Runaway Girl - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 1

Chapter 25

After the disheartening news from the council and Lucius' reluctance to even let him speak his mind about the matter, Damian knew that even if he tried to save Kaitlin, then things were still going to end badly. Very badly. Over the next two days, it just kept getting worse.

He was forced by his loyalty to the clan and Lucius to continue his job and get close to Emily, while Kaitlin sat at home, knowing her fate. She was so frightened by the council's decision that she wouldn't stop crying and he wasn't allowed to be there to comfort her. From the minute he spoke to the council, he was kept from her and sent to be with Emily instead. And all it did was remind him of losing Angela again and being forced to spend time with Amelia, the very person who had taken his wife from him, just because the council thought it was what was best for him. But it wasn't and he wasn't going to let them get away with it again. They had taken Angela, his pulse, his very life from him, but they weren't going to take Kaitlin, as well. He had waited four centuries to feel even a fraction of what he'd felt for Angela and he wasn't going to give it up just because the council didn't like it.

Nevertheless, he kept doing his job over the next two days, hoping that a solution would come to him that would settle it all, or that he would find someone else to unite with Amelia once she was returned to the clan, but no answers came. Only more questions.

Damian was constantly running between the clan house and the university campus where he met Emily, helping her to turn vampires from their own clan. He had assured most of them at a secret moment that it was in their best interest to appear to do so, to give Emily what she wanted without ruining anyone's loyalty at the same time.

And when they met up with Cameron that Thursday night, someone he had known for years and who was only a hundred years from being eligible for a council position, he knew that he had to have some other plan than a good speech to convince him to go along with it. "Hey bud, what are you doing hanging around Emily? I hear she's on a real trip lately, asking any random vamp she comes across what their weakness is," Cameron asked with a laugh as they shook hands.

"Look, I need you to do me a favor ... be serious, don't question her and go along with whatever I say, alright?" Damian asked and was glad to have his assurance before Emily came up.

Immediately, she asked him about his weaknesses, as if they had been in the middle of a conversation. Damian took her elbow and pulled her back a few paces. She was getting right up in everyone's faces and if it weren't for him, no one would be offering to do anything she wanted. She would also be getting a bad reputation for approaching their kind. Away from the others, he clamped his hand down over her mouth to take control of the situation. "Cam, you and I have known each other for years. We trust each other. War's coming and we need to be ready for it. So we'd like you to defect over to our clan, or rather Emily's clan. I've already defected," Damian explained, giving him a look that said he had better play along and not just burst out laughing. Emily had no common sense and it was about time she learned that there was a right and wrong way to do things and she was doing it all wrong.

"If you're sure, then you know I'm with you. We need to look out for each other. I'd hate to go to war and have to kill you," Cameron replied with a smile, showing Damian his amusement without laughing at Emily.

Damian exchanged a few more minutes of casual chat with him before guiding Emily away and reprimanding her for the way she was approaching every vampire on campus. "Look, there are a few rules you need to follow if you're going to be one of us. For starters, we don't have weaknesses so stop asking people what theirs is. What we have is dreams and goals and wishes. That's what you need to be focusing on. But you can't just walk right up to someone and ask them what you want to know. We're just like humans and humans aren't honest with each other," Damian explained, keeping a firm grip on her to make sure she listened to everything he had to say. It was about time she woke up to reality and realized that there was more to being a vampire than just feeding from blood. "We're soldiers, Emily. If we're not elders or council members then that's all we are. We're here to serve those above us. We're novel worthy, day walking, blood sucking, tortured souls trapped in a body that can't die for all eternity with no feelings, no emotions and no heart. We don't get to feel love, passion or desire. We do as we're told, for the good of the clan and because we're told to do it. And we protect people. So whatever grand delusions you have about being some kind of wonderful child and the master's favorite are just misguided attempts to feel human again. Get over it."