Chapter 19 – Saving Grace

“WHERE is your master? Tell me where he is, or I will destroy this goddamn place!” Blaze screamed at his mentor’s servants. He did go to the hunt, although it was not for the Rogues this time. He went to hunt Cain, but the latter was nowhere to be seen since this morning. It was almost night time now and his patience was on the verge of snapping anytime soon.

He was in front of Cain’s mansion. He had been through every possible place his mentor would be. But he had not seen even a glimpse of the man’s shadow. He was about to let out a fire in his hands when his mentor finally showed up.

Cain glanced at his trembling servants. “What’s the problem?”

“You! You are the problem! You lied to me!” he snarled and gripped Cain’s collar. His servants immediately brought out their swords, but he did not give a damn. He was too devastated to give a damn. “I asked you many times about the Mages’ prediction! You told me that they saw it wrong, that it will not happen. And I held on to your words. But last night, my memories returned, the memories that you sealed when I was younger! I saw my younger self exploding in my hometown that day. I attacked the people there with Zenaidos’ mana inside me! I killed them-“

“Blaze, listen to me. I understand where you are coming from-“

“No, you don’t! I killed so many people that day and it could happen again. I will transform into a devil, into a complete stranger that nobody would even recognize! The Mages are right.” His eyes watered. “I killed so many innocent people. And soon, I will also kill every single person who matters to me. You should have told me about that! No,” he shook his head. “You should have killed me that day! But why… why did you spare me only to make me feel so miserable in the end? I trusted you, my lord. How… how could you do that to me?”

“I’m sorry.”

He pushed Cain while his chest was heaving. “If you are truly sorry, then do me a favor. End my life now. I don’t want to be like the man in the Mages’ prediction. Kill me before I hurt the ones I love. Please.” His shoulders shook as he wept. “I beg you.”

He had never felt this weak and this hopeless in his entire life. He suddenly remembered Mikaela’s face as she bravely told him she loved him. He did not know how badly he needed to hear those words, how much he craved for them, until he had heard her say it.

He had no idea that it was love that he felt until he looked straight in Mikaela’s eyes last night and saw his own reflection there, until he saw how proud she was for being in love with a man like him despite knowing who and what he was.

Mikaela was so fearless, so bold, for loving a man like him. He had known a long time ago that she knew who he was, but her attitude towards him did not change. He had doubts at first, thinking that she was being like that out of guilt or out of knowing that she and her family were at his mercy. But those doubts had disappeared every day that he spent with her.

Mikaela’s eyes were too transparent, they mirrored exactly what she felt inside. The fascination and warmth in her eyes whenever she would look at him cannot be denied.

It was crazy, but last night, the sincerity in those beautiful eyes crushed the last bit of the wall he surrounded his heart with this entire time. It was really not about Sylvia anymore. Hell, he did not even bother to think about her again the minute he had laid his hands on Mikaela. Perhaps deep inside, Silas’ advice had already been embedded in his head, he just didn’t realize it right away.

He didn’t realize that he had learned to forgive as the days went on since the Night King was right, the punishment for the people who had hurt Danielle, Kate, and the other Vampires and Werewolves was on its way anyway.

Blaze did not realize sooner that the real reason he kept Mikaela from the very start was for himself and not for anybody else. And after hearing her say those three words, the most beautiful and magical words he had ever heard, and after acknowledging that he, too, had fallen in love with her, he wanted to boast that at last, he had found his place to belong. But his new-found happiness was short-lived after memories from his past self flooded his head like a tidal wave out to ruin him.

And the thought of it nearly drove him nuts. He knew right there and then that he had to let Mikaela go. The sooner the better so she could forget him and find a better man.

Heck. Just thinking of someone else touching her other than him was already making his blood boil with so much anger and jealousy. It was not even happening yet, but it was already making him want to kill that person.

“You got me wrong. I am only sorry for causing you pain at the moment, Blaze. But I am not sorry for what I did. This is exactly the reason why I did not tell you about it. Because I know you would be like this,” Cain said in a calm voice. “I also thought there was no need to make you fuss over it. I admit that day, when your mana exploded in your hometown, countless people were injured, yes, but none of them had died. Your brother and your parents, though they were severely wounded, too, had managed to heal the people around you.”

Cain smiled. “When the mana inside you exploded when you were young, the pieces of your mana were scattered. Sylvia was around the area, too, and there was a piece that went inside her body. It was a dangerous piece because once it returns to your body, the predictions would come true. That’s why I allowed that piece to remain inside Sylvia knowing that she would one day bear a child blessed with so much light in her soul who would purify that piece. That human is very special, she must have saved a country in her past life to be blessed that much.”

Blaze was taken aback. “W-what are you saying?”

“You see, Mikaela’s light had saved you, Blaze. She unknowingly controlled and purified that piece of mana inside her while growing up until it became her strength and owned it like it was a part of her body. You can say that she is powerful in her own way. And during the time that she was with you, you felt it, too, right? You felt your body changing. Your aura used to be a combination of black and white. But the black part had faded overtime that it was almost unrecognizable now because once again, Mikaela had purified your mana. It happens through physical contact. The future had changed, Blaze. You will be surprised by how much it had changed. Even I was surprised.”

Cain patted his shoulders. “I don’t know how you were able to regain your memories. Perhaps it meant that you are getting stronger enough to break the spell I casted on you. But it does not matter because you are okay now. You are no longer tied by that prediction. You do not need to worry anymore. You are freed now, and you will be fine, Blaze, so go and get your saving grace back.”

Cain was about to head inside his mansion when he seemed to have forgotten something. “And about what Silas and I said last night, I’m sorry. That old man seems so excited to see you tie the knot with Mikaela that he urged me to help him push you to the edge believing that through that, you can finally acknowledge your feelings about her.” His mentor grinned. “And of course, since you were naïve in that department, a little push is what we needed to make it work. See? You have become so hopelessly devoted to her that your eyes scream with so much emotion I hadn’t seen before. Trust me, Blaze. You will never become the man you were afraid of. Have faith in yourself. If you can’t do that, then have faith in Mikaela who loved you regardless of the black aura she saw in you. Have faith in me, too. I would not have taken you in as my student if I knew you would mess up.”

Cain was already gone, but Blaze was still outside the gate. He staggered. So, Mikaela knew about his black aura, too? She had seen it and still loved him regardless? After a while, when he got back to his senses, a tear fell from his eye as hope began to bloom in his chest.

But that hope was instantly crushed when he remembered all the things he had told Mikaela this morning.

For the first time in his life, Blaze had found himself calling for God, for Mikaela’s God, as he rushed to find his sweet innocent lamb, his saving grace, and the love of his life all rolled into one.