The Vampire's Luna
Chapter 58: Taylor Swift - The Archer

Chapter 58: Taylor Swift - The Archer

"My point is...don’t give up on us. I mean... me and Damien. We can help save you," Kyllian said, gesturing helplessly with both hands as if willing Luna to grasp the sincerity dangling from his words.

Luna crossed her arms, exhaling a long, soul-weary sigh. "This is so unfair..."

"I know," Kyllian said quickly, moving a little closer. "Believe me, I get it. You’re caught in the middle with two men, each deeply in love with you." He gave a weak smile. "But we’re trying, Luna. Damien and I...we’re actually trying not to kill each other. Doesn’t that tell you something?"

Luna rubbed her temples, as if trying to massage out the emotional migraine this entire entanglement had become. "Yes. It tells me I’m probably going to die of emotional exhaustion."

Kyllian smirked.

"You know what? Fine! But. The decision I’ve made...it won’t change unless something actually changes. I need real progress, or at least a glimpse of a solution. Some hope. Otherwise..."

He narrowed his eyes, alarm rising in his gut. "What decision?"

She met his gaze head-on. "I plan on severing the bonds."

"Ah... right. You mean the bond. The, uh... both bonds?"

"Yes," she said. "Because no matter who I choose, someone I care about gets hurt. And I can’t...won’t...live with that."

Kyllian swallowed hard. "Okay. Fine. I mean, not fine, but... I get it. Look, Damien’s coming tomorrow with the sage. We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’s a loophole."

Luna muttered under her breath, "Great. Fucking great." .com

*****

Sage Veyron stepped out of the black car, he squinted up at the looming silhouette of the castle.

"I need the light of the moon," he declared. "We have to stay outside."

Damien gave him a withering look.

"The moon isn’t out yet, Veyron. Come on, let’s go inside," Damien said, gesturing toward the castle doors impatiently.

"I think not!" Veyron announced, taking a dramatic step backward onto the gravel drive. "If someone would be so kind as to find me a sturdy chair and a cup of coffee, I will be quite grateful."

Damien pinched the bridge of his nose. "Veyron, we’re not setting up a café in the driveway. I at least need to introduce you. Properly. Like a normal person would."

Veyron gave him a ridiculous look. "Prince Damien, I do not like being in other people’s homes. Coming all the way here was... difficult."

Damien’s brow furrowed. There was a subtle shift in his stance, a move from irritation to suspicion. His hand dropped from his forehead and folded across his chest instead. "Why did you come, then?"

Veyron blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Damien said slowly, stepping closer. "you could have summoned us. You didn’t have to budge. You never do."

Veyron’s eyes flicked away, caught in the rare, vulnerable crack between evasion and truth. "Well..."

"But something," Damien pressed, "something made you leave your home. Your city. Something so important, so urgent, you couldn’t just sit back and wait this time."

"Your Highness..." Veyron said.

"Veyron," Damien interrupted. "After my father, you are the most important man in my life. You’ve been there since I was young. You taught me to read, to research, to outsmart rivals...and more importantly, you raised me. So what are you protecting me from? What aren’t you telling me?"

There was a beat of silence.

Veyron exhaled. "Because... I cannot say anything. Not yet. Not until I’ve assessed the girl’s bonds. With both of you."

"I told you already," Damien said, pacing in slow, deliberate strides across the moonlit gravel. "Now, Veyron...tell me plainly. No riddles. What happens if she’s mated to two? What happens to her? To us?"

Veyron looked uncharacteristically grave. "I hit the books after you informed me of the situation." He swallowed hard. "And I found what I was looking for. And it was... terrifying."

Damien stopped mid-stride, boots grinding to a halt. "Veyron..."

"Your Highness," Veyron said, fixing Damien with a worried look, "you are a true blood. Luna, however... Luna is not. She’s a werewolf. And if, hypothetically, she has both a vampire mate and a werewolf mate, then that means the bond she shares with you is not one crafted by the Goddess."

Damien’s eyes narrowed, confusion laced with indignation. "Our bond? What does the goddess have to do with anything?" He crossed his arms and glared. "Morvakar helped the queen conceive, that’s all. That’s all he ever did."

"Exactly," Veyron said with a sigh. "I guessed Morvakar had something to do with this. He’s the only sorcerer powerful enough to meddle in the divine balance of soulbonds. If he tampered with the queen’s womb, as the stories say, then it stands to reason he could’ve tampered with the threads of fate that tie you to Luna."

Damien’s heart thudded against his ribs, each beat more frantic than the last. "So what does the bond have to do with... everything? Why does this matter now?"

"Because your lady," Veyron said, "is neither a true blood like you, nor a turned vampire. Whatever alchemy forged her nature, it’s something entirely in-between. Which makes her blood toxic to your kind and her kind."

Damien stared at him, blinking slowly. "Toxic. You’re telling me I’m mated with someone who’s allergic to my existence."

"Technically," Veyron offered, "you’re the one who’s allergic to hers. Which I believe was Morvakar’s plan all along. A romantic assassination, if you will."

Damien groaned, dragging a hand down his face.

"So let me get this straight," Damien said, gesturing vaguely at the stars like they were responsible for this entire mess. "I get a mate...finally, after centuries only to find out she wants our bond severed. Cool. Fine. If she does sever it, I lose not just her but my strength, my essence. Basically, I become a glorified mortal."

Veyron opened his mouth, but Damien wasn’t done.

"And then even if she changes her mind...let’s say, miracle of miracles, she decides I’m worth the risk...I still can’t deepen the bond because the magic might literally kill me. What kind of joke is this?" He turned a pained smile on Veyron. "Why is everything around this shrouded in death? Can’t there be a version where, I don’t know, we just lose an arm? Or a leg? Something manageable. Something we can laugh about later?"