Xiran’s POV

Her screams had me jolted, she must have had another nightmare. Now I wondered if her nightmares revolved around her parent’s death which had been caused by my father. She never opened up to me about her nightmares. Everywhere that man went, death followed.

Now, I understood all her reactions, all her apprehensions, her need to get to the parties so she could seek him out, her mood swings, and her sufferings. The way she restrained herself to not give in to my temptations.

Her desperation to stay with me until she got what she was looking for. The way she had told me, she hurt people and I was better off without her. My eyes were opened to her inner battles and struggles which she must have fought, every day.

I now understood everything, crystal clear.

Could I even blame her? If I was in her shoes, would I have done things differently? Probably not.

Her organization had raised her as a weapon to kill vampires, watered and fed the hatred she already harboured for vampires, no wonder she abhorred us all.

I would change her perception though, I would give her hope and so much love that there won’t be any shard of the hate left in her being.

Suddenly my blindfold was yanked off and so was my gag and I saw her face convulsed in revulsion. She grabbed my collar and jerked me towards her and began to yell at me. Her turquoise spheres held extreme contempt, I had never seen hatred so direct in her eyes, but today she appeared different. The loathing that dripped from her being pierced my heart, shattering it into pieces, not understanding what she was blaming me with.

"I don’t understand what you are saying," I replied calmly, hoping she would calm down.

"Don’t you dare lie to me? What did you do to my brain? Did you help your father in killing my parents? What did you do to us? Tell me." She kept yelling, her both hands beating at my chest in frustration she was living through. I could feel her tumultuous emotions, she was extremely exasperated at that moment, and I could perceive them all, helplessly, sadly and despondently.

Unable to discern a way to help her, for I was bound and couldn’t take her in my arms to calm the raging storms.

"Please, Aselia... I don’t know what you are talking about. I haven’t done anything like that. I have never met your parents and I don’t kill innocent people." I desperately pleaded with her, trying to maintain eye contact with her, hoping she could detect the truth reflected in my eyes.

"Liar, you fu*king liar." She spat at me, her face was crimson with anger and I could see veins popping up in her neck. She was too agitated to see the sincerity of my words. Before she could attack me again, the young boy she called Yuri grabbed her by the waist and flung her to the other side, bringing his body between us.

"Calm down partner, calm down. Stay in control, we will get all the answers, right now you are not making any sense." He pressed her closer to him, trying to relax her. She groaned against his hold.

Something told me he had done it countless times before. She wore her emotions on her sleeve and he must be her anchor. This infuriated me, someone else touching her, calming her down, while I was shackled. The desire to break free and whisk her away rampaged through me.

He took her away from me and sat her down. She buried her face in her hands, her heart was beating like a drum and I could feel her emotions were in a disarray.

Then she began to wheeze uncontrollably, so he guided her to the lavatory and I could hear her retching in there for a long time. For the first time in a long time, I wished to not possess heightened senses, seeing her like that was tearing me apart. The bond we shared and the bond she kept rejecting was playing havoc on both of us, especially her health. I wasn’t sure how long she would continue like that. This will make her extremely sick.

I thought about what she had said and realized she accused me of being there when her parents died and erasing her memories of that day. I was never involved with the genocide plans of my father. We did try to help a few Elves escape from my father but that was it. His plans he never revealed to others and carried out secretly. I had never taken an innocent life, only killed those who wronged me or people I loved.

Agent 27 had gagged and blindfolded me again, but I could feel her agitated heart close by. The boy was trying to pacify her and it was bothering me beyond anything. I had gotten so used to her being only mine, that it was still a shock for me to process she had a whole other life I knew nothing about.

Was everything she told me about herself a truth or a lie? I didn’t know. How important this boy was in her life? The way she let him hold her and not kick his a*s told me she was comfortable with him. It was frustrating for me to think she could seek solace from someone else while finding me disgusting, and to think I was somehow involved in the murder of her parents.

I had to talk to her and explain that I wasn’t involved in any such plans. But how was I going to do that when I couldn’t even move, every inch of my body ached because of the serum she had injected me with as if it was lead coursing through my veins instead of blood. Even speaking took a strain on me. No matter how hard I tried but the ropes kept me in place, I had been drained of every last drop of energy.

I couldn’t hear her anymore, only her heartbeat which wasn’t as erratic as it was a while ago. She had calmed down and I hoped she wasn’t feeling nauseous anymore.

Although I felt pissed off at her and the situation she had thrown me in, her anger and agitation were valid at me. She lost her family because of my father and it was only natural she was trudging on the path of revenge. Understanding her stubborn nature I knew she would go to any length to seek what she desired.

The airplane began to descend and I heard her stern voice again. "Sedate him, I don’t want him knowing or hearing anything." I wanted to reach out to her, to say her name out loud but it was impossible to move or speak because of the gag.

A needle was pricked in my neck and gradually everything went dark. I lost consciousness and track of time.

Returning to my senses again, I slowly opened my eyes. I was still blindfolded but not gagged. Every vein in my body seemed to be on fire and I wanted to scream from the egregious pain I felt but would never grant them such satisfaction.

Using my senses I realized we were not on the airplane anymore. My surrounding was somewhere extremely quiet because I couldn’t hear any kind of sound. No beating heart, no sound of anyone talking, no sound of any vehicle, no animal or insect sound, no sound of the wind, it was like every sound had disappeared from the world.

Then I realized where I was, it must be a soundproof room to have no sound whatsoever. I was blindfolded but I knew the room was dimly lit and it was very likely an interrogation room. That meant they were watching me with either a camera or through a one-way mirror.

Both my arms were stretched to opposite sides and bound through chains. I could feel their cold texture against my wrists. My knees were on the floor and I was only wearing pants. The shirt had been removed, leaving my torso, naked. My feet were chained to the ground too, chains bit into my flesh holding me in place.

Then I heard a door creak open. A cold gust of wind mingled with her sweet tempting scent hint me like a cyclone, making me salivate. There was another scent with her and from the sturdy heartbeat I could tell, it was a male.

The door closed and I could hear their raspy breaths and the shuffling of their clothes. Her scent got stronger and I knew she was nearby.

My heart leaped at her closeness when the blindfold was yanked from my eyes and I saw her squatting in front of me with one leg arched and the other on the floor. Her beautiful face was barren of any emotions. She tilted my head up using her index finger and spoke in a robotic tone:

"Do you want to talk or do you plan on getting tortured? Because I will show you no mercy." Her words filled my veins with ice.