Page 61 of The Time Of Kings

I felt as if I were living in a dream. Not only had I found my Electus, but to know that she hadn’t recoiled in fear at just the sight of my true self…it was beyond all I could have ever wished for.

It made me reflect back on my dream. The one I’d had just before she finally graced my life with her presence. The way I had chased her after she had rejected my claim on her. When I had taken to the skies in my true form before landing right in front of her. Just like I had done not long ago. Something I would have thought she would have run screaming from. A terrifying sight causing irreparable damage. But that hadn’t happened. For a strange calm washed over her features. As if she had been waiting for me to show myself all this time.

Well now I understood why.

She knew.

She always had.

Of course, I had questioned her further on the matter, learning of how she had always seen my kind, ever since she wasbut a child. I tried to put myself in her young shoes, certain of how frightening that must have been for her. The strength of her resilience only ended up impressing me further, as it was clear she had the inner strength of a warrior and would make me a formidable queen indeed.

But she also made me promise that I wouldn’t tell another soul. When I asked why, she only told me that she had her reasons and for now they were to remain her own. Naturally, I wanted to push for more. Hell, I wanted to know it all!

Yet knowing what she had shared with me already, then I understood that I needed to reward her honesty with patience on my part. Because I also wanted her to trust me, and to do so meant keeping her secret. I understood the reason why to some extent, as clearly this was a burden she had carried with her for most of her life. For should she have been foolish enough to speak of what she saw, then she would have either been burned as a witch or placed in one of those vile insane asylums.

Just the thought of her being forced to live her life out in a dirty cell where humanity was at its lowest made me murderous in a heartbeat, a deadly sentiment I was forced to hide. When it came to treating those believed to be insane, it was a mortal abomination dressed up in a doctor’s robe, and not one I wanted anywhere near my girl. Making me also question, had she run from this before? Was that where he scars came from?

Of course, she asked enough questions to make me believe there was still so much that she didn’t know of my world. But then, who would have been able to teach her? And by now she must have seen enough of my kind to know that we were not all the monsters’ mortals made us out to be.

After all, there were just as many evil Angels in the world as there was peaceful Demons and vice versa. Something she seemed to understand well enough. However, it did now make me question her scars once more, making me look at them undernew light. Had she done this to herself in hopes of escaping what she must have once believed to be nothing but madness on her part? I liked to think not, although knowing that someone could have done this to her wasn’t a better alternative either.

However, the second certainly gave me someone to punish if there was anyone left in this world that had ever hurt her. She had quickly become my everything. I was amazed by how strong my feelings had developed for her in such a short space of time. Yesterday had quite easily been the best day of my life and as for last night, well it was hard to put into words.

Claiming her had been like nothing I had ever experienced before, for the pleasure was indescribable. The intensity was beyond anything I ever could have imagined, it made every time before her pale in comparison. If I had believed myself addicted before, then now I knew I was fucking lost. Lost to all that was her!

She was my Angel’s Heaven.

She was my Demon’s Hell.

And she was my soul’s keeper.

One look at her and I knew that I would spend the rest of my life loving her. Adoring, admiring, appreciating every single piece of her. Her soul. Her heart. Her mind and her body. I would love it all. And now I would get the rest of eternity from this point onwards to prove such.

The only thing we didn’t yet have between us was trust.

For I knew there was still so much I had yet to learn. So much she held back around me. Of course, I had been shocked to discover I was not the first man she had laid with. Which had me questioning, was she a widow? Had she once loved another? Or was the reason one she felt shameful of…was she still married?

Not that I cared either way, but I would need to know regardless in case she was running from someone. A past life she was trying to escape, and one I would only be all too happy toaid her with. For I would take her to any corner of the Earth she wished to go. I would rid her of any past she wanted to erase without a shred of guilt or hesitation on my part.

But first, she would have to trust me with such knowledge. Something made more difficult when it was clear she didn’t know that she was Fated to be mine. She knew nothing of the prophecy or being my Electus. No, all she knew was my willingness to kidnap her and keep her my prisoner should she ever think to leave me. Hence why building trust between us would take time. For I also needed to trust that she would stay on her own accord and not try and run the first chance she got.

But, we had time in our favour, and for once, it was now one I looked forward to, for the monotony of eternity already becoming a forgotten memory. Just being able to dine with her in the company of others was taxing, for all I wanted was to keep her to myself. As if we were caught in our own bubble, one where the outside world could not penetrate. A world I wanted to protect her from. For if I didn’t already know how fragile she was, then what happened earlier was a reminder enough.

By the Gods the fear I had felt in that moment was a new emotion I had never wanted to experience ever again! When I saw her foot slip as she got too close to the cliff edge, it was like being plunged into an icy lake. Pure dread had filled my veins and I had reacted without consequence. My only thought was saving her, caring little about who witnessed such, least of all her.

Something that, in the end, didn’t matter.

It was another obstacle I no longer feared I would have to navigate through and was the biggest one at that. Now as for her new social standing, that would have to be handled with care. Such as the meal we shared with my sister, as well as my Second and his unruly maid. Unruly if today’s events were anything togo by, for she certainly seemed to be giving the Vampire a run for his money.

I also had to question the timing of this, for us both to find our Chosen Electus within hours of each other was too much of a coincidence for either of us to accept. Something we openly expressed to one another the moment we were alone after leaving the ladies to their own musings. I had been tempted to confess the knowledge of Catherine knowing of our kind but, in that moment, it had felt wrong. Especially after I had promised to keep her secret. I didn’t feel right breaking such a promise, even to my Second.

But Lucius had been right, as there was a strange sort of familiarity between them, my Catherine and Miss Earhart. Like they already knew each other. My own betrothed even slipped up and called Lucius’s intended by another name. But stranger still, had been the way my own sister had come to her defence. Had that just been Sophia trying to put her at ease? For she had always wanted me to find my Electus… I just didn’t know.

However, the one thing I did know, was that I would soon get to the bottom of it all. Something I had intended to do that very night, even if it meant invading her privacy.

By the time I had finished speaking with Lucius, I found that she had retired to my bedchamber for the night. I was surprised to find her writing a letter, one she had seemingly just finished, and I looked over her shoulder to see her write the name of the friend she spoken of at dinner.

Amelia.

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