Chapter 32

Trisha’s P.O.V

The stars shore brightly in the night sky. It’s been ages since I came to the gazebo in the Inner Castle garden. But this place hasn’t lost its charm; it was still breathtakingly beautiful, just as it had been nearly a hundred and seventy two years ago. And just like that day when we had first met, Damien was sitting alone on the gazebo stairs.

I took a step forward and unlocked the iron gate that separated the inner circle from the rest of the garden. Damien didn’t look up as I walked up to him; he already knew I was here. It’s what makes him King, his alertness to even the tiniest ripples in his lands.

“It’s cold out here.” He said without even turning towards me. “Are you sure you should be wearing that?”

I looked down at the thin bottle green T-shirt and black jeans that I’d been wearing and found nothing wrong with them. “Why not? I like the cold.” I walked up the first two stairs and sat on the third, one step below Damien. “Do you remember how long it’s been since the last time we were here? Together?”

“A hundred and seventy one years, eight months, seventeen days, two hours, fifty seven minutes and seven seconds.” Damien said with his eyes closed.

“You’re kidding me!” I gaped at him, but from the frown on his brows, I knew he wasn’t. “How did you remember all that?”

“I never forgot.” His eyes were still closed. “I still remember how you looked that day….blue dress, delicate blond hair, eyes that were still too innocent for a vampire and most of all…I remember wanting to kiss you on those plum red lips of yours. I wanted it so badly, but I knew that if I gave in, I’d scare you off. And ever since that day, I’d given you my heart.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Why are you telling me this now?” Why after so many years when so much has changed between us. Why now, when I’d spent a hundred and seventy one years, eight months, seventeen days, two hours, fifty seven minutes yearning to be with him?

“Because now I feel you’re ready.” He opened those beautiful gemstone eyes and locked eyes with me. “And I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”

“Damien I…” I broke eye contact and looked down at my hands. “You know what happened between Lucas and me…”

“Yes, all too well. You still reek of that mutt,” his voice was a sneer and it almost made me laugh.

He angled his body towards me and lifted his hands to my face, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I shook my head. I knew I couldn’t. What Damien and I had wasn’t just love; it was much more than that. But now that we were finally face to face, heart to heart, I couldn’t find the courage to cross the distance between us. It just felt so unreal.

“You know how I feel about you.” I told him now, lifting my head so I could look into his eyes. “But I can’t guess what’s inside you head, Damien. All this time, you took lovers left, right and center and made me believe I wasn’t worthy of you…how can you suddenly tell me that you had given me your heart? What am I even supposed to think about that?”

“That’s always been a part of the problem, Trisha. You see me as Damien Vandolff and nothing else.” He told me. “But I’m so much more than that. I’m also the King of all Vampires and all the land available. I have several duties, several obligations. If you must accept me as yours, accept all of me and not just the man I am alone. You’ll have to accept the crown that comes with me. Only then you’ll be able to understand what goes on in my life.”

“I do! I do accept you as the King, Damien!” I protested. “What I don’t get however, is why you never told me about how you feel? Why did you let me believe that you didn’t care about me? Why did you let me-“

Damien smiled when I didn’t finish my sentence. “It didn’t matter who you were with, Trisha. I’d always had your heart; just like you’d always had mine. But the circumstances were never right. Even now, there is something holding us back.”

I nodded and decided to ask him what was on my mind for a long time. “When did you find out?”

“I’d always known.” Damien shrugged. “There was not a single day in my life where he wouldn’t remind me about it.”

“And is it true, that King Dominic killed Queen Maya?”

“No.” He denied it instantly. “My mother died during childbirth. She had a complicated pregnancy and the healers had already warned the King about the dangers. But my mother was adamant about having me.”

“And your father didn’t complain? Even knowing that it’ll kill your mother?” I asked.

“King Dominic didn’t let him interfere.” He said. “And then you know what happened next. But you didn’t tell me, how did you figure out Vandal was my real father?”

“It wasn’t that difficult,” I said remembering the assassination letter. “Vandal called your mother his beloved. We all thought that you’re King Dominic’s illegitimate son. That’s the way he’d built the story after all. Your mother’s untimely death led to him having no children so a court maiden bore him a child. But he did all that just so there would be some grain of truth to your story. If the world finds out that you’re not King Dominic’s son, there will be utter chaos. Not everyone will be willing to accept you since you’re not Royalty. And that’s probably what’s holding you back from going against Vandal.”

Damien nodded as he looked up at the sky. “The moon is adored because it’s the biggest, brightest of all the stars in the sky. Without it, the sky will be left with millions of tiny dots that all look the same to the naked eye no matter how different they are in their own right. I have to stay King Trisha, or the peace we’ve had since the Wipeout will be destroyed.”

“I know that,” I placed my hand on top of his where it rested on the floor. “And I’ll support you till the end. But I can’t let you get hurt either.”

“Get hurt?” He frowned as he looked back down into my eyes. “Did Neema have a prediction?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Did Vandal tell you about Neema?”

“Yes. You’re stalling. What was the prediction, Trisha?”

I hesitated on whether or not I should tell him. But it was his life that was under threat and knowing Damien, he’d get the truth out of me one way or the other. So I told him what I’d been able to decipher of Neema’s mumblings.

“Death by fire.”

And that was when the castle exploded behind us in a blaze of fire and smoke.