Chapter 137
Alec links his arm through mine, and we leave the room. As we reach therge set of stairs, he lifts me,
and with a sh, we appear at the bottom of the staircase.
‘Figured it would save us an hour walking down those steps.’ He shrugs. Iugh as he lowers me onto
my feet.
We enter the hall, holding hands. Everyone is already in here, including Magnus, who stands by the fire
holding two goblets of wine. He passes one to me and ces a kiss on my cheek.
‘You look like a goddess, Magnus smiles.
‘Thank you,’ I reply and sip the wine.
Musicians are ying the flute and the gittern with twodies who dance gracefully along to the music.
Reaper perches himself on the chandelier above King Damon and Queen Maia, who sit in their chairs
at the smaller table. Maia catches my attention and waves us over.
‘You must sit at the table here with us,’ Maia says. She looks Alec and Magnus up and down, ‘My, my,
do your men scrub up nicely, she giggles.
Thank you so much for the clothing. They are incredibly elegant,’ I reply and take my seat. Alec and
Magnus sit on either side of me. Fern, , Ria and Lc join in the dancing and drag Kadva along.
Yiselda and May approach and bow. Sabre, May’s Fennec fox, sits between May’s feet.
‘Good evening,’ Yiselda says to all of us.
‘Please, pour yourselves a drink and join us,’ Maia says.
A huge feast is spread out along all the tables. Trays of roasted meat and vegetables, tters of bread
and cheeses, and bowls of berries and grapes fill the tables. Sir Hugo, Eric and Troy join us and fill
their tes. I swear Sir Hugo already had a whole jug of wine to himself. I smirk as he refills his goblet.
The hall is filled withughter, chatter and music. I feel something run across my feet, so I discreetly
look under to see Nibbler eating the remnants of food that have fallen onto the floor. She lets out a
strange sound like a hup and turns into a small turtle, then hups again, transforming into a ferret. I
giggle as I watch her run to Yiselda’s feet and climb her leg. Now sitting back up again, I see she has
made herselffortable on the back of Yiselda’s chair. She hups again and turns into a seal
causing the chair to fall back with Yiselda. I cover my mouth to hold myugh. Nibbler ps her flippers
together and makes short bark that sounds like it’sughing at Yiselda.
Yiselda, with the help of May, gets herself up off the floor and pulls her wand out. Nibbler scoots away
quickly as Yiselda angrily chases her, but to her luck, she hups again and turns back into her mouse
form, making it hard to catch.
May I have this dance?’ Magnus asks with his hand reached out. I take his hand and nod. He pulls me
close up against his body, and we waltz.
‘It’s been such a wonderful night, don’t you think?’ I say,
“Yes, it’s been one to remember, that’s for sure,’ he smiles, ‘Are you looking forward to boarding the
ship and going to Emerald Ind tomorrow?’
Other couples that have joined the dance floor identally bump into us. With so many people now
dancing, Magnus leads me outside into the garden,
‘If I was to be honest, I’m partly nervous but also excited about Emerald Ind:
Magnus finds a stone bench, sits down, and pulls me onto hisp. He discreetly plucks a flower from
behind us and
presents it to me. I ept the daisy and take in the subtle sweet smell. Magnus takes the daisy and
ces it behind my
car.
I’m nervous and excited too,’ he says.
“Really?’
‘Yes, but as long as I am with you, I know we will be fine.’ He reassures me. My hands gently squeeze
his tighter, and we silently watch the moon for a while.
Alec approaches, ‘Nina, will you dance with me?’ He says.
And here I thought you wereing to ask me for a dance,’ Magnus smirks.
‘In your dreams, Alec says.
‘We should have another dance, Magnus says to me.
‘It’s my turn. You already had a dance with her!’ Alec snarls.
‘Well, I want another dance
‘Get in line then,
They re at each other, growling and snarling. I roll my eyes and stand between them, ‘Gentlemen, I
will dance with you now, Alec, then I will dance with Magnus,’ I say.
They both gaze at me and instantly rx.
‘Okay?’ I say,
‘Okay,’ they say and nod.
Alec and I dance throughout the hall. He smiles endearingly at me, but I can’t help but feel something is
wrong.
‘Is everything okay?’ I ask Alec.
‘Mhmm,’ he mumbles, not giving me a proper answer.
We finish the dance, and he kisses my hand, ‘You go and find Magnus and give him his dance,’ he
says.
Oh, okay, are you sure you’re okay?’ I say, his forehead is sweating, and he is looking more off-colour
than usual. He nods and walks away, leaving the hall. Instead of finding Magnus, I follow Alec, but I
lose sight of him.
‘Reaper, can you fly ahead and find Alec? I think there is something wrong,’ I mind-link.
Reaperunches from the chandelier and flies out into the garden. I can’t see Alec anywhere.
“This way, Reaper says. I see him flying in the distance to the right. I race towards him and find Alec on
his knees, pulling at his hair, fighting himself.
‘Alec? I whisper
He jerks his head back and looks at me in surprise. He has taken on the wild appearance when
deprived of blood.?
‘Alec, You said that you had been living off the blood of deer. I don’t understand why you are like this?’
N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.
Alec struggles to speak, ‘Not working, he manages to say.
‘If drinking animal blood isn’t enough to sustain you, then what is?’ | ask.
His eyes briefly gaze at my neck.
‘You have to have my blood, don’t you?’ Alec gives me a look of worry. ‘You know you can’
“No!’ He says, ‘Worried, I won’t stop.’
Reaper mind-links me.
‘Luna, vampires can only drink from their blood mes once mated. Any other blood is equivalent to
starving themselves. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking of drinking your blood, the taste and the
adrenalin it gave him since the moment he first tasted you. He is afraid of harming you and may kill you
if he cannot control himself while drinking from you. It has happened with many blood mes before,
where half of them have died, drained of blood,
Reaper’s words send a shiver down my spine, but I love Alec too much for him to starve himself.
‘Alec, look at me,’ I say, gripping his face in my hands, ‘You can’t control yourself as it is unless you
have my blood anyway. I will stop you from taking too much, okay?’
Alec gives me another worried look but nods hesitantly. I can see he is in pain as he holds his head
again. A momentter, his face draws closer to my neck. His hands wrap around my waist, and he pulls
me in against his body as his fangs sink into my neck. A minute goes by, and I feel faint, but Alec isn’t
slowing down. My hand reaches into my pocket, and I pull out my wand, ‘Repeliate,’ I-say, an invisible
force repels him back into the air, and hends a dozen metres away. He sits up in a panic and wipes
the blood dribbling down his chin.
Nina! Are you okay? I’m so sorry,’ he says, and with great speed, he appears right in front of me. I
sway a little.
‘It’s okay. You couldn’t help it,’ I say, falling to the side. He catches me and discreetly carries me
upstairs to my chambers. I’m ced gently on the bed. Alec then fills a cup with water and helps me sit
up and drink.
‘Thank you,’ I say
‘You shouldn’t thank me, Nina. I didn’t want this to happen,’ he frowns.
‘I know, Alec, but you should have told me that mating only then allows you to drink my blood. If you
drink a certain amount each day, perhaps it will be easier to control, rather than starving and making a
glutton of yourself?’ I joke, but he doesn’tugh. Instead, he kneels by the bed and sps my hands in
his.
“Why are you so forgiving? I could have killed you. Why have been blessed with the most loving soul
as my blood me?’ He asks, ‘Sometimes, I think I don’t deserve you,
Alec, sometimes I think I don’t deserve you, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you, Alec,’ I
smile,
His face lights up, and he kisses me passionately as Magnus walks into the room.