Chapter Twenty-One ~ Goodbye my love

Tristan Cole

I woke up in the werewolf clinic, I sat up and looked around the room. Tyler was the only one in the room with me, so I quickly asked him,

“Where's Freya? Did Balan take her? What happened?” He opened his eyes and took his time stretching and yawning.

“TYLER!” I snarled at him.

“Ok, ok keep your hair on,” he replied with a huff. “Right, well, you sorta died, and then had to be resuscitated. Freya assumed you were dead for good, and Linda heard her mumbling something about her dreams coming true? Then Balan demanded she go with him to be his Princess, as he held her mother by the back of her neck, and threatened to kill her,” he rattled off and then took a long breath, which made him yawn again.

“Tyler for God's sake! Does he have her or not?” I yelled at him. “Because if he does I'm gonna rip his fucking head off!” I shouted and clenched my fists. Tyler burst out laughing, and I looked at him with my brows raised in surprise.

“That might be a little difficult T, your Mrs. already beat you to it!” He said as he twisted his hands, and then pulled them upwards, in like a ripping motion.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I yelled and demanded an answer.

“Well Mason tried to attack Balan and save Freya and her mom, but Balan punched him in the face and he got knocked the fuck out. Then Freya shot this weird beam of electrical fire out of her hands, it was so fucking cool, I mean she went whoosh like this...” He explained like an excited child describing something out of marvel.

“Tyler, man come on!” I begged as I rolled my eyes.

“Ahem, yeah sorry. Anyway, Balan then ripped Eleanor's heart out, so Freya literally yanked his head off of his body, and then threw it across the dance floor,” he finished and then took a breath as he slumped back into his chair.

“Oh my God Eleanor, poor Freya. I need to see her, she's going to need me!” I said as I jumped out of the bed and grabbed my clothes off of the side. I'd managed to get one leg into my jeans when Tyler sat forward and said in a low voice,

“we don't know where she is, Tristan.” I pulled my other leg through my jeans and fastened them.

“What do you mean you don't know where she is? Where did she go? What happened?” I asked as I put my t-shirt on and sat on the edge of the bed facing Tyler.

“Everyone was afraid of her T, you didn't see her, she wasn't herself anymore. She was like some evil Angel person. I mean she stepped right over her own mom's body, like it was nothing, and then she blew the fire exit door apart. She then flew up into the sky and we haven't seen her since!” He said with sadness in his voice and a hint of regret on his face. I sighed and held my head in my hands.

“FREYA!” I screamed as loudly as I could into our mind link, my heart full of hope, that wherever she was, she could hear me.

Freya Rose

I awoke in a stunning ice blue colored room; the bed was velvety soft, and the air was filled with the gorgeous scent of coffee. I stretched and stared up at the ceiling. Last night's events flooded my mind and tears began to stream down my face, as I remembered what had happened to Tristan, Mason and my mom. I couldn't believe that little bloodsucker took away three of the people I loved the most in this world. How the hell did he expect me to be with him, or love him after that? I sighed as I wiped the tears away from my cheeks.

Crying isn't going to get me anywhere, I thought to myself. It isn't going to bring any of them back, now is it? No, what I need to do now, is become strong and learn to close off my heart, so that I never get hurt again.

“Freya dear? Would you come down here please, I have someone that wants to meet you,” Selene shouted up the stairs.

“Of course Selene, give me one sec!” I replied back as I got out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

“NOW!” Selene boomed in a raspy and furious voice. I jumped and ran straight for the stairs, I guess she doesn't like waiting, I thought as I trotted down the stairs. I got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around the huge hallway, there must have been at least eight doors. Now which one is she in, I thought to myself as I looked at each door.

“We're in here,” I heard Selene yell from the room to my left. I knocked on the door first, Selene seemed pretty pissed off already, and I didn't want to make her angrier.

“Come in dear,” she called out in a sweet voice.

Wow, this woman was giving me whiplash. I walked in through the door then closed it behind me. I turned around to face Selene, she was standing a few feet away from me with a giant smile on her face.

“Freya my dear,” she said as she glided over to me, she took my hands into hers, and then kissed me on both of my cheeks. “Freya, I would like you to meet somebody who is also very special to me, I think the two of you will get along marvelously,” she said as she clapped her hands together excitedly.

She then swept her hand around and pointed to a guy that was standing by the window. He had his back to us, so all I could see was that he was very well dressed. He was in a shirt and trousers, and he had dark brown hair that swept up in a messy but clean style. You could tell he'd spent time on it making it look like he hadn't touched it, you know one of those types of hairstyles.

“I'll leave you two to get better acquainted,” she said as she skipped out of the room gently closing the door behind her. I stood there in yesterday's dress, that was now hard and crusty with dried blood. My hair was still up, but barely, and I'm guessing it looked matted, as it was also caked in dried blood. I dreaded to think what my face looked like, I had visions of the girl from the Carrie movie, face all smeared in blood, with mascara that had ran down and dried on my cheeks.

“You look glorious,” Selene mind linked me. Dude, I have got to learn how to shut people out of my head. I heard her cackle with amusement. The guy didn't move, I wondered what his problem was, he looked all stiff and rigid. I looked down and saw that he had his hands balled into fists. Well, he seems nice, not! I thought to myself knowing that Selene could hear me.

“Give him a chance, someone very close to him has just died,” Selene answered over the mind link in a sympathetic tone.

I kinda feel sorry for him now, he's going through the same as me. He's probably thinking that this meet and greet is the last thing he wants to be doing right now, because that's exactly how I feel. I moved over to the couch and sat down, I didn't particularly care if he spoke to me or not, I was still very exhausted. I laid my head back and closed my eyes letting out a deep sigh.

“You sound like you need a stiff drink!” He said in a smooth and husky voice.

“Yeah, I had a really tough night,” I replied without moving or even opening my eyes. I heard his shoes tap on the wooden floor, then I heard a glass stopper from a bottle being removed. I silently listened as liquid poured into a glass, and then another. The stopper was replaced, and the tapping of his shoes began again, each step coming closer and closer to me. I felt him sit down next to me on the couch, and all I could think was that his scent was divine.

I hadn't smelt that aftershave in years, Joop! That stuff is lethal, it is like an aphrodisiac to me. It could be on the ugliest, nastiest man in the world and I would still swoon over them just because of that smell. I mean I'd run away from them like a bat out of hell, once the scent wore off, but it would definitely get me into some bother, that's for sure.

I think my wolf sense of smell was beginning to kick in, as the aftershave smelt more fuller than usual, it had even more of a punch, and there was this burnt copper smell mixed in with it, but I was covered in blood so I just assumed that it must be me. It's not like I could lean over and sniff the guy to find out if it was him that smelt like burnt copper, now was it?

“Here, drink this!” he said in that same smooth and husky voice. I suddenly felt the back of his hand brush against my breast.

“Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?” I raised my voice at him as I opened my eyes to look down at his hand. It was still resting there on my breast.

“Sorry, what?” He asked in confusion as he stared at the floor with his arm stretched out. I guess he hadn't seen where he was putting his hand, but that's still not the damn point.

“Um… Your hand is touching my boob!” I said as I uncomfortably shifted in my seat trying to move my chest away from him.

“Oh, please forgive me I didn't mean to,” he said with embarrassment as he moved his hand away. I snatched the drink from his hand and downed it, I definitely needed it now. He laughed and tilted his head to look at me.

“What the hell!” I screamed as I frantically scrambled backwards and lifted myself up and onto the arm of the couch. He reached his arm out for me, so I pushed back with my feet to try and get further away from him. My hand that was holding my glass slipped when I tried to push against the couch, and the glass fell down onto the floor, smashing instantly upon impact. I hadn't quite thought this out, I was on the arm of the couch, where was there to go from here exactly? Oh yeah, down!

“Ahhh,” I yelled as I flapped my arms around like a demented chicken, my legs kicking out trying to catch myself.

Why do legs do that? It's not like they can grab onto things like your hands can. Why does your brain turn to complete mush in situations like this? I mean if my brain told my arms and my legs to switch roles right now, yes my legs would still be doing the same spastic moves, but my arms would be grabbing for things to try and save me, instead of just flapping about, but nope. I began to fall backwards off of the couch arm. I shut my eyes tight in anticipation of the impact I was about to make with the floor, but that didn't happen. Instead, I was levitating in the air with the backs of my knees folded over the arm of the couch.

Phew, I must have let out some angel power, or something, and saved myself, I thought. I slowly opened my eyes and standing over me was the Joop guy. He was holding me up with one hand, he had looped his fingers and thumb through the straps of my dress, which in turn made my boobs almost fall out of the sides of it. I stared up and watched him as he completely ignored me, and then downed his drink. He then leaned over slightly towards the coffee table, and then moved a coaster over and placed the empty glass on top of it.

“You really should be more careful!” He said as he gently lifted me up and placed me back down onto the couch safely. He then sat down beside me again and turned to face me.

“Why are you scared of me?” He asked with sadness on his face. I turned slightly to face him, I assumed if he wanted to hurt me, then he would have done it already, I mean how quickly he moved, I have never known someone to move as fast as that, not even Balan.

“You're a vampire!” I said quietly but with emphasis. He chuckled and replied,

“Yes, very perceptive of you. Now, what has that got to do with you being afraid of me? Have I ever hurt you?” He questioned me. He made a very valid point, but he still scared the crap out of me. I began to defend myself as I said,

“Well no, of course you haven't. We've only just met, but...” He held his hand up to shush me.

“Precisely, I have never hurt you, so there is no logical reason why you should have behaved like that, is there?” He said with an eyebrow raised and a bemused look on his face. I quickly snapped back at him,

“Yes, actually! If you'd had a psychopath vampire chasing you down, stalking your dreams and killing the people you loved, wouldn't you have acted exactly the same way?” I yelled at him, I couldn't help it, and my eyes began to illuminate out of anger. His eyes widened a little, not in fear so much but just in surprise. His face softened as he said,

“It seems you do have a valid reason to be scared of vampires, but let me assure you we are not all like my little brother Balan.” I gasped in shock then quickly covered my open mouth with my hand, my eyebrows raised and then furrowed as my expression turned to sadness.

Balan did, deserve what I'd done to him, there was no doubt in my mind about that. But looking at Samael's pain-stricken face made me feel awful, I had taken his little brother away from him and caused him the exact same pain that Balan had inflicted upon me. At this moment in time, I felt like I was no better than Balan, and that made me hate myself.

“I am so sorry that I am the cause of the pain you are feeling right now,” I said as I reached for his hand, but he quickly snatched it away. I sat back and rested my hands onto my lap. He stood up and picked up his glass, he then walked back over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself another drink, he then got another glass out and showed it to me, I nodded, and he began to pour me out another drink too.

“You're not the cause of my pain Freya, Balan is. He didn't tell me that he'd been harassing or stalking you. All I was told was that he was in love with a girl, then Nathaniel told me that the girl was a hunter, but that she didn't know she was. Then Balan told me that he had proposed to her and that she'd excepted, and they were now engaged to be married. Last night he was supposed to bring her, you, home to meet the family,” he explained with his back still to me. He quickly downed his drink and poured another one out, and then walked back to the couch and handed me mine.

“Thanx,” I replied as I accepted the drink. He sat back down and continued,

“I came here hell-bent on seeking revenge for my brother’s death, but Selene explained everything to me and told me all about you, and how special you are. Balan did love you, in his own strange way, the boy just went about it all the wrong way,” he sighed and took a sip of his drink. “I do not wish us to be enemies Freya. If you are half as powerful as Selene says you are, then it would be a foolish move on my part to start a war with you. Please accept my apologies on behalf of my brother, and the other vampires that hurt you and your family, it will not happen again, you have my word,” he said as he placed his hand on his heart. Do vampires even have hearts? My mind wondered.

“Accept his apology girl!” Selene hissed through a mind link. I smiled and rolled my eyes, Samael frowned and tilted his head slightly, I guess wondering why I was rolling my eyes at him.

“Oh no! Sorry, I was rolling my eyes at Selene,” I explained. His frown turned into one raised eyebrow as he looked around the room. I chuckled and tapped the side of my head.

“Ah, is she spying on us?” He asked with a chuckle. I nodded in response. “What did she say? If you don't mind me asking?” He said with a grin.

“She told me to accept your apology,” I told him.

“And do you?” He asked in his smooth and husky voice.

“Yes Samael, I was wrong to judge you on your brother's behavior. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be labelled alongside some of the other hunters, they can be right jackasses,” I said with a chuckle. He let out a little laugh and shook his head as he replied,

“You are nothing like any other person I have ever met, Freya Rose. You are every bit as special as Selene said, in fact, more so. I hope this will not be the last time I am graced with your company.”

He stood up and held his hand out, I stood up too and went to shake his hand, he gently took my hand and turned it over, he then stroked the top of my hand with his cold thumb. He then bent down and placed a soft velvety kiss on the back of my hand. I blushed as his Joop scent floated up and into my nose.

“It's been a pleasure, Freya Rose,” he said in a hushed voice as he stood back up.

I have no idea what came over me, but I had the overwhelming need to embrace him. I don't know If it was the guilt of killing his brother, the sadness that we both shared, how nice he had been, or the scent of that damn Joop. I moved forwards and placed my arms around his neck to hug him. He hissed at me and thrust both of his hands into my chest sending me flying through the air and crashing into a bookshelf. I looked back at him and his face was screwed up in anger or disgust, I couldn't really work out which. His eyes were glowing red, and I just stared up at him with confusion as I lay crumpled on the floor.

“I'm so sorry Freya... I... Goodbye my love,” he said softly as a tear rolled down his face then he vanished into thin air. I stood up and turned around to see Selene standing at the door, she shook her head at me and rolled her eyes.

“I thought something like that might happen, he's just not ready yet, poor boy,” she said in a sad voice.

“FREYA!” I heard Tristan faintly shout in our mind link. I wasn't ready to speak to him or face the world just yet, so I ignored him. I was overjoyed that he was alive, but I just couldn't deal with anything else right now.

“He's not ready for what yet, Selene?” I asked her in a demanding voice. There had to be a reason why she let him come here, and wanted me to meet him so urgently.

“To be your lover and king, my dear girl. I have decided that you and Samael will be together. You are my strongest female child and he is my strongest male child, you two will make me some magnificent babies,” she said excitedly, then turned around and walked out of the room cackling away to herself.