A plate of vegetables with a steak is placed in front of me, whilst a serving of blood is poured into Lord Talon’s goblet. I refuse to make any eye contact with him. Instead, I watch the flames of the candles on the table flicker.
Halfway through silently eating my meal, five vampires I’ve never met before enter the dining room, marching. One leads the others as they approach Lord Talon and bow. Nadia and Soren enter behind them and sit at the dining table.
‘My Lord,’ The lead vampire says.
‘Mervin, tell me you have returned with good news? Where are the others?’ he asks.
‘My Lord, they are all dead. Along with many more human casualties.’
‘What!? You were supposed to observe the whereabouts of Lord Atticus and return to me as soon as he was found.’
‘Forgive us, Lord Talon. When we found him, he was in a rural town. We were well hidden and observed him. He killed every single human as if it were a sport and drank the blood from some of them before he had them ripped apart. We tried to leave without him noticing us. When we turned around, we were surrounded by his Blood Dwellers. He had known all along we were there and watching him. He left only us alive and told me to send you a message. Pledge your loyalty to him, or the entire coven dies.’ Mervin says, placing a map in front of Lord Talon. ‘He will be expecting your answer during the full moon tomorrow night at this location here,’ he points.
If Lord Talon and the coven have been telling the truth, then I need to know for sure, and the only way is for me to find and meet this Lord Atticus myself. I stand from my seat, quickly approach the map, and desperately snatch it up to look at the location. It has the underground marked on the map. So I can see where I am. I look at the mountain Mervin pointed to and assess the distance it would take to get there. If I leave tonight, I might stand a good chance of getting there during the full moon tomorrow night.
‘Lylah,’ Lord Talon says.
I look up from the map to see that Lord Talon has appeared in front of me. He holds his hand out for the map. I step back and hug the map to my chest.
‘You are going to go, right?’ I ask him.
‘There’s no reason to go. I will never serve Lord Atticus, nor will I ever pledge my loyalty to him. He is a monster, a demon, and he needs to be returned to the depths of darkness. But, even with the abilities some of us have. It’s not enough to defeat him. The last time we defeated him, there were more of us and more of us with abilities. Most of the coven are normal vampires. We tried to reach out to your father, to join forces in hopes that it will be enough to take down Lord Atticus.’
‘Wait! You’ve defeated him before? When?’ I ask.
‘One hundred and twenty-eight years ago,’ he answers.
I gasp, ‘That’s over a century ago! Why have the werewolf community never heard of him before? Surely it would be written in our history if it’s happened before?’
‘We were able to handle it somewhat quietly ourselves at the time. It all happened suddenly,’ he says and looks away with a grim look, remembering the morbid events.
‘You have to go!’ I tell him.
‘No, I don’t, and I won’t,’ he says adamantly.
‘You want to prove to me you never killed Micah. Then this is your chance. Take me to see Lord Atticus. I need to see him. I need to see his Blood Dwellers. I need to know for sure,’ I tell him.
Lord Talon gazes into my eyes, quietly in thought. My eyes plead with his. Now that I’m directly staring at him and taking in all his features, I notice he is more pale than usual. He looks tired, weaker even. His long dark hair drapes down past his shoulders. I then wonder if his hair is as soft as mine. Then my eyes reach his lips before meeting his gaze again.
He is incredibly mysterious to look at as well as handsome. My hand slowly rises, and I suddenly realise I’m about to touch him. I shake my head and realise Lord Talon has stepped closer and raises his hand, tucking my hair behind my ear. I close my eyes from his touch, from the warm and familiar feeling I miss and crave so much from Micah.
‘No,’ he says, taking the map from my hand and walking back to the table.
I open my eyes, and my breathing becomes erratic, ’What in the wands do you mean no!’
He turns to face me, ‘It’s too dangerous. I’m not strong enough to protect you from him.’
‘Give me my dagger, and I can protect myself.’
Lord Talon laughs. ‘You wouldn’t stand a chance against him, Lylah. Have you not been listening? He has been killing humans and drinking their blood. This means he is only becoming more powerful and much stronger.’
‘Becky said if you drink from your Blood Flame, you would regain your strength, that it would increase your power.’
‘It’s not that simple, Lylah,’ he sighs.
‘Why not?’
‘Why is it not simple? What is a Blood flame then?’
Everyone in the dining hall stares at me. If a pin were to drop, we would all hear it.
‘She needs to know,’ Nadia says, reassuring him.
Lord Talon closes his eye for a moment before releasing a deep breath. ‘Lylah, a Blood Flame is the equivalent of a werewolf finding their mate. Vampires call them Blood Flames instead.’
A sudden sense of jealousy and hurt overtakes me. Lord Talon has a fated mate. He never told me. Why have I never seen her? Why hasn’t he been feeding off her?
‘Vampires have mates?’ I say, confused.
‘Yes,’ he replies.
I look over at Nadia and Soren and remember they mentioned they are Blood Flames.
‘How did you know you were Blood Flames? What does it feel like?’ I ask them.
Nadia blushes, ‘Well, at first, it feels like you are being pulled toward each other. It feels as if your mind is racing with your heart. An overwhelming sense of desire and love consumes you. It’s as if you are dancing on the clouds in the heavens. Once you make eye contact, the male's eyes turn red from blood lusting over you. Their eyes remain red until they touch you, leaving a mark on your wrist. Their eyes will then return to normal. Feeding off animals no longer becomes necessary once you find your Blood Flame as the only blood that strengthens us is from our Blood Flames.’
I flashback to Nadia and Soren feeding off each other, and then I suddenly turn pale and grab my wrist.
Nadia and Soren realise from the look on my face that I know now. I turn to face Lord Talon with a horrified look.
‘No…’ I say, gripping my leather brace that covers the mark and the scar. My eyes well up with tears. ‘It’s not true,’ I fall to my knees and stare at Lord Talon as tears run rapidly down my face. ‘Please tell me your eyes didn’t turn red the moment we saw each other? Please tell me you didn’t mark me. Tell me we are not mates?’
His eyes bore into mine, welling up with tears, but he remains silent.
‘Please!’ I scream, ‘Tell me!’
He closes his eyes tightly, and a tear rolls down his cheek. He looks away.
I stand up, wipe the tears aggressively from my face, and walk right up to him.
‘This is why I’ve never met your Blood Flame. This is why you haven’t fed from her and why you’re becoming weaker. Because I am her?’ I say to him. ‘I’m your mate?’ I sob.
Lord Talon nods as he stares sadly into my eyes.
So many memories of Micah flash through my mind. The first time we met, the first time we touched, kissed, danced, made love, replays over. I’m struggling to breathe, and then I remember what Micah told me the night he died. ‘Your life doesn’t end here with me. More is waiting for you, and I want you to find it. You will go on adventures. I know you will find someone and fall in love all over again. I want you to find happiness. I want you to live again and know it’s okay to be happy without me.’
‘Micah knew. He saw this. He knew I would have another mate,’ I say, stepping back.
‘Lylah,’ Lord Talon pleads, reaching his hand toward me.
I shake my head no and run from the dining hall.
Nadia tries to chase after me, ‘No,’ Lord Talon says, ‘Leave her. She needs some space to process all of this.’