Chapter 23 — Marking Territories

I TOOK a sharp breath after parking my white sports car in front of Miguel’s mansion, a businessman and also a Vampire who was Cain’s subordinate.

I had been searching for Cain for over two weeks now. That stubborn man disappeared right after telling me he loved me. He was making me so worried. This was the longest time he hadn’t fed. I had tried calling his friends, but as expected, their lips were sealed. I would have proceeded with my plan to have an interview to publicly call out to him had I not received any news about him tonight.

Frank, Cain’s butler, sent me a picture of his master at a pool party. It was Miguel’s birthday; that’s why not only the Vampires were invited, but also the humans. He invited me last week, but I politely declined because I wasn’t fond of such things.

I was glad to know that Cain was doing well. The problem was… he was doing “too well.” In the pictures, he had a woman whose arms were all over him, and they were kissing so passionately.

I gripped the stirring wheel upon remembering it. After seeing the pictures, I quickly changed my dress and put make-up on. I didn’t have a schedule for tonight; that’s why my bodyguards left early, and I took advantage of it. I needed to be alone to think. I drove on my own all the way to Taguig.

Dad taught me how to drive when I was in college; that’s why when Grandpa bought a car for me, I didn’t have a problem driving. From time to time, whenever I wanted to write new songs, Cain and I would drive around. One of the places we visited was Miguel’s house.

Frank also sent me a text message which says, “You are his Marker, Miss Natasha. Come here and mark your own territory.”

And I would do just that. I would make sure to get my man back.

Just when I thought it was a love without future, just when I was preparing myself to let Cain go, he told me he loved me. I wouldn’t let him go now that I had confirmed his feelings. This was Cain’s first time to fall in love after being disgusted by that word for hundreds of years. And for that, I was willing to let this go just this once, even if I wanted to explode with jealousy every time I remembered the picture where he was holding and kissing another woman.

I got out of the car and walked inside with determination. What were the odds for two people from entirely different worlds to fall in love with each other? The chances were low. This rarely happens; that’s why I have to make the most out of it.

***

(Cain)

I ACCEPTED the canned beer which Ricardo offered while both of us were staring at his wife’s tombstone. The two of us had been having a drinking session for two years now. Ricardo was still as quiet as before. But ever since I first showed up in this cemetery, he had never forgotten to bring extra beers for me. And then we would indulge ourselves in silence as both of us would get preoccupied with our own thoughts.

But since I knew that Natasha was concerned about her father’s liver, I had been cheating on my drinking buddy. She had tried stopping her father from drinking, but he did not listen. That’s why every day, I would secretly trade the liquor with water and would put an illusion spell around Ricardo. That way, he would still think that he was getting drunk. Whenever he thought he was drunk enough, I would take him home and only then would I show up in front of Natasha’s door step.

But I could not do that nowadays. I sighed.

“That’s the sixth time,” Ricardo said.

My forehead creased. “What are you saying?”

“That was the sixth time you sighed. Is there something wrong?”

“Amazing. I didn’t know you were counting.”

“Is this about my daughter; that’s why you couldn’t tell me about it?”

I did not reply.

“You love her, don’t you?”

“Come on, Ricardo. You know who I am. I’m sure Adam told you about me already. Someone like me has no right to fall in love, especially to a woman as incredible as your daughter.”

“And yet, you still fell in love with her,” Ricardo said with certainty.

“Yeah. And I’m sorry about that,” I finally admitted. “I just couldn’t help it. I didn’t know when it started. Maybe it was the day I found Adam, or the day I found a way to remove the mark she put on me. I could have let her go right there and then, I could have left her side, but I didn’t. I kept giving myself excuses to stay by her side. All I know is that when she smiles, it’s game over for me. I feel like I could give up everything just to keep seeing her smile. She’s always been lovely to me, but she’s lovelier when she smiles.”

Ricardo nodded, as if he agreed with the last thing I said.

“This is madness, you know. I thought that my heart was incapable of feeling anything anymore. I thought this is just a design in my body,” I said before pointing my chest. “But this little thing started to beat like crazy when I saw Natasha smile at me for the first time. I shouldn’t have, but I ended up falling in love with her. Worse, I told her about it. Now, I couldn’t face her, not after what I said.

“I didn’t want to pressure her or to force my feelings on her. Not that I was hoping I could have a chance. I mean I’ve always known I don’t deserve her. I’m just not prepared to hear her reject me. Did you know that everybody in our community is terrified of me? Heck. I’m known to be a very powerful man and yet, here I am, afraid of your daughter. I’m afraid of that tiny woman. She’s so tiny, but she has my whole world in her little hands.” I rubbed my temple out of my growing frustration. “Damn.”

I thought that it was all about my hunger. But this was not about hunger or Sabra’s spell anymore. I had tried hooking up with other women, but my thing down there never reacted to any of them, because Natasha was the only one I wanted to feed on, wanted to hold and touch. Even the idea of holding someone else other than her disgusted me. I only feel comforted in her embrace.

I did not know how it happened, but after meeting her, my mind and body became stable. Both my mind and body were no longer driven by the desire to feed. I could now control myself, even if Natasha was not by my side and there were other women around.

I never took having a Marker seriously because I never imagined that I would one day desire to be with someone for as long as I lived. I also did not imagine that a Marker would affect a Vampire this much. Falling in love did not even cross my mind before. But here I am now. My connection with my Marker was like magic itself. And it was more powerful than me, because it was able to fight Sabra’s spell.

I found it terrifying in the beginning, knowing how much I needed to be with Natasha in order to function, in order to go back to normal. And now that we had not seen each other for weeks, my body started feeling cold again. I could go on without feeding for a month, but it was getting tougher and tougher every day. Every damn cell in my body wanted her. But I did not want to force my feelings on her just for my own comfort.

“Cain—”

My phone rang even before Ricardo could finish his sentence. When I saw that it was Joshua on the screen, I stood up and excused myself for a while. “I’m in a bad mood right now. So this better be important, Josh.”

“And good evening to you, too, Your Highness,” he replied in a chirpy way. “Did you check the pictures I sent you?”

“Why? I still haven’t checked my inbox yet.” And I was not planning to do that. I just turned on my phone tonight. I was planning to call Agatha to check on Natasha.

I had only learned how to use a cell phone to be able to communicate with Natasha the human way. Creatures like me didn’t need these things. Vampires could just appear in front of the ones they wanted to talk to and disappear afterwards that’s why I didn’t bother giving my number to others. Silas was the only one who insisted on getting my number because he was excited using the modern equipment. Had I known that naughty Silas would spread my number, I would not have given it to him.

“I sent you Natasha’s pictures, Your Highness. We are at Miguel’s pool party right now. She looks ravishing in her red bikini, by the way.”

“Bikini? Pool party? What the hell?” Still shocked, I glanced at my wristwatch. It was past nine in the evening. The only reason why we could stay this late in the cemetery was because I had been using compulsion over the guards. If Natasha was at the party, it meant that there were countless Wolves, Mages, and Vampires there tonight because Miguel tended to invite everyone whenever there was an occasion. Thinking that Natasha would be surrounded by a torrent of seeking eyes was more than enough to piss me off.

“Why is she there?”

“Well, Natasha is a businesswoman, too, isn’t she? She has every right to be here, Your Highness,” Joshua answered in an amused voice. “The second she stepped in; everyone’s been trying to get her attention. Natasha was beautiful then, but she has become more beautiful now after feeding on your energy for years. She’s blooming. I can’t blame the men going crazy over her right now, Vampires and Wolves included.”

I gritted my teeth. Just like that and I had forgotten my plans of not showing up in front of her for the meantime. “Inform everyone that if they dared to look at Natasha while she’s wearing her bikini, I would make them regret looking at her for the rest of their lives. I will be there in five minutes.”

“But we heard that you’ve been refusing to see Natasha so we thought you’ve given up on her, Your Highness. That’s why the men here are lining up for her and—”

“Shut the fuck up, Josh. Natasha is still my Marker. I’m still hers. That’s never going to change.”

I was still annoyed when I turned off my phone before I walked towards Ricardo. “I’m sorry. Something came up. I need to leave now.”

“I understand.” He smiled a little. I was about to turn my back when he called my name. “Cain?”

“Yeah?”

“I know it’s too late for this, but thank you very much.”

“For what?”

“Thank you for not leaving my daughter when she needed someone to stay by her side. I was confident to leave back then because I knew you would take care of her. I admit that the first time I found out about the likes of you, I felt terrified. But every time I would see how you look at Natasha and how you take care of her, my anxiety disappeared. I know that the two of you had an agreement. But I believe that you will not bother being here with a man as boring as me night after night out of that agreement.

“You are a good man, and I know that Natasha also saw that in you. She may be stubborn at times, but I know that she wouldn’t let herself be close to you if you didn’t matter to her.” After a while, his brows wrinkled. “Besides, don’t ever call my daughter tiny,” he added in a defensive tone. “My daughter is not tiny. You are just tall.”

I chuckled. This was my first laugh in two weeks. This was also our longest conversation in two years. Ricardo was just as amusing as his daughter. The latter seemed to be getting better now. What Ricardo said was encouraging, but it was not enough to lessen the growing anxiety within me.

I cleared my throat. “Right. I’m sorry about that. For a moment, I’d forgotten that you are her father. But thank you, Ricardo. Before I forget, have you watched the CDs I gave you? They were the compilation of Natasha’s interviews, shows, and concerts. I encourage you to watch them. After all, those things were not just about her, but about your family. She’s doing everything for you and Kurt. I also sent him some copies. You know, your daughter is not the best daughter in the world. But she’s trying her best. And she deserves credit for that.”

Ricardo fell silent as if he was suddenly lost in a deep thought. I shook my head before leaving. I disappeared and showed up right in front of Miguel’s mansion. The guards quickly gave me a hand salute.

“You look annoyed, Your Highness,” one of them said.

“You are damn right, I am.” I could feel my blood pressure rising when I remembered what Joshua told me. “In fact, I feel like kicking some asses tonight.”