Exhausted from crying and recent events, Lylah sleeps soundly in my arms. I carry her toward my lair but stop by one of the lakes along the way. Sitting by the water's edge, I hold her tight, savouring the moment as I know she will continue being stubborn and keep fighting against the bond. I stroke her hair from her face and caress her cheek, taking in all of her features. Her platinum white hair, high cheekbones, small but plump lips, her soft skin. The Gods have blessed me with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Even though she is stubborn and argumentative, I’ve never felt so happy. She is perfect, and my feelings toward her are already strong. I pray to the Gods she will fall in love with me regardless of the bond.
Scooping water from the lake in my hand, I gently wash all the blood from her face. Thankfully the wound on her head has stopped bleeding. Hopefully, now having no blood on her, Nadia and Soren will return to their senses, and she won’t cause my coven of vampires into a blood lust craze when we arrive.
Now that I have freshened Lylah up, I resume my journey to my lair. I approach the well-hidden entrance to the labyrinth of tunnels with a smile, knowing I’m about to bring my Blood Flame home. My coven of vampires will be thrilled to have their lady of the coven to now serve. The entrance is at a very old and long-forgotten medieval cemetery. Using my telekinesis, I make a large flat rectangle of stone that looks like the top of a grave slide across the ground. It reveals stairs of stone leading underground. I enter, walk down, and then, using my mind, slide the stone slate again to close it. There are fire torches and candles lit throughout the tunnels. It takes an hour of walking through a multitude of passages that twist and turn. If you didn’t know your way around, you would never find your way out. Lylah begins to stir awake and stares at me angrily as she realises I have been carrying her while she slept.
‘Put. Me. Down.’ Lylah says in anger.
I halt my steps and let her go. I watch her as she takes a few steps back and turns around a few times, looking at all the different tunnels.
‘W-where are we?’ she asks worriedly.
‘We are going home to the underground,’ I tell her.
‘I already told you I need to go back home! My family will be looking for me. They will come for me,’ she says.
I take a deep breath and try to speak in the gentlest tone possible.
‘I’m sorry, Lylah. They’re not coming, and even if they did, they would never be able to find the underground.’
‘What do you mean they aren’t coming?
I step towards her, but she steps back. I sigh and walk around and then past her, ‘I will explain it later when we get back home to our lair, and once you have settled in, I will explain what I can to you,’ I tell her.
She runs up behind me, and I hear her heartbeat pound erratically, ‘Our Lair? The lair you are going to is your home, not mine. I will not be staying, and I definitely won’t be settling here anytime soon. I’m going home, and you can’t stop me!’ she says and turns around to walk in the way we came.
I slowly follow behind Lylah and watch her become confused and lost from taking a few wrong turns. It seems to have made her even angrier. She turns to face me and tries to shove me, but I don’t budge. She growls and stomps her feet as I continue to gaze at her calmly. Her glare deepens, and the little hellion pulls a dagger out from either boot and begins trying to slash me open again.
I continue to dodge her moves as she swings her arms rapidly towards me. I can hear her daggers whipping through the air with each strike. She is incredibly quick with her moves. I lean backwards as she attempts to strike across my throat but misses. ‘How many daggers do you have?’ I ask.
‘Wouldn’t you like to know!’
‘Yes, I would, hence why I asked.’
Lylah smirks, ‘I have enough to kill you.’
‘I bet you do,’ I say, grabbing her ankle as she attempts a high kick into my chest. She spins around, making me let go of her foot and throws a dagger at me. I tilt my head as it flies past. She only just missed me! I’m in shock Lylah almost got me. I’m feeling proud this feisty little spitfire is all mine. Beautiful, feisty, and well-skilled. Her fighting me is starting to turn me on. Whoever taught her to fight taught her well, most of my coven wouldn’t stand a chance against her as they don’t have unique abilities. All vampires are blessed with great speed, but for some, they are blessed with another power. It’s usually the higher ranked that are blessed with it. Nadia has her sonic scream, Soren has super strength, I can move objects with my mind, and my dear friend Cedric can open portals.
‘You missed,’ I tell her.
‘Clearly, but not this time!’
As Lylah runs toward me with determination. I grab her wrist, then the dagger and flip her around, so her back is against my chest. I take the dagger and push myself against her until she is pressed against the wall. Lylah gasps and her heartbeat fastens as I hold her hands above her head and slide my other hand slowly down her body. ‘Let me go!’ she says, half moaning from my touch.
‘Are you sure you want me to let you go? You seem to be enjoying this,’ I say, my breath hot against her neck, triggering more sparks and sensations between us.
‘You bastard!’ she says, her breath hitching as my nose glides across her neck. My fangs protrude on their own. I realise the bond is drawing me to sink my teeth into her nape and taste her properly.
I find five old daggers and withdraw them from her whilst running my hands over her body, checking every pocket, belt, and any other area one would conceal a knife.
I can’t help myself. I playfully nip but don’t bite Lylah’s neck. Her back arches and she leans back against me as if she is no longer trying to fight the desire between us.
‘All done,’ I say, casually stepping back and walking away while inspecting all the daggers.
‘All done?’ she says, annoyed and follows abruptly behind.
‘Yes, I seem to have collected all your weapons. Now we can proceed to our lair,’ I smile. ‘These daggers are old and rusty. If they weren’t slightly bent, affecting your aim. You probably could have killed me,’ I tell her.
‘Killing you was the whole point!’ she says through gritted teeth.
‘Oh, well. Better luck next time.’
She lets out a scream in frustration that echoes through the labyrinth.
‘Feel better?’ I ask.
‘No! I will feel better when you are dead and when I’m out of this place!’
I show no emotion and keep a blank face. ‘Fair enough,’ I tell her and turn around, continuing forward. ‘This way,’ I say.
But she ignores me and continues to go the wrong way. I touch my chest and arm as it’s still hurting since she cut me. It’s strange because they should have healed well and truly by now, but they haven’t healed at all. I’ll have to have a good look back at the lair.
With a blink of speed, I appear in front of Lylah and lift her over my shoulder.
‘Put me down!’
‘Our home is this way, not that way. That way leads to a pit of venomous snakes, but if you prefer to find out for sure, go ahead,' I say, putting her back down.
‘This isn’t my home,’ she says, then she looks at the tunnel she was pursuing and now seems nervous and unsure to go down there.
‘This, here with me, is your home now, whether you like it or not, Lylah. When we are in a better situation, I will then take you home to visit your family. But in the meantime, you will adjust and instantly fall in love with the beauty of the underground just as you will one day, hopefully, if the Gods answer my prayers, fall in love with….’ If I tell her ‘me’, she will fight and push me away even more.
Lylah gives me a puzzling stare.
‘With the coven. Everyone in our coven,’
Lylah’s shoulders drop, ‘There are even more than you three in your coven?’
I smile assuringly and nod.
‘Wands!’ she curses, crossing her arms.