Chapter 53 CHAPTER 53
CAEL'S POV
The cement door groaned as we pushed it open together.
It opened onto a dark hallway, a stark contrast to the modern, brightly lit room where Fabian sleeps.
Cobwebs and spiders welcomed us as we walked in, a torch in hand despite our eyes being made for the night.
Because there was a level of darkness down this crypt that even the most magical eyes would struggle with.
And it's where we buried our father.
The man we had to conquer before taking the throne and restoring order.
Thankfully what we needed was on the left and Fabian led us there.
A groan came from down that dark hole and I paused, a flash of memory hitting me.
Vampires rarely give birth but with the curse on the Valkori line came miracles too.
Our mother, a human he refused to turn, bleeding out on his bed because she annoyed him.
Once.
I shook my head and went after Fabian, the one who suffered the heavier hand of his madness.
My torch glazed some papers, lots of them, all important to our journey
Different signatures that hold this empire together
That stops another uprising of hungry, uncontrollable vampires.
"Found it," Fabian said, and briskly walked out.
I grabbed a thick bound hardcover that was longer than my arm and thick.
A history of the Dark Ages, recorded by vampires I'd killed with my own blade.
And joined Fabian on his way out.
When a grunt made us pause.
"You won't ... Even.. say Howdy to your old man?"
"If I ever speak to you again," Fabian growled, "it'll be to finish you off."
"That shall be.. a glorious... Day!"
"Not today," I hissed and kept moving.
We pushed the door back and the more modern lock was activated, making it become a very bland, normal wall.
"Let's see what these have to offer," I say, wiping off the odd feeling on my neck.
Fabian nodded and we headed to his private library
"Fucking hell!" I jumped as my brother wiped off everything on his table.
Then proceeded to get up, break it into several pieces and I watched all the papers fly about.
"Let me guess, you found the answer and this is your new style of celebrating?"
"Your sarcasm chooses the worst times to come out brother. What did you discover?"
I sighed, as frustrated as he was and returned to a page I'd bookmarked.
It was the prophecy transcribed from the ancient Greek language.
"Ὁπότε λύκος τε καὶ κυνηγέτης μία γίνεται σάρξ, ἡ Ἠωφόρος ἀνατέλλει. Ἡ λιμὸς ἡ δαπανῶσα δαπανηθήσεται. Ὁ βασιλεὺς γονυπετήσει. Τὸ ξίφος ῥαγήσεται. Ἀμφότεροι κλινέσθων, ἢ νὺξ ἑαυτὴν καταφάγεται. Αὕτη τὸ τελευταῖον φάρμακόν ἐστι. Αὕτη ἡ πρώτη αἵρεσίς ἐστι."
"Can you translate this? I think my Greek is a bit broken. Maybe we can find something."
"I've gone through the original agreement, Cael. What does teaching you ancient Greek achieve?"
"Lord Answel translated what he thought it meant, as well as fifteen others. One inconsistency is all we need. Just try."
He sighed and took it from me.
"When wolf and hunter become one flesh,
The Dawnbringer rises.
The hunger that devours shall be devoured.
The king shall kneel.
The blade shall shatter.
Both must bow,
or night shall devour itself.
She is the final medicine.
She is the first choice."
"I swear Lilith must hate us deeply," I grunted.
"I don't understand it, father was given the gene and I know he nearly ruined everything with it but wasn't that enough? Why did she have to create a weapon and hand it over to them to destroy us after all these years?" He snapped.
"Maybe she thought we'll never actually get it under control."
"Do I look like I'm going on a wild hunt right now Cael? Do I look like I'm about to run mad? She chose a weak vessel and is now punishing us. Fuck!"
"You should go train with Gwendolyn, I'll finish up here and let you know if I find anything."
He grunts but listens.
He might not admit it but that blood lust isn't a mirage or something to have under control.
I've been managing it for him for centuries and I can tell this whole thing is drawing him to the edge.
One wrong push and he'll flip and I will be forced to send him into that fucked up place father lives in.
I return to the files and hope something jumps out at me.
Our kind nearly wiped out the wolves but it's not our fault we're stronger.
It's also Lilith's fault that she made us and then put the desire for destruction in our bones.
One terrible disagreement with the elders of the Wolven world and the Great War ensued.
Pathetic assholes couldn't go into hiding so the vampires would ride out their blood lust.
Instead, they all gathered themselves in the Spot where their main council building is in Russia and burnt themselves to death.
That desperate act brought down Selene and Lilith, the two beings who made us.
We had no representative except our creator.
And she, instead of fighting for us, regretted making us.
Since I knew this story, my brother and I have been dedicated to rescind the hands of 'justice'.
It's not justice if all parties weren't properly represented.
They cried wolf and centuries later, our soul mate is the being made to kill us.
After three more hours of poring over the papers, I gathered them, cleared the ground of my brother's destruction and kept the files in a temporary lock safe.
Then went to find him in the training ground where he was fencing with his second in command.
"Cael!" Gwen yelled, "Please help, he's not letting me rest."
"Stop being such a whiny wench and fight me," Fabian hissed and continued pushing the woman to her limit.
"Brother," I called in a tone he understood immediately. He dropped his weapon and turned to me. "We're going back."
He sped to me and we went back inside.
"Why? What did you find out?"
"Nothing. We'll have to choose between our Kingdom or loving her. We can't do that. We have a month before the effect becomes irreversible so I think we should go back, spend time with her and then leave. Return here and forget she exists."
"But the wolves –"
"Can't use her if she understands us. We'll explain everything to her. And let her know why we're leaving."
"Two weeks?"
"No, three. I'll book the return tickets so we don't forget."
"Okay. Out of an eternity, we'll get just three weeks with our soul mate. Nice bargain."
"Fabian Valkori using sarcasm? The world is ending!"
We laughed, but deep down, sorrow wrapped its vice grip around us.
The trip is hurried, We've both been pretending we're okay here but the bond is desperately pulling us.
It feels like an excuse now, anything to bring us back in her orbit.
It informs me that the rest of our existence will be miserable.
Tasting heaven and then cast into hell forever.
We finally get to Nashville and immediately head to her house, no words exchanged between us.
But when I look into her room, I don't find her.
No smell her or feel the bond.
It's as if she's been uprooted from here.
.