NOVPUBAila soon left the feeder’s room with Davian after putting plenty of fruits and a glass of juice on his bedside table. Geralt had lost a lot of blood whether she controlled herself or not; he needed some sugar and plenty of rest. She wanted him guarded against the other vampires but knew that was impossible right now, the others were causing chaos, and it sickened her.
Davian tried to dissuade her away from where the other vampires were partying, but Aila wanted to check on the humans. She knew now that this sort of situation was the norm for vampires who didn’t follow the rules set by the Vampire King. Gabriel had his own ways, like the club and probably countless others like the hotel they stayed at, provided feeders.
Aila did wonder if Cassius followed similar rules as his brother because he hadn’t killed or intentionally killed any of his feeders.
Sometimes he went overboard, but like the situation with Geralt, Cassius repaid them; though she did find it a little bizarre, it was up to the feeder if they wished to continue with this lifestyle. But Cassius let that vampiress and others slaughter his feeders and their slaves. Although this may have been a test for her, Aila still found it disgusting.
Even though she hadn’t known Gabriel for very long, she knew there was quite the contrast between the brothers.
Aila stopped just outside the door to the room that smelt like death now. She covered her mouth with her hand, scrunching her nose and gagging at the smell. She noted that the vampires had moved on, and the dark room with the balcony doors shut and curtains closed only had the pile of bodies left to rot. Davian grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back out, closing the double doors behind him.
"They just left them there.. Does Cassius know?" Aila asked, searching Davian’s features, but his face was stoic and unreadable, so she added. "He would move them, right? I mean, it would ruin his rugs and furniture; the room itself needs airing.."
"Cassius may be cold and sometimes inhumane, but he wouldn’t leave bodies in there. I’ll speak to the guards; they can remove them," Davian sighed, looking away before turning to leave. "Are you coming?"
"No, I want to see if there are any humans left alive. Maybe I can help them.." Aila trailed off and spun around, going in the opposite direction to her ancestor. There was still noises and music echoing through the walls of the castle.
She couldn’t understand what else they could be doing; she knew already Cassius only needed about two hours sleep a night though he could go longer depending on how much blood he drank. But if this was their lifestyle all the time, wouldn’t immortality become boring?
Shaking her head Aila followed down the hallways where the volume of music grew louder. She pushed open another set of double doors which led to another drawing-room, one that was smaller and on the cosier side. It wasn’t filthy, nor was there spilt blood anywhere. Vampires danced, flirted and even had corners of the room to be more intimate than just kissing.
Aila scrunched her nose and looked away swiftly, searching the room. Her eyes landed on three slaves passed out on top of each other like carcasses on royal blue love seats.
Aila headed in their direction, noting they were still breathing but seemed extremely pale. But she came to a halt when a vampire stepped into her path, she went to walk around her, but it seemed she did this on purpose.
"Oh ho! The hybrid is gracing us with her presence!" A blonde vampiress announced as she staggered towards her, a champagne bottle in one hand as she wrapped her arm around Aila’s shoulders. "What brings you back? I thought we were too beneath you to hang out."
Aila glanced at the hand on her shoulder and back at the vampiress. Was she the next Claudina?
"Remove your hand from my shoulder, or I’ll remove your hand from your body," Aila replied coldly, her tone calm and even bored. She raised a brow at this new nuisance, which made the vampiress tighten her hold on her shoulder.
"Such arrogance.."
Aila didn’t wait before she grabbed her hand, yanked her away from her body and twisted her wrist behind her back. She continued turning the wrist until the slightest sounds of a crack formed on the vampiress’ bones. "Ow! Okay, okay!" She cried, and Aila released her with a long sigh, letting her drop to the ground.
Aila stepped over her and continued towards the sofa, helping the first of the slaves up, draping their arm over her shoulders. The vampires watched her, but none spoke up against her actions. They learnt twice now of how strong she was and of who had her back; Cassius never punished her for killing Claudina.
The hybrid made three trips to and from the guest quarters, up the tower where the feeders stayed. Aila didn’t really know what authority she had over such things but presumed putting them in the now-deceased feeders’ rooms would be okay. Plus, if she left them with those vampires any longer, she knew they would also soon be deceased.
After setting them up in their rooms, she found Davian and let him deal with cleaning their wounds.
She may have some sense of control at the moment, but she didn’t want to risk helping then turning into a monster because of the dried smell of blood. Already she felt the slight burning sensation down her throat, and that was because she carried them back.
Once she was satisfied with their set-up, Aila finally returned to her room, passing by Harry, who slept comfortably on the couch with one of his legs dangling on the side. She shook her head at how quickly he seemed to have relaxed, but before closing the double doors behind her to her bed chambers, she realised his breathing was not deep anymore.
He was awake but pretended to be asleep; it was now into the early hours of the morning, so she might have woken him up.
Either way, she wasn’t stupid enough to sleep with the doors unlocked; no matter how friendly he was, they hadn’t crossed that bridge yet. She clicked the lock in place; though it wouldn’t really do anything but provide her some time before any attack, it was still better than nothing. Aila sighed and flopped onto her bed, kicking her heels off and stared up at the high ceiling.
In moments like this, she missed her mate’s protective arms; she always felt safe in them no matter the occasion. With thoughts of Damon swirling through her mind, she fell into a deep sleep.
Aila’s morning couldn’t be more bizarre; the vampires were still in this party mood that didn’t quite go with the scenery of the rising sun, the birds singing outside and the castle that was usually a calm quietness. But what made it bizarre was that she went to check in on the lycans in the dungeon, checking in on their conditions and speaking with Aldric about Harry.
She then met with Harry after going for a run by herself in wolf form, letting Malia free again before returning and having breakfast with Cassius, Davian and Harry.
The vast table that was full of an array of dishes fit for at least twenty people was tense between the vampire and lycan. Cassius sat at the head of the table, Aila to his right and Davian to his left, with Harry sitting next to her.
She caught glimpses of Cassius glaring at the lycan, but she couldn’t understand why; he revealed to her that almost killing him was a part of his plan to get the rogue on their side.
"Ha, well, he is on our side. Not sure about Cass-"
"Be quiet," Aila snapped back at her wolf. She could almost tell when Cassius was reading her mind now. It was always felt like a cold shiver or cold fingers reaching around her skull and trying to break through. Right at this moment, she could feel those slender fingers sliding in. Aila kept her thoughts on how she killed Claudina and the disgust she felt about the other vampires.
This was the only form of protection she had on hiding her true thoughts, though she wasn’t absolutely sure if she was doing an adequate job. Cassius was sly and could pretend that he didn’t know her true thoughts. Aila was yet to get to the stage Davian was at. She found out Cassius couldn’t read his thoughts which gave her hope.
"When will your ’friends’ be leaving?" Aila interrupted whatever Cassius was discussing with Davian. She looked up from her scrambled eggs meeting Cassius’ eyes.
He raised a brow at her interruption and smirked. "Why do they make you feel uncomfortable?" He asked, leaning back in his seat, tapping his mouth with his napkin and dropping it on his plate.
"Yes," Aila admitted without hesitation. "You already know that, so I do not see the point in asking me that."
Or maybe he wanted to know if she would lie about something so simple. "Hmm, they are quite troublesome." Cassius clicked his tongue before pushing away from the table. "But there are a few there that know how to have a good time without giving me a headache."
Cassius walked away as though he was going back to the other vampires. As soon as the sounds of footsteps down the halls were gone, Davian and Aila sighed in relief, though they didn’t realise it.
"Guys, seriously, what is up with you? Why are you acting like he has a knife against your throat or something?" Harry asked, leaning forward as his knuckles went white from how hard he was clutching onto the fork.
Davian scratched the side of his stubble and stood up. "I’m going for a run. Wanna join?" He asked, smoothly changing the subject.
Harry’s face lit up, and he nodded eagerly. He followed Davian to the doors, pausing to point his finger back at Aila, who was looking out of the windows towards the trees. "You better tell me some time; otherwise, how else can I help?"
Aila looked back at him and scoffed softly. "Not much can be done on that aspect. Go, enjoy your run."
Once they left, Aila stood and started to pace in the dining room while Fiona and another servant came to clear up. Her body was reacting to something, like a magnetic pull, but it wasn’t that strong. Yet, she’d felt this similar sensation before.
"Aila.. it’s the mate bond! Damon must be getting closer to us!"
