Stained By Sin

TEN

Elara remained motionless the entire way back to the Ivory residence. It was very humiliating for her to be carried like that by her brothers’ killer, by she had no choice. She couldn’t do anything suspicious, or she would be killed on the spot. She had a feeling that they wouldn’t really kill her -- she’s more valuable to them alive rather than dead -- but she had to be sure. She couldn’t die now. Not until she got her revenge.

She could feel the Nero’s chest rising and falling quickly as he ran. Being this close to him, her hand was already itching to grab her dagger and slice his neck open. But since she was already injured, her reflexes were already compromised -- both by her injuries and the chains tying her wrists together -- she’d be long dead before she could even grab the hilt of her dagger.

Nero did a sharp turn as he ran, which jostled Elara slightly. Thanks to her mind wandering between how humiliating it was to be carried like this by Nero and how quickly she could kill him if she wasn’t reduced to this state, she had somehow forgotten about the pain of the silver and her injuries. But the sudden motion caused her dulled pain to return tenfold.

Elara gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as pain continued to rack her body. She wasn’t usually this sensitive to pain. If anything, she had a high tolerance for it. But no matter how high a vampire’s threshold for pain is, they were no match for silver. The pain it brought to them was like no other. It was like getting burned by the hottest fire one could conjure. And the worst part was, since the silver-tinged metal was binding her wrists and ankles as she was carried by a running Nero, the motion effectively acts as a torture device. The way the metal would kiss parts of her skin lightly while the other part heals and vice versa was enough to make her want to cry in pain.

But, no. She wouldn’t cry, nor would she scream. She wouldn’t give any Ivory the pleasure of seeing her weak.

Aside from the silver, her broken ribs and jaw were also torturing her. She could feel that her bones were already starting to heal, but it wasn’t fast enough to mend the bones together so that it wouldn’t puncture her internal organs.

See, this was why she wouldn’t attempt to kill Nero right now. Keeping her mouth shut and not show any signs of pain was already a monumental task for her at the moment. There was no way she could deliver a finishing blow the way she usually did.

The alternating pain of silver burning on her skin and her own bones drilling holes on her lungs took all of Elara’s concentration that she didn’t realize they were already entering the vicinity of the Ivory residence. She only realized it when the scent of the untamed forest started to fade, replaced by the familiar scent of stones, bricks, different kinds of shrubs that were mostly used for decorations, and her favorite flowers.

She felt Nero had also started to slow down to a walk.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, and for a moment, she had forgotten that she was a hostage…. forgotten that she was in pain. She stared at the courtyard of her previous home which looked almost exactly the same at it had been years before. The way the grass and the shrubs that were freshly watered sparkled under the moonlight… how the darkness seemed to have made the flowers looked more colorful and beautiful.

As she stared at the scenery that was in front of her, she almost thought that everything that had happened in the past was just a nightmare, and that she was finally awake. That she was actually standing in the middle of her courtyard, with her two brothers on their way to make fun of her again.

Her fantasy was quickly shattered by a wailing voice.

“Brother! Brother!” the shrill voice called, evidently in a state of extreme anxiety. “Are you alright? Did you get Jaiden? Where is --” the female voice continued to scream as it grew closer and closer, only to pause mid-sentence when the owner of the voice was close enough to see her in the arms of Nero.

“Who is she?” the female asked as she looked down on her, which made Elara growl in anger. The vibration made by her growl coursed through her entire body made her wince, reminding her that she was already injured and shouldn’t be picking any fights. Instead, Elara stared at the female, her scent cluing her to the female’s identity.

So this was the Ivory brat, princess Ava. She was pretty, that Elara could give her. If the only requirement to become next in line to lead an entire race was beauty, Ava could definitely be qualified. She was very feminine. Her white hair and pale skin accentuating her soft features, making her appear even more of a lady. Her long lashes and eyebrows were also pale, but were darker than her hair. The contrast made her look ethereal, especially since her eyes were an icy shade of gray.

The way she moved also screamed finesse and elegance. Her body was clothed with a sleeveless, flowing, white dress that was almost touching the ground. A sheer white fabric was draped on her shoulders like a shawl. Her graceful movements made the light fabric appear like they were floating around her, with the moonlight giving her just the right amount of light to appear as if she was shining.

Ah. Now she knew why Jaiden drank her blood without second thoughts. She didn’t look like she could hurt a fly. Jaiden was probably distracted enough to not realize that drinking each other’s blood was something no normal human would do.

But even though Ava was undoubtedly beautiful, she also looked weak as hell. Not only that, she also seemed like a naive little girl that was shielded from any responsibilities and problems. Which was like the actual case, considering she let herself get mated to human.

“I’m alright,” Nero suddenly said, interrupting Elara’s train of thought. “And this is Elara. She’s the leader of the Crow clan.”

“And the former princess,” Elara couldn’t help but hiss under her breath, then proceeding to grit her teeth as pain jolted her body once again.

Ava appeared to be shock by the introduction. Her eyes widened, and she wasted no effort in trying to hide it. She was such an open book, Elara cringed at the thought of her leading the vampire race one day.

“I’m sorry,” Ava said when she finally managed to compose herself.

“Oh, you should be,” Elara replied bitterly.

“We weren’t able to rescue your mate. Elara here refused to settle the issue with diplomacy so we had to resort to violence. And since the human was not in the vicinity during the negotiation, we had to get her instead,” Nero explained, as if Elara wasn’t there to hear everything.

“I understand. It was what we had agreed upon on the meeting. I knew what to expect,” Ava replied softly. She smiled softly at Nero, but her jaws seemed tight and strained.

Hmmm…

“You are already in pain, aren’t you?” Elara said casually, as if she wasn’t in pain herself.

Ava was obviously surprised by her statement that she unconsciously winced at the mention of “pain”.

“Huh? No, how can you say that.”

“You can’t fool me. I can see how you grit your teeth and how strained your jaws are. You might think you are hiding it, but your it is painfully obvious. Pun intended.”

Ava took a step backwards, as if Elara’s words delivered a physical punch to her gut.

“Is it true? Are you in pain?” Nero asked, clearly worried for the well-being of his sister.

Before Ava could respond, Elara looked at Nero and wiggled on his arms, trying to get his attention. Her movements made her wince in pain, but she had to do it. She couldn’t stand one more minute of being in this vampire’s arms, especially in front of the brat princess. She need to recover a bit of her dignity.

“Before you two get all chummy with each other, can you just dump me to my cell so that I won’t have to witness it?” Elara said once Nero turned to look at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Being carried like this, especially with your hands tied on your back, must be uncomfortable,” he responded apologetically.

Elara wanted to laugh but didn’t. She didn’t know if he was genuinely sorry she was “uncomfortable”, or if he was just being a smartass again.

“Oh, no. Don’t be sorry. It’s pretty comfortable, actually. Especially when the silver melts my skin after they had just healed a few seconds ago? Oh, just perfect,” she replied, forcing a sarcastic grin through her gritted teeth.

Nero sighed, then looked at Ava again.

“We’ll talk later. I need to bring her to her room,” Nero said. Ava just nodded in response.

The word “room” didn’t escape Elara’s notice. She didn’t know that the Ivory’s morals were so strict, they couldn’t even call a prison cell its real name. They just had to euphemize it and call it “room”. What losers.

Nero walked in silence as he carried Elara to her “room”. And since all the talking a while ago just made her ribs puncture her lungs once again, she had no desire to break that silence. It was a good thing that her jaw was already healed by the time they entered the Ivory residence. Having her entire face and body covered with blood and dirt was one thing, but her pride wouldn’t be able to take it if that freakishly beautiful princess talked to her while her jaw was all kinds of broken. Even if she’s a warrior, she’s still a woman.

Elara watched the hallways as Nero walked silently. Everything looked almost the same back when she was living there. A few stuff were removed, and other stuff were added, but the structure of the mansion remained the same. Elara wondered why they kept it like that. Maybe the Ivory and Crow clans shared the same taste in decoration and architecture? That would be really weird, but that was the only reason she could think of. As the Ivorys were so fond of saying, they took over the right to lead the entire vampire race to protect the secrecy of their existence, and also to protect the humans that the Crow clan had so gladly declared as open for hunting. It seemed illogical for the Ivorys to keep any trace of the Crow’s power if their entire leadership was what they forcefully changed.

It took Elara a while before she realized why the hallways were so familiar to her. Nero was actually walking to where her old room was.

What was he planning to do?

Elara remained silence even after she realized where they were going. She didn’t want to assume anything, and be made a fool afterwards. She needed to be sure.

And sure enough, Nero stopped in front of her old door. A servant vampire suddenly appeared behind them, opening the door for Nero.

Nero slowly entered her room as if he was hesitating. After a few steps, however, he seemed to gain more confidence and walked normally again. As soon as they reached her old bed, Nero gently placed her on it, making sure that she was lying sideways so as not to put weight on her shackled wrists and ankles.

Nero looked over to the female servant who was patiently waiting for orders outside the room.

“Leave us,” Nero said softly, nodding once at her. “And please, close the door before you leave.”

The servant bowed respectfully and did as she was ordered.

Finally alone, Nero looked at her again, a solemn look on his face. Without saying a word, he lightly patted her, probably searching for weapons. His hands skimmed lightly on her shoulders, her waist, her chest pockets, carefully avoiding her breasts -- which made Elara want to laugh. He then proceeded to pat her shorts pockets, before removing the pouches that were tied to her hip.

He removed all the remaining weapons she hid, which was very few. She wasn’t able to anticipate the type of battle she would fight with him, and thus, she was ill-prepared. If their fight didn’t end the way it did, she would still be at a disadvantage since she would be forced to fight without a weapon.

After removing all of her remaining weapons, he left her for a while, bringing her knives with him. In just a few minutes, however, he was back with a small basin filled with water, and a small cloth. He walked towards her, then gently helped her sit up.

Elara remained silent, observing his every move.

Once she was seated, Nero soaked the cloth to the water, then wrung it to remove excess water. He then knelt in front of her, then very gently wiped the blood and dirt off her face. Then, her neck. Then, her shoulders.

“I know this will sound crazy to you, but I need you to behave,” Nero suddenly said, looking at her with solemn eyes. He was right. That did sound crazy to her. What did he mean by, “behave”? And why should she behave? “I am going to remove the chains that are restraining you so you could clean yourself. But don’t think for a moment that I am letting my guard down. If you try to attack me, I will use force on you. And I don’t want to inflict any more injury to you than I already have. So, please. Cooperate with me and behave.”

So this was what he meant by behave? Huh. This man really had some nerve. First, he was naive enough to keep in her old room instead of the dungeon. Now, he was willing to remove her restraints without any guards around? He must be seriously underestimating her.

Nero must have noticed the sharp glare that she gave him because he smiled, amused.

“I am not underestimating you, but at the moment, with your injuries, I know that I can overpower you in a matter of seconds. So please, do us both a favor, and keep your punches to yourself.”

Elara was shocked by his words. The audacity. Her blood was already boiling with anger, but she realized he was right. The only logical choice for her right now was to cooperate. She would have more chance of escaping once these damned silver-metal was off her, and her injuries healed. Full recover would definitely take days since she doubt they would be giving her blood, but it was better than nothing. For the meantime, she could bid her time as she recover and come up with the best course of action. If the Ivorys really didn’t lay a hand on the layout of the mansion, then she would have no problem escaping. Even after twenty years of not stepping a foot in her old home, she still knew the place like the back of her hand.

And so, she did as he asked.

“Alright, then. I swear I will behave tonight, so remove these damned things already,” Elara said, thrusting her tied-up feet between her and Nero.

“Thank you,” Nero replied, fishing the key that was apparently hidden in his pocket.

The silver dug on her skin a couple of times as Nero tried to carefully remove it. She hissed in pain, then bit her lip so hard blood dripped down her chin.

“I’m sorry,” Nero said once he removed the chains on her ankles. I will try to be more careful on your wrists.

And just as promised, he did a better job removing the chains on her wrists than on her ankles.

Relief flooded Elara’s chest once the silver chains were gone. She looked at her wrists and ankles, which were still bleeding from the silver, but were also already starting to heal. Her shoulders were stiff from getting her hands tied behind her for quite some time, but it was nothing compared to the throbbing pain on her wrists.

She remained silent, refusing to mutter even a word of thanks to Nero. Why should she? He was a murdered. And she was also his captive. She would never thank him, no matter how “kind” he was to her. He was probably just trying to win her trust so that the he could have the new Crow clan under his command.

That would never happen. Never.

“Here,” Nero said while placing the basin on her bed. “Clean yourself, then rest up. I will be placing guards outside your room, so don’t even try to escape. But other than that, you may walk around the place as you please. Of course, there wold be guards anywhere you go, and I will also personally act as one of your guards. Knowing how skilled you are, I can’t just leave you with my guards, can I?” he said, grinning playfully.

Elara just rolled her eyes at him.

“Why are you even doing this? I was honestly expecting to be locked in the dungeon, to be tortured every passing minute of my stay as your captive.”

“That’s…” Nero replied, taking a quick glance at her eyes before looking away. “Nothing.”

Elara just raised an eyebrow, still waiting for an answer.

Nero shook his head before smiling sadly. “I will leave you alone now. Remember, you are heavily guarded. Don’t try anything funny.”

And with that, he turned to leave.