Forbidden Heart - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles Book 5

7: Trey

Trey knew that for a while, perhaps a long while, his friend wouldn't be himself. He would be withdrawn and quiet. He would have a temper and feel betrayed by the witch, who chose to die when she could have stayed to help him. He knew it was a bad time for anyone to bother him, so, he decided he would warn everyone he could that Kaitlin had 'fallen ill' and Damian was not to be disturbed. It would be the only way they would get any peace, without constant well wishers and condolence calls being thrown in their faces. It was the last thing they needed.

Damian was left contemplating Kaitlin's illness and what he could do to help her, whilst wondering when the witch's replacement would appear. The witch had always helped him, had always given him guidance and told him of important events to come that would make a difference to what decisions he should be making. He really needed someone there with him who had special skills such as the witch had and who could help take the burden off his shoulders. Most of all, he needed someone who knew about the Island and who could tell him where to start looking for a solution to Kaitlin's illness. He was going to do all he could himself, going through the archive documents he had only just finished rewriting, but it would help if he knew where to look.

Did he need to look for a spell or a legend, a herbal remedy or a rare blood disease? They had already encountered the unusual legend that had prophesied Kaitlin's ability to sense a lycan within her territory. It wasn't so impossible to think the reason she continued to lose children was because of some rare legend or blood disease from the Island. They had two daughters and two sons over the years. So he couldn't even guess that being pregnant with a specific sex of child was what caused her miscarriages. It had to be something else, something he didn't know about.

And, whatever it was, he desperately needed to find out before anything else happened to her. She had been through so much throughout the years, he needed to stop her from going through any more.

-

Trey was worried. His instant reaction was to turn to Damian, but he was afraid to do that when he knew he was talking with Kaitlin inside his study. So he paced. Back and forth outside the study door until, after an hour alone together, the door opened. Trey looked up only to smile when he saw Kaitlin holding the door open with one hand and kissing Damian as she said goodbye. A moment later she walked past him with a pleasant greeting and a spring in her step. He was more confused than ever.

"What has happened?" He asked, as Damian invited him inside, with a smile of his own. And, for a few moments, as he sat across from his friend, he listened as he explained the solution Caspar had come up with. It sounded just the thing to make Kaitlin feel better and so he could only show his happiness for them and hope it worked out for the best.

"I am glad you found a solution. I am only sorry I must bring you bad news." Trey began the serious part of what he had to say to Damian, by sitting forward in his seat and running through the facts he had been informed of, before he spoke. He wanted to make sure and explain all he could. Though he didn't know a lot. "We've had no word of Clinton. His new clan will not reveal his whereabouts nor tell us how to contact him. They are protecting him...though I do not know why."

"They are kin and so I would wish some loyalty, but not when he had committed such a blatant act of disregard for my rule. I shall deal with this personally. Thank you Trey, for informing me of this latest news." Damian sighed on hearing what his friend had to say. The clan they had sent Clinton to were hiding him, on purpose just because they were of the same sire. Well, he wouldn't tolerate it. The whole vampire world was under his rule now. It had been ever since the beginning of the war when all the other Masters had left peace with the lycans in his hands. He was the Master of them all and it was time they remembered that.

"I can always count on you to shoulder by burden. Sometimes I do not think I thank you enough." He confessed with a heavy heart. He wondered how many more years would go by where he would need to lean on Trey for support and ask him to undertake tasks for him. It already seemed like a few lifetimes since they first met, when he began courting Angela. He could hardly believe that after all those years they had only grown closer.

"I need no thanks Damian. We are brothers...ancient brothers...by blood and by marriage. You shall never turn to look behind you and not find me there." Trey promised with an easy going smile. He could see a look in Damian's eyes that said he was feeling old. Whether it was Kaitlin's continual illness or the strength his position of power took from him, he wasn't sure. He did know that no-one else could do the same job and still show a semblance of life, as Damian did. No-one could take on his responsibilities and undertake them so efficiently, so expertly or with so much knowledge and understanding as he did.

If ever there came a day when he wished to retire or give up his position of power to another, Trey knew there would be many rocky years for the clans. At least until they learned how to balance it all upon their shoulders as well as Damian had.

"For that I am thankful." Damian cleared his throat and looked down at his desk thoughtfully. He was becoming much too soppy in his old age. He supposed though, after having spent more than a few hundred years with Kaitlin and Trey as his best friends, it wasn't surprising. They were the only ones who could make him feel so unworthy of their love and loyalty. Their friendship had most certainly been tested by time and difficulties, but they were far from over.

"I shall deal with Clinton quickly, before he has time to act. I will also need to contact the Elders within his clan and make sure they understand what their loyalty to Clinton will cost them. They are protecting kin and an Elder, but at the expense of a young human girl who had her life destroyed. They must learn that such actions will not be tolerated." He nodded to himself in agreement with his new plan. And knowing that he didn't really need to say anything, Trey nodded to him with a smile of agreement and stood from his seat. He left without a word as always.

It made Damian smile to think that he and Kaitlin were the only ones who could do such things. They never called him Master or sir, unless they were teasing or mocking him. And they never held him up to the same heights as those who expected a lot from him. They knew he was a man and made mistakes and he loved them all the more for it.