Page 55 of Alpha Power

Luther pursed his lips. "Nor do I. Barnabas is not the type of man to just give up."

She tensed, locking eyes with him. "You-you know him? Like personally?"

"I've met him a few times, yes, at a few Regent meetings. I never spent much time talking with him, though." His dark eyes ran over her face, taking note of the way she now held herself. Tensed and uncomfortable.

She was aware of the fact Luther knew who Barnabas was, however she wasn't prepared for the fact that he actually knew him. Would he-he wouldn't hand her over to him? Would he?

Silence befell them and Luther straightened in his chair. The sadness that the memories brought forth must have been obvious on her face, because he looked at her with that beautiful kindness once more.

"I'm sorry for what you endured," he whispered, reaching forward and lightly tracing his fingertips on the inside of her palm. The small gesture helped to calm her down and make her pulse spike all at the same time. "Loss that profound, it's hard to recover from. Some, never do. But others-" he looked deep into her eyes, squeezing her hand tightly. "-others come out stronger."

She looked down at their joined hands, a tight feeling in her chest. She wasn't the type to confide in others, to share her story. She hated pity and didn't want others treating her differently. Luther was the first person she ever told, and that was because she was getting something out of it.

She gave a small smile and squeezed his hand back before pulling away. For once, she didn't feel the need to wipe away the touch and it made her frown. She cleared her throat, feeling a little uncomfortable now that she had exposed herself so much to a man she barely knew.

It was her turn to ask a question, the problem was she had so many floating around in her head. She wasn't sure where to start, or what to ask first. She vaguely realised that Luther had asked a gajillion questions all at once, so she planned to take advantage and do the same. She would start with the one she was most curious about.

"How did you turn into a vampire?"

He gave a slow, lazy shrug of his shoulders. "The usual way. My body was drained of blood, and then my maker fed me his blood in return, reawakening my soul."

Zamorra scowled. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

She knew how the process of being turned into a vampire worked. The human needed to be entirely drained of blood, right on the brink of death, maybe even just a touch over. Then the vampire would feed their own blood back into the body, rejuvenating it back to life. As the blood courses through the veins, it alters the body in a way she didn't entirely understand herself, giving them super speed, super strength, unbelievable healing abilities, and immortality.

Luther picked up his glass and his dark eyes locked with hers as he took a sip, a mischievous grin on his face. "Fine," he sighed. "It was a long time ago, the years start to blend together when you've been walking this Earth for as long as I have. A lot of the memories from my human days are gone now,but I remember that night vividly. I was in a battle with a fellow gladiator when I-"

"Hold it," she said, raising a hand in the air. "Gladiator? As in, Roman gladiator?" She didn't think he could get any sexier, turns out she was wrong.

“Yes. It's not as glamorous or as fascinating as it sounds."

"Did you have to wear those short, little skirts all the time? Oh, oh, oh, what about the helmet? And the armour? Do you still have it? Do you wear it for like Halloween and stuff? Or Cosplay? You would get so many looks rocking up to Comic Con in something like that."

Luther stared, and she smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. Ahem, please continue."

"I was a slave-"

Well, shit. Now she felt like a bitch.

"-sold to alanistain the Colosseum after the death of my parents. I was trained to fight and told to put on a good show for the Emperors that came to watch. Despite what a lot of people think, Gladiators didn't always fight to the death. I had hundreds of battles before I finally met my end. Occasionally, you had sponsors who would pay extra for mortal combat. Those fights always brought out the biggest crowds."

He lightly traced the scar on his neck with the tips of his fingers, a faraway look in his eyes.

"I was a cocky guy back then-"

"Just back then?" she teased.

He smirked, before continuing. "-I had a run of good luck, you see, so I didn't think I would lose when I was put into a death match. L. Raecius Atilius. That was his name. He was a worthy opponent. Fast despite his size, lethal with a sword, formidable without. We fought hard, but in the end his skills far outweighed my own. With a solid blow to the neck, I was done for. I remember falling to my knees in the sand, the crowd on their feet cheering. I was on the brink of death when they carried me out and into the underground caverns beneath the Colosseum. It was a busy night, with chariot races and wild animal hunts. So they left me there, thinking I had already passed on into the next life, and rejoined the arena. That's where I met Zvetari. Or rather, he met me."

"Zvetari?"

"My maker. He had been watching my fights 0ver the years and liked what he saw. He decided that my life wasn't quite over yet, and he turned me."

"That makes you what..." She tried to recall her history class in high school, but that had always been her napping class, so right now all that was coming back to her was the dirty dreams she used to have of her P.E teacher, Mr Dontara. She frowned and gave Luther a small pout, hoping he would just put her out of her misery and tell her.

He shook his head lightly, a small smile on his lips. "2,283 years old."

Her eyes bulged from her head and she blew out a breath. "I just... if you're that old... I just can't believe it."

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