Forbidden Heart - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles Book 5

2: Damian

Damian didn't get to feel any relief in the twenty five years since the great war had begun. His time, as the now official leader of all vampires in the world, was spent wrapped up in politics. The war had barely, truly been over for more than a few years and he was still dealing with the repercussions. Parts of the clan house and the houses in Avelina were still damaged and under construction, being repaired and prepared for another assault. He had learned not to get too hopeful that the war had ended.

He had thought to celebrate the peace they had won for themselves once before. A week later the clan house had been attacked by some kind of explosive device which devastated the dungeons and the vault security. Large holes in the wall tended to make them unsafe to hold prisoners. Luckily, the archive room had been one room away from being destroyed.

Ever since, Damian had worked on creating copies of all the documents there, that they might be held in another area. If one copy were destroyed, they would at least have another to turn to in their time of need. How he wished that technology had never died out. With a laptop and scanner the job would be done in days. With a digital copy put onto disks or USB drives, they could have been distributed to a dozen different 'secure' locations in the event of another war. Then, not just one more copy, but dozens would exist. It was only one of the many conveniences of the old world he was starting to miss.

Damian was happily surprised when a shadow fell across the paper and he looked up to find Kaitlin standing opposite his desk. He was about to speak and greet her warmly when he saw there was no joy in her eyes, but worry. "Sit with me Katie. Tell me what's troubling you." He encouraged her with a gentle smile.

"Darling, for the very first time, my council has failed." Her grave words came out of her mouth before she thought them through. She hadn't yet taken her seat, so Damian stood from his and ushered her across to the more comfortable sofa, where they could sit together and discuss the matter.

"Tell me everything before we decide the matter is so serious." He suggested kindly.

"Do you recall Clinton? As a boy, barely aged nineteen, he was turned and came to us seeking refuge? When I first began the council, we reprimanded him and another boy for using their vampire gifts on young human girls?" Kaitlin asked, hoping to jog his memory by giving him as much information as she could. Damian nodded along, getting a vague recollection of two boys being punished by the womens council because of their childish ways. Then again, the boys had been barely teenagers when turned, their behavior wasn't entirely unexpected.

"Yes, I remember that you dealt a punishment and a few months later, when he had not changed his ways, he was sent to live with another clan. He had kin there, as well as the man who had turned him. We hoped that distance from humans, proximity to his kin and his duty into the army would make him see the error of his ways." Damian recalled the case easily, as the main perpetrator Clinton had only recently been dealt with for good. He had proven himself unworthy of his previous position and had been sent away from the clan as punishment. He only hoped that whatever else he had done, to inspire Kaitlin's disappointment, wasn't too serious.

"As I recall, he also killed needlessly in the war. Women...children. I would have punished him to death had but his family not pleaded for leniency. After the losses we had sustained, I could not deny them." He admitted uneasily. He had been left with little choice. Too many people had died in the Great War. Too many had been lost on all sides and they had to accept the numbers they had and protect them, even at the expense of a criminal.

"Yes. And with the damage to our prison, it was best he join family and be kept safe from harming others. He was given Elder status after the war, what with the casualties we faced..." Kaitlin didn't bother finishing that sentence. They both knew the numbers they tallied up together after the war was over, neither of them wanted to talk about it ever again. Instead, she changed the subject.

"I have been informed by his kin that he has taken a human girl, not two weeks past, from her home in Somerhalder and they believe they are in love. His sister contacted me in concern that he had used his gift against the young girl. She was newly married to a human boy just before her abduction." She revealed the most shocking part of Clinton's new actions dishearteningly. It was bad enough anyone had acted as he had. But to take a young woman from her new husband and use a supernatural gift against her to convince her that she was with him out of love, was just pure cruelty.

"I see. That is very grave indeed." Damian nodded along with Kaitlin's words. He fully agreed that Clinton's latest action was beyond anything he had ever done before. He couldn't allow anyone to get away with that kind of cruelty. People had been reckless enough during the war, taking comfort and love wherever it came. Vampires with humans, lycans with humans and all three having to mourn the loss of their loved ones...family and loves. He couldn't allow that recklessness to continue when there was no excuse of death and destruction to explain it away.

"I promise you, my love, I shall find him and deal the punishment he deserves for such a cruel act." Damian took Kaitlin's hand and squeezed it gently. He gave her the reassurance she wanted; she had done well to go to him, even though she felt her council should have been able to deal with it alone.

"I'm so sorry I had to come to you with this...." She began. She lamented having to place the burden upon his shoulders, but he stopped her before she could continue. Her help meant more to him than she would ever know.

"My love, your council saves me much woe. I would not have time for this monotonous task of copying every archive document if you had not started it. You and your council can deal with community matters better than I ever could. I find day after day that I am hounded by politics. It would not aid me in dealing with community matters." He confessed easily that she did the work he never could. He had no patience for unruly children when he had a community to care for and defend against unwarranted attack and danger.

"That is what I hoped." Kaitlin beamed in pride at Damian's words. She truly believed that was her purpose when she began the council. She wanted to take the weight from his shoulders, stop him from worrying about community troubles when he had, at the time, three clans to run and the unofficial leadership of the entire worldwide vampires. Now she felt validated, knowing that it did indeed spare him the trouble when he had little time for it. And so, she left him to his work and returned to give the council the good news.