Chapter 25

Trisha’s P.O.V:

Damien arrived early the next morning, half an hour earlier than the given time. Lucas’s men were instantly on alert. As I waited patiently for Damien to get out of his car, I replayed my conversation with Lucas in my head.

“I want you to be with Damien at all times, but my men will also accompany you.” Lucas told me, his eyes hard and his shoulders stiff. “I don’t want to take any chances and risk Damien finding out about the rest of my den or the Sanctuary.”

“You think I would betray your people like that?” I asked him incredulously. What had suddenly gotten into him?

“Look, Trish, I trust you, but I don’t trust Damien.” He sighed. “I don’t know anything about his powers so I have to be cautious. If I could, I would keep you as far away from Damien as possible but you’re our best bet at get through to him.”

“Lucas…what is wrong with you?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re sounding troubled. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“No.” He answered immediately, a little too fast, but I didn’t comment on it.

But before I had time to think about what was wrong with Lucas, I watched Damien step out of his car and instantly, he was the focus of my attention. He was wearing all black as he usually does. Black jeans for freer movement and a full-sleeve black shirt with a white collar and a white stripe down the centre of it. He’d ditched his jacket and gone with a less formal approach to appear friendly, but Damien was as friendly as the neighborhood tiger. The dark red strands of his hair appeared a lot lighter in the sunlight and his beautiful gemstone eyes were covered with a pair of dark sunglasses.

Damien moved his head around as if looking for something, before his head snapped in the exact direction I was standing. I was surprised that he had pinpointed my location even though I was standing well hidden behind an overgrowth. He used his keys to lock his car and then began advancing towards the forest.

Lucas’s men moved forward to greet him but Damien started walking straight towards me, without giving them any of his attention. Within a few seconds, he was standing in front of me, taking off his glasses to reveal those gorgeous eyes as Lucas’s men surrounded us in all directions.

“Trisha.” Damien whispered, and then brought his hand up to put a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “You look troubled.”

A couple of growls sounded from around us, so I shook my head, letting Lucas’s men know that everything was alright and they could stand down, before turning to Damien. “How?” I asked him.

How did you know what’s going on in my mind even when you haven’t seen me for days?

“Trisha!” it was Mark who called out. “We should get going.”

I nodded at him before turning to Damien. “Let’s go.”

“You know I could just teleport us to your room and save ourselves some energy, right?” Damien whispered in a sub-vocal level for only my ears to hear.

“Yes,” I whispered back in the same tone. “But that would give away our element of surprise.” I smiled, thinking about all the times Damien had been in and out of the den, right under Lucas’s nose.

“You didn’t tell me what was troubling you.” Damien asked in all seriousness before adding. “It’s Lucas, isn’t it?”

I nodded my head. There was no point in hiding thing from Damien. He’d figure it out anyway. “How did you know something was bothering me?” I asked instead.

“Lucas is a werewolf. And no matter how hard he tries, he can’t subdue his animal instincts.” Damien said as we started walking side by side, in the direction of the den. “And he’s bringing enemy into the heart of his territory.”

“He even has eyes on me now! It’s not like I’m going to betray him!” I snapped, before lowering my voice. “He’s worried that you might teleport me out of the den and he’d never get to have his chat with you.”

“Indeed.” Damien tilted his head to one side, as if mocking me. It was then that I realized that Damien had already snuck me out of the den to take me to the ball but had me returned on time, before anyone found out. If only I could tell Lucas that.

I growled under my breath. “Let’s get moving! This will take us all day!” I shouted the command before taking off at full speed.

All the wolves went as fast as they could, but the only one who could easily keep pace with me was Damien. We reached the den within minutes, me having already memorized the way when we’d gone out to pick Damien up from PS9. The meeting was being held at the same aerie where we were currently staying. It was far enough away from the actual den that no one would suspect anything and raise an alarm and Damien wouldn’t know the exact location of the den either.

Several ladders were thrown down to help us climb up. Most of the wolves, who had escorted us, began to climb up using their claws, most probably showing off to Damien that this was their territory. Damien didn’t take the bait; instead he followed me up with the help of a ladder. I climbed after him, followed by Mark and a couple other soldiers who had decided to stay back and guard the trail. As soon as we got to the top, we found Lucas standing near the entry point, waiting for us.

I climbed in refusing to accept Lucas’s extended hand. Damien raised an eyebrow at me, just as Lucas scowled. I simply brushed off my hands and began leading them towards the direction of Lucas’s office. Lucas and Damien followed behind and Lucas ordered his guards not to disturb him for the next few hours.

“Have a seat, King Damien.” Lucas motioned for one of the sofas where some refreshments were waiting for us, including two bottles of blood.

We all took a seat, facing each other on the couches in a circle. Lucas eyed Damien from head to toe as he leaned back against the sofa, looking as relaxed in the heart of enemy territory as if he were in his own castle. Obviously, Lucas’s plan of surprising and intimidating Damien wasn’t working.

“So, tell me, Alpha Lucas,” Damien decided to be the first one to break the ice. “What do you plan to achieve from this meeting?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I want world peace.” Lucas smirked. “But we’ll discuss my devious plots later. I believe Trisha has something to show you.”

Both Lucas and Damien turned to face me, making me feel nervous. I hadn’t predicted that the men will get down to business this fast. Maybe a little chat about the aerie? Or maybe they’d discuss politics and world domination? But now that the cat was out of the bag, I had no choice but to take out the letters from a sealed folder and hand them over to Damien.

Damien held the letters in his hand and turned to face Lucas. “Now, let’s discuss politics, shall we?”

“What do you mean?” Lucas frowned.

“I mean, you went through all the trouble of helping a vampire and a mortal child by hiding them in your den and turning all the vampires attention on to yourself and then bringing me here to the heart of your den, revealing the biggest secret of your location, for what? Just to tell me you want world peace?” Damien smiled a sly smile that had Lucas’s eyes going a lighter shade of topaz. “Tell me, Lucas. What’s your real agenda?”

Lucas stared at Damien for a good five seconds, all the while my heart thrust against my ribcage in fear, only for him to burst out laughing, breaking the tension in the air and leaving me utterly confused.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Lucas said once his laughter subsided. “Yes, I didn’t merely go through all the trouble so I could make an enemy out of you. I helped Trisha gather evidence against Vandal because I wanted to propose a petition.”

“And what sort of petition is that?” Damien asked.

“To make a United Worlds Council for all available immortals in the planet.”

“United Worlds Council?” I asked. “And what purpose will that serve?”

“It’s simple Trisha. For over two centuries now, the vampires have ruled all the land, completely avoiding the fact that there are other creatures that call the land our home.” Lucas explained. “You should know the facts better than anyone since you’re fighting to save a mortal child yourself. There are others that are treated far worse than humans. Take us, for examples. The werewolves have been forced to retreat into the depths of the forests, hiding from everyone just to stay alive. I want an end to all of that.”

“If the wolves want to be a part of regular society, I can understand that, but do you think everyone deserves a chance to be in the midst of people? Demons, wraiths, sirens?” Damien asked. “They’re also a part of your little kitty party, aren’t they? The so-called Council of the Damned?”

“How did you-“Lucas started, but cut off as soon as he realized he was giving away too much about his little cult.

“Like you said, the vampires rule over all the landmass, and I’m their King. It’s only normal I know everything that’s going on in my lands.” Damien smiled. “But you don’t need to worry; I’ve been planning something similar for quite some time now. The only difference will be, not everyone will get a chance to integrate into society. We’ll have another meeting soon, Lucas. And this time it’ll be in my palace.”

Lucas seemed to visibly relax as he absorbed all that Damien had said. And then I saw Damien open the letters that he’d kept in his hand; my heart beat that had gone back to normal only a few seconds ago, now thrust against my ribs in an erratic manner. Damien obviously heard it since he gave me a sidewise glance before opening the first letter and starting to read. And the first letter just happened to be the one about King Dominic’s murder.

He read the letter in silence before moving on to the next; all the while his expressions remained neutral. There was nothing in his face that could tell me what was going through his mind. After he’d done reading, he calmly folded the letters and handed them back to me.

“Who gave you these?” He asked; his voice sounding even, like he didn’t just read Vandal’s letter to some assassin ordering the death of his father.

“From an old slave who had worked under Vandal for forty years.” I told him. “That’s all I can tell you.”

“I see.” Damien frowned. I waited for him to say something else but it never came.

“That’s all?” I asked incredulously. “I just hand you a letter stating that Vandal got your father killed, and all you do is ask how I got it?”

“There are things you wouldn’t understand, Trisha.” Damien said for the thousandth time, meeting his green eyes with mine.

“Then make me!” I yelled, losing my temper once again.

“Alright,” Lucas interfered. “I think we should let Damien rest for now. We still have things to discuss late on, till then, how about we take a break and rearrange our thoughts.” Lucas got up from his seat and made his way towards the door, waiting for Damien to follow him.

“Very well,” Damien said, not taking his eyes off me. “We’ll discuss this later.”

With that, Damien too got out of his seat and followed Lucas out the door, leaving me utterly frustrated and angry. Fine. If Damien wants time off to find excuses not to execute Vandal, so be it. But this time, I have solid proof and I’m not going to back off no matter what he does.

I got up from the sofa and popped the cap off of one bottle of blood and gulped it down in one go. I placed the empty bottle back on the table and headed for my room. But as soon as I exited, I found Lucas standing on the other side of the door, hands raised as if to knock. He took a step back as he saw me and then motioned in the direction of his office with a nod of his head.

“I have something to talk about.” He said. “Let’s get some privacy.”

I sighed. “Alright.” Let’s get this drama over with.