Bound by Curses and Vows – By Samantha Shaye #3
But this was entirely different. The woman he needed to talk to was not the Draupati he’d known and loved.
Was not the Draupati who loved him. This was another woman entirely, and he could not just march up to her and say: “You are my beloved wife, Draupati, whom I married several hundred years ago. My head is on the chopping block for a murder I did not commit, and you are the only one who can prove my innocence.” To which she was then likely to respond: “Whose murder?” Then he would have to reply: “Yours.” Then this new version of Draupati would probably kick him where it hurt and run to the police station.
Then he’d likely be in deeper shit than he was in at this moment.
There was no scenario in which the result was his old life granted back to him.
You might as well give up while you are ahead .
And he was just about to when his friend’s corporeal form showed up.
“The Judge wants to see you.”
Decimus immediately scoffed. Lustitia was not a goddess to be taken lightly, nor was she one to take a joke.
She loathed vampires, and the very thing they all stood for, looking for any reason to condemn them all.
She had waited ages for his Judgement Day on purpose, and now that it was close, he wanted to murder his friend for making such lighthearted jokes about it.
“If you like living, I think it is best you leave.”
His friend ran his hand through his messy hair and stood up straight. “Look, I’m not messing with you. I might have told Lustitia that Draupati was starting to remember.”
Decimus’ vein popped in his forehead as fire rumbled within him.
“You did what ?” He bared his fangs at his friend.
If he wasn’t this bodiless shadow, he would have seized the man by his throat.
How many times did he have to tell Balthazar he didn’t want Draupati in the middle of this?
Even if she was starting to remember, that would only mean Decimus’ demise and nothing more. Nothing good would come of this.
“I know you want her to stay out of it, but if it will save your life…”
“It will condemn me!” Decimus balled his hands into fists, wishing he could punch something and get his anger out.
“What are you talking about? If Draupati remembers, she can clear your name.”
Decimus closed his eyes and forced his anger down. He really didn’t want to relive this part of his life. But he didn’t have a choice, now. He had to tell Balthazar what he had seen the night of his wife’s murder. If Caelus hadn’t knocked him out, none of this would have happened.
“In Draupati’s memories, I am the one who murdered her. Caelus pretended to be me and lured her to bed, where he slowly tortured her and then drank her dry. The last thing she will remember is my face hovering above hers.”
Decimus’ heart clenched within his chest as bitter memories surfaced.
Her blood had been everywhere . The sheets, the cot, everything soaked in it.
He wished it had been him who died on that bed.
He should have been there for her. With her.
He should never have gone out to hunt alone.
She’d even allowed him to feed from her to satiate him between hunts.
He’d cradled her in his arms and cried until Morta appeared by his side.
Caelus must have known Draupati was a pureblood vampire of the highest royal vampire family in India, which was why he had to torture her first and then feed from her.
She would have never willingly let him. Decimus hadn’t known her lineage, until the moment their lives were bound together as he drank from Draupati.
The complication came from Suhana, though, not from Draupati herself. If Suhana’s memories were only now starting to come back, she wouldn’t remember Caelus’ existence. She would only see Decimus’ face; after all, Caelus was his twin.
“So, you see, Balthazar. You have put both of your best friends at risk.”
Balthazar cursed under his breath. “Now what?”
“Now, I go to Lustitia and see what she will do with me.” Decimus wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, but he was certain it was not going to be pleasant.
Dense fog surrounded Suhana as crows and ravens cawed in the distance.
She tried to reach out in front of her to feel what was there, but even her hand disappeared.
She called out, hoping someone, anyone, would hear, but she was met with an eerie silence that made her insides turn.
She was trying to visit the historic part of town, the one where the apothecaries still did business among underground taverns and shops.
If she hadn’t searched his name and found the address leading her to the Valor, she would have believed she was dreaming, but how she’d ended up in this dense fog was beyond her.
Suhana wanted to go back; the fog made it impossible to see which direction she’d come from.
The ground beneath her feet was cobblestone, as it ought to be in the historic part of town.
Against her better judgment, Suhana continued forward.
After several minutes, the fog lifted, and a shiver ran down her spine.
She was face to face with a large mansion.
If she had to guess, it covered at least three blocks.
The gate in front of her was at least twice her height.
There was a grassy area, complete with a statue of a goddess of some sort.
The closer she looked, the more familiar it seemed.
She felt as though she had seen the face before, but it was too far and too covered with moss for her to truly see who it was.
The cobblestone leading up to the mansion was covered in moss, as if the person who lived there hadn’t taken care of the property.
Yet, the mansion itself was in good condition.
The brick foundation didn’t seem to have a single crack, the windows weren’t boarded up, and the brown door was as modern as the one on her single-family home, inherited from her parents after they retired and moved farther down south.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The deep masculine voice came from directly behind her and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
Suhana knew that voice anywhere. Decimus .
Licking her lips, she turned around, coming face to face with the man from her dreams. His eyes were as clear blue as the water he’d waded into in her last dream.
His skin was the same tan. Only this time, he was clean-shaven and devoid of any scars.
He was almost a whole head taller than her, and his aura was lethal.
But this was reality, and they were within breathing distance of each other.
“I … um … I …” She could barely form any thoughts.
“It is dangerous for you to be here. You need to go.”
Suhana shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere without answers.
“Who are you?” The courage in her voice did not do justice to the rollercoaster in her stomach.
“You are on my property, and yet you ask me who I am? You humans are so strange.” Decimus flashed his fangs and Suhana rolled her eyes.
Of course he was a vampire. The fog, the crows, the ravens.
It all made sense. She wasn’t oblivious to the vampires who lived in the historic part of town.
Reincarnation was not proven. Vampirism, werewolves, and witches were.
And yet as she stood there looking at him, she knew Brad had been right all along.
“Your name is Decimus, is it not?” Now Suhana was getting brave. Where it came from, she wasn’t certain. She needed to put this man in his place if she was going to get her answers.
“And you are Suhana Vaikar.”
Suhana’s eyes grew wide, though she knew it would make sense that he knew that just as she knew who he was. “What is our relationship?”
“Our relationship is nothing,” Decimus responded. “Now leave.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see, I’ve been having these crazy dreams, and you’re in them. The fact that you know my name tells me you know the connection between us, and I am not going to leave here until I get my answers from you.”
Decimus sighed in utter annoyance.
“You ought to have thought of a better line than that. Seriously. The human who dreams of the gorgeous, brooding vampire. I only know your name because I can read minds. Now, if you will leave me …” He pushed past her and unlocked the gate.
“The moss on your property shows you have not been here for ages, so just where have you been, Decimus?” Suhana didn’t know why, but she felt the need to question his whereabouts as if he had been gone from her life for far too long.
“You humans are really something else.” Decimus shook his head and increased the distance between them.
Her heart shattered into splinters, and before she could stop herself, she screamed his name. “Decimus, please! I need to know what is going on!”
Suhana wasn’t sure if it was his conscience or the way she pleaded that made him stop, but her heart fluttered to life as he motioned for her to follow him.
“Do not touch anything.”
All she cared about was getting the answers she deserved.
“ Let. Her. Go. ”
Suhana’s heart dropped into her stomach as fear crept into her being. The male voice behind her sounded exactly the same as the one in front of her, yet how could there be two?
The man in front of her let out a guttural growl that sent her running for the gate, but before she could reach it, it slammed shut. “ She is not going anywhere, Decimus.”
Decimus? Was the first one not Decimus?
“You are not going to win this time, Caelus.”
She took a deep breath. Okay. So, the one I thought was Decimus is actually Caelus, so are they … twins?
“You always have to get involved, don’t you?”