The Last Vampire Hunter

Chapter 40

I let the warm water fall over my body as I consider what Master Philip said. "I'd like to Mark you. We don't need to make love to do that." I know he wanted to get me into bed. He's wanted me since the moment he set eyes on me. Since the Selection. Yet, he's giving me the option and that's a relief. So why do I feel disappointed in what he said?

I definitely felt a connection to him. That connection had been rooted in fear initially, but over the past week as I've come to know him better, it has shifted into something new. It feels different from what I felt for Liam or Master Alexander.

What I felt for Liam seems like a dream now. Though I still and perhaps forever will love him, our plans for one another, our hopes and dreams of growing and nurturing that bloom of love are over. He's gone. That chapter of my life is finished.

Master Alexander and I have a lot in common. I thought of the time we spent in the garden and galleries. I thought of our many discussions on the books in his vast library. His appreciation of my knowledge and interests bind me to him. However, little by little he's begun to change. He's more clingy. He keeps insisting that I stay with him forever. He even spoke of changing me. And the anger. The Madness.

Then there is Master Philip. Britney had said that initially Master Philip had been kind to her but over time he became more angry. Just as Master Alexander had become angry during our time with my parents. Even now we really couldn't discuss Liam. It would send him into a fit of jealous rage even though Liam was no longer a threat to him. Master Alexander is showing the signs of the beginning of the Madness.

I don't believe that Alex is your true Mate. Master Philip believes Master Alexander has forced me into becoming his Mate. He suggested the bond would fade completely once he Marked me. And it was true. I have felt my connection to Master Alexander weakening. I could no longer sense his emotions as easily as I once could. When he touched my Mark, it no longer elicited that desire it once did. I thought it was weakening because of my anger of what he did to Liam. Of his threats to the lives of my parents. However, it was also possible that if we truly weren't meant to be Mates, my connection to my true Mate, to Master Philip, would change that.

Another question for Philip. Once he Marks me will I be free of Master Alexander? If the Madness is affecting him, he would need to find his Mate or another pet to help ease it, right? I'd be free of one Vampire but I'd be bound to another for life. That is if the Mate Bond was indeed a real thing to Dhampirs. That wasn't altogether certain. Technically, I'm the first one that the Council knows of to be Mated. So far, the Bond to Master Alexander was not binding forever. So we could discount that. Would it be binding to Master Philip?

He'd also said that the Mark wouldn't hurt and that it would actually feel pleasant. He'd said I would feel relieved when he Marked me, like finally getting something my body has been yearning for." Was his Mark something I yearned for? I didn't think so. It definitely is not something I wanted with Master Alexander.

I was just so confused. I turned the shower off and toweled dry. I rubbed the Vanilla oil on my body, a little disappointed not to see the lavender one I preferred. I used the hairdryer to dry my hair and brushed it until it fell in soft shiny waves over my shoulders. Finally, I placed the wet towels in the hamper and stepped out into the room where I found Master Philip waiting.

He was lying on the bed with some folders spread out around him. He had a pair of pajama bottoms and no shirt. I could see his well sculpted abs and his long legs along with the shiny black hair and ever present five o'clock shadow. Like any other Vampire, he looked extremely sexy, a predator waiting for his prey.