Palace Of Flames (Book One of the Damnata Series)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Nightmare

[Kristy]

Everything around me is normal as I open my eyes. Just as it always has been. Which leaves me confused. And even more so since I don't even know why I'm confused.

I study the posters on my walls slowly, verifying that they are all in fact mine: Black Veil Brides, Rise To Remain, Motionless In White, Fearless Vampire Killers... Yep, they're all mine. I push up out of bed, feeling confused but not exactly certain why.

I quickly notice that there is a note pinned to the back of my bedroom door; I walk across the room to retrieve it, assuming instantly that it is just another note from my insane best friend, Tay Lee.

'This is what it could be like if only you choose me instead, Oracle.'

I feel the blood draining from my face quickly, and then everything rushes back to me in an instant.

Laurence, Seth, Vampiires, Werrwulfen, Fallen Angels, Immortals, the Militia of the Damned, Damnatalia, the Nocturna, the Diurna, the Damnata, the Oracle, Silvano...

I suddenly want to be violently sick.

I feel eyes on my back all of a sudden, and pivot quickly to see a tall, pale-faced, dark-haired beauty of a man looking silently back at me, eyes a piercing blue, mixed with slight and threatening shards of red. He is clad in what looks like just a casual pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt and a black coat, with long, black fluffy hair falling around his face and covering his black-ringed eyes almost completely.

"Uh...who are you?" I ask nervously; he just smiles slightly, eyes dancing with bemusement, cherry-red lips lifting slightly at one corner in a subtle, knowing smile.

"I, my dear, am Silvano Damnatan. And my, such a shame you did not recognise me, yes?"

I can see the sudden blurring around the edges of my peripheral vision, and then I'm suddenly less alert. It's only a dream. I let out a quick breath of relief.

"Yeah, a real shame." I can feel the vaguely-familiar, sour character taking me over again. My hands ball up into fists. "Why the hell are you in my dream? And what's the creepy-assed note all about?"

"Ah, yes. The note. That, my dear, is an offer. A proposition, if you may. I could not help but overhear your wishes to have a normal life again. And so this is my gift to you."

"What's the catch?" I snap back instantly in an accusing, suspicious snarl.

Silvano simply laughs softly. "Your mother taught you well, my dear. Of course, she herself had a good teacher. The catch, my dear, is that you must become my Mate. Of course, you are well aware that you are within the realms of a dream, and so you must make your decision through consciousness."

It takes me a moment to process everything he has just said. And then I'm suddenly startled.

"You...you knew my mother?" She died when I was 10, and apparently didn't associate with anyone outside of family affairs. Unless...

"Yes, Kristy. You are correct in assuming that your mother was not a mundane being."

"She was Immortal...?" Silvano nods slowly, eyes dancing again.

"And a beautiful one at that."

I frown deeply. "Then why was I never told?"

"Simple. Your father didn't know. He just thought she was another of those wondrous, ageless beauties. Of course, your mother was a completely different type of Immortal altogether. She was not a specific breed, like a Vampiire or a Werrwulfen. She had to...well, sacrifice a young being every few years in order to add their short life span to her own. She did well, up until the point when the young being she had been ordered to sacrifice held...well, sentimental values, I suppose you could say." I just study Silvano, taking in everything he says, everything he does. Even if it's so much as a step to the left as we slowly circle each other. A blink to briefly break our constant eye contact. A quick flick of his hand moving up to push the hair out of his face.