Blood of Darkness | Eternal Bonds: Book 1

Chapter Six

AN: Alright so a couple of things, firstly thank you all for your support, votes, and comments. It means a lot to me.

Secondly, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, so I am sorry about that.

I hope you all enjoy. As always, be sure to drop some comments, tell me what you liked, if there was a moment that stood out, if you're starting to like a character and what moment endeared them to you. Anything at all. I love engaging in conversation with you guys and the comments section is great for that. Anyway, onward and forward to Chapter Six of Blood of Darkness!

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*Selena*

"You mean Hunters as in vampire Hunters?" I asked. Damien nodded.

"After they killed my Father, my siblings and I fled with Malcolm," Damien explained, "We came to Blackfell because this place reminded us of our parents. Before my Mother died, she and my Father would bring us here every summer. That's how I met you. We thought we were safe here. We've managed to stay in the shadows for so long. If the hunters found us..."

He trailed off and I saw something flash across his face. Was it sadness? I didn't have time to question him about it because seconds later his expression became unreadable. It was like he had put on a mask. I even had a hard time feeling his emotions.

"I think that's enough information for one day," he told me, "You already have so much to process. Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

I nodded and we walked inside. His shoes made no sound on the marble floors as we walked, while I could hear my own footsteps.

I stole a glance at him. Damien was very hard to read sometimes.

"Damien, may I ask you something?" I asked.

"Certainly," he replied. I thought about that night and that woman in the street. Did she have something to do with my attack? It was possible, so I decided to tell Damien.

"Before I got to the club that night, I saw a woman with long dark hair and pale green eyes," I admitted. His eyes widened. "Do you know her?" I asked.

"She's one of my messengers," Damien replied, "Her name is Nadia."

"Well a few hours before I was attacked, she showed up on a street corner while I was driving to Ella's house," I stated.

Damien froze. He was silent for a few moments and then he spoke in a broken voice.

"I sent her," he admitted in a quiet voice, "I wanted her to pass along a message to Leon. I wanted to meet you."

"Why?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," he told me.

"Unbelievable," I sighed, "So it was you that called Leon that day?"

"No, I asked Gabriel to, since Leon is his Fledgling," Damien told me.

"What about the man in the woods? Did you send him after me too?" I demanded.

"No, I didn't," he assured me, "I don't know who he was, but rest assured that I will find out."

"So you're not going to give me any explanation for being so secretive about everything?" I asked, realizing that he was avoiding answering my questions.

"That's correct," he replied.

"Wonderful, more secrets and lies. How does your Consort deal with this?!" I asked harshly.

"I don't have one," he replied in a tone that was so cold, it made me blink in surprise, "As for lying and keeping secrets, I wouldn't do either of those things to you without a good reason, Selena Silvers. I understand that you probably don't think very highly of me at the moment, but you need to know that I don't like to lie." It was silent for a moment and then he turned away from me. "I'm not forcing you stay here," he told me, "So if you feel that you can't stay here anymore, then you're free to leave." Then he began to walk away.

I watched him, trying to convince myself that what he did and said was wrong, that he was an unfeeling vampire with morality issues. But somehow, when I looked at him, all my anger disappeared, and the only thing I felt is sympathy for the man that was walking away from me.

He may have just turned my life upside-down for whatever reason of his, and I knew deep down, a part of me may never forgive him for that. However, despite all that, I felt sorry for him, but I didn't know why, and my curiosity refused to let me let this go. The young High King in front of me looked broken and lonely and sad and I still didn't understand why. I assumed it was due to the fact that he had lost both his parents, but that didn't account for the sheer amount of raw pain I had seen in his eyes. I wanted to know why that pain was there.

I sighed.

"Wait," I called out. He stopped, his back still facing me. He was silent, waiting to hear what I had to say. "I'm sorry," I told him, "I shouldn't have said those things." I took a couple steps forward. "I'll stay here," I told him.

"If you want to leave Cygnus Keep, you can," Damien told me, thinking that I was trying to please him, "None of us will stop you."

"I don't want to leave," I told him, "And even if I did, I'd probably get killed by whoever attacked me."

I heard him sigh quietly.

"I don't want to force you to be here, Selena, but I also don't want to lose you again," he told me, "I want you to be happy."

Lose me again? I opened my mouth to ask him about it, but stopped. I didn't want to pry, especially since it seemed to be something very personal to him. He looked vulnerable, like saying those words was hard for him. It made me feel a rush of sympathy for him. Whatever this was about had affected him severely and left him broken. At least, that's what it looked like.

"I want to stay, Damien," I told him, "I just don't want you to keep secrets from me if they involve me. I want to be treated as your equal. If you do all that, then I won't be unhappy." He nodded and I knew he'd agreed to my requests. I walked over to him and touched his arm. "I have one more request," I told him. He turned to look at me and I saw that his eyes held no emotion. He had put his mask back on. Gone was the broken man I'd seen moments ago.

"What is it?" he asked, softly.

"I need you and your family to give me a bit of space," I told him, "I just need some time to process everything."

"As you wish," he whispered. He turned away from me. "Talia will show you to your room," he told me. As soon as he finished speaking, he walked away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway of the castle.

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AN: Thanks for reading! Be sure to drop a comment and vote.