Chapter 40I could tell that my words eased some of his mind by the look on his face. “So the next question I have then is, I live in Maine, and I know you live in Vegas normally or within The Academy. Would you be opposed to relocating? You know, maybe stay with me here in Maine?” He asked sheepishly. I knew this was a huge question for him to ask, and although it didn’t feel too soon at all for me, I had other things to worry about first. “I am not opposed to relocating. I just need a little time first, if that’s ok. I just need to get my affairs in order before we make that move.” I said. I hoped that my words would calm Damiens mind, but still give me the time to figure out how to stop The Academy. “I never want you to feel like I'm pushing too hard or moving too fast. So please, stop me if I am. I’m new at this too.” Damien replied with a smile. I smiled back just as our food came. We ate and chatted, mostly about things that I wondered about him. I found out that his favorite co
Chapter 41Damien didn’t laugh this time but he just smiled. “Yes his name is Xavier, I know you will not want to hear this, but we have been intimate… I’m sorry Damien, I didn’t know.” I said, as a stray tear fell from my cheek. Damien suddenly took me in his arms and held me. “Why did you take my memories?! Why?! I could have prevented this!” I said, pounding my fist against Damiens chest. “You asked me too, remember? Last year, you said you wanted me to take them so you could focus on Hunting. So I did as I was asked.” Damein said. I could hear the hurt in his voice, but his thoughts that flooded through my mind when he touched me, told me that he already knew about Xavier and this wasn’t a surprise to him, it just hurt still. Guilt flooded into my chest at the thought of Xavier. This whole thing was a fucking mess and I had no idea how to get out of it. I pulled away from Damien to look him in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, I just… I didn’t know.” I said. Damien put his hooked finger un
Chapter 42I didn't even have a chance to scowl at my phone before there was a knock on my door. I jumped in surprise and dropped my phone on my bed, scrambling to my feet and cautiously walking to the door. I opened it slowly, peeking out to see Damien standing there in all his glory. I immediately pulled my knife. “You’re a bloodsucker?!” I growled. He put his hands up in surrender. “Please let me in, I promise I will not hurt you.” He said. I watched as the wheels turned in my mind, before opening the door and letting him in. I peeked out the door to make sure no one else was out there before closing it behind me and turning towards Damien. “Why are there texts on my phone between us when I have no idea who you are?” I asked him, knife still in my hand. Damien sighed, “you are so fucking beautiful when you are upset.” He said. I just took a breath in and exhaled slowly. “You didn’t answer my question… Plus why would I be associating with my prey? What kind of spell have you put on
Chapter 43“Well it’s something that before I found you, I never thought could affect a Human. But it’s a mate the gods gift to a Vampire. Someone to spend the rest of your life with, someone who will love you and only you for eternity. But it’s more than just a partner, it’s literally your other half. Like two halves of a whole. It's extremely rare, only 12 Vampires in the world are known to have one. Excuse me, 13 Vampires.” He said. I remained silent while I processed what he was saying. “Is that why you took my memories?” I asked him. “Yes, I originally took them because I didn't accept the bond. It couldn’t be true, you were a Hunter, and I was your prey. There was no way I could accept you as my gifted mate. The gods must have played a cruel joke. But I found myself unable to stay away. I chose to visit you every year on your birthday but I couldn’t let you remember as you were too young. As the years went by you finally accepted me when you were 18… But I wasn’t ready... And I
Chapter 44“Thank you. This is actually fantastic, I just hadn’t gotten around to replacing it yet.” I said. He nodded. “I’m going to go now, and it’s up to you if you want me to take your memories or leave them. But the last time I left them you almost got yourself killed on a contract because you were distracted. It’s your choice, but if anything ever happened to you, I would never forgive myself.” Damien replied. ”Did you know I never wanted to be a Hunter?” I asked Damien. He nodded to me. “You have said that before.” He replied. “The hardest part of this entire situation is trying to trust that you wouldn’t leave me again. Trusting that you wouldn’t tamper with my memories and that you wouldn’t leave. The rest doesn’t even matter.” I said. “I know, Snow. I know more than I think you realize. But I will not stop, I will be back and we will try again. And someday, I hope you can forgive me. And when that day finally comes, I will never stop showing you how much I love and care abou
Chapter 45He hesitated for a moment and then reached for my hand. I let him take it so I could get a read on him. He reports to the council, what is the council? That is strange… I wasn’t aware The Academy had a council. “Look I'm not trying to be weird, I'm looking to move up, away from Hunting into something bigger. I just need to know who to talk to after I complete this checkmate. You know this will earn me any title I want basically.” I said. “Ok, ok, you’re right. I report to the Council. They are a group of 4 that run The Academy behind the scenes. My direct report, his name is Max. He’s one of the original guys to start The Academy. If you want to move up I suggest you get a hold of him. He can definitely be of help. And honestly, I’m sure you can get whatever you want from him. He’s easily swayed, if you know what I mean…” Bartholomew said, with a wink. I swallowed my disgust, he meant sex. Jesus. I couldn’t imagine Humans being like that, but I guess there were bad apples
Chapter 46‘I miss you too. Honestly it’s crazy how I went from being perfectly fine with being alone, to perfectly not fine with it. It’s like when you aren’t here, a piece of me is missing.’ I replied. I was being honest though, I know it had only been a few days this time around, but my subconscious knew Damien and remembered him. He was my comfort zone, my rock. I couldn’t imagine having to live without him again, not after everything. I’m kind of sad it took me this long to realize it, but I really needed the time to get over his rejection I suppose. I’m just glad it happened this way and not after I had accepted Damien sooner and was unaware of the hit. This way I could actually do something about it. Hopefully. ‘I think that's part of the gifted mate bond. Feeling like we are two parts of a whole that are incomplete without the other. I’ve been feeling this for years, I’m sure you have too, you just didn’t realize it.’ He replied. ‘Now that I have some of my memories back I
Chapter 47This had me thinking for a moment. Sure I wanted him to mark me, in fact the urge was stronger than ever now that we were talking about it. But was I truly ready? If he marked me on my neck/shoulder where I wanted him to mark me, in the spot that was visible to others, that could be a dead giveaway while I'm still Hunting. I couldn’t risk that, not yet. But if I had him mark me somewhere where it wasn't visible, then I could still be marked and still Hunt. But then later, when I want it to show, I don’t think it could be moved. This was difficult. “Look, I still have some business to figure out with work, and having a mark on my shoulder/neck would be a dead giveaway that something wasn’t right. There isn’t a way you could move the mark to a different place once it's on there, could you?” I asked him. He chuckled. “No, I can’t move it. Once it's on you, it stays there forever. So we have to make sure that you're ready when we do it.” He replied. “Ok, then I would like to wa