CHAPTER 40: IS IT A TEST?

(Amaia)

Stunned and confused, I watched him. Trying to understand if I heard him right.

Mate?????

I don’t feel the mate bond with him but something about this man has my magic on the edge, like it wants to spill out and reach him, almost like to comfort him.

A vulnerability and slight shock descend in his ruby-shaded eyes. The angles of his face were so sharp like the blades of a freshly forged sword.

"You can see me?" He asks next, a voice calmer and yet deeper than Mariana Trench. It whispers all around me, murmuring against my skin as if trying to awaken something sleeping.

"Yes, why shouldn’t I be able to?" I question, slightly confused. A crease descends on my forehead.

Who is this man and why is he tied up?

The left side of his lips twitches up and the dark shadows on his neck and face shift, following his mood. They are mesmerising to even look at, moving like black mist.

His eyes refuse to leave mine, as if trying to register and savour the moment forever into his brain.

"No one else can," he answers, his voice bordering on hurt and pain.

"What do you mean? Who are you? What is your name?" I ask all the questions on the tip of my tongue and they just come pouring out.

The curiosity makes my head dizzy and I don’t even want to break eye contact with him. The initial fear I felt has vanished, only leaving me calm. A part of me wants to reach out to him, even set him free.

"What is your name?" He asks instead in that heavy voice of his, not answering my questions.

His hand shifts and the iron chains clink as they get dragged on the ground. A wince escapes him. He appears in pain and my instincts tell me to help him. My magic writhes in agony making my belly ache.

What’s happening?

"Usually we don’t answer someone with a question," I politely say to him.

He wryly smiles at me, something flickers in his eyes, like the agonising pain he is holding back. A turbulence he seems to have gathered for years mingles with chaos in those carmine irises.

His dark hair obscures half his face as they tumble forward.

"I apologise, my manners are rusty. I haven’t spoken to many people in a long time."

How long has he been here? For what crime is he being punished?

My hand reaches for the iron bars, and my fingers coil around it, pushing it inward, seeing if the door can open. To my surprise, it squeaks on its rusty hinges and swings inside.

Surprise flashes on his face too, as if he isn’t expecting it to open at all. Tentatively, I extend the lantern ahead before taking a step inside the cell where he is held. Strangely, the place appears immaculately clean as if someone had just washed it.

A faint scent like that of a silver mist, cold and yet welcoming, lingers in the air. I find myself greedily inhaling and filling my lungs. It’s not only a scent but a feeling and I know it’s wafting from this chained man.

Our gazes meet again and this time a hunger has settled in his orbs. Sharp features of his face have tensed and I can see he is holding his breath.

"You shouldn’t come closer to me. It won’t be safe," he tensely says and I see how his biceps bulge against the chains restraining him as he tries to lean forward, towards me. His mind seems confused and his body is not syncing with his actions.

I halt. The fear that should have shrouded me is nowhere to be seen; instead, my magic tries to propel me forward.

"Why?" I find myself asking and taking another step, not heeding his warning.

He gulps, the bulge in his neck moves and veins strain as he tries to shift away from me and flatten himself against the wall. The casual demeanour I had found him in has disappeared. A fear seems to crawl on his face the closer I get.

"Because I am the creature of the dark and I can hurt you," he answers, panic settling in his voice.

The air becomes chillier around him and I sense a shiver crawling down my spine.

He is a vampire. If those glowing red eyes and dark hair weren’t a dead giveaway, his reaction to my getting closer and him calling himself a creature of the night makes it very apparent. That chill surrounding him, impregnated with that cold metallic scent, is the signature of vampires.

But vampires don’t dwell in the continent of Tarathia. It consists mostly of werewolf and witch hybrids and humans. Or just simple werewolf packs.

So where did he come from? Is he a traitor to the Kingdom of Orion and that’s why he is here?

Just two feet away I halt and kneel in front of his cowering figure. He doesn’t seem frightened, he appears terrified now, not even breathing.

"You are a vampire?" I softly question and he gives one nod as affirmation. And I know I have to ask.

"Earlier, you called me ’mate’, what did you mean by that?" He stiffens even more at my question. His hungry eyes linger on my face before dropping to my neck. I can see the struggles, the battles, the restraint he is trying to show. His tongue pokes out trying to wet his dried lips.

I am not even sure how long he has been hungry but the truth is right in front of me that he is starving. My magic creates a storm inside me at the thought. It has remained silent, almost dormant in front of my mates except for coming out at Alnilam’s command last night. But for this man, it is desperate to reach out, to touch him. To comfort him and even feed him.

"I will let you feed on my blood, just tell me the truth." With that, I extend my right arm towards him as a gesture that I mean what I say.

The shock that follows my words renders him speechless for a while. His body shifts forward, the chains clanking on the ground.

"Your scent, it’s different. Not only different, it’s calming like no other medicine in the world. It’s eased the agony these chains provide and yet I yearn for your blood. That red elixir in your veins is silently humming to me, calling me like a lost song. The one only I can hear. That’s how vampires recognise their mates, from the scent that calms their hunger for others. Their mate’s blood hums to them like a melody only they can hear. That’s what your presence is doing to me."

Baffled, I am left by his little speech. My mates can’t scent me and yet I can recognise them. And then here is this vampire who claims to be my mate and yet I can’t recognise him as one. But my magic is going haywire in his presence.

What’s even going on?

Is it a test for me from Alnilam?

He better not be playing a cruel joke on me. Playing with the mate bond is going against nature and it always brings about devastating effects.