Chapter 4

Rhea

When the bloody vampire had told me that I was going to face the council, I didn't think he was lying, but judging from the recent events, I at least thought he would give me some time to adjust to the life changing mess I'd just gotten myself into, or cancel the whole thing. But I was wrong. Very wrong.

Not only did he storm out of my beautiful prison after delivering news that would ruin my life, my meeting with the council had been scheduled for this morning. Right now infact.

My footsteps barely echoed as I marched down the halls. Just like the room I was locked in, the walls raced upwards, like they all had the same goal to the heavens. Perhaps if they eventually succeeded, it would make God striking them dead, pretty easy.

Two guards walked behind me, or at least that's what I thought they were. They had stoic expressions on their faces, and for a quick second, I found myself missing Alaric. He might be an asshole and a stuck up king, but at least his facial muscles seemed to work now and then.

“Stop.” One of the guards echoed from behind, and like magic, my feet stopped moving on their own. “In here.”

He motioned to my right, and a small wave of shock rocked through me at the door that stood in my front of me. It was wide and obviously wooden, but what caught my eyes had to be the ancient writings inscribed at the top. I had no idea what they meant, but something told me it couldn't be anything good. Nothing about the vampires were good.

The door swung open before I could summon another thought, and just like before, I found myself stepping inside. The room was colder than anything I'd felt. It was dark, and I didn't stop walking, until I was standing on top of a small platform at the center.

The walls pulsed with a faint and eerie glow, and that was the only way I could tell the chamber was circular. The council seats rose around me like jagged thrones carved from night itself, and hile I was still marvelling at how beautiful the said chamber was, something else happened.

Candles flickered alive, and one by one, I didn't miss the scary faces that emerged from the shadows. They were four in number, eyes glowing , and I coiled back in fear. Only slightly.

“Name,” one of the elders barked. Disgust reigned supreme in his gaze, and if the reason for that was to make me cower, then he had another thing coming. I didn’t answer.

“She has no name.” The vampire to his left,silver-haired, with golden irises like melted coins sneered. “Just a purpose. A killer’s purpose.”

“I asked you a question,” the first repeated. If there was anything I had already picked up, it was the fact that he was impatient. “Name.”

“Rhea,” I said finally, my voice sharp and low. “Rhea Caelis.”

A hush fell across the chamber, not out of respect, but of recognition.

“She’s the hunter,” another, a woman, muttered. “The one who was raised under the Watcher’s Creed.”

“She trained under Silas,” a third added. “He’s the one who tried to unite us,before your kind butchered him.”

I didn’t flinch. That was the same lie they told themselves. The same ones they wanted us to believe so badly.

“Did you think you’d succeed, child?” The red eyed woman leaned forward. “Did you truly believe you could assassinate the Vampire King and walk free?”

“No,” I replied. “But I thought I’d at least die trying.”

They laughed,soft and cruel, and it echoed like teeth clicking in the dark.

“Then allow us to fulfill your wish.” One of them cooed. My back straightened as the woman stood.

“You are hereby sentenced to execution by fire,an act of purification.” Her gown dragged behind her like spilled blood. “Your remains will be scattered to the winds. As all traitors should be.”

“Wait,” a deep voice, cut in at the right time, and if I wasn't mistaken, it came from the far end of the chamber. One that silenced the laughter instantly.

The doors opened, and Alaric Virelious stepped inside. No guards, no weapons, Just presence, authority and power.

He strode across the room in quiet steps, just to stop beside me. He wasn't by my side, but slightly in front of me, and facing the council like a shield he didn’t care to explain.

“You can’t kill her,” he said calmly.

“And why not, my king?” The red eyed elder narrowed her gaze. “She tried to kill you “

“Because we are bound,” his voice was dry, boring almost, like he didn't know the severity of what he'd just said.. “She and I, by Old Magic. She triggered it unknowingly while attempting to escape.”

A stunned silence followed immediately.

“Impossible,” the gold eyed councilor snapped. “The Old Bonds are dead. Lost to time.”

“No,” Alaric said. “Only buried, but not broken.”

“I don't believe it.” It was the woman's turn to speak and before I could do so much as blink, I caught sight of a flicker of movement to my left. Without warning, she drew a blade and ran it across his palm. Alaric didn’t even blink, but the pain that bloomed across my hand was immense.

A gasp slid past my lips in equal parts pain, and awe. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was real. The sting mirrored his, my blood ran, and the council saw it.

They believed him now. I believed him now. Back then, a small part of me couldn't help but think that he had simply made that up just to scare me, but now, I knew better.

“You... fool,” another elder hissed, obviously at me. “You let a human into the sacred circle. Do you understand what this means? If she dies, so do you!”

“Then I suggest you don’t kill her,” Alaric said smoothly. “Or do I still need to spell out what will happen if you do?”

“Then we’ll find a way to sever the bond.” The red eyed woman’s fury twisted into something colder, calculation, and it didn't sit right with me. “There has to be a way.”

“There is.” The first elder spoke up. Slowly, a sly smirk made its ways to his lips. “There is one way to sever the bond between them.”

My heart lifted at a flicker of hope I didn’t want to feel. Hope was useless in my world, but I couldn't help it. It usually came through when you least expected it, but then I looked at Alaric, and everything changed.

“What are you talking about?” I didn't have enough time to weigh my emotions as the woman chipped in again. “Say it.”

“Blood magic.” He whispered the words, and even though I didn't know what the hell that was, it sent a chill slithering down my spine. It sounded eerie, and wrong, but he continued anyway. “Right, my king?”

I turned to Alaric immediately, desperate for answers. If I'd thought I'd seen him being stoic, then clearly I was only being delusional. He had no expression etched into his full eyebrows, and not even a small frown on his plump lips. He said nothing.He didn’t nod, neither did he look reassured.

He just stared straight ahead, jaw clenched tight, eyes unreadable, and in that silence, in the tightness of his posture, I knew.

There was no way to break it, not without tearing us both apart, or at least hurting one of us.

They didn’t know, or maybe they did, but Alaric knew, and now, so did I.

Shit. I was cooked.