Come In

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cam disappeared, as Victor and I peered around to find where he'd flitted to. I'd never gotten over how quick he was, and I'd never fully understood how much quicker and more powerful- more indestructible, a normal vampire was, compared to a Pardo.

Cam was backed into a corner of the kitchen, looking very much like a lost puppy, his eyes flicking around in alarm, his eyebrows raised in worry. He looked like a fallen angel- so incredibly beautiful in his sadness.

"Cam, it's okay" I muttered, trying not to let emotion break itself into my voice. His eyes found mine, and suddenly, he was enraged.

"You!" he snarled. "You... you abducted me! You took me!" he accused me, and his words fell into my heart, and began their destructive ways.

Suddenly, Cam was right in front of me, and I could hear his breath coming quickly. I raised my hand to caress his face, to try to calm him down, but he took that as an attack. He swatted my hand away with one arm, and the other collided with my face with enough force to send me flying. But he wasn't done- he was on top of me, his hands clasped around my neck, restricting my airwaves. I saw Victor's hands trying to pull him off of me, but he was just too strong.

The edges of my vision began to blur, and I knew that this may have been my last chance.

"I love you, Cam" I rasped. "Please, stop" I begged as tears streamed unendingly down my face, off of my chin, and onto his hand. As soon as the teardrop touched his skin, his grip loosened, his eyes widened, and he took a shocked breath. He clamped his eyes shut, his hands leaving my neck completely, and let out a pained groan. He fell to the floor, and began writhing around. I looked up, expecting to see Kim there, chanting, but it was just Victor, who looked just as confused as I was. After a second, Cam became still.

His eyes opened- his beautiful blue eyes, and he blinked a couple of times, before looking around himself. I heard him sigh. Finally, his eyes landed on me. I prepared for an angry, hateful look.

But I was met with the old Cam. He smiled a heartbreaking smile when he saw me, and suddenly, with movement that barely existed, his face was a half an inch from mine. I felt happy tears erupt from my eyes, as his lips touched mine gently.

I opened my mouth, and our lips danced together, perfectly synchronised. I lifted my arms to rest them on Cam's shoulders, and then I deepened the kiss. I felt Cam's hands wrap around my waist, pulling me onto his lap.

"Erm, sorry to interrupt..." I heard Victor say, a touch of humour in his voice. I broke the kiss and made sure that when I looked at Victor, that there was just the right amount of annoyance. He gave me a look.

"You must be Cameron, right?" he said, raising his eyebrows at Cam.

"Yeah... I am" Cam's voice- I'd forgotten how deep, and how beautiful it was. I'd almost forgotten how much I'd missed it.

"Good to meet you sir. I'm Victor. I'm Anna's Guardian." Vic explained.

"Ah, her Guardian! You took a while, didn't you?" Cam accused. Victor began to look flustered.

"Yes, it seems I didn. Honestly, I can only apologise- you see-"

"No harm no foul." Cam said with a laugh, holding his hand up. "I was just saying, that's all."

"Ah, well yes. Of course. However, I'm sure you're wondering what has happened to you- we would be happy to explain, of cou-"

"You're hurt." Cam said, ignoring Victor, running his fingertips ever-so-gently along what was probably a blackening eye. I looked down, embarrassed.
"I... hurt you. Didn't I?" he said, his voice cold and hard like his skin.

"It didn't really hurt. Besides you weren't yourself." I exclaimed. He frowned, shaking his head.

"No. Don't give me that- I hurt you. There's no way of explaining it away. I can't believe this!" he said, slamming his fist on the ground. I raised a shaking hand, and rested it on his shoulder. I felt him relax under my touch.

"Cam, really," I whispered soothingly. He shut his eyes tightly, as if in pain.

"Anna..."

"It didn't hurt. It still doesn't hurt. All it is, is a bruise, which will probably have faded by tomorrow." I said, trying to reason with him. I was lying- he had hurt me. Quite a bit. But I really didn't want him hurting because of it. And I honestly was fine. The pain had receded almost instantly in the euphoria of having my Cam back.

Cam clenched his jaw and frowned, as he lightly traced his finger along my cheekbones, sending shivers to my core. I closed my eyes and leant into his hand, which he opened out to cup my face.

"I promise to never hurt you again." He whispered, so only I could hear. But suddenly, I was reminded that we weren't alone. I whirled round to see Victor busying himself with a book that he'd already read. He seemed to be concentrating very hard. I stifled a giggle, before untangling myself from Cam, who let me go, save for my hand.

"Vic... you still researching?" I said, raising my eyebrows. He placed a finger on the page, saving his place, before looking up at us.

"Well actually, no. However, I do think that we should try to find out what broke Cameron's mind control. It could have been The King themselves- and we don't know if they have the power to just... switch it back on." His words flowed out of him like a waterfall, coloured with worry. I frowned- I hadn't thought of that. I'd been so lost in the euphoria of having my Cam back, that I didn't think of why he was back.

"I already know. I remember getting my memories back, and I remember what caused it. Anna's tear touched my skin, and everything seemed to shift. It was her tear." Cam explained. I could tell that he was uncomfortable- he knew that he was the reason for those tears. I squeezed his hand, breaking him away from his thoughts. He looked down at me and smiled.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash! As glass rained down onto the floor, having been shattered into pieces. The window. Cam flitted in front of me, holding his arm out. I looked on the floor, and saw what had broken my window.

A rock was on the floor, with a piece of paper taped to it. On that paper, written in what looked like blood, were four words.

We have your witch.

Kim. The King had taken Kim.