Chapter 13

Miaka’s P.O.V

I looked around the apartment as Kaleb went to the kitchen to get that coffee. Apparently he didn’t drink alcohol, so he said he needed coffee to listen to the rest of my theory.

It wasn’t a big place, but since I was used to living at the palace, I pretty much considered everything else small.

The kitchen was right opposite to the sitting area and had a counter with two chairs in front of it serving as the dining area. The living room had two couches and a small wooden centre table. The pictures of Kaleb, his sister and his parents were on the wall behind me. To my left were two doors that I assumed were the bedrooms, with possibly en-suit bathrooms. And that was pretty much everything in the house.

For a secret lair, this seemed normal and the touches of portrait, a couple dried out plants on the kitchen window…they gave it a sense of home. A home that wasn’t frequented as often anymore, since he now had a permanent resident at Princep Street, House number 203.

After sitting on the couch quietly, watching him boil water in silence, I finally got up and went to stand next to him, watching him fidget with the packs in hand. Cautiously, I placed a hand on his shoulder and watched him flinch in surprise.

“Sorry.” I help up my hands. I guess he was more than a little shook by the whole information.

“Wait…so…Subject Zero?” Kaleb gave me a confused and concerned look. “So you’re telling me the boy isn’t a normal boy?”

“He wasn’t normal to begin with.” I reminded Kaleb. “He was a vampire, but now I’m suspecting he’s a ‘made’ vampire. Not a natural born or turned.”

Kaleb sighed as he mixed instant coffee into two mugs and handed me one. “This is just nuts.” He shook his head. “Excuse me for being a caveman, but I literally don’t understand how that can even be possible.”

“Me neither.” I shrugged. “I don’t care about all the techy stuff. That’s just up to my team to figure out. But we’re keeping him sedated for now, just to be on the safe side.”

Kaleb raised his eyebrows at me. “And you’re okay with that?”

I thought back to the little child; about how he had looked at me with big, innocent eyes and felt myself shiver. “No.” I told him instantly, taking a sip of my coffee. “I can’t even imagine what that child had been through. We found his own fang marks on his arms, so it’s either he was trying not to scream in pain or he drank his own blood to survive. But what I’m worried about is why would they want to kill their own creation? The child was being given hydrogen cyanide and was inches away from death.”

“Hydro-My God!” Kaleb placed his cup on the kitchen counter to run his hands through his hair, messing up the silken strands.

I got momentarily distracted by his actions; my eyes following the movement of his hair as it settled onto his forehead. The blue-black strands were unique too, just like his eyes. Involuntarily, I moved my hand to his forehead, brushing aside the strands.

Kaleb froze, making me pause as well, but when he didn’t say anything, I went on to comb my fingers through the silky soft locks. His hair wasn’t too long or too short. It was just the perfect length…the perfect texture.

Kaleb closed his eyes, leaning his hips against the kitchen counter. I took that as an invitation to explore more. I found that I just couldn’t help myself. I tucked a longer strand behind his ear and continued my exploration, tracing my fingers down his chin to his jaw.

His skin was soft, unlike the calluses on his palms. It told me he did a lot of hard labour, but he was only two years older than me, so his skin still held the softness of his age.

But then my eyes went to his lips. Soft and pink, so…delicate. Unlike any other part of his body, his lips appeared the most diaphanous. It made me want to have a taste…to feel them over my lips. The intensity of the physical attraction I felt towards him shocked me.

I wanted to kiss him on those beautiful lips…but I also knew this wasn’t right. It was the first time in my life that I had felt physically attracted to someone. And that someone just so happened to be working with the enemy.

I lowered my hand, but Kaleb caught it in his larger ones.

And then I made the mistake of looking up into those hypnotic eyes. The swirls of amethyst, blue, grey and golden. And I was transfixed…unable to move away as he lowered his head slowly…until his lips met mine.

I felt my breath catch in my lungs as a shockwave travelled through me, lighting up every nerve, every fibre of my being. I had never felt more alive in my life than I did right then.

I didn’t need an invitation as I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt Kaleb pulling me closer with his hand on my lower back as our lips moved in harmony. I never believed in fireworks and butterflies in the stomach until this very moment.

Was this how a kiss was supposed to feel like? This vibrant…this magnificent?

I wouldn’t know, after all, this was my first kiss with a man. But I had a feeling not every kiss would be like this, no matter who I was kissing.

Kaleb let out a soft groan and pushed me against the counter, the kiss getting more urgent by the minute. My hands were in his hair, the silken strands tickling my palm as I tugged on them. His lips were soft yet urgent and I matched his pace just as fervently. I couldn’t get enough of him and I didn’t want to let go.

A sudden noise came from behind me, making us both spring apart like we had been caught doing something naughty.

“Oh…my…” I was panting hard when I looked behind me to find that I had knocked over one of the cups on the kitchen counter, which had been the source of the noise. Shit!

“Sorry…” He said awkwardly, covering his face with his hands, trying to get his breathing under control. I could hear his heart racing like a hummingbird fluttering its wings and I was very sure mine wasn’t any different.

I was too shocked to answer him. The kiss had been so irresistible that I hadn’t thought of what would come after. And even now…it was yet to set in that I just kissed the enemy.

What was I thinking? Clearly I wasn’t. I had never been this tempted before, by any man or woman and yet…I had never felt this alive either. This was wrong! This was just…damn it!

How did I get from talking about the child to kissing Kaleb?

“I think I should go now.” I told him. “I have things to take care of.”

“Um…yeah.” Kaleb scratched the back of his head nervously. “Yeah, of course. I’ll show you my findings another day.”

Another day? God…how was I going to face him again, after the kiss?

“Yeah, sure.” I gave him a nervous smile as he dumped our cups into the sink and rinsed his hands.

“I’ll see you off.”

“There’s no need.” I told him quickly. “I know the way.”

“Please, I insist.” He told me with a serious expression, so I simply nodded and let him lead the way.

We came to a stop in front of his door, but before opening it, he half-turned to face me, his expression still serious. “I don’t want to forget about today like nothing ever happened and it definitely wasn’t a mistake…not on my part.”

My heart thrashed against my ribcage and I felt at a loss of words. But then…my world turned upside down the next instant.

Kaleb opened the door and was about to step out when a blade slashed into his neck, splashing blood all over my face and my clothes.

I acted on impulse and held out my hand, using the air currents to send the assailant flying back to hit the opposite wall with bone-crushing force.

And then I heard Kaleb chocking on his own blood as his hands went to his throat…and he was falling backwards.