Alone

Chapter 18

We introduced Edalyn to my father over dinner. She wouldn't stop death glaring at him. 

But he didn't seem to mind at all. As a matter of fact, he was quite amused by it.

I got into her mind.

Don't be so obvious.

Her glare melted into confusion. 

Stop glaring at him. Act like you don't mind his presence. If you explode at something he says, you'll blow up our chances. Heh. Puns. 

"So, Father, have you picked a date?" I speak, taking his attention off Edalyn.

"For what?"

"The wedding. I didn't want to impose by unknowingly scheduling it on one of your uh- spa days." I finished the last part mockingly, and Edalyn snickered.

I smiled sweetly at him, but I was laughing inside. Damien enjoys a good orgy.

My loving father and I were now engaged in a staring contest. And I'd be damned if he thought I was gonna chicken. Apparently, he wanted to try and kick my ass in private. 

"Leave us." Damien's voice was quiet and threatening. Oh s**t, I think I damaged his ego a bit. Not that he didn't deserve it.

Damien begins to speak again as my sister and betrothed scampered out of the room. Thanks, guys, so supportive. "Cowards," I mumble under my breath.

"Scarlett, darling, I thought we were over this. I thought you had learned your lesson when it came to disrespecting me. " He rolled fire around on his fingers. An unspoken threat lingered in the air.

I rolled my eyes and mimicked his actions. Weirdly enough, the fire soothed. "Don't be so dramatic. I'm not afraid of what you will do to me. If you wanted to kill me you would've done it already." I scoffed at him.

"Maybe I'm just biding my time."

"Damien, you're a lot of things. Evil, psychotic, manipulative, vengeful, jealous," I counted off on my fingers as I spoke. He narrowed his eyes at me, but let me continue, "horrible, but defensive."

He nodded, "Get to the point, Scarlett."

"You have a lot of particularly uninspiring traits, a few nice ones, too, but patience is not one of them."

"I enjoy it when people play my games. They become my pawns."

"I could never be one of your pawns. I'm too unpredictable." I glanced at the unreadable expression on his face, "And you know that. So I would recommend you stop lying. But the truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"Scarlett, don't push me. Whatever I do won't be unprovoked."

"And you'll do what? Hurt me? Kill me?"

"Scarlett, I may not be able to control myself amid your petulant accusations."

"Oh, shut up!" He quieted, but he didn't hold back the glare. "You and your fancy words need to stop. If you wanted to kill me, you would've done it the night I arrived. And since then, you have had so many opportunities. I think you're going soft."

"You want to die so bad? Fine, I'll kill you, and if you ask nicely I might just do it the way I killed your mother."

I took deep breaths so he wouldn't get the reaction he wanted out of me. I walked over to him with even strides, not hesitating, never speeding up. "Then kill me. Prove it. I f*****g dare you." He didn't budge, "DO IT!"

He didn't even blink as I screamed at him. He thought my little "meltdown" was over. He was wrong. He's not getting off that easy. "I knew it. You won't kill me because you want me alive. Why? I don't know, but I highly doubt it is because you want me to have a vampire prince as a consort." (A/N A consort is a married significant other of a queen or empress.)

"It's not true, I don't care whether you're dead or alive. I just enjoy hanging your potential death over your head. I enjoy making you squirm."

I scoffed, "Does it look like I'm squirming? Come on, Damien. You can't hide behind your lies forever."

"Stop it, Scarlett, don't push me." But I didn't have to. All he needed was a little nudge over the cliff.

I reached into his mind, a difficult, but not impossible feat, especially when he's distracted. I gave him simple orders, "Kill. Me."

He began to move toward me. It was a test. If he wanted to fight my orders, he could. But if he didn't, I didn't know if I could stop him, or even that I wanted to. Seeing my mother again didn't seem that bad a fate.

He wrapped his hands around my throat and I felt them heating up. I winced from the pain. Whereas my fire was soothing, calming, his was scalding. Damien flinched, and I could tell he was fighting my order.

I could feel him pushing against the barrier made by the command in his brain. I fought back. It became a battle of the minds. A psychic war controlling actions on our plane. 

He pried his hand off my neck. He picked up a knife from the table. 

I expected him to come after me with it. A brutal punishment. Damien does not like to be controlled. 

Instead, I heard a slight hiss come from him. A shiny, metallic red elixir dripped from his hand. He was bleeding. I knife was sticking in the palm and had penetrated through to the other side.

What just happened? I nudged him mentally again, "NO!" He screamed, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

He blasted me, effectively knocking me out of his head, and across the room.

He winced as he drudged the knife out of his hand and watched his skin stitch itself back together.

"If I didn't know better, I might just think you did that to protect me."

"Well, please, for the sake of all don't entertain yet another one of your idiotic delusions."

"It's not like you actually care about 'all'. And I could've lived without your patented stupid shaming."

"Not long, I'm sure."

"It's not like you would notice."

"I would notice, I can assure you of that."

I raised my eyebrow at him, and he shrugged- a very unkingly thing to do-, "I can't have my most valuable asset going about killing herself on one of her whims."

I snorted at his stupid attempts each time to dodge my questions, "Whatever you say." I made my way over to the exit and stood in the doorway, I gave him a small smile. "Goodnight, Damien."