The Wicked Ones: Destiny of a Vampire

Trust issues

From Zaidh's perspective

The news that my brother had already turned Keira and didn't even bother to call me made us travel across the globe to New York City. My anger was boiling over because Cindy told me that Arius was hanging around with her and living a happy life.

Vampires don't live happily ever after. When is he going to understand that?

His delusional fantasy of vampires coexisting with humans drives me crazy. It pisses me off that he's protecting Keira and giving her a safe life among vampires. Sure, she's special and needs protection, but I never understood why Arius decided he had to handle it all by himself. He completely cut Nailah and me out of the plan ever since he moved to Nashville.

I was pretty frustrated when I found out just how much he'd told her. Even after spilling all that, Arius still refused to let me meet Keira in person after I tried to mess with her mind. It was like he was afraid I'd take her away from him. But honestly, Keira was just a tool to me, nothing more.

I wasn't about to let my feelings get involved, especially with someone like her. The Oracle had warned that our paths were bound to cross, but I was doing everything possible to avoid it. Maybe letting Arius stay around her was the only way to change what was coming.

Although Keira was our enemy, I still held out hope that she would come to understand who vampires truly are and help lead us into a new era. Her powers are extraordinary—she could wipe out all mages from this earth, leaving the world entirely for our kind.

Sadly, ever since Arius began befriending the mages, I’ve had reason to doubt that he will stick to our plan. Keira's father belonged to the Inquisitors, dedicating himself to hunting vampires. He abandoned his mission and reached out to Arius only because the Inquisitors decided to kill his daughter. I can't believe my brother was foolish enough to make a deal with him.

How pathetic.

Arius thinks he is protecting her, but messing with her memories and lying aren't the way to help. He had never let me get close to her because he was afraid I would control her mind and push her into danger.

Which I also planned to do.

But honestly, doing it my way would have been easier, not just for us but for Keira, too. Controling her mind was the only way to ensure that our would succeed.

Arius is smart, yet he is  also stupid at the same time because he can't keep his feelings from messing things up. And his foolishness surprises me.

He lied to all of us and pretended that nothing was going on between them back then, but his love for her was obvious. Arius befriended our enemies, and since then, I haven't wanted to have anything in common with him. We are traveling to the hotel only to ensure Keira successfully performs the ritual.

I know he will try to protect her, which means that without my intervention, our plan will fail.

I'm glad that some of the vampires who are living in the hotel are not fooled by Arius's delusions and are monitoring the situation there. I will not let Arius play with our weapon and pretend there is no war while Inquisitors hunt us.

Does Keira even know that she is going to die afterward? I bet my brother hasn't told her anything yet. Otherwise, she wouldn't hang around with him so peacefully.

I'm starting to wonder if Arius has found the script he mentioned once. Oracle told him that there is a possibility to transfer half of her powers and change Keira's destiny, saving her from self-destruction after she performs the ritual of freedom. However, we opposed his plan. Allowing Keira to live and retain all that power would render our efforts to eliminate the inquisitors.