Secret War

Chapter 14

14

"Will you be able to turn me in this world?"

"No."

"Then I'll risk it."

"You don't understand - "

"I understand that Rose is upset and desperately wants you back and safe."

"I don't want to hurt you Adrian."

"You won't."

"Of course I will! Strigoi bites hurt remember?"

"But this is your dream right?"

"That doesn't matter!"

"Listen Rai, you've done so much for the Moroi community, or rather, me, Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Mia. You've done so much for her mum as well! Rose had never looked so well, happy and strong before. I have seen pictures and let me tell you, Rose looks best at the moment and you did that. We would never be able to thank you for that. Let us help you, I don't know whether you like Moroi or not but please Rai. Let me help you." I said sincerely and I watched her face falter. Her lips were trembling and I knew that she wanted to.

"Keep talking Adrian, keep me distracted, please," she pleaded.

"What is the link between Shadow-Kissed and Strigoi?"

"Talk about something else."

"What happened to you 20 years ago?" She seemed to freeze on the question and she looked up at me with a strange expression. It was a mixture of a sneer and a grimace but still she looked beautiful. She stopped shaking now and I could see her fangs.

"Well now, what would you like to give me as a price for that piece of information Moroi?"

"Blood."

"Strange, I've never heard of a Moroi blood whore before," she tilted her head to the side seductively licking her lips.

"I'm not a blood whore." I defended. "I'm just sacrificing myself for a greater cause."

"But you are nonetheless offering yourself which makes you a blood whore."

"Well I'm calling myself as an emergency."

"Either way you're offering me blood. That is rather a high price to pay."

"I want to know what happened to you 20 years ago Rai." I told her firmly.

"Why? Why does it matter to a Moroi?" she scoffed.

"Because I care."

"How cute," she rolled her eyes. She took my arm, lifted the sleeve up and licked a patch of skin. Then without warning her fangs plunged in but she missed the main artery. I watched in amazement as my blood spilled into her mouth and desire shot through me as she licked at the wound. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that she was Moroi. None of this was horrid or terrifying, it was just a feeding and she was exceptionally gentle. I could feel the endorphins seeping into my system and I had to fight for control.

"So tell me, what happened?" The blood had slowed now and she flicked her tongue out whenever a droplet of blood appeared. It was almost as if she was trying to savour it.

"20 years ago K and Alik were sent on guard duty at separate camps. We'd all thought that it was odd for us to be separated and it was even weirder that they would get the work over my birthday but they couldn't refuse because it was their duty so they went. On my 15th birthday, we had a small family gathering. Dimitri's side of the family had been unable to arrive because they'd been on the far end of Russia but none of us thought anything of it at the time. After all, Dimitri's dad wasn't the nicest guy in the world and it couldn't have been easy for his mum to care for him and his sisters so we didn't press on the matter. It was a good thing too, because if they had been there at the gathering, Dimitri would've died too and who knows what would've happened. I reckon Rose and Lissa would still be running around.