Lylah
‘I’m Becky. I’ve heard so much about you,’ she beams and squeezes herself closer to Lord Talon.
A burst of jealousy from Becky touching Lord Talon’s arm ignites within me.
‘I’m sure….’ I say while telling myself not to care that Becky is practically rubbing herself all over, Lord Talon. He keeps glaring at her and giving her back-off looks. But she persists in fluttering her eyes at him anyway.
Not wanting to stare at her face or acknowledge her. I ignore her and look at Lord Talon.
‘You should find that Blood Flame of yours and feed off it. It's quite silly, starving yourself of blood when a human is living here against her will. The last thing I need is you trying to bite me,’ I say sarcastically.
Becky bursts into laughter and begins elbowing Lord Talon in the ribs, ‘Master, you should take this human's advice and feed off your Blood Flame. In fact, you should do it right now?’
‘Becky, that’s enough!’ Lord Talon growls. ‘I can live off the blood of animals for as long as I need to!’
‘Suit yourself. The offer was practically right there. I’m sure you will change your mind eventually, though. When we find Lord Atticus, you will be too weak and may have no choice but to take what you need in order to have the strength to defeat him,’ she says, walking away and leaving the kitchen.
Lord Atticus is the one the vampires blame Micah’s death on. How could that be when I saw Lord Talon kill him? Maybe they are trying to fool me into thinking they aren't responsible. That must be it. I stand, walk over to a rustic tap, and pump some water to wash my hands from the butter and cheese.
Lord Talon stands and watches me quietly. I discreetly look him over but can’t see my dagger in the front of his belt. He has to have it on him somewhere, but how will I find it?
I casually walk past him and through a hall. Like a shadow, he follows me closely without saying a word. I peer at the stairs and smile as an idea pops into my head. I walk up ten steps and stop to face Lord Talon.
‘Can you stop following me?’ I ask.
‘No,’ he replies casually.
‘Why not?’
‘I want to follow you.’
‘Why?’
‘I want to learn more about you,’ he says.
Nadia and Soren appear at the bottom of the staircase.
‘You found her!’ Nadia says, relieved.
We both ignore her.
‘You already killed my mate and kidnapped me. I don’t want you to know anything more about me!’ I say, walking back down towards him but purposely pretending to fall.
Just as I thought he would, he catches me. I ignore the tingles and sparks from his touch, and I use this chance to pretend to wrap my arms around him, not to fall but feel the back of his belt. We tumble down the stairs as I grab my dagger and pull it out. Lord Talon lands on his back as I land straddled over his lap. I hold my dagger with both hands above him and plummet the dagger towards his chest.
‘Lord Talon!’ Soren and Nadia shout.
Lord Talon uses his telekinesis to freeze my action and gestures his hand making me slowly rise in the air off of him. Even though Lord Talon glares at me, I can also see the hurt in his eyes. I become frustrated at myself again as guilt consumes me. I almost want to cower, but being still like a statue, I can’t even do that. Finally, he stands up, angrily removes my dagger, and then grabs my chin.
‘How did you know Moonstone is deadly to vampires? How did you make this? It’s made from all the materials to weaken and kill every supernatural.’
‘I didn’t know Moonstone was deadly to vampires. It wouldn’t matter what dagger I had. I would use anything within my reach to kill you,’ I tell him.
Nadia and Soren hiss at me.
Lord Talon gestures for them to stop and back away. They obey his orders.
His glare deepens, ‘Only a few vampires have this knowledge of Moonstone. Who gave it to you? Who made it?’ he asks.
‘It was a gift. It was specifically made for me to have,’ I reply.
Lord Talon crosses his arms and steps closer, waiting for me to say more. I look away. ‘Micah made it for me. He knew my collection of daggers wasn’t in the best shape. He crafted it himself after collecting all the specific materials. It took him months to make. He was adamant I was to keep it on me at all times. As if he knew something….’ I say in shock at my sudden realisation.
‘He knew… Micah knew something was going to happen, but how? He made this dagger for me for a reason. He knew it would protect me but from what?’ I say to myself, completely forgetting Lord Talon is standing before me.
I gaze up into Lord Talon’s eyes as mine flicker in confusion. Did Micah know I was going to be kidnapped? My mind flashes back to when I first met Alpha Varan. He was pleasant until I told him I had no wolf. Later that day, after I cried. Micah promised me that his father would one day have the utmost honour and respect for me. He reminded me a few times over time that his father’s views of me would one day change. Then I remembered later that night before Alpha Varan left. He was talking to my father about when Micah was a child. That Micah would always talk about his dreams and how he was adamant they always came true. Then his father said how the pack members of Storm Glenn began to say Micah was strange and worried he might not be mentally fit to be an Alpha. So, Alpha Varan made Micah swear he would never talk about his dreams again, otherwise be punished. So, he never mentioned his dreams again after that. Suddenly a particular line Alpha Varan said comes back to my mind, and it hits me like a ton of bricks. ‘I know his dreams are just dreams. But I always hated how he used to tell me he would die young.’
Even though I’m still a few feet hovering in the air, my body trembles against Lord Talon’s ability and my breathing intensifies as a panic attack consumes me. ‘Micah predicted his death. He was able to see into the future, into mine and his. He knew he was going to die. He knew he was going to leave me!’ I sob.
Lord Talon steps back nervously and stares at Soren and Nadia briefly with worry before turning back to face me. I realise I’m back on the ground, assuming Lord Talon has let me go. But unbeknownst to me, I broke free from his hold and didn’t even realise, as I’m too angry to hurt, that Micah knew he was going to die and never told me. I pace back and forth repeatedly and grab my hair.
‘Why didn’t he tell me? I could have saved him. We could have never gone camping, and he’d still be alive,’ I burst into tears and fall to my knees.
Lord Talon approaches me. I stand and step back. ‘Don’t come near me,’ I shout and run upstairs and slam the chamber door behind me.
I spend the entire week in Lord Talon’s chamber, refusing to come out. I had the same nightmares each night and every time I woke from the dream. I swore I could feel Lord Talon caressing my back or stroking my hair, but every time I sat up and turned, no one was there.
I picked at the food placed on the trays Nadia brought to me each day. I was too depressed to eat. I felt betrayed that Micah never told me about his dreams and predictions. I’m unsure what to do with this knowledge, and part of me wishes I had never figured it out.
The daily wailing cry echoes throughout the castle. I’ve figured out it’s coming from below the castle, maybe from the underground crypt. I’m tempted to find my way down there to see who it is and why they are so sad and miserable.
My thoughts are disturbed by a knock at the door. Lord Talon enters and slowly approaches.
‘Lylah,’ he says.
‘I don’t want you in here. I want you to leave me alone, preferably forever,’ I say to him.
He ignores me and steps even closer. ‘Lylah, what you said last week about… your mate having the ability to predict the future and predicting his own death. I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how horrible that would be for you to find out. I’m sorry,’ he says meaningfully.
‘You're sorry? You’re the one who killed him!’ I shout and storm past him out of the room.
‘I’ve told you many times I never killed him. I swear to you, Lylah!’
I march down the stairs, ‘Where are you going?’ he asks.
‘I’m going home!’ I shout.
Sparks flow through me as I’m swiftly lifted over Lord Talon’s shoulder and carried into the dining room.
‘Let me go,’ I yell angrily.
‘You’re going to join me for dinner, Lylah. You’ve barely eaten all week,’ he says. I go to protest but notice he is slightly swaying as he carries me.
He puts me down and pulls my seat out at the end of the table. I plop down in the chair with my arms crossed. Lord Talon takes his seat opposite me. I keep my scowl on him, but he pays no attention to it, making me angrier. His vampire servants place cutlery, a napkin in front of me, and a goblet in front of him.
‘Lady, Lylah,’ they say and bow.
‘I’m not a lady,’ I growl at them.
Lord Talon tries to hold in his laugh. ‘You’ve got that right,’ he smirks.
I swiftly grab the butter knife. It whips through the air with great speed towards his head but using his ability. The knife comes to a sudden halt and hovers in the air right in front of his face.
‘I see we're going to be in for quite the dinner,’ he smiles as he takes the hovering knife and places it on the table beside his goblet.