CHAPTER 24

"I'll do it again." Lothaire's voice was hard and cold, it lacked emotion and she knew he meant it just by looking at his cold eyes.

She realized just how unloving and heartless his mother must have been towards him and how hard it was for him to grow without the love of a mother but with resentment and hatred darkening his heart. She wondered if he would have been different if his mother loved him.

"It's okay to feel that way, no one should ever have a mother who doesn't love them." Larisa said softly.

"I don't care anymore Larisa so you don't have to give me the whole speech thing." He said with a sarcastic smirk on his face. Larisa rolled her eyes, she was trying to make him feel better and he was making a joke out of it.

"Fine, so how about you explain to me what's going on, I've been dying to know." Larisa said quickly before she forgot.

"It'll be a bit puzzling but since you want to know..." Larisa interrupted impatiently.

"Just say it already! What's going on?" She asked more curious than ever. Lothaire laughed at her eagerness to find out what was going on.

"About a thousand years back, I eradicated the gods species but only two of the strongest survived because they were immortal but I managed to trap one of them, she's the most powerful but I managed to trap her in an abyss." Lothaire said and paused for Larisa to ask her questions.

"Why did you eradicate them? And why were you able to trap the most powerful one but not the other one?." Larisa asked in pure curiosity.

"I eradicated them because they were trying to enslave the vampires and humanity and they would have succeeded if I didn't exist. I was able to trap Hela because she doesn't have the power of creation like Laverna who'd easily come out of the abyss I created, its complicated." He said as he looked at the confused and fascinated facial reaction of Larisa.

"Yeah, Its really complicated." She said.

"There comes the sorcerers and their plans to take the Empire by creating strange creatures from Laverna's powers and now we're bringing her here to tell us more about the creatures and help us stop them whether she likes it or not." Lothaire said with a fierce look but it immediately disappeared and was replaced by a wry smile.

"So when is she coming?" Larisa asked.

"Probably tomorrow, Onyx and Avian went to bring her over." He replied with a straight face.

Her eyes widened as she didn't even realize what was going on.

"Valerie said you're trying to make me immortal by releasing Hela." She said all of a sudden. Lothaire squinted his eyes in frustration, Valerie was dead.

"If I did would you let me?" He asked in suspense for her response.

"They said she's dangerous. What if she hurts my..uhm the Emperials and the royal family?" She asked with a worried expression.

"She'll be too scared to try anything since I can imprison her back in the abyss." Lothaire said convincingly.

"So you didn't even bother to tell me." Larisa said pouting her lips in anger but she looked cute to Lothaire and he couldn't help but smile at her cuteness.

"Now I want to kiss you." He said as he stared at her with lazy golden eyes, making it even sexier. Larisa was flustered by his sudden and shameless confession.

"You haven't apologized." She said with a low voice as she remembered the day at the hot tub. Lothaire hadn't forgotten what he said but he had no plans of apologising, he still wasn't in control of himself yet and him apologising meant that he would completely break his resolve.

"I'd be lying to you if I said we were in love when we're obviously not." Lothaire said with a cold voice and she felt a wave of anger hit her. She had thought they were fine but now he was acting differently, like the Lothaire she couldn't recognize.

"And how would you know what love looks like when you've never felt one?!" Her voice was calm but the anger was clearly visible as she stood up violently from her seat and stomped out of the dining room leaving him speechless.

She was furious at him, how could he switch from sweet to cold in a second, was he really just with her because of the mating bond? His expressions seemed too real but he had told her that he was avoiding her to protect her but what if he was serious about not having any feelings for her and they were just connected by the mating bond, but what really worried her now was what she said to him, she wondered if her words were too harsh on him but she immediately dismissed the thoughts as she stomped through the corridor.

"Hey Larisa!" Zion called as he walked towards her with a man beside him which she suspected was a vampire and a relative because of his pale features and resemblance to the royal family.

The man had blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, he had the same serene aura as Onyx and he immediately reminded her of him.

"Hey." She replied with a smile at him and as always, he was grinning widely at her.

"This is Darius's cousin, Felix." He introduced and her mind shifted to Felix of straykids but the vampire Felix was definitely more gorgeous but even though she still loved him.

"You must be Lothaire's bride." He said but as soon as he mentioned Lothaire, her mood threatened to change but she managed to keep a straight face as she nodded.

"Yes, its nice to meet you." She said and he gave her a nice smile in return. Everything about him seemed so peaceful and gentle like Onyx but now he was like a father figure.

"He came here to help out with everything that's been going on." Zion explained.

"Oh! That's great." She said totally at loss for words.

"Adina's calling for me, you both should catch up." Zion said and left in a hurry but she didn't hear anything probably because she was a human.

"How do you like your stay here?" He asked in a calm tone as they walked down the corridor together. It felt a bit weird because she wasn't very good at socialising and she was on her way to the garden which made her wonder if he'd walk her to the garden too.

"Its fine." She said with a small voice.

"You'll probably have a hard time blending in but you don't have to worry about that, you'll find that even in the deepest depth of darkness, a ray of sunlight can light up the whole place." He said with a calm expression. She wondered if he was talking about Lothaire or the place, he seemed like a wise old man speaking in parables. Oddly, she felt at ease with him.

"Why did you come to help?" She asked curiously as they reached the garden.

"Boredom." Was his short reply.

"Aren't you scared that you might die?" She asked again and he turned to face her, His expression was as calm as the sea breeze.

"Death is just an endless sleep and it doesn't sound scary so why would I be afraid of sleeping?" He said as he grinned with cheerful eyes. This vampire was really strange to her, people were running from death but he was embracing it with open arms.

"Unless you have something to lose, like your family or friends. She said and he looked at her for a second. She had plain but attractive physical features, so delicate and almost like an ethereal being.

" They'll forget about me in a couple of years, so I'll be fine." He said so calmly as he felt the petals of the flowers. His peacefulness and calm personality made him blend with the flowers perfectly.

"Not everyone does.." She said and Felix smiled for a short while.

"i noticed you were angry earlier when I mentioned Lothaire, already having marriage issues?" He asked with a short laugh, if he wasn't a vampire she'd have thought he was an Angel like Zion because of his peaceful demeanour.

"Its nothing, its just.." She trailed off, she couldn't find the right words to make him understand. She wondered why she was trying to explain things to him when she barely even knew him but weirdly, she felt like he'd understand her probably because of his serene nature.

"Lothaire may be arrogant and all but he probably cares about you, you're his mate after all." He said. He was right, she was just a mate to Lothaire and nothing more, something that made her feel she was in love with him but could it be possible that she was in love? Or it was just the mating bond at work?

"Does me wanting more makes me greedy?" She asked Felix.

"Like what?" He asked curiously.

"Love.." She said with a small voice.

Lothaire watched them from behind a balcony, his golden eyes burned fiercely and he glowered at the sight in anger. What the heck was Felix doing with his mate?