"Don't confuse emotional for weak. I'll slit your fucking throat with tears coming down my cheeks."

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The main hallway in The King's tower,

Crystalline Castle.

**

My breath got caught in my throat as I took in the scene in front of me. No matter how much I wanted to stand up and push that hunter away from Damien, my body wouldn't move a muscle. As blood starts dripping from the wound on his chest, I knew she had aimed for the heart and succeeded. His eyes widened at the same time mine did. His bloodshot eyes held pain that has never been there before.

It was only a matter of seconds before I felt my own heart squeeze in my chest but the pain wasn't even close to what he must have been feeling. I watched speechless as his eyes dropped, his body following the movement.

Aryan's daughter took a hold of the wooden stake again and pulled it out of his chest, causing more blood to stain his shirt. I felt my stomach drop as a nauseous feeling hit me.

I reminded myself this wasn't the time to think from the heart. I pushed back the pain and concentrated on helping him.

His body lifelessly dropped to the floor at the same time the other male hunter strode towards me.

"Don't," Aryan's daughter held out her hand to stop him before he reached me, "she's not the enemy. We accomplished what we came for, now let's go."

Throwing the wooden stick onto the floor, her eyes gave me a final look of pity and then she began to walk away from Damien's blood covered body.

When she was in front of me, I stretched my right leg out, making her fall face first to the ground. Guess she wasn't expecting that.

There was only a few seconds of difference between me being on the floor and me stepping over her fallen body and pushing the hunter who looked like he just saw a ghost. It was meant to be a gentle push, to back him away so I could get a hold of Damien's gun, which was uselessly placed on the floor. I guess the hunter wasn't expecting it so he stumbled back harshly and collided with the already broken window that covered the entire wall. His feet gave up and he ended up falling right through the broken glass. His scream hung in the air around me.

Allowing myself to quickly recover from the shock, I grabbed the gun. I turned around to find the human girl ready to get up but I stopped her by pointing the gun at her head.

A fire was burning inside my head, telling me to take revenge. Take revenge. Kill her.

It was as if a whole different person had taken over my body, making me feel more alive and stronger. That person didn't care she was my own kind. That person didn't care about everything the King has put me through. It was as if those memories were at the very back of my mind, refusing to make me feel any sort of hatred towards that man.

But the other part, the part of me which was locked up for ten years and tortured by him, it hesitated to pull the trigger.

The hunter girl took advantage of my inner battles and very smartly reversed our position. The only thing in my favor was that my hand was still holding onto the gun. She tried to snatched it but I had an unbelievable strong hold on it, making me feel surprised as well.

Where was all this strength coming from?

"You bitch. I was gonna spare your life but I guess you would rather die." The girl hissed.

I heard Damien cough on my left. A small amount of hope bloomed in my stomach. It barely existed, but as he coughed again, it increased. I didn't waste a second more as I elbowed her in the stomach, causing her to fall back.

"You're right. I would rather die than let you get away with what you did to Damien." I used the same tone as her.

I pointed the gun at her head again, my finger a millisecond away from pulling the trigger, when someone stopped me.

"Alexis," Eric called from behind me, "this bitch can't die this easily."

Two guards made their way to us and took a hold of the hunter's arms, forcefully making her stand up. Eric and two other guards ran towards Damien, noticing his critical state. I didn't waste any time as I followed them, pushing away a guard out of the way so I could kneel beside the King.

His face was a little pale, due to the loss of blood. A trail of was sweat was coating his forehead, making his hair stick to his face. His creme colored shirt was soaked with the red liquid which has now stopped pouring out of his chest. He looked so lifeless that it was scaring me more by each passing second. If someone asked me what I wanted the most in my life a couple weeks ago, I would have said for the King to suffer. For him to pay for everything he did to me, but now, as I looked down to see him as he lay there without any sign of life, I knew this was the image I never wish to see. I tried to shake him with my shaky hands, but it was no use, he didn't move a muscle. He just lay there, looking like a lifeless statue.

The guards were checking his wounds, a devastated expression covering their faces. I was sure I didn't look any better.

"Damien. Damien, get up!" Something in me told me to not give up even after one of the guards shook his head.

"Alexis, he's no more..."

I chose to ignore the heartbreaking words that left me so broken on the inside. I kept trying to make him wake him somehow, but not once did he respond to my calls.

Eric was sitting across from me, with unshed tears in his sad eyes, "Bro, get up. Look what you're leaving behind. Who's gonna take care of all these people when your not around? Who's going to keep the women and children safe? Who's going to shape the young adults into the best fighters? The most important thing, who the hell is gonna be my competition? Who's going to encourage me to improve my skills? Answer me, Dammit. Stop being such a coward and wake up. Don't you dare run from your responsibilities. Are you listening, you asshole?"

What Eric said made me realize just how much his people needed him. Without him, there wouldn't be an Eveland. As I thought this, it made me feel selfish for a bit because all I was thinking of was how much I didn't want to lose him or how much I wanted him to live. His subjects needed him more.

Reality was finally starting to settle in as he didn't even flinch as I shook him. Tears were falling freely down my cheeks for reasons which were still unknown to me. I didn't try to hide how much I cared about his well being. I didn't care that I looked so effected by his state. I didn't care if these people saw how I felt towards him. All that mattered was him.

"Please don't leave me." A sob which had been caged for so long left my mouth as my fingers clunged onto his shirt as if that would prevent him from going away from me.

"Why? Last time I checked, you hated my guts."

My eyes instantly snapped up, towards his face. I had to make sure it wasn't just my mind making up stuff. I found his closed eyes, but it was certain that it was him who spoke as I saw his teeth gently bit onto his lower lip.

He wasn't dead.

Without thinking what I was doing, my arms instantly reached forward, hugging him close to me. His arms snaked around me too as if he wasn't so damaged a second ago. The blood on his shirt was coloring my blue shirt red, but I didn't care. As he buried his face in my hair, inhaling, my heart beat started to return back to normal.

It seemed like a huge load was lifted off me as I returned to my original spot next to him. As the familiar black eyes fluttered open ever so slowly, it felt like I could finally breathe again. He didn't say anything, just stared at me with a straight face.

What was I supposed to say to that?

A cry of joy was heard from the guards and a smile stretched onto Erics face. I finally thought about the hunter and as I looked around, she was no where in sight. The other two guards must have took her.

"Guys, let's take him to his room." Eric said to the guards, turning towards Damien, he gave him a scowl, "I can't believe you made me do that."

"Do what?" I asked Eric.

He just glared at Damien and stood up, brushing off his jeans, "why don't you ask your boyfriend? I'm sure he would love to explain."

"My what?"

"Her what?"

Damien and I spoke at the same time, as our narrowed eyes met.

Suddenly, he pushed himself up gracefully as if he wasn't just almost dead. The fact that the wound on his chest was perfectly healed didn't go unnoticed by me.

How did that happen? I thought a wooden stake through the heart killed a Vampire?

"How are you alive? Isn't a wooden stick capable of killing you?" I stood up as well as he started to walk away from me, towards his room. He was acting way too casual that it made me question if what I witnessed a few minutes ago was real or not. I ran to catch up to his fast strides, leaving behind the guards and Eric who sighed and muttered something along the lines of, good luck, because you're in for a surprise.

"Sweetheart, only the ones who are born, die."

I was more confused than before, "What do you mean?"

"I can't die if I was never born, now can I?" He smirked, reaching out his hand to open his bedroom door.

As I walked in after him, I turned around to close the door, "get to the point."

"I wasn't born. I was created."

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