My Unfated Mate

Chapter Seven

Drew watched Elen for several seconds before gesturing toward one of the benches.

“Sit down.”

Elen frowned.

“Why?”

“Because what I'm about to tell you might shake you.”

That did not exactly make her feel better.

Still, she walked over and sat down. Drew remained standing for a moment before leaning against one of the pillars near the centre of the room.

“If we're going to be honest with each other,” he began, “then you need to understand something about Aetheria first.”

Elen nodded.

“There are three major races in Aetheria. Vampires, werewolves, and mages. Each race has abilities that distinguish them from the others.”

His expression became thoughtful.

“Vampires are known for their speed. We can move faster than any ordinary human or werewolf, and our bodies heal exceptionally quickly. And we are hard to kill. Werewolves are different. Their greatest strengths are physical. Incredible strength, heightened senses, endurance, and their ability to partially or fully transform.”

Elen listened quietly.

“Mages are different from both. Telekinesis, healing, illusions, and countless other abilities depending on the mage's bloodline and training.”

Drew paused.

“That is why mages were once considered the most dangerous race in Aetheria. They don't necessarily have the physical advantages of vampires or werewolves, but their abilities can overwhelm both.”

Elen nodded slowly.

She had heard some of this from Greg.

“But there is another category that very few people understand.”

“The Specials.”

Drew looked at her with mild surprise.

“You've heard the term?”

“My uncle mentioned that my parents were Specials.”

“Then perhaps he knew more than you thought.”

He straightened.

“Every generation, an anomaly is born among each race. Someone whose abilities go beyond what their bloodline should naturally produce. We call them Specials.”

Elen leaned forward.

“What makes them special?”

“A vampire Special is born with the usual abilities of our race, but they also possess an ability connected to the mind. Mind reading. Mind control. Mind-linking. Sometimes more than one.”

Elen's eyes narrowed.

“In the werewolf realm, a Special possesses an additional ability connected to the elements. Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. The stronger the wolf, the more elements they can control.”

“My father controlled all of them as I was told.”

Drew nodded.

“Your father wasn't merely a Special. He was the strongest werewolf Special Aetheria had ever seen.”

Elen remained silent.

“And your mother, she was a Special who could transform into any animal she wanted.”

Drew smiled faintly.

“That sounds harmless until you think about what it means.”

Elen frowned.

“Imagine fighting a mage who can summon powerful magic, who can move and throw things with their mind, and also transform into a lion at will.”

Elen's eyes widened slightly.

“That would be terrifying.”

“It was.”

Drew folded his arms.

“Your parents were the strongest Specials their respective races had produced in generations. And that made them dangerous.”

“To the who exactly?”

“To everyone in power. The hierarchy in Aetheria.”

Elen's expression hardened.

“Why?”

“Because power creates fear, and fear makes people stupid.”

Drew's voice became quieter.

“The rulers of Aetheria were vampires. And Emperor Augustus Blanc stood most threatened.”

Elen's chest tightened at the name.

“But parents never wanted his throne.”

Drew shook his head.

“Yes, but the people around him feared what might happen if two of the strongest Specials in history ever decided to challenge the empire.”

He paused.

“And there was another problem.”

Elen waited.

“The vampires hadn't produced a Special in more than a century.”

Her eyes widened.

“So the emperor had no one powerful enough to counter my parents.”

“Exactly.”

The silence between them grew heavier.

Elen suddenly understood something she had never considered before.

Her parents had not simply been powerful.

They had been a threat to an entire system.

Drew took a slow breath.

Drew looked at her.

“You know my name, right?”

Elen frowned.

“Of course. You're Drew.”

“No. My full name.”

Elen shook her head.

“I don't know.”

Drew held her gaze.

“My name is Augustus Blanc the Fifth.”

Elen froze.

For several seconds, she could not process the words.

Then her face changed.

“No.”

Drew said nothing.

Elen stared at him.

“You're his son?”

“Yes.”

Her chest tightened.

“The son of Augustus Blanc?”

Drew nodded.

“The rightful heir to the vampire empire.”

Elen stood abruptly.

“You lied to me.”

“I didn't.”

“You let me believe you were just some rogue vampire.”

“I am a rogue vampire.”

“You're the emperor's son!”

“I was.”

Elen turned away from him, trying to breathe.

The man who had carried her away from the clearing was the son of the very vampire who was responsible for destroying her family.

Drew spoke before she could say anything.

“Before you start hating me, let me explain. I hate my father more than you ever could.”

She stared at him.

“Why?”

Drew's expression changed.

For the first time, there was no amusement in his eyes.

“When I was a child, my parents were too busy celebrating their ascension to the throne to raise me. I was given to a mage who worked in the palace.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“Vers. She was the closest thing I had to a mother.”

He looked down.

“She taught me things my parents never cared about. Compassion. Honesty. Restraint. She taught me that power wasn't an excuse to treat people however I wanted.”

Elen listened silently.

“She called me Drew. Saidsaid I remind her of the morning dew- calm and pure.”

His voice softened at the memory.

“As I grew older, something strange began happening. I could sense what she was feeling. Not just her expressions. Her actual emotions. I could feel her happiness, sadness, fear.”

Drew looked at his hands.

“That was how we discovered I was a Special.”

Elen's attention sharpened.

“I could create a mind-link with another person. Through that link, I could communicate with them regardless of distance.”

He took another deep breath and continued.

“But that was not all. Through the mind-link, I discovered I could temporarily use another person's supernatural ability.”

“You could steal their powers?”

“Borrow them,” Drew corrected. “Temporarily.”

He paused.

“My nanny and I experimented with it in secret. We never tested my mind-control ability.”

Elen's expression softened slightly.

“So you were the vampire Special everyone had been waiting for.”

Drew nodded.

“And nobody knew.”

“My nanny advised me to keep it that way.”

His expression darkened.

“On the night of my eighteenth birthday, my father killed her.”

Elen's breath caught.

“He said I was too attached to a maid and needed to start behaving like a prince.”

Drew laughed once, but there was no humour in it.

“He told me that people like her existed to serve people like me.”

Elen's hands curled into fists.

“I hated him for it.”

Drew looked at her.

“My younger brother, Cletus, was everything my father wanted. Ambitious. Ruthless. Power-hungry. He was becoming a smaller version of Augustus.”

He shook his head.

“And I wanted nothing to do with any of it. So I renounced my claim to the throne that night and left.”

Elen stared at him.

“I discarded the name Augustus Blanc and took the name my nanny had always called me.”

Drew.

“No one stopped me. My father assumed I was throwing a tantrum and would return within a week.”

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

“I never went back.”

He looked at Elen.

“That was five years ago.”

Elen slowly sat down again.

She had no idea what to say.

The vampire she had spent days trying to understand was not simply a rogue.

He was the emperor's son.

A Special.

A man who had abandoned an empire rather than become like his father.

After several moments, she finally spoke.

“So you're a powerful Special, just like my parents.”

“Yes.”

“And you're the son of the emperor who had my parents killed.”

Drew's expression hardened.

“Yes.”

The answer was simple.

It hurt anyway.

Elen closed her eyes.

A tear escaped before she could stop it.

She wiped it away quickly.

“There is one more thing you need to know.” Drew said.

Elen opened her eyes.

“My mind-link isn't only for communication.”

She looked at him.

“When I establish a link with someone, I can normally borrow their powers. That's how my power-stealing ability works.”

Elen's expression slowly changed.

“On the night I scratched you, I was trying to establish a mind-link with you. So I could tell you to run.”

Her brow furrowed.

He hesitated.

“I lost concentration when I was protecting you.”

Elen touched her shoulder unconsciously.

“Something happened that I've never experienced before.”

Drew's eyes met hers.

“The link became permanent.”

Elen stared at him.

“I can feel you sometimes. Your emotions. Your pain.”

Her arms immediately crossed over her chest.

“What?”

“Only intense emotions. And pain.”

“You can feel what I feel?”

“Not everything.”

“You're sure?”

“Yes.”

Elen narrowed her eyes.

“Can you hear my thoughts?”

“No.”

“Can you see my memories?”

“No.”

“Can you control me?”

Drew's expression became serious.

“No.”

She relaxed slightly, though her arms remained firmly crossed.

“Then what exactly can you feel?”

“When you're experiencing something intense. Fear. Anger. extreme pain. Things like that.”

Elen thought about it.

“That explains why you always show up during my training sessions.”

Drew nodded.

“But there's something else I don't understand.”

“What?”

“I should be able to borrow your powers through the mind-link, but I can't.”

A strange smile appeared on Elen's face.

“That's because it happened the other way around.”

Drew frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“When you scratched me, a part of your vampire power entered my body.”

Drew's eyes widened.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Drew laughed.

Elen blinked.

“What?”

He shook his head in disbelief.

“You're so powerful that your body reversed my own ability, and used it against me.”

Despite herself, Elen smiled.

“Apparently.”

Drew looked at her with something approaching wonder.

His smile faded as he began thinking again.

Then his eyes moved to her shoulder as he mumbled something to himself.

His expression changed as the pieces finally fell into place.

“What are you mumbling about?” Elen asked.

“The prophecy.”

Elen stared at him.

Drew's voice was barely above a whisper.

“It all makes sense now.”

Elen closed her eyes.

She wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks and took a slow breath.

Then she looked at him.

“Well.”

Drew waited.

“If we're being completely honest with each other…”

She paused.

“The prophecy really is about me.”

Drew's eyes widened.