Chapter 46 Suspicions
Amara POV
The smile on the master’s face doesn’t change, but something in his gaze sharpens, causing me to take a short step back.
“You don’t wear it,” he says, voice mild. Certain. “Yet, it is yours all the same.”
My breath catches despite myself.
I don’t look at Tomas, who’s staring directly at me. I won’t give him that satisfaction. My fingers curl at my sides instead, nails biting into my palms as I steady my voice.
“Mine? It was put on me by some creepy vampire vendor. How is it mine? ” I question. Maybe I’ll get some answers about the damned thing.
He hums softly.
“Ownership is not always something we choose,” he replies. “Some things are chosen for us long before they are understood.”
The words slither through me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand. He isn’t guessing. He’s stating a fact. One he expects me to accept without question.
Tomas shifts his weight. Just barely. If I hadn’t been watching him from the corner of my eye, I might have missed it.
“So,” I say, lifting my chin, “you had me drugged, kidnapped me, and dragged me here because of a necklace I’m not even wearing?”
A ripple of amusement passes through the gathered vampires. The master’s gaze flicks briefly over the room, and the sound dies instantly.
“No,” he says. “That is not why I brought you here. It only confirmed my suspicions.”
The pressure in the air increases, subtle but undeniable. My wolf stirs uneasily beneath the silver’s suppression, pacing, hackles raised.
“Suspicions? What suspicions?” I question further.
“Of what you are,” he nods as a human girl dressed in a black satin gown walks up to him, baring her wrist for him to drink from.
“What I am?” I ask, looking between the two vampires in front of me. I’m so confused.
The King grabbed her wrist and made a small slit, holding it over his cup and filling the gold glass.
After a few seconds, he responded.
“Yes, Amara. What you are. And who.” He says, making a small cut on his finger and running it along the girl's wrist, causing the cut to heal instantly.
What an odd ability for a vampire.
“Who? Why don’t you outright say what it is you are doing so poorly at? What do you want with me? What do I have anything to do with vampires?” I feel myself grow angrier by the second.
That’s when I feel him.
Sebastian. Through the bond. And he’s hurt.
I try to call out to him, but I get nothing but silence.
“You want answers? Fine.” He sighed, waving a hand for someone behind me to do something. Then I hear my collar click and it’s pulled away, leaving me completely unchained.
“Wha-“ I’m cut off as he motions for me to sit in a chair that has been brought up in front of his.
“Please, sit.” He says.
I take this opportunity to do as he says in hopes he’ll keep the chain off so my wolf can grow stronger.
Maybe then I’ll be able to reach Sebastian.
The master leans back slightly, the shadows hugging the angles of his face. He folds his hands over the arms of his throne, calm, deliberate, as if speaking to himself rather than to me.
“Let me tell you a story,” he begins, voice low, smooth, carrying the weight of years. “A story of a woman.”
I blink, curiosity flickering despite the tension curling in my stomach.
“She was.. fragile,” he continues, “or so it seemed. A creature of nature, untested by the darkness she found herself in. And yet, she claimed me. Not by force, not by fear.. but by something stronger.”
I stiffen. I know where this is going. His pause is a heartbeat too long.
“We.. were bonded. As mates. Different species. A mistake made by the gods. Or perhaps fate had a hand. Regardless, it’s dangerous, you understand? Unthinkable to those who govern such things.” His eyes slide toward me briefly, just enough to make my skin prickle. “Yet, we persisted.”
I feel my wolf stir beneath my skin at the word “we”. He means him. Curiosity mixed with a sharp edge of warning filled my chest. Dangerous? Already my pulse jumps.
“It is said the elders gathered and went to see the oracle and from then on there was no way they’d allow it.” He said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. I couldn’t keep my mouth closed, I needed to know.
“And the elders.. They didn’t know how far it had gotten. Couldn’t know. A hybrid.. a child of two species not meant to meet.. punishable by death. And yet,” he exhales slowly, “Fate had other plans. A single life that should not exist, growing within the woman.”
I swallow hard. My hands clench the arms of the chair. My wolf claws at the edges of the suppression, restless.
“No one else like this exists,” he says softly, almost reverently. “No hybrids. None. Until then. Until now.”
I stare. My chest tightens. My throat feels dry, yet hot, my pulse hammering. Am I going crazy? What is he saying?
“Until now?” I whisper, voice barely audible.
“Yes,” he says, letting the word hang. “I believed you to be dead. You do not yet know the strength within you. You do not yet understand the blood that sleeps inside. But it is there. Waiting. Unique. Dangerous. Unlike anything this world has ever seen.”
“I-I don’t understand.” My brows furrowed as I shook my head in confusion. Or maybe it’s denial.
If what he’s saying.. if this story is about him and my mother.. then that means..
Tomas shifts behind him, and we lock eyes. I have no idea what he’s thinking. Or what he has anything to do with any of this.
I want to speak. I want to ask a dozen questions, demand explanations, lash out at the impossibility of it all. But the stinging on my neck reminded me to stay calm, otherwise I may receive the collar again.
I look back at the man sitting in front of me, the familiar feeling hitting me all too hard now. I know why I don’t look like my brothers or father, with their blue hair and blonde eyes.
No.. no, in fact.. I look a lot like this man. Same lips, same eyes, same hair..
Goddess.. no..
He leans forward now, his eyes flashing from complete obsidian to golden brown. “You are.. singular. The first of your kind.” he says.
The room feels impossibly heavy. The air presses down. Every vampire present is still, every flicker of torchlight frozen in the shadows.
I try to steady my breathing, try to calm the wolf, try to convince myself I can survive this.
“And I’m Leviath Ronavov, your birth father. And that ruby my dear daughter, is a part of your soul.”