Chapter Seven ~Serenity~

I could see it now, this stranger was something not of this mortal world not with his midnight-colored hair that spiked out into floppy points of frosted white, and his sharply pointed ears that extended farther back then was normal for an Opsona. The scarf now removed from his head and tugged away from his eyes, I could make out a lot more details that set him apart from the rest of the mortals on this plane. Such as the sharp claw-like lines on his left cheek that disappeared into the mass of scarf still wrapped around his neck. Three deep red lines that followed along the contour of his face from a narrowed point at their start and widened the farther down they traveled. Once they reached his jaw it looked as though a fourth line started but I couldn't be sure.

Those were markings I had only seen on more demonic creatures or those chosen for some kind of sacrifice. There was also a race I wiped from this world that used the marks such as those to display magical ranking, but they also were pale beasts with two heads. Opsona also used a number of decorative tattoos to both display their heritage and specialized disciplines, but theirs were intricate and detailed. Not solid and sharp like these ones, nor were they ever any color other then white or black.

“You're such a fool,” I growled turning the leave the room. As much as he interested me I wasn't going to allow him to get the upper hand.

Yes, I wanted to know everything about him, I wanted to know what it was that made me so aroused about the thought of battle. There was something there when my master questioned him, standing there in the chamber I knew it. I could feel the wrongness and danger that built and flowed off Cret but I couldn't keep myself away. A chill still lingered in my body from our brief interactions. He was new, interesting, exciting, and my creature loved it.

“Leaving without your answers, Serenity?” The sound of my name passing his lips made me shudder for some reason and I stopped. “That isn't like you.”

“You know nothing about me, boy!” I tried to sound degrading and confident in my response but even I knew I had failed. The word 'boy' left my mouth without that same mocking tone that said he was beneath me.

“I know everything about you, Serenity.” The smug tone in his voice made my blood rage to strike at him, but if I played along he might give something away. “Just like I know the Vamdari are here on this mortal plane, in Tentusa. How many are there?”

I didn't turn to address him, it was better to keep my face from his view with all its rebellious falters. I wanted to read him, I didn't want him reading me or gaining any information that may put more strain on my master.

I let out a chuckle to his question, “Vamdari? Never heard of them.”

While my responses and questions distracted him I tried to look into his mind. I had tried before when I felt that ominous feeling that rolled off him but there was nothing. Something was blocking me, pushing back like when I tried to read my master's thoughts. I knew he was too powerful just on that fact alone, because I had never met anyone other then Vondorian who could defend against my mental prying.

I closed my eyes waiting for his response but more to focus, it was easier here to do without any mental chatter from the mortals in the city. There were no voices, no background noise to distract me but even then I couldn't break through. A blank nothing greeted my invasions and a light feeling, a distant echo of some surface emotion. It felt like intense struggle, a deep torturous conflict. I pushed farther to read more but the strain was starting to effect me physically, beginning as a light throb in my head and then rushing into my temples like a hot knife.

“Careful,” his haunting voice broke my concentration, I had nearly forgot he was in the room.

You're going to hurt yourself.

The sound of his voice inside my head caused me to gasp in disbelief, and yet I longed to hear it again. The smooth haunting sound of each word whispering against my mind, it was seductive in a way Vondorian's could never be.

I turned to face him and was met with a smug look, he knew I was surprised, rattled by what I just heard. A foreign voice that was so rich, a gentle whisper of dark allure floating around inside me.

I could think of nothing to say, no words formed inside my mind, just a desperate need to learn more about him and these abilities of his. I was already certain he wasn't an Opsona, but then what was he? “Who are you?”

It was a stupid question compared to the many others that he brought to mind, but it was the only one that I could focus on.

“I'll tell you, if you answer my question first.” He was toying with me, playing around and I liked it despite the aggravation. “How many Vamdari are there?”

His question snapped me back into reality, did he honestly think I would give away secrets? And if I did answer him how could he know it was the truth? I could tell him the whole army was here to scare him instead of the reality that Master only traveled with but a few of us. I grinned ready to give my dishonest reply, he would never know.

“About seven or ten, that is a manageable number,” he said before I could.

I froze. How is this possible?

“The Vamdari are a myth,” I tried to play it off, fighting to regain my cool exterior but I was shaken by the information he just pulled out of me. "A legend that people use to scare children.”

Cret narrowed his gaze in my direction, a sly knowing laced those amazing emerald pools. I could deny the Vamdari all I wanted to, but it didn’t matter because he was inside my mind. The thought of him there among my darkest thoughts and secrets made me shiver as thoughts of him and me in heated battle turned to images of salacious interactions.

“Now who's playing games?” The words left his lips and he was on me. I didn't have time to register the movement. I didn't see him move at all.

Cret pinned my hands on either side of my head and pressed his body against mine, my creature purred at the dominance being displayed and growled to entice more sensual play out of him. I tried to hold it at bay, but the hint of lightly defined lean muscle under that thick gray clothing made it hard. I wanted him just as much as the creature.

The bare skin of his fingers trailed against my right wrist and instead of taking the opportunity to free myself I reveled in the heat that ignited from such a simple touch, which turned in a light caress as he ran his fingers along my skin. Lingering his tracing motion for a moment before tugging the cloth of my shirt sleeve down, exposing the flowing marks carved into my wrist. The lines twisted and weaved out into a symbol reflecting what we both knew.

“Vamdari,” he whispered locking me into his intense gaze, a strange hunger focused right at me with so many unspoken intentions. “You can't win at this game, Serenity.”

“That's because you're not playing fair.”

“What's wrong,” he asked moving closer, closing the distance between our faces to only a fraction of an inch. That hot honeyed breath of his scorching my lips with all their pleasured promises. “Can't handle the challenge?”

The sweet tease he offered aroused not only my sexual desires but the need to prove myself. The need to play back in the only way my creature knew how. Smirking I kneed him in the gut swiping my right hand toward his face to draw blood. Cret stumbled back and out of the way of my attack, I only caught the cloth of his scarf which ripped easily.

His face now more exposed increased the already growing number of questions trapped inside my mind. The long red lines on his face traveled down past his jaw and wrapped under continuing down his neck before disappearing under gray clothing. What did they mean?

“Very good, but before we get to that I still have more questions,” he said with a chuckle rubbing his stomach where my knee had made impact.

“I am not going to answer your questions. You are in no position to be asking anything,” I reminded him.

“That man, is he the lord of the Vamdari?”

The arrogance, my reply to is blantant disregard for his position. I wasn't going to answer. He wouldn't get anything out of me. I couldn't betray Vondorian again.

“Vondorian, is that his name?” he asked with a cocky smirk. The bastard was still reading my thoughts.

“Is he your sire Serenity? Did he do this to you?” His questions suddenly sounded more pointed and angry.

The distant echo of a feeling I had sensed inside his mind became stronger, more refined till I could see the cause. He was sorry and agonized over my predicament. Anger and pity mixed in his eyes and it made me sick to look at him. Flooding my mind with pointless, meaningless thoughts I turned to leave before I gave anything else away.

I was jerked back, my arms drawn behind me by the bicep and locked into place. I was restrained without even sensing any movement. He was good.

He didn't say a word, nor ask me another question. Instead I felt his hand snake its way against my neck and to the front of my shirt. I should have felt alarmed, and though I jerked a little in protest my skin shivered under the anticipation of what he was going to do.

“Shhhhh... I have to know,” he whispered into my ear as he undid the top buttons of my shirt down to where my corset started.

The warmth of his body behind me drew back for a second and he tugged at my clothing, nearly ripping it to expose my left shoulder. I knew what he was looking for and what he would find. Shame washed over me as the chill of the room met my exposed flesh marred with the brand of Vondorian. I was the only one that carried his symbol on my body. The only one that had ever been branded with his crest, and I would wear it for life. It had been seared into my body with an enchanted flame. Back then I considered it a mark of honor, now it was just a reminder of what and who I was.

Cret went silent but I could feel his fingers gently trace over the curved V on my back, the flesh so sensitive in that area even after all this time.

“I'm sorry.” His words shocked me. He acted like he knew me from long ago but I had no memory of him. “If I could do anything about this I would, my raven beauty.”

Raven beauty?

I had heard those words before, I couldn't place them just like his scent but they sparked anger deep within me. My creature growled in rage and I repelled my head back into his face, a crack filled the room and the warmth of his body left me.

In a rage I turned on him before he could recover. I slammed his face into the ground. I drew his arms back and embedded my knee between his shoulder blades.

I wanted to rip him apart, my creature wanted to destroy him but some form of reason still grasped onto my mind. Enough that I could think in some rational way.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” I growled down at him. “And stay out of my thoughts.”

He only laughed even with his face forced into the stone. “If that is what you wish. You needed only to ask.”

I gave his arms one last tug sending my knee deeper into his back before I left him. Locking the door behind me I fled to sort out the jumbled mess of emotions that were waking inside.