Chapter 15

Trisha’s P.O.V:

“I was waiting for your call.”

I barely contained a scream as I heard Damien’s voice from behind me. I placed a hand over my racing heart and let out a deep breath as I turned around to face him. “Never. Do. That. Again!” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“Why?” Damien tilted his head to one side and the large sapphire in his left ear caught the overhead light and caused light to scatter on the wall behind me. And that was when I noticed that Damien wasn’t dressed in his usual dark shirts and dress pants, but instead, he had on a dark red velvet jacket with intricate red on red designs on the front and cuffs, paired with black pants and the clothing were paired with his family jewelry. A sapphire and emerald encrusted chain necklace fit for a king and the sapphire earring on one ear and he also wore the gold ring with his family crest on it.

“Because it’s rude.” I answered his previous question after I had finished gawking at him and then I couldn’t hold back my curiosity. “Why are you all dressed up? You never wear jewelry unless there’s an occasion.”

Damien frowned. “You don’t remember? It’s midnight, June 21st.”

“Shit!” I cussed. How could I have forgotten this day? “It’s the Summer Solstice ball!”

We vampires didn’t celebrate Christmas or Homecoming, and for obvious reasons, Halloween. But there are two main events we did follow each year and they were the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice. During this time each year, the castle gates were opened to all vampires around the world and sometimes, shifters like the werebears and werelions were also invited. It’s a huge event and the celebration continues for twenty four hours straight. This will be the first time in a hundred and seventy years that I’d be missing the ball.

“You really forgot about today?” Damien raised an eyebrow.

I wanted to tell him about the reason for me forgetting the date; about the secret village and what I’d learned from Granny Dilliana, but I held back. Today was a day of celebration for our race and I didn’t want to spoil it for Damien or myself by getting into another argument. And besides, I’ll be telling him everything in details very soon…in front of Lucas and with proof.

I shook my head. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m currently in hiding here. I haven’t checked the date since I was sun fried thanks to you.”

“And you should’ve taken the hint so you wouldn’t have to hide in enemy territory right now.”

“Or you could’ve bent your ego a bit and put Vandal in his place so he couldn’t traumatize children anymore!” I snapped.

“And risk an uprising? You do remember he was a major contributor during the Wipeout. People praise him till this day for his help in providing relief.” Damien reminded me.

I sighed and turned to face a sleeping Neema, not wanting to go down that path again and Damien followed my gaze. Since he’d already been in the same room with Neema once before and had shown no signs of aggression, I was pretty sure he was safe with Damien. I watched his chest rise and fall as he slept peacefully, his blonde hair spilled over the pillow in loose ringlets.

“How was he, your David?” Damien asked softly and I was surprised that he remembered about my son. It felt like ages since my last visit to his castle, but it was just a couple days ago.

I smiled upon remembering my little bundle of joy. “Just like Neema. Same curly blonde hair, same blue eyes. In fact, they look strikingly similar.” I moved around the bed so I was standing next to Neema and pulled the covers over him properly. Neema always kicked his covers off no matter how chilly the weather was. “David was younger when he died, four years. Sometimes, when I fall asleep, I can still hear his voice. But then I’d wake up and Neema would be beside me.” I sat down at the edge of the bed and I found Damien doing the same on the opposite side. “It feels like whoever is up there, God, Allah, Jesus…they’ve given me a second chance at being a mother.”

“You know you can still have children.” Damien said.

“I know that,” I nodded. But Neema looked so much like David that it made me think that he was David himself. Like he’d been reborn as Neema.

“So, why were you calling Jonathan instead of me?” Damien finally asked and I took a second to consider my answer.

“Lucas gave me the phone to call father. I thought I’d ask him to inform you but you seem to have had possession of father’s phone. It’s a good thing you didn’t receive the phone though.” I told Damien. “He had a chip inside the phone that traced the caller but even though he removed the chip, I’m still not sure if the calls will be tapped or not. Just in case they are, can you please warn father beforehand? I need to talk to him, just so I could ease his worries a bit, but he needs to be careful about what he says.”

“I will, but you don’t need to worry about Jonathan.” He said. “I’ve already informed your father that you’re safe; within an enemy stronghold, but safe.”

I felt myself sigh in relief even as my heart swelled with some unknown emotion. I didn’t expect Damien to do something sweet, but he just did and I’m glad for it. “Thank you.” I told him. “And, how did you know I was going to call father? Were you spying on me?”

The possibility that he might be spying on me was a dangerous one, but I trusted Damien with my life. It was weird that I did, even after all the things he’d done, but I just trusted him. Even when I’d accused him of being a distraction while Vandal searched my house for Neema, there had been a part of me that had known that Damien won’t let an innocent get hurt like that. Which was why he had given me ultimatums rather than just teleport in and take Neema away from me.

“No, but I’d expected you’d remember today’s date.” Damien stated and I felt stupid for asking that. “I’ve come to take you with me.”

“Wait, take me with you?” My jaw nearly hit the ground. Did I just hear him right?

“It’s a masquerade ball so no one will notice you as long as you stay close to me and have a mask on.” He stood up from the bed and held out his hand for me. “Come on.”

“Hold on!” I held up my hands, keeping my voice low. “Neema’s sleeping and we’re in a werewolf stronghold! Someone is bound to notice my absence. And what if Neema wakes up and gets scared if I’m not next to him? He still has nightmares sometimes.”

“It’s just like you said; the child’s sleeping and I’ll have you back within the next couple of hours. And besides, it’s past midnight. No one will be here to disturb you until morning.” Damien said. “The more time we waste, the later it will be for you to get back.”

I looked at him helplessly. It wasn’t fair! He knew how much I wanted to go to the Solstice ball, but I couldn’t leave Neema here all alone. I felt myself get pulled in two different directions as I debated what to do.

Its two hours, right? What could happen in two hours? It was only past midnight and Neema doesn’t usually wake up during the entire night. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Everything will be fine, I repeated to myself. Lucas and the wolves would keep Neema safe and Vandal’s men couldn’t get to him in a forest filled with werewolves. Neema will be safe and the lovesick girl in me didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to spend time with Damien.

And then I opened my eyes and placed my hand into Damien’s outstretched ones.

“Let’s go.”