Chapter 101 Veil of Secrets
Seraphine froze under my gaze, her shoulders tensing as if bracing for a storm. Her fingers twitched, struggling to grip the edges of her sleeve. The faintest quiver ran through her lips, betraying the calm she tried to wear. Every instinct screamed at me something was wrong. Something hidden. For a heartbeat, my mind dared to wander… what if she is the mother of Michael’s child?
“That… that’s impossible, Master!” Morgana’s voice cracked, sharp and incredulous, slicing through the tense silence like a dagger.
“Impossible?” I leaned forward, amber eyes narrowing, glinting with a predator’s curiosity. The air in the chamber seemed to thicken, heavy with anticipation. “Angels never give up what their Father grants them lightly. Whatever they hold most dear… they guard with everything they have. And if they entrust it to someone… it is not careless. It is protection. Someone precious. Someone no one no one must ever touch.”
Morgana’s frown deepened, her hands tightening into fists. “Then why is the Queen of Nature hiding it, Master? You know it’s forbidden… a child between an angel and a vampire is… an abomination.”
I tilted my head slightly, the faintest smirk curling my lips as I crossed one leg, my posture deceptively relaxed. Shadows stretched along the walls of my chamber, curling around me like silent witnesses. “Dorcas made a vow to protect this child. Yet she does not know the mother. If she did… she would have come to me, gauging my reaction, dropping hints… anything to measure the consequences. She never did. That silence… it tells me she is unaware.”
Morgana’s voice lowered to a whisper, almost drowned by the echo of my chamber, but edged with a tangible fear. “Master… the child… it’s dangerous. A hybrid like that… we both know what it could mean. That child should not exist. It must… it must die.”
A slow, dark grin curved my lips, my fingers tapping lightly against the armrest, like a heartbeat measured in anticipation. “And that is why I need Seraphine here. She will become the instrument… the one to deliver the judgment. She will strike with her own hands. The child will die, and the secret the abomination she bore will remain buried.”
“But first…” I paused, letting the words hang in the thick air, as though smoke itself had settled between us. “We must find him. The child.”
Morgana’s brows knitted, a shadow of doubt flickering across her face. “How, Master? Dorcas would never help us. She would never betray what she’s sworn to protect.”
I leaned back, letting the darkness embrace me like an old companion. The faint flicker of candlelight cast jagged shadows that danced over the walls, bending reality in ways that mirrored my thoughts. “We have other ways. Dreams… dreams can be persuasive.”
Her eyes narrowed, voice sharp, warning, edged with disbelief. “Dream hates you more than anyone, Master. You really think he’ll obey?”
I chuckled, a soft sound, dark and unyielding, curling like smoke from my lips. “We are brothers. That bond… it can be stretched, bent, but it cannot break. I have my ways.”
Meanwhile, in the depths of the vampire realm, King Luca moved silently through the cavernous library. His long, pale fingers hovered over the spines of ancient tomes, tracing their worn edges as though seeking secrets hidden in the dust of centuries. The flickering candlelight cast jagged shadows across his angular face, making his sharp features appear almost carved from stone. The air smelled of old parchment and blood, thick and suffocating, curling around him like a living thing.
He had already lost too much his beloved wife, the fragile peace that had once tethered him to the world and the thought of losing anything else tightened the grip of fear around his chest. He would not risk it. Never again.
His eyes darkened as he lingered over the secrets buried in the pages before him. Hemilune’s blood. Such power, condensed into liquid fire. Any vampire who drank it could walk under the sun without harm, breaking centuries of weakness and fear. The temptation and the danger pulled at him like a predator sensing prey. He could wield it. He would wield it. Even if fate itself twisted and screamed in protest.
But the prophecy… the prophecy clawed at his mind. Hemilune’s daughter his own blood was destined to destroy the vampire realm. The thought made his hands tighten into fists, veins standing out on his forearms like cords of steel. Fear slithered in his chest, cold and insistent. He would strike first. Before the prophecy could unfold. Before destiny dared to defy him.
“Father…”
The soft, hesitant voices of his daughters sliced through the heavy silence, fragile but resolute. Luca stiffened, spinning on his heel, every muscle taut, every sense alert.
“What are you two doing here?” he demanded, the edge in his voice sharp as a dagger, though a flicker of softness betrayed the bond that tied them together.
The elder stepped forward, her chin lifted, eyes blazing with a mixture of fear and determination. “Father, we know what you plan. You want Selena’s blood… to give us protection, to grant us strength. We will bring her here ourselves. Let us go to Earth. We will return her to you.”
Luca’s gaze narrowed, sharp and calculating. Every instinct screamed caution, every shadow in the library whispering doubt. “And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?”
The sisters exchanged a glance, silent and electric, a spark of understanding passing between them. The younger one’s voice cut through the tension, calm, steady, unshaken. “Father… leave that to us. We have our ways.”
For a moment, Luca allowed himself to feel something close to hope but it was fleeting, snatched away by the weight of dread pressing down on his shoulders. They were clever, yes. Too clever, perhaps. The world was cruel, relentless, and the cost of failure… the cost of failure was something he could never, ever bear.
AUTHOR NOTE
Hello, amazing readers,
Wow… things are really heating up, aren’t they? Secrets are coming to light, alliances are being tested, and the stakes have never been higher. I had so much fun writing this chapter, and I hope it kept you on the edge of your seat!
I’m curious what do you think will happen next? Will Seraphine follow through? Can anyone stop King Luca? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Thanks for reading and staying part of this journey.