Chapter 52: Chapter Fifty-Two

"Little Bast!" Sinclair exclaimed, making me jump with a scream. I hadn't heard him running up behind me, and his sudden voice in my ear was shocking to say the least.

I gasped out as I held my chest, willing my heartbeat to calm down. But the sudden shock did not bode well for my poor little heart, and it took me a while before I could speak. "Sinclair, why did you do that?" I finally gasped out, looking at the man. His excitement was so evident on his face, it quickly affected me, causing me to be excited without knowing why. His golden eyes were shining like the sun, his face absolutely beaming. I knew if he were human, he would be jumping up and down from his exhilaration, unable to contain himself. I guess this is as close as a vampire would get to jumping up and down, or rather, a recreant.

"I didn't mean to scare you, my apologies." Sinclair responded, his happiness replaced with worry, as my heart beat was still rapid. I felt bad when I saw his spirit diminishing, and actually hated myself for being human in this instance.

"It's fine. What has you so happy?"

"Alastair has made me his second in command. Have you any idea the kind of power and position that gives me?"

"Alastair? Oh, you mean Sam. I don't think I've heard anyone call him that before." I mumbled, forgetting for a moment that Alastair was Sam's given name, and Sam was a name he adopted for this lifetime. Damien used his middle name, but Sam would pick a name to use, throughout the years. "Wait, he made you his second? Doesn't that make you second in line for the throne?"

"Yes!" He exclaimed, his excitement returning, and with retribution, as he began grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, Sinclair, that's amazing!" I said as I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "So that means you've made up with Damien? I didn't hear any thunder strikes." I asked him, curiously. Could they really have made up, without another fight? I find that hard to believe.

"We didn't fight, we talked like coherent men, like you asked." He said, sitting down and setting me down next to him, looking out at the meadow. "I can see why you enjoy laying here, it's beautiful."

"It really is." I commented, laying back down to stretch out.

"Would you like to talk about your dilemma?" He asked me after a few minutes of silence, propping himself up on one arm to look down at me.

"Well, what do you think about what Divinity said?" I asked him, turning on my side, so we faced each other.

"I cannot say she spoke a lie, because she didn't. But the love you have for that man is true and pure. I can honestly tell you, he loves you more than he loves life itself. You have no obligation to believe me, but I know the feelings you have towards each other, and he loves you more than he loved his wife."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes going wide. He loves me more than he loved his wife? How is that possible?

"His wife could not give him child, and you can. He loved Karin with his heart and soul, but he still had a hole in his heart that she could not fill. You can, Bastet. You can give him the one thing his power and money cannot buy, a child of his own." He said, laying back down before he spoke again. "Please don't think he didn't love you before, because he did. His love for you was sickening before the possibility of child came into the equation. Now it drives me mad to be in the same room with him while he's with you, or thinking of you."

I nodded when he said this, not realizing until now, how horrible it must be to feel everyone's emotions. "How did you keep yourself sane, having this ability?"

"For a while, I just killed whomever's emotions would affect me. But after a while, I learned that I could change them, so I slowly learned how to tune it out, then change them."

"So, if you were me, what would you do?" I asked, thinking about Damien again.

"If I were you, and I felt this way about my lover, I would never leave their side. Do you know how rare love like that is?" He responded before standing, and holding his hand out to me. "Come inside Bastet, you'll burn if you stay too long."

"Can you please stop calling me that?" I snapped as I accepted his hand and stood.

"Why do you hate your name so? It's a beautiful and rare name." He asked me as we walked hand-in-hand back to the house.

"I don't know." I answered honestly with a shrug. "I guess I never tried to figure out why I hated it, just focused on making people stop saying it."

Sinclair waited until we entered the house to release my hand, I guess afraid that Damien would see, and attack him.

"Bast, are you alright?" Damien asked from the top of the stairs, looking back and forth between Sinclair and I. His electric eyes were flashing in multiple emotions, not sure what to feel about it.

"I'm going to say something you may not want to hear." I warned him as I turned on the water fountain, letting the water run over my hand. "Yes, Sinclair and I kissed. But he's turned out to be a great friend. And I want you to accept our friendship, if you can?"

Damien considered this as he walked down the stairs, then stopped once he reached Sinclair, his eyes turning red when they met Sinclair's golden orbs. "It will take getting used to, but I will accept your friendship, especially since it seems to continually improve our relationship. You, however, should not be here."

Sinclair nodded and began to leave, but stopped when he saw the look on my face. "The coven shouldn't see a recreant, not until the law is past. My presence here will raze this house, so it's best that I take my leave, before they arrive. They earlier the better, my scent should not exist too strongly." He explained before giving me a quick and reassuring hug, then kissed me softly on the forehead before leaving.

"Thank you, for doing this. I know you did it for me, but I'd like to think you did it for the betterment of vampires as well. At least they won't have to die, just for their bloodline ending."

Damien nodded and took me in his arms, breathing in deeply as he enjoyed my scent. "Tomorrow will be very... stimulating. Are you sure you want to stay?"

Before I could respond, the front door opened to a pair of vampires. Both the man and the woman stood tall, dressed in 17th century clothes, their mere presence striking fear into the depths of my soul. The moment their blood-red eyes landed on me, they crouched, snarling. "Our king is a kind one to be sure!" The woman purred, licking her pink lips. "He provided lunch."