Bloody Curse | Book Two of Blood Trilogy

Chapter 52

Asher 

I glanced at Caleb and nodded my head once down the hallway towards the guards' chambers. He nodded in confirmation that my message had reached him. 

I left everybody and branched off on my own. I finally turned around when I met with the double doors and faced Caleb, who was approaching not too long after. 

"I suggest we cremate Derek's body. We should just give him the traditional fallen soldier farewell." I whispered then placed a hand on the door knob and turned it to see an anxious looking group of guards sitting around the main hangout. I sighed and watched until Caleb walked through as well to close the door behind him. 

The captain cleared his throat and lifted his gaze from the ground and onto the people who all awaited for the oncoming speech. 

"We lost one of our own today. His life ended in the hands of the Shadow leader, but we need not to fear anymore since they will no longer be bothering us." He paused then glanced down at the floor for a second then glanced back up into each guard's eyes. 

"Derek sacrificed himself so that we would be able to live in peace. Please send your condolences some time soon to his mate. We will be having a traditional funeral in approximately two hours, so meet us by the cliff." He ended his brief speech with a broken voice at the end. 

I stared at my best friend as he turned on his heels and shoved past the door out the chambers. His feet echoed on the hallways walls and I closed my eyes for a short time. 

The guards were looking at me for anything else that had to be said, but Caleb covered everything. I nodded once to the general audience and walked out the door after Caleb. 

I trailed back to the main hall where the family was still standing and recollecting their thoughts. Violet opened one arm out to me when she saw me approaching her side. Her arm tucked around my waist and I pulled her closer so I could breath in her scent then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. 

"I'm going to check on the kids." I whispered into her ear then took a single step back from her hold around me. She nodded with a soft smile. 

My instincts informed me that my two children were in Alexandria's room so I made my way there immediately. I was antsy to meet them and hold them in my arms. 

"Knock knock." I announced from behind the cracked door and I heard the soft patter of bare feet on the other side. 

The door swung open not too long after and I was greeted with a very excited little girl. 

"Daddy! Daddy!" She ran into my legs and wrapped both arms tightly around them. I let out a laugh and kneeled down to her level to pull her in for a proper hug. 

"Hello, my beautiful angel." I exclaimed with a smile that matched her's. "How are you and your brother?" I asked while standing up on my feet again. 

"Good! Look at what Zayden helped me build!" Her tiny fingers were wrapped around a couple of mine and she dragged me into her room hastily. 

Zayden stood in the center of the room with a smile as bright as his younger sister's and he looked at his creation with pride. 

They must've used a million building blocks to create a replica of this castle and nearly every detail was there. I was very impressed and bent down to scoop both my children into my arms. 

Alexandria giggled loudly into my ear, and so did Zayden. 

"Aren't you proud of me, daddy?" The question came from my son and I was surprised that he was able to speak any words at all, but the joy reached me deeply inside and I felt emotional since I haven't heard my son's beautiful voice for such a long time. 

"I'm always proud of you, my young prince." I replied then leaned my head closer to his so I could land a kiss on his forehead. 

"Grandmama and Aunt Jilly and Baby Hazel played with us all day! We had so much fun, daddy." Alexandria stated and I nodded at what she said with content. All was well for my children, as long as they were protected from the gruesome reality. 

For now. I said to myself. They would eventually learn of the dangers in this world but for now, I dared not to taint their colorful worlds. The final stage to Zayden's recovery had finally been reached and he didn't seem to be effected, or remember, any of it- which proceeded to make me feel joyed. 

"I love you both very much." I kissed them on the foreheads one last time then let them down so they could run off to play with the building blocks. 

"Daddy will just leave for a second, alright? I promise to play with you both later." I stated and smiled at the two pair of eyes that stared up at me, one gray and one brown. 

"Pinky promise?" My daughter held out her pinky at me. I chuckled and sealed the promise with a hook of my pinky around her's. She giggled then cheered and ran off with Zayden running after her. 

I chuckled at my adorable children and walked out the room without closing the door behind me. 

On the way back to my wife, I ran into my brother who was on his way back to his room. His face was fallen but he tried to brighten his mood as soon as he saw me. I pulled him in a hug and patted his shoulder. 

"How are you, Aidan?" I checked up with him. I had to make sure that he was still mentally stable enough to perform his duties. 

He nodded slowly to my question while staring into my eyes with his identical chocolate brown ones. Towards the end however, he began shaking his head. 

"I'm just still in shock. Why did I have a feeling that something bad would happen to one of us? Even if the adults were trying to reassure each other, I just had a fear that nothing would be all flowers and sunshine in the end." He paused then shrugged. "I mean, it's a good thing that the dispute between us and the Shadows finally ended, but one of us had to leave." He then glanced down at the marble floor longingly. A deep sigh escaped his mouth in depression. 

"Hey, it's going to be alright, yeah? We are no longer in danger and Derek will forever remain in our hearts." 

"Yeah, but still." My brother remarked slowly. 

"Now that I think about it, I think Derek knew how all of this would end. He knew that there was no way that he would've made it out alive. That's probably why he and Cameron exchanged so many words before leaving for this meeting." I shook my head rapidly and raised my eyebrows. "Damn it. He knew the entire time." 

I ran a hand through my hair and continued to shake my head. A gentle growl surfaced from beneath my chest. He knew that he had to die for the safety of everybody else. 

I huffed out a deep breath in frustration and placed both hands on either side of my hips. 

"Come on, Aidan. We need to prepare for his funeral. Tell everybody of the traditional farewell that will take place at the cliff. I plan for this to take place in about two hours." He nodded to my statements with confirmation. I patted his shoulder once more then walked past him towards Violet. 

Derek knew the whole damn time.