~Louis’s POV~
Every time I saw someone drowning in pain, my heart jumped in excitement, and blood rushed through my veins as if I were alive.
Their screams for help and mercy sounded like a melody to my ears that I could hear all day, all night.
But this time… I felt stabbed in every inch of my body.
Her screams echoed loudly through our long hallway. She was a floor below mine, but still, her voice was so clear that it pierced right through my soul.
I could feel the metallic smell from far away. It wasn’t my first time smelling blood, I played in blood since I was born, but her blood… It was intoxicating and alluring. But at the same time, it was filled with pain and fear.
And... I felt unsettled the moment I smelled her blood.
This wasn't usual. This was something that was striking my nerves with an ice pick, forcing me realize why I felt this way.
If she hadn't been related to me in any way, I would've enjoyed and kept every single drop of her blood for me only, but now...
The scene in front of me gave me chills, which I thought I would never feel in my life.
Hilda had her sharp, pointy pencil heel dig into her foot while Clark was holding her neck. Her neck…
“Did you bite her?” I asked, holding myself in the best possible way.
“A bite was just a start. I will her f*****g her rip her heart out and send it to her family.”
I don’t know what took over me. Rage, fury, pain… I don’t know. I just found myself standing in front of Clark, and my hand was on his neck, ready to tear it and throw it across the room.
“He is your Uncle, Louis,” Hilda yelled.
“Take your damn heel out of her foot or I’ll stretch his perfect vein out of his neck which will take his life slowly and steadily,” I glared at her.
“You are threatening me for her? We are family, Louis,” She yelled again, piercing my eardrums.
“NOW.”
Doesn’t matter family or anyone else, no vampire can defy my command.
Once again, Aliyah’s scream bounced back in the room, and I let go of Clark.
Her cries were silent. I could see her chest heavily moving up and down, and shivers continuously passing through every breath. Though she prevented herself from crying out loud, her constant hiccups, one after another, were enough to tell me how much her body was suffering.
“I want both of you to wait in my office,” I commanded Hilda and Clark.
Clark was about to say something, but my one look was enough to seal his mouth, and they both dashed out of the room.
Her blood was all over the room. I was born to play with blood, but today I felt disgusted with the sight of so much blood around me.
‘Because it’s our mate’s blood,’ a voice in the back of my head said.
Yeah… She was the force that neither I could kill nor accept.
If it were someone else, I would have drained her every single drop of blood on my own, but God… This girl would be my freaking death. She was making me feel things that I had never felt before…
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I slowly made my way out. I would ask someone to clean the room. I don’t think I should connect with her in any way.
I don’t want to feel what she was trying to make me feel… I prefer to be cold and heartless rather than weak and worried all the time.
“Stop, please,” She said slowly and weakly.
Her voice was cracking, spotlighting the effect of all the beatings that she had taken.
It was like a sheet of thick ice broke inside my chest, melting off my cold heart one drop at a time. Her voice was soft, shaky, terrified... It slipped into me and warmed parts of me I didn’t even know still existed.
No…
This can’t happen…
She can’t make her place in my life or heart. A hybrid… Never… I can’t fall weak just by her voice. That would be so low of me!
I was almost by the door when she called me again, “I know you want the worst to happen to me and you want to do all of that on your own, but you won’t be able to do any of it if you leave me here like this."
She hiccupped again, "My injury will heal, but this blindfold… I can’t handle it. I can’t… I can’t handle this darkness… If you want me to die early and not as per your liking, then fine, don’t open it. But if not, then open it because I am freaking claustrophobic!”
She thinks this about me?
I chuckled; she understood me well without even talking to me.
“And give your elemental energies power over me? Never,” I chuckled.
“You have a roof over your head. Not the sky…” She answered.
Alright… That means her powers only work when she is under the sky. That’s great.
“I will ask someone to do the needful,” I smirked.
Her loud gasp reached my ear and I turned to see her fighting herself to take breaths. What the… Was she having a panic attack?
No…
I quickly took the blindfold away from her eyes, but still, she was unable to catch her breath. I held her by the shoulders, tingling sensations spread through my palms like crazy, and an emotion crossed through me that I had never felt before.
Fear…
“Hey, come on, breathe. Breathe, Aliyah.” I shook her shoulders.
Finally, she loudly gasped after a few more wild shakes, and I sighed. I... I didn’t want her to die…
Seeing her struggling to do a simple task kicked me straight in my gut and… Wait… What? What the heck did I just do?
Why did I try to save her when I brought her here to... Die...?
My hands were still on her bare shoulders. The warmth, along with the tingling sensation, felt so good and right that even after knowing I shouldn’t be anywhere near her, I was holding her by her shoulders.
Her eyes fluttered, opening slowly as heavy breaths came out of her mouth.
And then...
I saw the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Big, teary, tired yet glowing in the dim lights.
Her honey eyes drifted up to meet mine, soft and lazy, and something inside me just… stilled. I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t think.
It felt as if she slipped right past my guard and wrapped herself around my soul, pulling me under her spell without a single word.
She's beautiful. Honey eyes, honey skin, and even honey blonde hair... She was the perfect blend of luscious grace that nobody could avoid.
No wonder everyone finds themselves lured by her. And why... Why was my guard going down even without her trying...
The dead cells in my body started to feel alive as if they were dancing, but before I could enjoy the feel of it, Aliyah lost consciousness, and her head fell back.
The magic that held me close to her was gone, and I stepped away from her. What the f**k was I doing? Why the f**k did I feel those things? And… How?
“Master, we have a problem.” One of men came and said.
“What?”
He glared at Aliyah, his eyes turned red, which somehow angered me, and he said, “The werewolf king has demanded to talk to King Talon.”