https://youtu.be/3Rz41izy2tM

When I woke up, Zephyr and Rosario were already standing next to me. I leaned to the front a little and tried to get up but failed to do so.

"What in the world?" I muttered, weakly and looked up straight to see that they were staring at me with so much emotion in their eyes.

"Irina..." They both called my name together and from their voice itself, I could make up that they were worried about me. I tried to get up again but failed for the second time. That was when I noticed something was curled up around my arms and legs.

I widened my eyes and moved away from the blanket to see that thick vines were surrounding me and stuck onto me harshly.

"What did you do to me?" I said, looking directly at Rosario who stared at me, without saying a word. I clenched my fists with the vines still around me and glared at him.

"I asked you a question Rosario, what the hell did you do to me?!" I asked him again, this time in more of a shout.

"Calm down, love... Please understand, he did it to protect you." Zephyr exclaimed slowly and patted my shoulder lightly.

"Protect me or protect yourself?" I raised my eyebrows and he became silent, looking down.

"That's what I thought," I said and smiled sarcastically.

None of us said a word for a long while. I looked up above me and that's when I realized that we weren't at the mansion anymore.

" Where are we?" I asked in shock as I saw lots of vampiric runes on the ceiling up above. I gathered up all the strength in me to lean to the front and get a clear view of the place. A lot of unfamiliar vampires were wandering around the hallway in front of me and were giving me death stares as they passed by.

My eyes went back to Rosario and then they moved to Zephyr. They said nothing back which made me angrier.

"What do you think you're doing, by giving all the silent treatment?! For heaven's sake, tell me where we are, at least!" I shouted at them and they were about to open their mouths when a familiar voice spoke.

"Irina, it's alright. You're safe now." The man stepped out into the light and I widened my eyes to see that he was wearing a cloak. He gave me a devilish smile and walked closer to me.

"Damien..."

"We meet once again, Irina. How have you been?" Damien came in front of me with an evil crooked smile and took off his cloak. He was walking in a powerful way and gave forth an extreme dark aura.

I looked at Zephyr and Rosario as I clenched my fists tighter, making my palm bleed.

"You both were part of this?!" I shouted at them but they said nothing back and shared a glance with Damien.

"Don't work too hard on yourself, Irina. Your powers won't work in here." Damien told me and I glared at him.

"You bastard! What the hell did you do to me?!" I shouted as I struggled to get out from the vines that pulled me to the bed.

"Did you really think a vampire will fall in love with you, an elf?" Damien continued with a laugh and smirked at me, "and now you're mine, all mine."

"Never, I would rather die," I said firmly.

"Have it your way then." He said and turned around when he spoke again, "But I'm afraid I can't do that, I still need your powers, you see."

I widened my eyes when he started to walk even closer to me. He tried to cast a spell on me and I closed my eyes in pain.

"No...stop..."

"Ah Yes, finally," Damien said in delight and I could feel my energy draining lower and lower.

"Stop..." I said again and coughed.

All of a sudden, the pain vanished and I could feel some kind of shield surrounding me. I looked around me and saw Rosario's lips curving up into a small smile, which quickly faded when he saw the disturbed Damien.

"Rosario, how can she not be weak even after you cast your spells?" Damien asked with a frown but Rosario widened his eyes, pretending to know nothing of it.

"She's stronger than I expected, Damien. I'm afraid it won't be too long before she can free herself from our spells." Rosario said slowly.

'Brother...' I thought as tears formed in my eyes and he shared a glance with me to let me know he heard me.

"That should never happen, I want her." Damien declared firmly like I was some kind of doll he wanted to buy.

"What about the others then?" Zephyr asked slowly and I mouthed the words 'traitor' with clenched teeth at him to which he looked down.

"The others will be held hostile in the dungeons until they agree to obey me and help me in my plans," Damien announced and looked at me once more.

"Don't think you've got away this time, Irina. I'll have your powers soon, even if it means I have to risk everything in order to get them." He said and turned to go.

"You, firstborn. Make sure she doesn't get away, got it?" He said and Rosario bowed towards him which made me frown.

"As you wish, Damien," Rosario said and turned towards me. Damien gestured Zephyr to follow as he reached the door and Zephyr got up slowly after glancing at me to which I gave him back a death glare.

"Rosario..." I called softly after Damien and Zephyr had left the room.

'Wait, they're still outside listening to us. We shouldn't talk too loud, okay?' Rosario shared his thoughts with me to which I nodded slowly.

'Brother, what's happening here? Why are you obeying Damien's orders?' I thought and he looked down sadly.

'After the mansion collapsed, Damien came there and managed to convince the other vampires that you're a dangerous creature. But the ones with us, Edgar and the others argued that you just need help. Damien was outraged and are holding them captives in the dungeons.' He explained and held my hand in his.

When he saw my palm bleeding, he looked into my eyes for permission to heal my wound to which I nodded again.

'Harold, was a vampire hmm?' I asked with a small smile.

'Yes, he was.' He said and smiled back when I suddenly thought of Zephyr.

'Zephyr...What about him, and you too?' I asked with a scowl. He lightly patted the back of my hand and shook his head.

'He's feigning everything. He's just waiting for his chance to get revenge. And this is the only way.' He said and sighed as he continued, 'I tried to persuade Damien that I'm on his side but he's not that convinced. Even now, if you listen more carefully, he's talking to one of the vampires about me.'

When he said that, I focused more on my surroundings and was able to hear noises from the outside.

"Both are of the same blood..."

"We should be careful..."

'Wait.' Rosario said and cast another spell causing all the vines to die down. I got out of the vines and leaned more to the front and soon, I was able to hear the voices more clearly.

"She's his sister. Do you really think he'll turn against her?" A voice said. I shared a glance with Rosario before listening to them again.

"I'm not so sure but he is the only one who can weaken her powers. And, that is why we need him." A voice said which I quickly recognized as Damien's.

"And, after that? What do we do with him?" The man asked.

"We kill him, of course. Along with Zephyr, I don't think he is on good terms with me after he got to know everything." He said with a smirk in his voice. Anger rushed through me but Rosario quickly came to my sides and hugged me, giving me warmth and cooling me down.

'It's okay, Irina. It's okay, I'm here.' Rosario assured me, repeating the words over and over again. I slowly managed to gain control of myself and looked at him.

'What do we do?' I thought and he stared to the ground beneath us.

'We have to find the others first.' He thought back to which I nodded firmly in agreement.

Just then, we got startled as footsteps came real close to the door. I quickly leaned back and Rosario cast the spell again which covered my body with vines. I pretended to be unconscious when a familiar scent got my head turning towards the door unknowingly.

"Zephyr?" 

"Irina," Zephyr called me back sadly and came to embrace me in a quick flash. I buried my face onto his neck and started crying.

"Why?" I asked in between the tears and he leaned back to kiss me on the lips. The kiss was passionate, yet an emotional one. I could see him holding back as he slightly patted my back with his gentle hands.

"Forgive me, my love." He whispered to me and I leaned back to look at him.

"I was afraid, Zephyr. I thought I lost you forever." I said in between the tears which he wiped away.

"I'm really sorry, Irina. I won't ever leave you again, I promise." He said and kissed me again. We let each other's feelings sink into ourselves and stood there like that for a while until Rosario's cleared his throat after a sigh and spoke.

"Irina, Zephyr, we should go." He said and I looked down as my cheeks started to turn red.

'You ain't got anything to explain.' He shared his thoughts with me and I smiled shyly.

Zephyr nodded to me, understanding Rosario's words and held out his hand to me which I took, still with the smile. I slowly got up from the bed but fell down to the ground after the first step.

"I can't move," I said with a pout as Zephyr helped me up, letting me lean on his shoulder.

"Rosario," I muttered and Rosario scratched the back of his neck while Zephyr chuckled to which I hit his arm.

"Both of you ought' to get all those thorny vines on you, that'll teach you how much it hurts me and also to not tease others," I said with a frown and they widened their eyes.

"I would rather not," Rosario said and I smirked at him.

"You better not," I said and they held their hands together to show me that they're defenceless, which made me chuckle.

"I'll check outside the door and let you know, Irina. Wait for my message." Rosario said and I nodded firmly. With that, Rosario left the room with slow footsteps. I squeezed Zephyr's hand a little tight and he looked at me.

"Where's my bow, Zephyr?" I asked him in a whisper and he gave me his iconic crooked smile.

"Burned down." He replied and I glared at him.

"It was my mother's, Zephyr. Don't say things that will end up with me having to kill everyone." I said and he shook his head quickly.

"I was just joking for the coven's sake, Your bow is perfectly safe in the room nearby." He said and I nodded back. Just then, I bent down to check my boots in which I kept my dagger. I smirked to myself when I saw that it was still there.

'Not smart enough to check for everything, hmm?' I thought and changed my expression quickly when I saw Zephyr staring at me, confused.

"Is everything alright, love?" He asked me and I gave him a bright smile to assure him.

"Of course," I said and held his hand again.

Just then, Rosario connected to my thoughts, letting me know the coast is clear and I gave Zephyr the message.

'Got it, brother. We'll meet you in the hallway.' I thought back and slowly walked out of the room with Zephyr, looking back every now and then.