Forsaking His Luna

Unfocused

Arthur

My watch vibrated, a message from Cody.

“Safe, on our way back now.”

He knew I was surrounded and we needed to be discreet, with no phone calls and no extensive messages.

Next to me, Allegra frowned. She wasn’t happy when I told her Cody, Gerard, and Frank were going to miss the dinner party.

“My dear, why are you so distracted today?”

“Sorry, just work.”

“Is that why my brother is not here?”

“It is, I’m afraid, but he’ll join you tomorrow for breakfast, he said.”

“Oh, I can’t stay for tomorrow. I have to return to Milan tonight, after the party. I have the last wedding dress fitting tomorrow morning.”

“I’m sure Gerard will meet you as soon as he can.” - she was annoyed and tried to act normal as she whispered in my ear.

“Can you at least pretend to be happy, so I don’t have my dad nagging me all the way back home?”

“Sorry.”- Was all I could say, given the anxiety and frustration I was feeling.

At least I could see Miriam as soon as this was over. She was on her way to Switzerland, and instead of being on my way there right now, I had to wait another three hours of this torture.

But I also needed to put on a show. Antonio was already suspicious that something was wrong. I could feel it.

He knew I had to go to Zurich for meetings for two weeks. At least he would be expecting my absence.

Turning to Allegra, I decided it was better to put on a show pretending all was well. I got up from my chair, extending my hand for her to follow.

“Shall we dance?”

“Yes, darling!”- She answered with more enthusiasm than necessary, but everyone seemed to buy it.

We danced pretending we were in love. This farce was indeed very well rehearsed.

Everyone truly believed we were living the dream, only that wasn’t the case.

I and Allegra had an arrangement that our marriage is one of convenience. Therefore, we can be with whomever we choose and live separate lives as long as we are discreet and perform our duties.

I don’t ask questions about her personal life, and she doesn’t ask me either. It’s a win-win.

We followed the music’s perfect rhythm, and the whole time I only had Miriam on my mind.

Why was she being tortured? I know this rescue had nothing to do with super-naturals.

It wasn’t unusual to intercept distress signals from humans, and usually, we just made sure that it reached the right authority.

When the music finished, everybody started cheering. That gave Antonio an opportunity to give a speech:

“I would like to propose a toast to our bright future. My grandson and his lovely future wife will finally unite two of the most powerful super-natural royalty, bringing peace and prosperity to us all in Europe. With their union, we will finally match the dangers the seas bring to our trade.”

And there it was, why we had to be united, why I lost Miriam in the first place, and why Antonio stole my life, Sirens.

They attacked and intercepted any boat that carried supernatural beings in the Mediterranean. Multiple attacks happened at the same time. If there was a supernatural being aboard the ship, they would never be seen again, even in tourist boats. Even though humans remained safe, the super-naturals would disappear overnight without a trace.

It started five years ago, no one knows why, and every time we sent a search party to the waters, it was a death sentence.

Allegra’s dad was a renowned scientist. Being an over a thousand-year-old vampire, he had the best technology available, and the best scientists. They discovered a way of preventing detection by the sirens. The device releases electromagnetic sounds that serve as a mirror, so no supernatural presence is detected unless someone gets in the water.

The device is being mass-produced to be distributed to all our allies so that all trade that comes and goes to North Africa can continue through the sea. We can’t carry most supernatural trades through the air, it’s too volatile, otherwise, we would.

These five years have been tough, trying to get humans to carry our magical herbs and artefacts'. Sometimes nothing can be done to prevent them from checking the cargo, and that has been tragic, resulting in bringing the hunter's attention to us.

Two hours later, the party was finally over, and I could finally leave this place and head for Lugano.

A few years ago, I bought a safe house where no one knew its location apart from Cody.

The mountain villa is located in an isolated area of the lake. It was my secret heaven, where I could go and reset my mind. Only a few hours by car from Tuscany, so it is perfect to get away. Or, in this case, to hide Miriam.

As I was finishing packing my computer and paperwork, Antonio came into the office.

His relaxed posture showed me that he had some drinks, and the alcohol remained in his body.

“Grandson, leaving for Zurich? At this time? It’s nearly one in the morning. Why don’t you sleep here and then go early in the morning?”

“I have a meeting at nine and still need to review paperwork, I would rather do it from there.”

His expression seemed different, almost like he really cared about me as a grandfather should.

“I understand. Back in my day, I also used to do the same...I just wished I had spent more time with my family, with my Amelia and Valentina.”

I frowned, never once we talked about my Nan Amelia, who died many years ago. Someone tried to kidnap my mother, and Amelia stopped them. The wounds ended up being too much to bear later, she died a few days later in the hospital.

This led to my mum being raised by Antonio and maids, well, mostly maids, as he was always working.

My mum told me he used to be a loving father, and a doting husband, but everything changed when Amelia died.

He became distant from my mum, sour, leaving her without any love for many years.

Even though he lived for his work, he always spoiled mum with money, bought her gifts, gave her all the presents a teenage girl could dream of, even a trip to England alone, which resulted in her meeting dad.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I lost everyone, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret not being there to save them. To save my Amelia, to have one more fun day with your mum. I was never a good father, I know, and maybe that’s why she found comfort in her mate. I guess I was more jealous of their happiness, than pissed about losing my heir.”

This had to be a joke. Why was he telling me this now? Seeing that I was too stunned to say anything, he continued.

“I have no responsibility since I passed you the companies and my title. Now, I want to live and see this siren problem resolved for our people, but since you are handling this issue better than I ever could, you have no use for me. So I wanted to tell you that I’m travelling to England tomorrow. I have to apologise to your mum.”

Then I noticed he wasn’t wearing his amulet. These were his true feelings, and he did it on purpose.

Since I had nothing to say, he turned around and left the office.

I was speechless. Where did that come from? Was this supposed to make me feel sorry for him?

I didn’t have time to debate this any further. I grabbed my bag and left, feeling confused about the whole conversation.

I went to the airfield on the manor where the chopper was. I dismissed the pilots, wanting the destination to remain a secret.

I wasn’t driving to Lugano, it would take me at least two hours.

I took off in the middle of the night. There were good weather conditions, it was safe to fly on a night like this.

It took me one hour and twenty minutes to arrive. As I was landing, I saw Cody’s jeep parked there and an ambulance from the private clinic nearby, one of the best in Europe.

I hopped down from the chopper as soon as I switched off the engine, ran into the house.

Without stopping, I went up the stairs, where I could hear hushed voices. Cody was talking to the doctor at the door of a bedroom, when they saw the doctor, bowed and left, walking past me.

I nodded towards the door.

“Is she inside? What did the doctor say?”

He looked at me with a worried expression.

“She’s inside, yes, and she’s sleeping. The doctor took care of her injuries. They were mostly superficial, no internal organs were damaged, she just needed to rest. Did you fly all the way here at night? Are you crazy? When was the last time you slept?”

Ignoring his questions, I gestured to get inside.

“I have to see her. I’m fine.”

He nodded, stepping away to let me through. As I put my hand on the door handle, I froze. I could smell her scent from here, the sea breeze and sunflowers. How was I supposed to face her after what I told her?

“She looked for you.”- Cody said,, sensing my inner turmoil. I turned around to face him.

“What?”

“When I found her, she was looking around the room for you.”

“What did she say?”

“Not much. After I released her, she lost her senses.”

I nodded in understanding, feeling capable of killing for sports...

“She’ll be fine, she just needs to rest. And so do you...”

“I just want to see her.”

“I understand, I’ll be down the hall in my room if you need me.” - he started heading for his room. “Cody...”- he turned around- “Thank you.”

“She was my friend too. Besides, you knew I wouldn’t fail .”

“Still, thank you.” He just nodded and headed for his room.

Now all that was left was me and this door.

Could I face her? I owed her an explanation.

Finn nudged me, “Come on, Arthur, don’t be a coward... I can hear her breathing. She’s asleep.”

Gathering my courage, I entered the room, slowly closing the door behind me.

All the air was knocked out of my lungs. She was a vision to behold as the moonlight illuminated her face.

As I approached the bed, I noticed bruises all over her arms and small cuts. Her face was bruised and her lip was slit, I had to contain Finn because he wanted to take over, to hunt those who ever dared to touch her. 'Soon', I said to him, 'very soon'.

Tears flooded my eyes as I walked to her and sat on the floor beside her bed. That was my fault. I left her. If she never wanted to speak to or see me again, I understood.

I wanted to punish myself for this.

I grabbed her hand, feeling shock waves up my arms. I looked at her hand in mine and it reminded me of the night I left her.