Bound: Toxic Love (Book 2)

Chapter VI

Not edited.

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Christian's POV

  Venedocia. Somehow a place where I always returned. No matter where I was, Venedocia is where I went back to. It was hard to forget a place ruled by your family, even though it never felt like home. I was used to the gray, the monotone feeling that seemed to dominate everywhere, no matter how much forests there were, no matter how much land we ruled with.. It was the was simple.

The castle, the towns, the woods, they were all way too familiar to me. And I saw no color in it. No meaning in ruling. My father.. He won the war. Before that, Venedocia didn't belong to anyone. But, vampires had always dominated. My family was always the one ruling the lands even before the throne. And I was always the one wanting nothing to do with it. It was enough that happened before the war, I didn't need a whole damn throne on my mind too..

But it had been quite a while again... I was back again. My brother was in the castle after a long time. Amelia.. She was there too. Two years wasn't a long time, and a little while after Annabelle was born, I had no reason to stay. They seemed to have it all figured out, but the throne took responsibilities and time.. A lot of time. With Amelia not liking the castle, I knew they went back and forth. Now they were there for a few months.

I saw Annabelle for the first time after two years. She was now grown enough to see that she looked almost all like Amelia. But it wasn't really a surprise. Amelia was holding her 24/7. They were spoiling the child.

I, on the other hand, was now doing things that Dimitri said to leave them alone. I didn't listen, of course, 'cause he wasn't aware that he left a few 'tiny' problems slip, and were now still going on.. Adam wasn't dead, my father and brother were practically dead with a stake through his head, but that could change in seconds.. He was not thinking this through.

So, I didn't want spending time with Annabelle, when I was one minute there, the other away.. I didn't let myself care too much, because if I did, it meant weakness. And weaknesses easily became the best poison when those 'who weren't supposed to' found out. It never ended good, and I knew from damn experience. Everything good had a bad ending for me, so I learned to keep my distance.

My brother has really changed the rules in the castle. He was ruling with the whole vampire world, and I'd say he was doing a pretty good job so far. The changes he made were no surprise. Amelia was the one ruling with him, so it was a two person thing.

  But whenever I mentioned the unfinished business we had, he would tell me that it was alright and that I should stay out of it. It wasn't. It's been 2 years, true, but he wasn't aware with who we were dealing with. So, I had to figure it out by myself, without telling them. I didn't need them involved in this with Annabelle around.

  I sat in my office for hours that day.. I went through all the lists, all the information I had with everyone Adam has ever communicated with. He was the biggest danger at the moment. It seemed like there were listed hundreds of names, but I couldn't find even one name that was familiar to me. Calliope got the list, and with this it was easier for us to figure out on who will Adam relay on for help. Who he will contact first when the spell starts vanishing..

  According to Calliope, he'll be in some kind of a half-conscious state where he'll be able to make a connection with someone to get him out of there. Cause as long as he's under that roof, he won't be able to deal with the spell by his own. Even when the spell is out of his system, he'll still be unconscious while in that house. It was too powerful and it was taking out all the energy from his body. But once he's out if that door, he could overpower the spell that, after two years has definitely become weak against him.