. But he said that if I brought him the dagger, I could see you one last time. I could feel you one last time. And I didn’t hesitate, and I didn’t ponder. I’d take that any day over refusing to give him the damn dagger.”
“I know, Amber. I’m so, so sorry.” He reached for me again, and this time I let him hold me. A sob rose from my chest and broke through my lips as his arms wrapped tighter around me. I’ve become such a crybaby over the months.
“I was so scared, Drew,” I admitted. “So, so scared.”
He kissed the top of my forehead, letting his lips linger there for a while. It was like a silent message, more like a promise, that he’d always have me. I felt better after that even though he didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to.
As if right on time, the blockage in our bond faded, and I felt all of him. My knees buckled under my weight as our bond was restored. Luckily, Drew’s arms were there to hold me up. The flood of emotions that hit me felt like it was too much. Yet, it felt incredibly wonderful to be connected to him again.
No matter what we’re feeling.
“Damn... Is it weird that I want to find my mate and don’t find her at the same time?” I heard one of the twins whisper, probably to the other.
“Nope,” the second brother replied, and I chuckled a bit before pulling away. Drew and I had all night to catch up, but now, we had a dagger to find.
I pulled a regular dagger from my belt and raised it to the twins. It actually hurt me when they filched back as if they thought I would strike them with it. However, I shook off the feelings before I spoke again.
“There’s a dagger somewhere in this house that resembles this,” I said, and they both relaxed. “We need to find it. That will probably piss off Dageian even more, and he more than likely will come after us when he wakes up. It would be best to be a little prepared. You know? Another one in a million chance to take him down.”
“He has already proved that he’s hard to kill, and we are like pawns in his little game,” Drew added.
“But it would be stupid of us to give in without a fight. Unless one of us is in trouble, we do not yield to Dageian, okay?”
“Do you think he’s hearing?” Mason cocked his head to the side with a curious look on his face as he eyed the now crackling remaining of the fire. He thought of the weirdest things at times.
Still, his question creeped me out, so I sent them on their search. They’re vampires, so they can search the entire house in probably a few minutes. I prohibited Drew from running at vampire speed since he was still weak and refused to drink more from me. So, he moved at a regular human pace beside me.
He seemed distant as if his mind was far away as we walked in silence. It bugged me to ask what it was, but a lot had happened in two days. First, his best friend kidnapped me, who I killed later on as he watched. He was then taken and probably tortured by Dageian. He witnessed me almost being taken advantage of by that same vampire, killed him temporarily and then was nearly killed by him once again.
I couldn’t blame him for thinking. So, I didn’t bother him. I’ve learnt that with Drew, he’d always tell me something if he knew it was necessary. If this was a mere reflection that he could get rid of in a matter of hours, he probably wouldn’t tell me. But if something is really bothering him, he’ll talk to me.
I know he will. I trust him, which is why when Veronica brought up something from his past that I’d ‘leave’ him for, I didn’t push it. If or when he believes it’s the right time, he’ll tell me.
What if she was right? my subconscious interjected, and I quickly shut her down. I didn’t want to believe that there was something so bad about Drew. He’d tell me. Right?
“Hey, you okay?” Drew’s voice brought me back, and I shook my head once to clear my thoughts before facing him.
“Sorry, what?”
He flashed me his ever-charming smile as he stopped in the middle of one of Dageian’s everlasting hallways, automatically causing me to stop too.
“You seemed far away in thought. Are you okay?” he asked in a much softer, gentler voice. My skin tingled at the hum of his tone, and my insides purred like a kitten as I was immediately lulled into Drew’s comfort.
“I’m fine.” I smiled. “It’s so weird that I got lost in thought because I saw that you were deep in yours.”
His smile grew as his chest rumbled with a chuckle. “I’m fine too. I’m happy you’re okay.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my mouth, teasing me.
Only Drew knew how much half kisses annoy me, and thus he always does it so I would take control and take what I really wanted.
The truth is, we both knew that tomorrow wasn’t a definite promise. We both knew that once Dageian awakes, we probably won’t stand a chance. But there was just a simple peace that we had with each other, and I knew that my night would be spent with endless hours of love, not just sex, but love. Why? Because it could be our last, yet, it didn’t bother us.
I could speak for him because I felt it. I could feel it all.
“Let’s find that dagger and get out of here,” I whispered. Unlike usual, the passion that burnt in me wasn’t only desire. I simply urged to be close to him alone. Just the two of us.
He nodded with a deep breath as he analysed the long hall. I narrowed my eyes at him when I saw that he was contemplating something. I knew he was thinking about using his speed to search these rooms, but one look from me, and he dropped it.
“Let’s split up,” I suggested. He was about to protest, so I explained. “We’ll stay on this floor, but we check different rooms.
He still seemed sceptical but eventually nodded. “Okay. Meet me back here every five minutes.” He kissed me softly on my lips this time, and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. Five minutes? Protective much.
Yet, I couldn’t blame him. We were in the enemy’s house, after all.
We were on the third floor. I could see the perfect image of the ports from the windows with the full moon dancing on the water. It was a beautiful sight, and every room I visited gave a view from a different angle.
Almost all the rooms I searched were just about empty. For a man who lived for centuries, he sure didn’t spend any time collecting anything. The rooms were easy to search, and after ten minutes and meeting Drew twice, I was annoyed with this floor.
I checked the floorboards, just in case he had any secret compartments like in movies. I checked the walls, and I checked the weird random empty desks. Still, nothing.
Sighing, I approached my last room on the floor, and Drew was already in his last room too. However, I realised that as I tried to open the door, that it was locked, oddly, which only intrigued me more.
I got a bit anxious and called for Drew, and he used his strength to break the locks. For some reason, the eeriness of the room gave me chills the minute it was open, so I held onto Drew as we both entered.
What was even weirder was that the room was just about empty. There were no empty bookshelves and desks like the others. It was simply bare, except for a thick red curtain at the end of the room.
My mind and body were screaming no, yet I continued moving towards it. Drew never let go of my hand as we inched closer to it. I could feel Drew trying to push me behind him in a protective manner, but I wouldn’t let him.
Soon, we were standing in front of the drape, and my hand trembled as I reached for it. I had no idea why I was so scared, and I knew it wasn’t the dagger, yet I still wanted to see.
Coming to my rescue like the knight in shining armour he is, Drew gripped the curtain for me and slowly pulled it open. What I saw, however, was not what I expected one bit.
Coffins.
Two of them actually, and they sat directly in front of a comprehensive floor-length window, allowing the white beams from the moon to reflect directly from them. At first, I questioned why Dageian would have two coffins locked away in a room, then I remembered that he’s a crazy, delusional psycho, so even this wasn’t too far-fetched for him.
“Who do you think they are?” I asked as I ran my hand over one of them. There wasn’t a speck of dirt on either of them, which only meant Dageian came here a lot.
“Maybe he preserved his wife’s body and sleeps in the other,” Drew mumbled, and I actually laughed a little.
“Talk about vampire cliché,” I joked. “But no, she’d stink if it was her. It has been five hundred years, remember? Besides, no amount of preservation could save her. He’d be staring at a burnt-out decaying form instead of his wife. There’s no way.”
Drew nodded in agreement, and I found my hand inching towards the base of the lid. Why do I want to open it?
“Here’s the deal. On the count of three, we both open one, okay?”
“Alright,” I agreed, feeling my stomach churn at the thought. Who knows? Maybe it’s his next meal.
“One…” he started.
“Two…”
“Three.” We both ended before lifting the thick board open. But what I was met with was far different from what I thought.
I stumbled back so quickly that Drew had to catch me to prevent my fall. My mouth was wide open as my entire form shook, and soon enough, I heard approaching footsteps from behind me. I remained unmoving, with the only source of mobility being my eyelids bobbing up and down as I blinked. Even Drew was stunned, but he recovered quicker than me to save me from hurting myself.
This couldn’t be real. How?
“Did you find the dagger?” A voice asked from behind us, and I noticed that the twins had found us. I shook my head, not being able to form a proper sentence in my head, let alone my mouth.
“N-n-no…” I finally managed to say. “But we did find something else.”
The twins came closer until they, too, had a perfect view of the two bodies in the fancy brown boxes. I could see their confusion from the corner of my eyes. Little did they know that I was trying to tame my own confusion too.
“Who are they?” Max finally asked, seeing that it was pretty apparent that I knew these people.
I gulped, my throat and mouth suddenly dry as a single tear rolled down my right cheek.
“T-t-they--they’re my siblings.”