Stained By Sin

TWENTY-ONE

Jaiden jolted awake at the sudden crash. His blinked a couple of times before his eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room, a lone candle giving it light.

“You have company,” he heard Aki spoke. Jaiden looked to where his voice came from and saw that he was standing by the door, his expression brighter than it had been the last time he saw him. Thinking that he meant Elara had finally return, he looked eagerly around the room and saw a female figure crumpled on the floor.

He immediately knew it wasn’t Elara. The female vampire would never show weakness like that in front of anyone… or at least, that’s what he imagined her to be. It took him a couple of seconds before he finally realized who the female was.

“Ava?” he muttered, confused.

“I’ll leave her to you. Make sure both of you wouldn’t do anything stupid. I am already warning you, she may be a vampire, but she is no match for even the weakest member of this clan. Try to escape and that would be the end of both of you.”

With that, Aki left the room. Jaiden was left bewildered at the sudden turn of events. He just sat on his bed, unmoving as he stared at Ava. He only started to move when Ava moaned in pain. In an instant, Jaiden was beside her, lifting her head from the ground.

Ava was gritting her teeth, as if to prevent herself from screaming. Her hands were tied behind her, clenching her dress tightly. He noticed that blood was smeared across her face, but he couldn’t see any wounds. Dirt also covered her face and dress, which he assumed was from when she got captured by Aki. She was also breathing irregularly, her heartbeat erratic.

He untied Ava’s hands before he nestled her in his arms. She let go of her dress temporarily as he pulled her to him but grabbed a fistful of her dress again once she was settled.  

“Ava, what’s wrong?” he asked softly. She didn’t answer. Instead, she just continued to bite her lips, grit her teeth, and occasionally let out a moan of pain. They stayed like that for quite some time before Ava started to calm down.

Her breathing normalized, and she finally let go of her dress, her eyes slowly opening.

“Ava,” he called her name softly.

It was obvious that she was still dazed. Her eyes were cloudy as she stared at Jaiden’s face. After a few seconds of staring, recognition finally flashed across her face.

She smiled as she called out to him.

“Jaiden!” she said, raising a hand to touch his cheek. “I finally found you.”

“What’s wrong? Why were you in pain? Are you alright?” Jaiden asked continuously, relief flooding over him.

“I’m alright, now. It was just an episode. Don’t worry,” she smiled at him.

“Can you walk? Or would you like to lie down more?”

“I can walk, but my muscles still ache so…” she trailed off.

Jaiden smiled at her. “It’s okay, you can rest.”

Ava nodded. “Thanks.”

She closed her eyes again, as if to sleep. Wanting her to be comfortable, Jaiden lifted her off the ground and laid her to his bed. Ava’s eyes flew open as she felt the bed beneath her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Uhm… a bed?” Jaiden asked, confused at her question. It’s not like this was her first time sleeping on a bed. Why was she so confused?

“You have a bed here?” she asked, still shocked.

“I do.”

Apparently forgetting that her body was still aching, Ava sat down on the bed and looked around her.

“You are in a room,” she muttered.

“I am.”

“And you have a bed.”

“I do.”

“Why are you in a room and why do you have a bed?” Ava asked him. She looked at him with wide eyes, seriously confused about everything.

“Why shouldn’t I?” he replied, just as confused as Ava was.

“Because you are a Crow’s prisoner! You are supposed to be in a dungeon. WE are supposed to be in a dungeon, chained. We shouldn’t have a bed! We should be sleeping on the cold, hard floor!”

“Huh? But I’ve been locked in this room ever since I was captured. Elara did threaten me about getting thrown in a dungeon, but she never did,” Jaiden replied.

Ava was silent for a moment. She still looked as if she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. She looked around the room, felt the bed she was sitting on, then stared at Jaiden with confused eyes.

“But why? You are their prisoner,” she muttered again, as if saying that would help her understand the situation more.

Jaiden shrugged. He knew why. Aki told him about it before, but he couldn’t tell Ava about it. It was too personal for Elara, he knew he had no right to tell anyone about it without her consent.

They were both silent again for a moment. Then, Ava winced, probably remembering that her body was still aching. She slowly laid down on the bed and Jaiden assisted her. He sat on the bed beside her, observing her.

“Why are you here?” he asked her again.

“To save you, of course,” she replied with a small smile.

He already knew that he was a prisoner to get back to Ava’s family, and that Ava was a princess or something. And since he was her mate, he had already assumed that they would try to rescue him. He didn’t bet on her personally saving him, though. With her status aside, he knew her well. She was a scaredy cat and a bit spoiled. There was no way she would go here alone for him.

And yet, here she was.

Jaiden couldn’t help but smile. He had long accepted the fact that Ava wasn’t human. After spending quite some time as a prisoner of vampires, he really had no choice but to accept it. And that was why he could look at Ava again normally… talk to her again as if she was human.

“Aren’t you scared of me?” she asked. Jaiden was surprised at her question. It was as if she had heard what he was thinking.

Jaiden smiled at her before shaking his head.

“Not anymore. At first, I was. But I kinda got used to it since I was kidnapped, you know,” Jaiden said playfully.

Jaiden hoped to lighten up the mood between the two of them, but instead, Ava’s face darkened even more.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s because of me that you are in this situation right now. If I hadn’t mated with you…”

“Shhh…” Jaiden hushed her. “What’s done is done. I was told there was no way no reverse it?”

Ava shook her head.

“Then there was nothing we could do about it. I told you, I’ve been thinking about all of these ever since I was kidnapped. I had already come into terms with my situation and had already accepted it.” Jaiden smiled at Ava to reassure her, but she still looked down.

“Still… You should be back in your own house right now, on your own bed, doing human stuff. Instead, you are here, held captive by vampires, all because I impulsively mated with you.”

Jaiden was quiet for a moment. He stared at Ava, who was on the verge of tears.

“Ava, do you regret what you did? Mating with me?” he asked.

“Honestly?” Ava replied.

“Honestly.”

“Then… I don’t. If we are talking about how I feel personally, I don’t regret it. I think it was the best decision I have ever made. But whenever I think about what I put you through because of it… I can’t help but feel angry at myself. I am making you suffer… the person I chose to be my own mate,” Ava explained.

“If you don’t regret what you did, I don’t regret it either. I was told that the mating ritual wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t drink your blood as well. I drank it on my own accord and that makes me equally responsible for this mating. Don’t blame yourself for what is happening to me. I entered this situation myself. You are not at fault.” Of course Jaiden didn’t really entered this mating of his own accord. He wasn’t even aware that he was going to be mated with Ava the moment he drank her blood. But it was true that ever since he was captured by Aki, and Elara had revealed to him his significance, all he did was think about it. And that he had finally accepted this fact. And since Ava was now technically his wife, there was no way he would make her feel guilty about this.

Ava was quiet, smiling at him timidly. As Jaiden stared at her, he realized just how much courage she needed to muster to find him. She was not the courageous type so going all the way here by herself was already an incredible feat. One that convinced Jaiden even more that he could accept his fate wholeheartedly.

“Sleep now. We can talk about everything tomorrow. Right now, you are tired and you are hurt. I want you to rest up,” Jaiden said.

Ava smiled at him, nodding. “Alright. Thank you, Jaiden.”

“Thank you, too. For coming here and finding me,” he replied.