"What happened?" I heard myself ask, the adrenaline that was pumped from my curious nature downing and my voice along with it.. Of course, she tried to get out of it again. "It was many years ago, how do you expect me to remember?" I understood why she said that. All creatures of the night, all us werewolves, vampires, witches, clionas, even demons, had an eternity of life. Well, vampires had eternity, and because of the years of them all being foes, there were many spells cast on the werewolf genes to shorten that eternity, bringing it down to a few centuries. There were still spells that witches or clione who were close to werewolves did to reverse it on individuals, and some actually got that eternity back. So, with perhaps a simple spell of a witch or a cliona - cliona usually since cliona's were actually always bound with the wolves through the moon - even I could get an eternal life. Every creature of the night could because only the vampires were born with it, and the rest that lost the war were left with a venom in their blood that kept us alive for only a few centuries. A little time compared to them, but still with generations and generations along the way.. I personally, never wanted eternity. I was only 21 yet. But I suppose that maybe Calliope did that for herself since she said she didn't remember everything throughout her lifetime. But in that moment, I could bet that she was only saying that she didn't remember because she didn't want me to ask further. She was the one that mentioned it though.. I gave her a look, widening my eyes slightly. "Oh, come on." I didn't want to push her to tell me, but it didn't take much for her to agree either. She pursed her lips slightly before taking a sip from her glass. She put it down and focused on it again. "Well, I'm not sure exactly, I was away in Europe during the war," She started off slowly, and I was all ears. "But from what he told me and from what I heard, vampires basically wanted the clionas out of their way, so they found a witch to create a curse that was going to instantly enchant them after their first vampire bite." She looked up at me, almost like she was making sure I was following. I was.. I mean, I was trying to process it all, but yes, I've heard about the curse. She smiled almost in frustration, glancing back at the cup, but at the same time, there was this relief in her voice. "I've never told this to anyone, you know.." She made a slight grimace before looking up at me. "Zaria was one of the strongest ones, and was also the first one that they tried the new curse on. The old king made Dimitri drink from Zaria, making her fall obsessively in love with him. The curse was making Dimitri drawn to her as well, but it was nothing compared to the craze and addiction she felt for him." Throughout her talking, I was completely focused and frowned, simply drowning in her words and the whole story. "It ended with Dimitri being forced to kill her." As she those words, I felt goosebumps crawl all over my skin. I almost shivered. My heart actually felt ache, and my chest felt that familiar anxiety and pressure. I released a sharp breath as if I was holding it the whole time. I couldn't accept the part where it was actually Christian's brother that did this.. Well, was forced to do it. I mean, I remember a few years ago.. The old king was mad. Completely insane with power. My father always used to say that. And he was right. Thank goodness he was taken down. "God," I heard myself exhale again, unable to mix it all together in my head. It was insanity. I couldn't even imagine what it must've felt like. "Christian couldn't stop it, or do anything in order to save her. It shattered him, and he was broken for so long.." She continued, making me look back at her. She seemed like his true friend. There was real sympathy in her voice.. Almost like she understood each and every feeling that went through him at that time. "He left the war after that and went to Europe for years. That's where we met." I watched her with full curiosity, wanting to know how Christian ended up back to Venedocia. But she continued with something completely different and just as unexpected as the rest of the story. She frowned in a way of remembering as she continued. "We had a thing for a second, but it was only a night.. I was already in love with someone else and perhaps we were just two broken souls longing to forget." "I did not see that coming." I heard myself say honestly making he look at me. I would've never guessed that Calliope and Christian had a thing.. Perhaps because it was long ago. But I suppose that's why she understood his story so well.. Maybe she went through something similar. She smiled, almost like she was trying to clear her thoughts. "Oh no, that's just how our friendship started. Christian's one of my best friends now.. I mean, trust me, we spent years together and not once did we repeat that. If anything, we just hooked each other up with others." Sounder fair enough.. But I couldn't understand why she explained to me like I cared. I didn't. I had friends like that too. She looked me in the eye, keeping her both hands around the glass and her voice got clear and loud with honestly. "And Christian had many many flings, Lana, but believe me, I had never seen him as lost as he is around you.. At least not after that." So, the war was 23 years ago. And she was telling me that Christian was acting different around me after so long? It made no sense. Besides, it could be an honest mistake. I mean, yes, Christian wanted me safe.. But that was only because he promised me that. And I wanted him safe too.. He was the only person in my life that I somewhat trusted at that point, and I,- I was already relaying on him.