Mated To The Dead Prince
Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Chapter 52

Rose halted in front of Felonious’s lair, her heart thumping from what she might end up discovering about herself that night.

She recalled her last encounter with Cassius and decided that whatever she found out wouldn’t scare her; rather, she would use it to her advantage and fight Cassius; she hoped it was some awesome power that would let her defeat every dark creature.

"Come in, Rose," Felonious turned to look at her before he continued inside his lair.

She took a deep breath and walked inside the lair.

"Sit," Felonious pointed her to a stool.

Rose nodded and sat down. She was already used to sitting on that particular stool each time she visited the place, but this time, the long table was empty, as if Felonious was trying to clean the place.

"You hear thoughts," Felonious appeared beside Rose with a thick black book in his hand.

Rose recognized the book as the one he had used to show her and Cassius what he’d discovered so far about the Lux’s origin and abilities.

She thought about his question for a while before replying, "I’m not sure if it’s me or it’s them, given that they’re magical creatures, it might just be their powers forcing their thoughts inside my head." Rose said.

She couldn’t proudly say she could hear or read thoughts, for all she knew, it could just be Cassius’ doing.

Felonious placed the book in front of Rose but didn’t open it.

"Let’s find out then," Felonious said and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Look at me, Rose," he said gently.

Rose turned her body and stared at the mage, her eyes gliding over his rune tattoo over his shaved head before it settled on his eyes.

"Yes?" She cleared her throat.

"Place your hand on mine," Felonious spoke, holding his hand out in front of her.

Rose stared at his slim fingers as she placed her hand over his, staring up at his face with expectation.

Felonious waved his other hand beside her and a candle appeared, simply floating above the black book in front of her.

"Wow..." She muttered as she stared at the unlit candle.

"This candle serves as what you humans would call a network server. If you connect with me telepathically it would get lit. But, to make sure that it’s not just me who is putting my thoughts in your head, the flame will turn green if you, after all, do hear and respond to thoughts on your own," Felonious calmly explained.

Rose blinked slowly, "Okay..." She replied with a slow nod.

"Shut your eyes," Felonious instructed.

Rose obeyed, trying her best to concentrate, but she didn’t have to try so hard because, in the next second, her head felt a sharp ring as she struggled to tame down the loud voices she heard in Felonious head, ancient and powerful voices speaking in different languages she couldn’t understand.

Her eyes flew open as she stared at Felonious’s relaxed face, she could feel the glow of the flame beside her, and when she turned her head, she was amazed to see a magical deep emerald flame burning with an otherworldly intensity, its core looked like a swirling vortex of emerald rimmed with tendril of lime Hue. It was eerie and glowed with supernatural energy. It cast a ghostly glow on everything nearby, flickering with sharp, almost electric brightness, appearing both beautiful and unsettling, like something out of a dark fantasy book or mystical realm in her favorite novels.

"I think we have our answer, Rose. You have tapped into my thoughts without my consent," Felonious gently placed her hand back on her thighs.

Rise blinked, slowly nodding, "Y-yes... I’m sorry." She whispered, feeling hypnotized by the emerald flame.

"It’s okay. You can touch it," Felonious told her.

Rose turned her head to him, "Touch a burning flame?" She questioned.

Felonious nodded.

"Okay," Rose raised her hand, slowly taking her finger close to the flame and when she didn’t feel any heat from it, she passed her finger through it.

She passed it through it again, and again before she finally left her finger in the flame, watching in awe as the flame suddenly grew, flickering brighter and deeper in color, the tendrils wrapping themselves around her finger.

"It... it doesn’t burn..." She chuckled, her eyes shining in reflection to the flames.

Felonious’s voice quietly spoke beside her, "The flame represents your energy, it emits no heat and doesn’t burn the flesh when touched; it seeps into the soul, revealing truths, memories, or forgotten pain. Deep flame feeds not on wood or oil but on secrets and the essence of the arcane, Rose," He paused and watched the fire deepening in color as Rose left her finger in it.

Felonious could feel the light energy emanating from Rose; he knew there was more about her that she didn’t know yet, and oh, how he feared that if she finally mastered her abilities, she would be a force to reckon with because even Cassius won’t be able to stop her.

Rose kept staring at the flame as it pulsed with a quiet hum of ancient energy, it seemed alive, flickering deliberately, responding to her emotions, presence, and powers.

"So... it mirrors my emotions?" She asked as she removed her hand from the flame.

"It draws in shadows rather than casting them away; that is what a Lux does," He waved his hand above the black book, its cover lifted and pages flipped themselves until it flipped to the intended page.

"Draws in shadows rather than casting them away?" She whispered her question as she stared at the opened page.

There was a radiating image of a naked young woman with dark circles surrounding her; all of the dark circles were connected to the young woman by glowing tendrils that stretched from her chest as if she were drawing the dark circles to herself.

Felonious’ fingers traced around the image, "This is an image of the first Lux to ever exist... you’re the second. This is just a simple illustration of what you can do, draw shadows instead of casting them away. That’s why your blood burns, Rose. Everything in the dark world is under your mercy, as you’ve seen, you have also discovered that you have power over elements," He explained.

Rose stared at the woman’s face; she looked beautiful and powerful, her eyes were white and so was her hair.

"Everything in your world is at my mercy? I don’t think so. I know nothing about controlling elements either." She shook her head.

For the first time, Felonious scoffed, surprising Rose; he had always been so uptight and forward. "Did I say something stupid?" She asked.

Felonious stared at her with unreadable eyes, "Stupid? Yes." He waved his hand again and the page turned over to reveal the same woman standing in the middle of a dark forest with vampires bowing to her.

"Vampires bow to no one, Rose; but as you see, they bowed to her, they were at her mercy because, in the blink of an eye, their souls could be dancing in misery in her bare hands; she could suck it out of them without lifting a finger," Felonious narrated calmly.

The next page flipped, showing Rose where the Lux woman stood between a raging storm and breathing, angry fire.

"What’s happening here?" She asked.

"Element control. Just like you tried to burn the castle down earlier with your raging emotions," He pointed out.

Rose frowned, trying to recall when she did such a thing, "Oh my God... I did that?" She gasped as she stared at Felonious.

"I didn’t know... I was just angry and imagining where the fire burned down Cassius and..." She paused and bit her lips.

Felonious smiled very slightly, "The Lux power is a dangerous one, especially for someone who doesn’t realize she has it and always struggles with emotions. You control elements, hear thoughts directed at you, and read minds, communicate through mind links; your blood is selectively dangerous, just like it had selected to be harmless to Prince Athan. The first lux didn’t live long, and no one ever got to know if her blood became harmless with love and trust or if some people were immune to it. You’re my first case study, Ross," He tapped her shoulder.

Rose’s head was swirling with numerous thoughts, "I can do all those things you said?" She questioned with a shaky voice.

"I’m not the one who said," He tapped on the book, "The documented history said so," He replied.

Rose stared at her hands, a small smile playing on her lips but it vanished immediately, "How can I use them when I don’t feel them?" She stared at his face, the green flame illuminating his features.

Felonious drew the book closer to himself, "You have to master your crafts first, and to do that, you have to bond with yourself," He said and closed the book.

"Bond with myself? What do you mean?" Rose stood from the stool and followed Felonious as he walked toward a smaller door that she’d never noticed before. She was amazed to find a mini library full of ancient books and artifacts, "Wow," She whispered.

Felonious placed the book back on his small shelf and faced Rose, "Good question. But before I tell you, I must warn you that jealousy is a trigger to your abilities. You have to control your emotions, if not, you will harm yourself and others, and in the end, you will never get to discover your true potential," He placed his hand on top of the other in front of his stomach.

"I’m not jealous. I’m never jealous," Rose stated.

Felonios shook his head, "You have a long way to go, young one. You must admit your feelings before you become one with your abilities, and, when I said bond with yourself, I meant your other self," He informed.

Rose frowned, "I’m sorry, but I don’t seem to follow your words, can you be more specific?" She asked, anxiously rubbing her thumb on her palm.

"You have completed the first step of mating with the master, Rose. You have... pleasured yourselves. Your bodies have committed to one another; unconsciously, you have become one body; the only thing left is to exchange the blood ritual and your minds and soul will become one." He informed.

Rose chuckled and shook her head, "Nope. Not happening. I’m myself, and he is himself. I’m never bonding myself to him, never; if this is your trick to get me to give in to your dark master then it’s busted. I’m not doing it." She took a step back.

Felonious walked toward her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You have to mate with him, soon. If not, you’d start to exhibit more emotions, and it’s going to cause much more trouble than you intended. If you want to ever return to your world, make the master trust you, and bond with him. That way, you’d reach your full potential and also can return to your world because... a man can do anything for the woman he loves," He finished and snapped his hands.

"What the?! Ugh!" Rose staggered and fell to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Eliot asked in front of her.

Rose snapped her head up in shock as she heard Eliot’s voice. She surprisingly realized that she was no longer in Felonious’ lair. Rather she was on the floor of Cassius’s study. Felonious had transported her here.

Why though?

She slowly looked up and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Cassius standing behind Eliot, his sharp eyes running over her body.

"What is the reason he sent you here, Rose?" Cassius questioned as he stepped closer to her, offering her his hand to help her up.

Rose was conflicted, she stared at Eliot, who was the first to come to her, and then at Cassius, who could set the whole kingdom ablaze because she turned his help down.

"It’s okay," Eliot nodded at her and stepped back.

Rose slowly placed her hand on Cassius’s and let him draw her up from the floor. But he didn’t let her go; he wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. "Tell me why you don’t like me,"