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Chapter 18
The guards bust open the gates to the quarters to relieve the inside where the King and Queen sat on their thrones as usual. The first thing I noticed was that the room had tons of people in it. Side by side stood Isabelle, Seth, Matheos, and Elisabeth. On the other side were six new figures whom I did not recognize and could only assume were the Council.
"Damon, Holly," the King greeted," please come in."
I tried to catch sight of a clock somewhere but couldn't find one. I attempted to push away any nerves and glanced at Damon who had already begun marching towards the thrones. He hesitated no time in demanding," father what is this?"
"Damon," greeted a man from the Council, as I got closer I could tell that his skin had a sudden hint of scales like reptiles and tried not to make a face, "good to see you again."
His pupils were oval and pitch black and I wondered if he was what Asia had called a shapeshifter.
"Under unfortunate circumstances, however," this time it was a girl, she had a high brown ponytail that ended at her mid-back. She had glowing brown skin and eyes that could hypnotize you.
"Vesto, Ameera," Damon greeted,"what's going on?"
A man stepped out of the group and approached Damon. He had a pitch-black mohawk that was bright red at the tips.
"Seth and Isabelle told us all about the foreigner you've been holding hostage," his eyes flicked towards me and back at Damon," I must say, I'm surprised."
Damon's angry gaze directed towards his brother and Isabelle realizing that this was what she had meant when she said she had something planned.
This did not need to happen right now. I knew the time must be about 7:30 pm but this didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon let alone with me walking out of here.
"It isn't what it looks like," Damon began " I haven't held her hostage, I'm trying to find her a witch-"
"Kia is a witch," said Vesto, pointing towards a girl with long blond hair and black highlights in the front, "You could have reached out to us."
Kia smiled a charming simper," I would have happily helped you, Damon."
"I know what it's like to ask a favor of the Council, I would live the rest of eternity paying it back-"
"Now that's just rumors," this time it was a thin and short red-headed girl with the same teeth that Ade had from the bar. I knew right away that she was a faerie mainly by the mischievousness of her grin," we're not that bad."
"What now?" Damon now faced his parents," what's going to happen now, are they going to take her away?"
I took a step back at the comment.
They can't take me away, he can't let them.
The King remained silent but Damon insisted," father, answer me!"
"Damon, had you come to us and presented your case, things might not have had to be this way," said Vesto, his scaly skin becoming more visible in the light.
"Give me one more week," Damon demanded," I'll make this right-"
"That's what Xavier said," The King finally spoke," and then he went off and married that witch."
"Watch yourself," Kia snapped.
"Damon, I'm afraid you've run out of time," this time it was the same man with the Mohawk. His expression looked apologetic but it wasn't sincere.
"Give me one more week, I'll find a witch for her!" Damon's voice was almost pleading now," father, please, let me do this."
"It's out of our hands now Damon," this time it was the Queen who had been oddly quiet. A sheer look of disappointment laced her gaze at her son," I'm afraid if you do not submit to the Council now, we may all have to pay."
Within a flash or a millisecond, someone stood behind me, their snout flicking lightly against the nape of my skin. I jumped up and gasped out loud. The person held both my hands held in a tight grip behind my back and resumed with sniffing the edge of my hairline from the back of my head. I felt my heart thunder loudly against my chest and looked up to see an enraged Damon. I looked back at the members of the Council who were watching the person behind me and realized the sixth person was gone. It was the only person who had yet to speak and he was behind me. He was tall enough to hover above me and intimidatingly built.
"Let go of her," Damon spoke through gritted teeth. When the man ignored Damon, he took a couple of steps towards us and barked out," Aboot, I said let go of her.....now!"
Instead, he gripped my hands even harder, sending a painful jolt up my arm. I groaned out loud and tried to stifle my terrifying fear.
"Aboot, let go of her," the man with the Mohawk interjected," guards, take her."
Two guards that stood being the Council, both bearing scales for skin and the same oval pupils began to approach.
Damon stood in front of the guards, blocking their path," No," he demanded," you can't take her, I just need a couple more days!"
"Damon, get out of their way," the Queens soft and concerned voice held an odd tint of sorrow," now."
The guards pushed Damon out of the way.
I felt Aboot's fangs extend against my skin and lightly poke against the surface. He held a pale hand out towards the approaching guards. He muttered the words gently against my skin," Kia, come take a look at this."
He stepped back and I felt myself exhale. My heart thudded even I'm more loudly this time and I saw Kia take quick steps my way.
She walked past an angry Damon and sent him a slick smile," awfully protective of the human aren't we."
Damon ignored her but kept his eyes locked on her every moment as she approached me and held my hands in hers. She smiled and said," you won't feel a thing."
Confused, I looked back at her and as the seconds flew by, I felt myself being entrapped in the gaze of her eyes. We locked eyes for what felt like a couple of minutes and I couldn't seem to look away no matter how much I tried. It was the same thing that Luna and Asia had done to me when they declared me of bearing the Mark of Eros.
Kia suddenly blinked and I was freed of her gaze. Without turning back to face neither the Council nor the King and Queen, she said," Isn't it funny how much your sons love us witches?" She sent a malicious grin my way. She turned to face a confused Damon," she isn't a foreigner, she's the daughter of a witch."
"What," I let my first words out at the comment," what are you talking about-"
"She bears the Mark of Ero's," she continued," you won't find a witch in her right mind that would perform the Ritual of Obliteration, myself included," she looked towards her co-Council," sorry Vesto.
"You're lying," Damon exclaimed," that can't be true!"
"How else would be bear a mark of the Underworld Damon, use your head."
"Then you can't touch her," he continued," you can't take her with you, you have to leave her here!"
"That may be true," spoke Fabian," we cannot touch her, it's up to the King and Queen to dispose of her how they see fit."
The King merely nodded and I couldn't help but wonder what he meant by the word dispose.
Thousands of thoughts raced through my mind. Meredith's words from earlier today were starting to make sense when she had told me that a human could not bear the Mark of Eros but what does this mean, that my mother was a witch? Does that make me half-witch?
"We won't take the girl," continued Vesto. He pointed a sharp fingernail towards a riled-up Damon," he, however, needs a lesson on authority."
The Queen sat up," what do you mean?"
"He's coming with us," the faerie girl's voice was soft as if it was laced with silk," he needs a few spankings."
"Isla's right," said Vesto," we won't kill him."
He gestured towards the guards who immediately marched towards Damon and held captured him in their grip. Damon stayed silent but his eyes were on me. I felt my eyes sting with tears. I felt guilty and sorry and panicked all at the same time but most of all I felt hopeless.
"Well, will you bring him back-" the Queen began but the King's placed a reassuring hand above hers and she suddenly silenced.
The guards began to drag Damon towards the exit of the quarters. His golden eyes had gone dark and they held my gaze almost as tightly as Kia had. I felt a tear slide down my cheek and wanted so badly to run up and grab him.
Where are they taking him? Are they going to kill him?
I couldn't utter a word and instead, watched in silence, trying to hold back from breaking down and sobbing, as they dragged him out until he was out of view.
Fabian, who had been watching me, almost in fascination, began to approach me. He trailed a curious finger across the bites on my neck and said," I knew your mother once."
"What?" I couldn't help the tears that had escaped the corners of my eyes how. They slid down my face in pairs.
"She was a great witch and an even better friend."
I flickered my eyes to blink away the tears and said," what happened?"
"She fell in love, with your father, who was a mere human, she wanted out."
I remained silent and he continued to trail my bites," how ironic are the gods to have bore her daughter the Mark of Ero's."
"Dismiss her," said Vesto, looking up at the King," we need to discuss further."
I caught sight of a grinning Isabelle who had been staring my way. When my eyes met hers, she sent me a wink. Beside her, stood Matheos who looked like he was ready to make me his next prey. I wouldn't last a day in this castle without Damon and I knew it.
"Holly," the King was speaking to me now,"go back to your room, we'll talk later."
I nodded and shuffled to get the hell out of there. Back in the hallways, I leaned over and clutched my stomach. I felt myself about to vomit and tried to swallow it back. Beads of sweat escaped my forehead and I knew I had a choice to make. I fumbled with my shirt and took the phone out of my bra. The time read exactly eight pm.
I didn't want to think, I just wanted to do. I ran as fast as I could towards the garden gates, both my brain and my chest racing a thousand miles per minute. The image of Damon being dragged out engulfed my thoughts almost completely but I knew if I stayed here I would either be killed or imprisoned again.
When I reached the garden gate, Meredith was right where she had promised she'd be.
"You're late!" She snapped.
"I know, the-"
"The Council is here, I know," she grabbed my hands and began to speed walk with me," I wasn't true if you were going to make it."
"They took him," I burst out," they took Damon-"
"Don't focus on that," she snapped again," that's not your business, you have to focus on getting out of here."
We reached the back of the garden. A small hole in the wall triggered a slight flashback of when Seth and Damon had handed me through it when they had brought me in on my first night here.
"Inside of here is the tunnel, take it all the way until you reach stairs, take them down to the forest."
"Okay," I nodded, my feet unable to move," okay."
I felt the phone inside my bra began to ring but I couldn't move my fingers.
I felt Meredith pull me into a hug. She kissed the side of my face," be safe Holly, now go!"
I nodded and snapped back into reality," okay."
I took a step into the hole and then another. Before making my way, I looked back at Meredith," Meredith!"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
She nodded and smiled lovingly," go!"
I forced my feet to move from underneath me. I ran through the dark and echoey tunnel that went on for almost a mile. I only stopped once halfway to catch up on my breathing for a second and kept going.
I ran down the old and murky stairs. When I finally reached the end, it poured out into the middle of the woods. I looked around in sudden panic, in search of Dimitri but he or the car was nowhere in sight. I was surrounded by nothing but trees. I searched for a pathway that Dimitri would have used to get here and found one, but there were no tire marks just solid soil.
Did they get to him? Did the Council take him too?
I felt both the disappointment and fear from a ball that dropped to the pit of my stomach. I tried to catch up on my breathing and contemplate my next move. I felt the phone ringing in my bra and reached out and answered it in a hurry.
"Holly-"
"Luna, I'm here, I made it out the tunnel but he's not here, he's nowhere-"
"Holly-"
"The Council, they were at the castle, they took Damon, they almost took me too-"
"Holly!-"
"I think they found him, they took Dimitri too-"
"Holly! Shut up!"
I was immediately silenced but Luna's tone and waited for her to speak.
"It's only 8:10! If Dimitri got to the car at 8, it would take him at least twenty minutes to get to the back of the tunnel."
"That doesn't make sense, the tunnel is right behind the castle, it's less than a mile-"
"The roads to the tunnel are blocked off, he's going to have to take a longer route, just wait."
"But what if he never made it to the car, or what if he got caught-"
"We don't know that," I could hear the panic in Luna's voice but I could tell she was also trying to keep calm for the both of us," we just have to wait."
I nodded although she couldn't see and swallowed back my dry throat," okay, I'll wait."
"Call me if he shows," Luna said before hanging up.
If. She said if.
The sudden feeling dawned on me that we might have been in way over our heads. The facts portrait in front of me as if being drawn out by the thunder snap of reality that we were two humans trying to outsmart an army of vampires.
How the hell did we ever think this was going to work?
I let my knees give out from underneath me. I felt my tears stream down my face in an uncontrollable manner and began to sob. I sobbed and sobbed until I had no more tears. I cried for the idea that I had gotten Damon taken away. I sobbed for the confusion that strung over me that held my body hostage that my mother was a witch. I felt hopeless and clueless and I sobbed mainly for the reason that I felt like I was betraying Damon. I was terrified that they were going to hurt him or even worse, kill him.
I heard the sudden sound of something approaching and looked up. I blinked my tears eyes to clear blurred my vision and in the distance I saw a black car.
A sense of relief draped over me and I quickly stood up and wipes away my stinging face.
The car approached me slowly before halting at my feet.