The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 748. Myopic

Chapter 748: 748. Myopic

Jael squeezed Mauve’s hand back, he was careful not to exert any strength. His mind was churning. He was angry, but at the same time, he couldn’t be. He understood Mauve’s worry about telling him and her reason for wanting to learn magic, but at the same time, he didn’t get it.

She would get mad if she kept things from him, yet there was something so significant, and he had to find out the same way everyone else did. He was still annoyed that Louis would put her through something so dangerous.

"Did you teach her magic in the hopes that it would work against Palers?" Jael asked. He needed to know Louis’s full intent in involving Mauve in something like this.

A lot of things were happening all at once. He was almost grateful Louis had taught her because, if he hadn’t, she would have been in a terrible state—or worse, dead. Jael used his free hand to grab his head. He couldn’t think about that.

"I don’t know," Louis replied, his gaze at a corner in the room.

"Don’t lie to me," Jael said darkly, slowly lifting his head to look at Louis. Louis had been fixated on ending Palers for as long as Jael had known him much longer than he had been.

"I am not. I don’t know, but I won’t deny that I thought about it. I didn’t even know she could use it, I didn’t think she might be able to. We know all vampires can’t use magic, but not all humans can either. I was just curious, and then it happened. I would never put her in danger."

Jael sighed. "All I hear are excuses."

"But Jael, isn’t this a good thing?" Mauve beamed at him, cutting into their conversation.

He expected this part of the conversation to come up soon, but Jael knew he wasn’t ready for it. There was no way he would be. Yes, they had their answer, but it involved Mauve—completely out of the question. He was almost willing to let the Palers attack as many vampires as they wanted before even considering it. If he had known this would be the answer, he would have never pressured her to tell him.

He never suspected that anything other than coincidence and good luck was involved. Magic. Not only that, but Mauve was the magic user. He was trying to save her from danger, but here she was, right in the middle of it as always.

"No, it is not," he replied. "Louis wasn’t supposed to let his curiosity get the better of him like that. Teaching her magic—what were you thinking?"

Mauve’s expression dimmed. "You make it sound like such a bad thing."

"Isn’t it? It’s dangerous. Things could have gone wrong."

"Yes, but I am fine, and we may have found a way to kill Palers. It might not be the cure for the White Disease that I wanted, but it is certainly even better. I am sure we can work something out with this."

"Like what? Dress you up and put you on the battlefield? Is that what you’re saying? Give you an ax so you’d hunt Palers now? Is that what you are saying?" Jael’s voice was rising, and he couldn’t control himself. His ears were ringing. He didn’t like this one bit.

"No, of course not," Mauve said, shrinking back. "I haven’t thought it through, b-but I am sure we would be able to come up with something. I-I never intended to pick up a weapon and attack Palers myself."

Mauve was rambling, but Jael was scaring her. He was angry—his eyes glowed with every word he spoke. She hated that she could see his fear and hated how condescending he was about such great news. So maybe they had used underhanded tactics to get to this solution? It was still a solution. Or was it because it involved her that he couldn’t even consider it?

"Good, because that’s never going to happen."

"Nobody said it was," Louis cut in, starting to get annoyed. When it came to Mauve, Jael was always myopic. It would be nice if he could let her handle things a little, but he knew that would never happen. Jael liked to protect the things that were important to him—himself. If he couldn’t, then... Louis didn’t want to think about it.

Jael gave him a look that said, How dare he. "I am not putting Mauve in danger."

"And you won’t be. We just know how to kill Palers. Moving forward is the next step. First off is testing it out to see if it truly wasn’t some coincidence, or perhaps we didn’t see some burnt tree husk as you claimed."

"We are not putting Mauve in the same room as a Paler."

"With Kieran’s drug, we have absolutely nothing to worry about. The Paler would be out like a lamp."

"And if it wakes up?" Jael asked darkly. "We are not doing it."

"What are you talking about?" Louis asked. "Are you saying you doubt the efficiency of Kieran’s tranquilizers?"

"Because it’s me, isn’t it?" Mauve suddenly said. "If it was anyone else, you’d be jumping at the idea," she said coldly, pulling her hand from his.

"Mauve," Jael called, but she was already standing from the bed.

"Thank you, Louis," she said, walking towards him. "Sorry, we pulled you out of bed. If it wasn’t for me, that wouldn’t have happened."

Louis wanted to say she had nothing to apologize for. Jael was being a little brat, but at the end of the day, no one could deny this was a good thing—not even Jael. However, he was the one who would need the most convincing.

"No, not at all. I slept enough. As soon as the sun sets, I will check on the Paler, and whenever the Primus is ready, we can further the conversation. For now, I will keep my lips sealed and keep telling the vampires I have no idea."

"That would be wonderful, Louis," Mauve said, even though Louis had been talking to Jael. "I am sure we will get back to you before the night is over."

Jael could only look on at the conversation going on between them. Louis didn’t even glance in his direction before leaving the room, even though he had been the one to call Louis here.

The door shut, and Mauve sat on her bed. "Get some sleep," she muttered. "You haven’t slept at all." Mauve resisted the urge to add that it might be impacting his capacity to think properly.

But Jael wasn’t about to end this conversation. "I am not putting you in danger," Jael stated.

"How ironic," she said, hating that she was about to use something that would hurt them both. But she knew how stubborn Jael could be, especially when he had his mind made up about something. They shouldn’t be arguing about this—it didn’t make sense. "You didn’t seem to have any problems when it involved Seraphino, or is this different because it’s a Paler?"

Mauve watched Jael turn paler, and it felt as though a knife had been plunged into her heart and twisted. This was not something she wanted to hold over him, but she was angry, and he was pissing her off even more.

"It’s not the same thing," Jael muttered.

"Yes, you’re right. This is less dangerous. I can set it ablaze before it can dare put its hands on me."

Jael’s eyes opened in further horror. "I am sorry," he simply said with his head bent.

Mauve felt all the wind knock out of her. "I am sorry," she was crying now. "But I just hate when you’re selective about this. I am sorry I was learning magic behind your back, but for you not to consider how great this discovery is just because it involves me is not only hurtful but still the same old."

"I don’t like that. I can’t deny it. Instead of protecting you, it seems like I keep pushing you right in the middle of danger. I am really sorry about Seraphino, and if I could go back and change that, I would."

"I know," Mauve said, nodding her head and trying to wipe her tears away. "It was a shitty thing to say, I know, and I wish we could have a proper conversation about this."

He moved closer and lightly touched her face, wiping her tears. "I don’t like to see you cry, and it’s not a joke when I say I want to lock you up." He gathered her into his arms. "I still don’t condone it, and I will discuss this further, but seeing you upset, hurts—and worse, knowing it’s because of me. I am not angry. Well, I am—I still am, but I don’t want you to think I’m this angry because it’s you. Maybe it is, but it’s not for the reason you think. It’s not that I don’t think you can’t handle some things. I just wish you didn’t have to. I want to protect you all by myself. Surely, that can’t be a bad wish?"