Jade's Poison

Unforgiven

{Caz POV}

"Gerald, what are you not telling me? I have known you for over 200 years." My voice started to tremble slightly, both out of fear and anger. The hesitation in his voice screamed volumes, but he wouldn't tell anything at the same time.

"Gerald!?" I spoke, starting to grow impatient with him.

"I... I'm sorry, Cazion. I can't tell you anything about the process before or after you receive your pets..."

I growled loudly as I pounded my fist on my desk. "D*mn it Gerald, you refuse to answer your KING'S questions? I could have you killed for treason. Do you understand that?"

I heard the sharp breath he took before his shaking voice answered. "I do not wish that, my king..." he hesitated, and it sounded like he was moving around before he continued. " I would rather tell you my king than have you have me killed...all I ask is please provide me protection, my lord...because once I tell you, they will surely be after me not long after."

I raised an eyebrow at this statement but agreed, "I will send one of my men to you to move you to a protected place in my lands. Now, what is going on?"

I heard him take a deep breath before starting, "Caz, when you or any other noble decide you wish to have a pet, the group I work with goes through our files of scouted girls in the different regions. Normally, when we collect one of the girls, we get them from a different region, so they are away from any family that may recognize them on the streets."

I nodded slightly, as that made sense to me since we do not want any problems with missing-person cases.

"Once we remove the chosen girl and deliver them...a "cleaner" goes in and makes sure there are no loose ends that would bring attention to what we are doing." My eyebrows narrowed slightly at this.

"So you send in an assassin to remove their families...how do you cover up the deaths?" I asked.

"We make it seem like an accident or that they moved away and there are no traces left of the family. We also sent in an under-elder to charm the main areas that the family visited or were frequently spotted."

I took a breath to process what was being told to me, "So what was different about Jade and her situation? Her family, are they still alive?"

Gerald went deathly silent, "I...I'm sorry, Caz. They were removed a week ago when we found out the girl was successful with you."

I growled under my breath, "F*ck...she had a dream that her family was murdered, and she feels it's her fault..." I sighed, "Why was Jade turned before I got her?" I asked, moving the conversation forward.

"She's special, Caz...and we wanted to try to help the bonding to you build faster, so we injected some of your blood into her bloodstream...once your blood had filled her system, she began to change, and unfortunately she managed to get away from us, we sent someone to find her because the hemorrhaging would start soon, and we didn't believe she would get very far...she got a lot farther than we thought she would apparently because she ended up making it back home which is when you went and retrieved her yourself, my king..." his voice lowered as his voice trailed off.

"What makes her so special, Gerald? Also, who is behind making these choices without consulting their king first...my whole kingdom knows better than to kill off humans without my authorization first....let alone on this magnitude." I heard Gerald open his mouth to speak but only heard gurgling sounds coming through the phone.

"Gerald? Gerald!?" I heard the thud of what I was to assume was Gerald's body hitting the floor, and the sound of the phone being picked up from the table crackled through the receiver of the phone.

Suddenly, a deep voice spoke over the phone.

"Don't mettle in affairs that don't concern you..." As the last words were spoken, they sounded laced with venom and hatred. "Your Majesty."

The line was disconnected as I sat in shock, just hearing a man I knew and trusted as he was slaughtered. I heard a small noise by my study door as I turned to see Jade and Aiden standing in the doorway. My heart sank as Jade stood there with tears in her eyes.

How much had she heard?

*****

{Jade's POV}

I had finished my shower and was getting ready, excited to go out for the day with Aiden. I heard a soft knock at my door as I opened it smiling. Aiden greeted me with a smile.

"Are you ready to go, Jade?" I nodded as I headed to the staircase to make my way into the study and say goodbye to Caz. I raised my hand to knock but heard him talking to someone. Thanks to my vampire hearing, I could hear both ends of the conversation.

Aiden came up behind me and heard the same thing I was hearing. His face dropped as he realized who Caz was speaking to. He tried to pry me away from the door, so I couldn't hear anymore. I fought his hands off me and forced him to realize I wasn't going anywhere. I stood there as I heard the man on the other end named Gerald explaining everything to Caz...and that my parents were dead...tears began to sting my eyes as I listened.

Soon, the sound of the man at the other end of the line being murdered rang through my ears as I looked at Aiden.

"Did you know about this, Aiden..." I choked out slightly, trying not to disturb Caz. Aiden looked at me, pain running over his face.

"I...I didn't know everything, Jade. I promise you... All I knew was Gerald was a pet seller and had been Caz's seller for decades...every pet he got was from Gerald....that's all I know, I swear it..."

I could see the genuine pain for me in his eyes. Aiden had never lied to me before, so I had no reason not to trust him. I also knew from hearing this conversation that Caz didn't know anything about it either...but something deeply concerned me after hearing that conversation...I was forcibly bonded with Caz. What did that mean exactly?

I turned back toward Caz as he looked up and noticed me standing there, tears staining my cheeks.

Caz slowly stood up, moving towards me. "Jade... How much..."

I quickly cut him off. "All of it... I heard it all..."

Tears started falling freely once more. He quickly embraced me as I cried into his chest. A million questions ran through my head.

"Caz... What did he mean by helping the bonding move faster?"

He sighed softly, "When a vampire gains a mortal pet, we go through a process that creates a bond between us. I would feed you small drops of my blood here and there, creating a connection between us so I could always contact you or know your whereabouts should you ever become in trouble. This bond takes time, and trust has to be built between us so the connection works properly...from what I was told, my blood was injected directly into your bloodstream, and it ended up changing you, creating a different bond...making you more complacent towards me...being able to overlook things I have done or said and forgive me for them because we have a blood bond...the only problem is your also supposed to be completely submissive to me the only reason you wouldn't be is..."

He trailed off as his eyes grew wide with a realization that had struck him like lightning.