Bound by Curses and Vows – By Samantha Shaye #5
He took another sip of his coffee and took a deep breath before speaking again.
“Also, it has been five days since you’ve been out, and before you ask me why I didn’t wake you, I tried.
I even had a physician look you over. The physician said you were in a state of shock, most likely from my argument with Caelus, and needed as much rest as possible.
She said she was certain you would come to soon.
I am glad you are awake, and I will inform her so she can check you over before you leave. ”
Suhana was shell shocked. She heard everything he was saying, but she wasn’t completely processing it. How could someone who didn’t know her go to such lengths to make sure she was comfortable?
“Why?” It was the only word that came to mind. Why was Decimus doing all of this? Why did he need to talk to her? Why was all of this happening?
“Why, what?”
“Why are you doing all of this? Who are you?”
Decimus threw back the rest of his coffee and got up to place the cup in the sink.
For the first time, she was aware that she was alone with a stranger.
If he wanted to, he could kill her and make it seem like she never woke up from the shock she was in.
And yet, she couldn’t stop herself from pulling out one of the stools and sitting at the island across from him.
“Do you want the whole truth, the semi-truth, or a fraction of the truth mixed with lies I’ve told myself to make me feel better?”
Suhana considered her options. The whole truth could shatter her if she learned there was more to the supernatural world.
The semi-truth could be risky if he omitted information he didn’t find important but she did.
A fraction of the truth mixed with lies was not the way to go; she’d never know the full extent of what had happened between them.
She sighed. “I’ve come this far. You might as well tell me the whole truth.”
“Are you sure? I will warn you that once you know the whole truth, there is no going back. This truth could make or break you … could make or break us .”
Suhana was already knee-deep in this. The man from her dreams was right before her, in the flesh.
She had seen him argue with someone who looked as though he might murder her, so if that was the case, she needed to know how they were all connected.
Why they were all connected. “I understand, and I am ready.”
Decimus nodded and told her the whole truth, leaving nothing out.
He told Suhana he had been a high-ranking general in the Ancient Roman army and she had been an Indian Princess from one of the strongest vampiric bloodlines.
Caelus longed for that power and had confessed his love for her, but she was deeply in love with Decimus.
He explained how they had not only taken the seven rounds around the fire but bonded their life force, and now this was the last lifetime they had to make it right.
Then came the gritty truth, the dream Suhana had seen. Everything hit all at once. Decimus had killed her. And yet he had the nerve to sit here and call her his wife and beg for her to set him free?
No. This wasn’t happening. She grabbed her phone and ran as fast as her feet would carry her away from the Valor until she couldn’t run anymore. She wasn’t sure how far she got, but when she stopped to catch her breath, Decimus was right behind her and caught her in his arms before she collapsed.
"Let go of me!" Suhana screamed, struggling with all her remaining strength. Decimus’s grip tightened on her wrist, and she winced.
"You're lucky I followed you. Do you know what lurks at night?”
Suhana muttered a few incoherent words under her breath and eventually stopped her pointless struggles.
He was right. More time had passed than she thought, and what lurked in the shadows in the Valor part of town was not friendly.
Her right hand swept a few dark strands back again and allowed her mud-colored eyes to scan the darkening street.
The streetlights began to flicker to life—and continued to flicker.
This part of town always sent chills down her spine.
Each of the old brick buildings looked as if they would crumple to the ground at any moment, while some had already been conquered by gravity.
She felt the burn of unseen stares, but no eyes could be found, and strange noises echoed from within the buildings, down the alleys, and behind them.
Occasionally, Suhana jerked her gaze behind her to try and catch a glimpse of anyone following them.
No one within sight, but they're there, I know it.
Her heart rate accelerated with each step they took back toward his mansion.
"You're safe with me. Keep your nerves low. They can feel your fear and thrive on it.” Decimus kept his voice as steady as it had always been, with as little emotion as possible.
"Well, if it weren't for you, Decimus, I would not be in this position in the first place, would I?" Suhana perked a single eyebrow and kept her hard gaze locked on his.
An annoyed sigh escaped his throat. "Suhana, if not for me, you would have been dead five days ago when Caelus first came across you, remember?" Decimus’s grip loosened on her wrist and his eyes seemed to lose some coldness.
"Did you ever consider that maybe you would have been better off staying out of my life?"
“I did!” Decimus’s voice was shrill with anger and hurt.
“By the gods, I did! But I just … I couldn’t.
I can’t live life this way. I have stayed away from you for six lifetimes.
For me to see you die six times and not be able to hold you, to love you like I have wanted to for all these years …
It is a torture I wouldn’t wish on Caelus!
I know this all sounds insane. If I thought myself human my whole life, I would think it too.
But this is the truth , Suhana. I have so many portraits, memories, drawings.
I have accumulated all of it for this moment.
Just please come back inside, or those demons will tear you to shreds! ”
She didn't protest this time as they drew closer to the entrance. A stinging pain washed over her leg as she heard a ripping sound.
"Ow," Suhana hissed, stopping and jerking her gaze to her leg. At the back, there was a small tear in her leggings, the fabric slowly staining with a crimson liquid.
Small, disturbing laughter rang into the flickering darkness, and her heart dropped.
She hadn't noticed that Decimus had turned toward her, looking at the blood coating her leg.
Her gaze roamed over the empty streets and begged to see what was there, though she knew she never wanted to see the shadow beings that lived deep within the streets of the Valor.
The Valor. Damn the day I ventured too close to this place.
Decimus hated himself for what he had done to Suhana.
She’d locked herself in her room and refused to come out and eat a single morsel of food.
Balthazar—Brad in her world, he reminded himself—even came by and tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t have it, and rightly so.
He had been her best friend since childhood.
They did everything together and told each other their darkest secrets, and Decimus had made him hide the truth from her.
He knew she would need time to get over it, but time was not on his side.
He only had nine days before he had to appear in front of Lustitia.
If she didn’t want to tell Lustitia the truth, he was as good as dead.
“Look, I know Suhana—Draupati, whatever you would rather call her—and I’m telling you she will do the right thing. She may not remember her feelings for you now, but she will remember them in due time. Just give her the space she needs.”
Decimus sighed. He wanted to, he really did, but if she didn’t tell Lustitia that Caelus was the one who had killed her, Lustitia was going to erase Decimus from existence. To die for something he didn’t do was insane.
The click of the doorknob turning set his heart into overdrive. He’d been certain Suhana wouldn’t emerge from the room. When she gently padded down the steps, uncertainty in every step, Decimus did everything he could to keep himself from scooping her in his arms and hugging her.
She stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, and he watched as her gaze passed from Balthazar to him. “You said you had proof that I am truly your wife. I’d like to see it.”
Although Decimus’s heart beat with joy and wanted to leap from his chest to embrace her, he forced his happiness down and stood with composure. “Follow me.”
Balthazar cleared his throat and with just one look at his face, Decimus knew his friend didn’t like this. With a sigh, he encouraged Balthazar to join them.
Decimus led Suhana through his mansion to a large gilded door and down a winding staircase leading to a long corridor. Fear radiated from her body with every step, and it took everything not to take her hand in his to reassure her no harm would come from this venture.
On this level, tapestries showed their first life together, busts of the two of them from their ancestral palace, and a room with her clothing and jewelry.
Things he swore he’d never get rid of. As he showed it all to Suhana, Decimus watched different emotions play across her features. They always returned to one: confusion.
Decimus couldn’t tell if she remembered anything, but if there was one thing that could jog her memory, he hoped it was her sword, crafted by Tvastar himself for the sacrifices her family had made to aid in the battles of the gods.
Decimus had fought many battles alongside her as a Roman general and wanted to fight many more.
If it wasn’t for Emperor Augustus, they may never have met.