The Vampire's Luna
Chapter 52: Adele - Love in the Dark

Chapter 52: Adele - Love in the Dark

She looked past him, toward some invisible horizon only she could see. "I missed home," she said, then hesitated. "And well... I think you both should just stop. Stop trying to save me."

"Stop...trying to save you?" he echoed. "What? What are you talking about?"

Luna, however, took a step back, her body tense. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "I’m sorry, Kyllian. I... I... can’t do this. Not to you, not to him, and definitely not to myself."

His mouth opened in protest, but she beat him to it.

"Just stay away from me, okay?" she said quickly, as if the words would burn her if she didn’t let them out fast enough. And with that, she turned and walked away, her back straight, her pace steady, like she was forcing her legs not to give out beneath her.

Kyllian stood there, frozen, like someone had just yanked the earth out from under his feet and replaced it with air. His jaw slackened. "What the fuck is going on?" he muttered to the empty corridor. The walls, as usual, had no answers.

*****

"Mom?" Luna entered the fragrant sitting room where Ravena reclined with a cup of herbal tea in one hand, a magazine brought from the human realm in the other.

"Hey! Luna!" Ravena beamed, instantly putting down her magazine. She sat up straighter. "I would have come to see you sooner, darling, but your father says you needed some time alone. So I am here, distracting myself with tea and some light reading to plan your birthday party." f .r e\ewebnov(e)(l).c om

Luna smiled faintly, but her eyes remained heavy. "Mum... no parties, please. I can’t handle it right now."

"Sweetie, I know. I know you’re not up to it." She set the cup down and leaned in. "But you’re turning twenty-one. The entire kingdom is ceremonially obligated to make a thing out of it."

Luna slumped into the chair across from her, rubbing her temples. "Mum..."

"I promise, it’ll just be us. The immediate family. Me, you, your father... possibly Kyllian."

Luna groaned and covered her face. "Mum..."

"Okay, okay!" Ravena raised her palms in surrender. "Just the three of us then. Meanwhile, I’ll quietly ensure the town gets to celebrate without overwhelming you. I promise."

"I don’t want to dampen anyone’s mood," Luna murmured. "I just want to be alone."

Ravena’s heart ached. That sentence sounded like a scream from a lonely tower. Her daughter, the once-bubbly whirlwind of sass and curiosity, had become a quiet storm cloud, floating around the castle corridors, weighed down by invisible chains.

"Is there anything I can do?" Ravena asked softly, leaning forward, desperate to help but unsure how. She would’ve offered a potion, a spell, anything that would light Luna’s eyes again.

Luna forced a faint smile. "I’m fine. Really. I just..." she hesitated, glancing up at her mother with eyes too ancient for twenty-one, "I just have a question."

Ravena straightened. "Ask me anything," she said immediately, grateful for the shift, even if it was a small one.

"Why is Father sleeping in the throne room?" Luna asked, the words innocent enough, but her tone was lined with subtle anxiety. "Yesterday, I found him there. And last night, I stopped by just to talk... he was there again. Did you guys have a fight? Is it... because of me?"

Ravena’s heart clenched. Of course Luna would blame herself. The child had inherited Magnus’s stubborn loyalty and Ravena’s flair for emotional responsibility, a combination which meant she took everyone’s problems as her own.

Ravena sighed, a long, deep breath. Her fingers tapped against her teacup before she placed it down on the tray and looked her daughter in the eye.

"There’s no point keeping it from you anymore," she said gently. "You’re a woman now. And you deserve the truth."

Luna leaned forward instinctively.

"Your father and I... we weren’t always able to conceive. Years went by. I tried herbs, potions, went through series of programs from a fertility doctor in the human realm," Ravena said with a dry chuckle. "Nothing worked. And then... I went to Morvakar, a sorcerer."

Luna’s eyes widened a little.

"I didn’t tell your father at the time. Morvakar promised me a child, and he delivered. You were my miracle." Ravena’s voice cracked slightly. "But now... we believe the bond curse, your two mates, it was his doing."

Luna sat back in her seat slowly, absorbing the weight of her origin story. "Oh," she whispered.

"I know," Ravena said. "It’s a lot."

Luna nodded. And then, to Ravena’s surprise, she smiled faintly. "I get it though. Heirs are important. Do you want me to speak with Father?"

Ravena reached out and touched her daughter’s hand. "No, honey. Like you... he needs time. Time to process everything."

Then Luna looked down at her lap. "I was hoping all three of us could talk though... Maybe tonight? We could have dinner together."

Ravena’s eyes shimmered. "Sweetheart, that sounds perfect."

Ravena patted her daughter’s back, a soft, steady rhythm meant to soothe but doing little to still the storm she could sense beneath Luna’s skin. She smiled, though her lips trembled around the edges. She just kept patting, because sometimes, a mother’s strength came in silence.

*****

Damien was halfway through packing his briefcase when the message came that Kyllian was at the boundary, heading toward the Blood Castle.

Of course he is, Damien thought bitterly. Yes, he had given Kyllian the free pass but now? Now, he would rather kiss his own ass than see Kyllian’s smug, self-righteous face.

Still, Damien wasn’t a coward. Or at least, he refused to look like one. So he marched to the living room, shoved his hands in his pockets in a calculated pose of casual irritation, and waited in the massive room.

Then came the unmistakable crunch of tires on gravel. Then a door slam. Then boots. Kyllian’s boots. Loud, proud, and full of wounded energy.

And in stomped the golden boy himself.

"What did you do to her?" Kyllian barked, all fury and no hello.