Chapter 19 - Vampire briefing
1568 Words
#musicvibe - Find your way home, Joakim Lundell
*
Valeria POV
There was a knock at the bedroom door and Tyson went over there to open it. I could hear Kayden’s voice from the other side as they talked in hushed voices.
“We have interrogated them the whole evening, but neither of them are talking.” Kayden said. “We’ll try some more, but whoever they are, they seem highly trained, and it’s probably going to take some time before they break.”
“Thank you.” Tyson replied. “Do you need my help?”
“No, you take care of your mate and I’ll handle it.” He replied.
“Thanks.” He said and closed the door.
I lifted my head and watched as he walked back to the bed.
“Rest, my love.” He whispered. “It’s been a long day.”
I sighed and sat up.
“We should probably talk.” I said.
Tyson took my hands in his.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you.” He whispered. “I told my mother about your fertility problems, but I never revealed anything about your pregnancy.”
I nodded slowly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. “I didn’t know that they knew.”
“You had just accepted me, and I was worried about how the mark was going to affect you.” He replied. “With everything going on, it just slipped my mind.”
I nodded slowly.
“Can I ask you a question?” He asked.
“Sure.” I said softly.
“Do you regret accepting me?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but he cut me off.
“Please be honest with me.” He pleaded.
“Why would you think that?” I frowned.
“I can feel your emotions through the bond.” He said. “You feel stressed, insecure and frustrated most of the time, and I just don’t want you to be unhappy.”
I lifted his hands and kissed his knuckles.
“I don’t regret accepting you.” I replied. “I love you, and I knew that accepting you came with a lot of responsibilities. I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy for me, and I’m really trying, but…”
I sighed.
“I just didn’t think it was going to be this hard.” I continued. “How do you do it? It seems so easy for you and Fiona and everyone else.”
“I have trained for this my whole life.” He replied. “You became queen a month ago, knowing absolutely nothing about lycans. On top of that, you’ve had to handle your powers and get to know your wolf.
And you’re doing great, but you can’t expect to do everything perfectly from the start. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You did an amazing job rescuing Evelyn from that pack, and you just took on four vampires in the forest on your own. That’s a lot more than most queens have been able to do.”
“I miss you sometimes.” I admitted. “I know that you have to cover for the duties that I can’t handle yet, and you’re really busy, but sometimes I wish that we could just sneak off somewhere, just you and me.”
Tyson smiled softly.
“That sounds amazing.” He whispered, cupped my cheeks and crashed his lips on mine.
It was astonishing how a simple kiss could make me feel a lot better.
*
Caniluna Castle.
August 6th, 2146.
*
Tyson POV
I tilted my head to the side and glared at the vampire inside the cell.
“I don’t like it.” I grunted and turned to Valeria. “They attacked you.”
“Exactly.” She replied. “When I asked them what they wanted, they replied ‘you’. Maybe they can tell me something.”
I pursed my lips, but I knew that she had a point.
“If they move at all, I will go in there and kill them.” I muttered.
Valeria smiled and pecked my lips.
“I think I can handle it.” She whispered before opening the door and walking inside.
I watched his every move while she stopped in front of him. He was hanging in chains from the ceiling, his feet chained together and hanging a few inches from the floor.
“Who are you?” She asked.
He smiled coldly, but didn’t reply.
“Okay, so you’re not going to talk?”
He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
“Okay, then let me do the talking.” She said. “You and your whole team are locked up in a dungeon, and yet you all look like the cat that ate the canary. I’m guessing there’s something obvious that we’re missing here, and you know it.”
To my surprise, the man chuckled.
“You are just as smart as they say.” He replied.
“Well, I guess I’m not smart enough.” Valeria replied. “Why did you come here?”
“We’re only the beginning.” He said. “And when all this is over, you’ll belong to him.”
Dax stirred in my head.
“What the hell is he talking about?” He snarled.
“He could just be trying to scare us.” I replied and tried to contain my wolf that wanted to march in there and rip his heart out.
Valeria stood in front of him, still unmoving.
“Who?” She asked.
He chuckled, the sound making the hairs in the back of my neck stand on end.
“You’ll know soon.” He said. “In the meantime, I can tell you this: If you survive Damian Cass, you might be able to survive what’s coming?”
“Who’s Damian Cass?” Valeria asked.
He didn’t reply. He just smiled at her, looking really amused.
Valeria kept asking him questions, and he didn’t utter a single word. After a while, Valeria gave up and walked out of the cell. I took her hand and led her to my office with Kayden and Garrett trailing behind us. We sat down by the conference table to go over what we found out.
“Do we know who Damian Cass is?” Valeria asked.
Garrett shook his head.
“I’m going to go do some research, but vampires usually stick to themselves, and it’s really hard to find information on them.” He replied.
“So what do we know about vampires, really?” Valeria asked. “I’m new to this, so I’d appreciate some background information here.”
“Well, first of all, vampires have enhanced strength, speed and sense of smell.” Tyson began. “There are probably more qualities, but we don’t know about them. Their bite slows down the healing rate with wolves, and witches can’t use healing spells if they are bitten either. They live in small clans, often not more than ten people. They have a royal family that rules the clans, and they are usually the ones we contact for any diplomatic errands, but we try to avoid it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they are freaks.” Kayden muttered. “They are arrogant and rude and they just look at you as if you’re a meal.”
“And, they are cursed.” Garrett chimed in, making me frown.
“Cursed?” I repeated.
“Apparently, some ancestor of the royal family pissed off a nearby witch clan and they got cursed.” Tyson explained. “But that’s just a myth, one they gladly spread. It makes them feel stronger and more powerful, so they take advantage of that.”
“Are they immortal, like in the movies?” I asked.
“They age slower, but they aren’t immortal.” Garrett replied. “A lycan usually lives to be like 150 years old, but they say that vampires age even slower, so they have a life expectancy of at least 200 years.”
“Cool.” I nodded, trying to digest the crazy information.
If someone had told me three months ago that I was going to be discussing vampires in a normal serious matter, I would probably have laughed. Up until I met Tyson, I didn’t even know that any of this was real.
“Do you think we should try to talk to the royal family?” I asked. “If they have some Rogue group trying to disturb the peace, they might want to know about it. Maybe this Damian Cass is some criminal of theirs.”
“You’re right.” Tyson replied, looking deep in thought. “There’s this old treaty saying that we have an obligation to report if we spot vampires acting in a way that could expose them to humans. They do the same for us if they discover the same about werewolves. We should pay them a visit.”
“I’ll start preparing for the journey.” Kayden said and got up from his seat while Garrett groaned.
“Hanging out with vampires sucks.” He muttered and rubbed his forehead.
“Was that a pun?” Tyson chuckled.
“It just came out.” Garrett replied and facepalmed himself while the rest of us laughed.
- Writer
