_ Power Struggles

The bleeding did stop.

"It won't last for long." Said, one of the elves to me.

I could finally breathe freely now. The noise had decreased too. People were still out of their houses, murmuring and discussing.

Suddenly, "Isleen? Isleen?!" I heard Kylo's voice reverberating from behind me.

The injured girl had regained consciousness but was still immobile. I turned to find Kylo. "Over here!" I waved my hands, still kneeling beside the girl.

Kylo heard me and hurried to me. His brawny chest was bloody, his pants torn. "God! I almost ran nuts searching for you!" He blurted as he neared me.

The elves stood up and left. Kylo's gaze followed them until he got to me and embraced me.

"Who is she?" He questioned, reeking of the metallic tang of blood.

"One of the girls at the restaurant," I explained.

Kylo wore a stunned countenance as he asked, "Thought she was dead."

"Hmm, hmm. Her friend died and she was injured." I elucidated.

He shook his head. "Such a big heart you have there." He kissed my forehead as he gathered me into his arms.

Our embrace was shortened by the soldiers who came with a folding stretcher to take the injured girl away for treatment.

"Dang. I was already excited that I'd get to see Aceco today." I scrunched up my face in annoyance.

Kylo held out his hand to help me up as he stood. "You know, I can ask my dad to grant us permission to see her if you want."

"Yeah, you wish." I scoffed, taking his hand.

"Why?"

"You know Gamma Rhett would die before doing anything to help our union."

"Well, we can't hide forever!"

There was the talk about Gamma Rhett again. I didn't want to go down that lane this night anymore. Our anniversary was already ruined first by slanders and then, with blood and dead bodies.

The soldiers returned, all stained with blood. Some were carrying the injured and a few dead bodies on stretchers.

We all paved the way for them as they walked down, the air melancholic and silent. Finally, I could avoid talking about Gamma Rhett now.

.

Kylo walked me home, hand in hand. Although we discussed other things, Gamma Rhett never came up

"How many casualties did we suffer?" I asked in a bid to start a conversation before Kylo could mention his dad yet again.

He squeezed my hand. "Three dead, five injured." He said.

"And the vampires? How many were they?"

"I think there were about fifteen of them. We killed eight, captured six, and one escaped. He is being hunted down though. He couldn't have gotten far."

Two couples our age walked past us, leaning into each other and giggling as if the violence that just occurred didn't concern them.

"How did they break into the veil?" I was curious.

He sighed. "We'll know that tomorrow, I guess. Dad will work on the case, so I'm sure we'll know soon enough. The captured one would be taken for interrogation."

"I wonder what would have been of our fates had the humans not provided us with their silver bullets and guns." I glanced up at the half-moon, seeking solace in it.

"We would have just had no other choice than to kill them." Kylo shrugged.

The Fey kind was strongly against killings. They would have been winning this war with the vampires and saving a lot of their kind had they not only been fighting to injure and not kill.

"The Fey won't like that." I pointed out.

Kylo was suddenly angry. "Well, they shouldn't have started a war if they didn't desire bloodshed. Someone needs to make their blockheads understand!" He hissed.

"It's tradition." I sarcastically chuckled. "They are idiots."

"It's even so fucking annoying that Dad would support their view all because he thinks culture is everything. Any detrimental culture should be abolished!" Kylo's expression hardened as he remarked.

I understood him. Gamma Rhett's superstitious beliefs were the only reason why I had to go through slanders like tonight's.

We had gotten to the building where the apartment I shared with my gay roommate was. "He's still your dad, Kylo. Regardless, he's still your dad." I met his gaze.

Kylo kissed both of my hands affectionately. "I know, babe. It just sucks that he is trying to take my happiness away from me. Sucks that he cares more for his beliefs than for my peace."

"Don't forget that those beliefs are the only reason why you're here. What if he had rejected your late Mum because of her age when he found out she was his mate?" I reasoned.

His eyes went round. "You say this because you don't know how embarrassing it is when people gossip behind my back that my dad married an old woman at eighteen."

"I know, but if it is the reason why you are here, I am grateful to your dad for that one." I kissed him on the lips and was about to pull away when Kylo fixed me closer, kissing me harder.

My breathing seized as our tongues blended until we broke the kiss. "Goodnight, babe. You should rest now." He muttered.

I had no idea if it was just me or if intimacy with Kylo always felt like something was missing. Like there was something that we weren't doing right.

.

I entered the house to find my roommate snoring loudly in the parlor with the TV on. I switched it off, draped a blanket over him, and went into my room.

I did a lot of thinking before finally drifting off to sleep. The next morning, the buzzing of my phone woke me up.

Half awake, I chewed at nothing in my mouth and checked the caller ID. It was Kylo.

Here was me thinking he wanted to bring my anniversary gift over since we both forgot about it yesterday when he blurted…

"Hey, babe. Dad wants to see you."