Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
A melia lay on the silk sheets, her auburn hair fanned out like a halo. The last rays of sunset painted Dimitri’s bedroom in hues of orange and gold. She trailed her fingers over his chest, mulling over the question he had asked her earlier—”Do you want to be immortal?”
Immortality. The implications seemed laden with doubtfulness. To be turned, to share his immortal life, was a gift beyond measure. But it also meant leaving her humanity behind, embracing the shadows that now lingered at the edge of her vision.
“Are you hungry, lyubimaya?” Dimitri’s voice interrupted her thoughts, his accent curling around the endearment.
“Starving.” With a reluctant sigh, she slid out from under the covers, feeling the cool air kiss her skin.
They dressed quickly, each lost in their own thoughts.
Dimitri called for Henry. “Henry, we need some dinner, please.”
Within moments, Henry appeared in the doorway. His salt-and-pepper hair was combed neatly off his forehead, his butler’s black and white uniform crisp and tailored. He stood rigid, hands clasped behind his back, but face turned a dark shade of red. His entire frame shook with barely restrained fury.
“Henry, what’s wrong?” Amelia stepped closer.
The chamber felt icier, as if the very air was siphoning heat from her body. She had never seen Henry like this—so raw, so unhinged. What had she stumbled into?
“Wrong? Oh, there’s plenty wrong,” Henry spat, his body quivering with rage. He pointed an accusatory finger at Dimitri. “I heard you, Master Dimitri. These walls are thin. I heard you ask this…this woman if she wanted immortality! How dare you! I have been loyal all these years and this is how you betray me! With some fling with this slutty human?”
The word ‘slutty’ cut through Amelia like a knife. She bristled, ready to defend herself, but she decided to remain silent.
“Henry, please,” Dimitri said. “It’s not what you think—”
“Not what I think?” Henry’s laugh was hollow, almost maniacal. “You should’ve considered my loyalty before you threw it away for this...this...stupid human. I can’t believe you offered her immortality over me!”
Stupid human. The phrase burned like a cruel taunt. She felt small, insignificant under Henry’s glare. How dare he insult her!
“Stop!” Amelia threw up her hands and a cold dread settled in her stomach.
Why had she ever thought she could belong in Dimitri’s world? A world where loyalty was as brittle as old parchment.
“Amelia, let me handle this, please.” Dimitri stretched out a hand toward Henry, a gesture meant to calm.
Could he mend something so deeply fractured? Amelia’s faith wavered as she watched him struggle for control.
“You can’t handle anything anymore, Master Dimitri. Not after this.” Henry’s tone was low, dangerous.
The room seemed to close in around them. Amelia’s gaze darted between the two men, her nerves on edge. It was as if the air itself buzzed with impending violence.
“Henry, please,” Dimitri pleaded again, striding forward cautiously. “You are too unstable for life as an immortal. You must deal with your aggression and past demons first, and then perhaps we can debate this again in a few years.”
“You have said that again and again!” Henry roared, his composure snapping completely. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Amelia felt frozen, unable to move or speak, every muscle locked in place.
“Henry, listen to me. Please, old friend.” Dimitri tried one last time, his timbre softening, but there was no reaching the man now.
“You’re dead to me, Dimitri,” Henry snarled, his expression fervent with betrayal and wrath.
She knew the wreckage of trust and loyalty could not be mended. Then Amelia realized that some wounds were too deep to heal and it hurt her to see their friendship ending like this. She felt a pang of sorrow. It was as if she was witnessing the crumbling of a grand cathedral, each stone falling away into oblivion.
She watched Dimitri’s shoulders slump. His eyes, usually so vibrant and alive, now seemed dull and lifeless.
“I never meant for this to happen,” Dimitri said. “I never wanted to hurt you, Henry.”
Henry scoffed, a harsh, grating sound that made Amelia flinch. “Spare me your platitudes, Dimitri. They mean nothing now.”
Amelia’s emotions were a whirlwind, desperate to find a way to salvage the situation. But what could she say? She was just a stupid human, after all.
“Please, Henry, let’s just talk about this.” Amelia’s limbs shook, betraying her discomfort. “There has to be a way to work this out.”
Henry’s gaze snapped to her, his stare blazing with hatred. “You have no right to speak to me, human. This is between me and Master Dimitri.”
Dimitri stepped forward, placing himself between Amelia and Henry. “Leave her out of this, Henry. Your quarrel is with me.”
Amelia’s heart ached at the sight of Dimitri’s broad back, shielding her from harm. Even now, in the midst of this disagreement, he was trying to protect her. The irony wasn’t lost on her—here they were in a heated argument and yet she felt a strange sense of safety behind him.
“Actually, my quarrel is with both of you,” Henry spat, his fists clenching at his sides. “You’ve made your choice, you bastard. Now you must live with the consequences.”
The air sizzled and hissed with strain, the room suddenly too small to contain the raw emotions eddying within it. She felt bad for Henry and wondered why Dimitri hadn’t given immortality to Henry before now. He must’ve had his reasons.
Consequences—they were constantly lurking in the shadows like reticent predators waiting for their moment to strike. And here they were now, baring their fangs at them both.
There was no going back from this. The trust between Dimitri and Henry had been shattered, the pieces too jagged and broken to ever fit together again.
And it was all her fault.
Henry’s eyes, red with fury, seemed to glow as he slowly withdrew his hands from behind his back. A fleeting gasp escaped her lips when she saw the weapon—a sharp wooden stake.
“Henry, what are you doing?” Dimitri said with a warning edge.
“Ending this,” Henry growled, his voice deepening unnaturally.
Then suddenly, his face contorted, muscles rippling under his skin. His features twisted and stretched into a monstrous version of himself. His skin rippled and bulged as thick fur erupted from his cheeks, hands, and forearms. His nose elongated into a snout, resembling that of a fierce wolf. In his inhuman, wolf-like appearance, his body remained eerily human, a grotesque merge of man and beast. Fur covered most of his body. His muscles tensed and bulged under his skin, pulsing with unnatural strength.
Amelia’s stomach lurched, bile rising in her throat. She stumbled back, her legs trembling like jelly. The room seemed to shrink around her, the walls closing in as she watched Henry transform into a werewolf before her eyes. Her fingers dug into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped marks as she struggled to comprehend the horror unfolding before her.
“Henry, don’t do this!” Dimitri’s plea held a fusion of authority and desperation, but it fell on deaf ears.
How did it come to this?
With a ferocious snarl, Henry lunged at Dimitri, his fingers tightly gripping the sharpened stake aimed directly at Dimitri’s heart. Like a predator striking its prey, Dimitri gracefully sidestepped the attack and seized Henry’s wrist in a vice-like grip. The two clashed in a deadly battle, their bodies moving with a fervent potency that sent them careening into an antique dresser, splintering wood and scattering ornate trinkets across the floor.
Desperation clawed at Amelia’s throat. She felt powerless.
“Stop! Please, stop!” Amelia cried out.
But neither man—nor creature—paid her any attention. They exchanged fatal blows, each punch reverberating through the room like thunder.
“Amelia, get out!” Dimitri shouted, his voice strained as he grappled with the werewolf.
“Not without you!” Tears streamed down her face, her vision blurred by panic.
The thought of losing him was unbearable. She’d spent so long yearning for someone who saw beyond the polished veneer of her high-society life. And now that she had found him—this sexy vampire who made her feel alive in ways she’d never known—could she really lose him to this lunacy?
Would she ever find peace if he was gone? Or would she be forever haunted by what could have been?
Amelia clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms as if the pain could anchor her to reality. She had to do something—anything—to stop this horror from unfolding further.
But what could she do against creatures of such power? Her helplessness gnawed at her soul, each second stretching into an eternity of dread and despair.
Henry swung the stake again, narrowly missing Dimitri’s throat. Dimitri retaliated with a punch that sent Henry sprawling into the wall, cracking the plaster. Paintings tumbled down, frames snapping under the impact.
The crazed, evil werewolf roared, a guttural sound that bounced off the walls, and he slashed at Dimitri with clawed hands. Dimitri dodged, but not quickly enough. The stake plunged into his shoulder, just missing his heart. Dimitri staggered, blood soaking his shirt, but he didn’t falter.
Gritting his teeth against the severe pain, Dimitri lunged forward and grabbed Henry’s wrist, twisting until bones cracked. Henry howled in agony. Dimitri tore the stake from his flesh. The stake clattered to the floor.
Amelia watched in horror, frozen by the unfolding violence. This couldn’t be happening. Dimitri’s trusted butler trying to kill him. She had to do something, but what? Intervening could get her killed.
Dimitri slammed the werewolf against the wall, his face a mask of feral rage. “You dare betray me? After all these years?” His fingers tightened around Henry’s throat, choking off his air.
Henry clawed at Dimitri’s hands, his eyes bulging. “I...deserve...immortality...not her,” he rasped out. “You’re...an asshole...”
The scene before her felt surreal, like a twisted nightmare she couldn’t wake from. How had it come to this? The man she thought she knew, the butler who had served Dimitri with an air of cold detachment, now revealed as a monster driven by envy and rage.
“Halt this insanity!” The scream tore from Amelia’s throat before she could stop it. Both men’s heads swiveled toward her, expressions shocked. She swallowed hard, heart pounding. “Please, stop this madness! I can’t bear to see you hurt each other!”
Dimitri’s grip loosened fractionally, indecision flickering across his stony features. Henry took advantage of the momentary distraction to headbutt him viciously. Dimitri reeled back, blood streaming from his nose.
A sickening dread settled in Amelia’s stomach. This was more than a fight for survival; it was a clash of broken souls, each haunted by their own demons.
Snarling, the bloodthirsty werewolf snatched up the stake and advanced on Dimitri, murder in his stare. “I’ll end you, demon. I’ll send you back to hell where you belong!”
“NO!” Amelia’s scream was raw, primal, filled with anguish.
With supernatural strength, Dimitri seized Henry by the neck, lifting him off the ground. Henry thrashed, clawing at Dimitri’s arms, but Dimitri’s grip was unyielding. With a final, brutal twist, Dimitri snapped Henry’s neck. The werewolf’s body went limp, a lifeless heap crumpling to the floor.
Silence fell, broken only by Amelia’s sobs. She sank to her knees, staring at Henry’s body. There was no relief in seeing him defeated—only a hollow ache that gnawed at her insides.
Dimitri knelt beside her, his hand gentle on her shoulder. “Amelia, do not trouble yourself, my beloved.” His expression was soft, pained. “I will take care of this.”
Could she ever truly understand the world Dimitri came from?
“Why...why did this happen?” she choked out between sobs.
“I suppose Henry felt betrayed,” Dimitri said quietly. “He thought I owed him immortality...but I knew he had too much aggression. Too much hurt and anger inside him, and he would only cause death and destruction.” He stood, effortlessly lifting Henry’s body with his uninjured arm. “I must bury him in the graveyard on the estate. He deserves that much. Wait for me here.”
Amelia nodded numbly, watching as Dimitri carried Henry’s body out of the room. The air felt colder now—colder and infinitely lonelier.
Amelia was shaking in spite of the warmth of the room. The enormity of what had just occurred pressed heavily on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the chill that seemed to seep into her bones.
She forced herself to move, to pace back and forth across the room as she tried to process everything. Dimitri had asked her if she wanted immortality—to become like him. But what did that even mean? This wasn’t a romantic notion from one of her beloved novels; this was real, raw, and terrifying. It meant living forever, watching everyone she loved die around her. It meant enemies—werewolves, for God’s sake!—lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.
Could she live with that constant danger? Could she bear to see Dimitri in such savage fights time and again, risking his life?
Her gaze fell on the broken furniture, the shattered remnants of artwork scattered across the floor. This was the reality Dimitri lived in—a world where violence could erupt at any moment, where trust was scarce, and betrayal was always a heartbeat away.
Is this what you want, Amelia? Is this the life you’ve been longing for?
She had always yearned for an escape, the chance to break free from societal expectations, to find something real amid the opulence and superficiality of her current life. But part of her recoiled at the idea of becoming something...inhuman, unnatural. A creature of the night, bound by blood and darkness.
She walked over to the window, looking out at the gardens below. She watched Dimitri walking along the path with Henry’s lifeless body flung over his shoulder as he headed toward the family burial plot. She thought about Dimitri’s offer, about the temptation of eternal love and beauty, then about the price that came with it.
Can I do this? Can I live this undead life?
She sighed. Somewhere outside, Dimitri was burying the man who had once served him—an act that spoke volumes about the life she might be stepping into.
Amelia realized that her decision would not come easily. Dread warred with desire and uncertainty. She would have to make a difficult choice and decide if she was ready to embrace the immortal life Dimitri offered.