https://youtu.be/uX_reAz9ulA

The next day, I went straight to the kitchen before it was time to go to the forest with Zephyr.

 Dylan was sitting on one of the dining chairs, waiting for Jack to finish cooking and I walked toward them with a small smile before sitting opposite to Dylan.

"What would you like to have, Irina?" Jack asked me, cheerfully.

"I'll have an omelette, thanks," I said.

"That'll be coming right up. I'll get on with yours after I'm done with Dylan's, Irina." Jack replied.

"Well Jack, how come you didn't ask me that question?" Dylan complained in a sad tone.

"That's because I already know what you want, Dilly. Here you go." Jack placed a huge tray of steak and scrambled eggs before Dylan with a huge grin which Dylan quickly returned before starting to eat.

"You two seem pretty close, should I call you Dilly too, Dylan?" I asked with a chuckle to which they quickly shook their heads together.

"That's the name that I get to call him, mind you. And well, answering your words Irina, we were actually not this close when we first met." Jack told me as he swiftly placed an omelette in front of me with a small smile.

 "What do you mean? From the way you both talk to each other, anyone would say that you are the best of friends." I raised my eyebrows slightly before starting to eat the omelette.

"Not really though. It took us a lot of time, you know? Spending tons of time together." Dylan exclaimed as he ate another piece of his steak.

"Oh. So, time is essential for understanding one another, hm?" I said, slowly.

"Well, that's not always true. Sometimes, people get close to each other right away, right? Like you and Zephyr, for example." Dylan said, making me choke on the omelette and drink a glass of water that Jack provided me with, in a quick moment.

"What did you just say, Dylan? Irina and Zephyr are close? That's not possible because Irina and I are much closer, right Irina?" Jack shrugged his shoulder and rolled his eyes before continuing, "Plus, Zephyr's a cold person and you can never know what exactly he's thinking, so you'll have a hard time if you're with him, Irina." 

"Umm..." I said nothing but felt my cheeks getting flustered.

"And in that regard, I can cook and I'm way too kinder than him. So, I'm the perfect man for you, aren't I?" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack, don't say that yourself," Dylan said with a chuckle but Jack ignored Dylan and turned towards me.

"Oh I know what to do, I'll talk to Lucas about letting you work here with me in the kitchen." Jack declared with a grin making me slightly chuckle.

"Yeah sure. Go ahead, Jack," Zephyr's voice spoke from behind us and all of us turned towards it.

None of us had heard him come in, but there he stood, leaning against the kitchen door and he was glaring at Jack sharply.

"It's not fair that only you get to see her most of the time, Zephyr. I want to work with her, too." Jack complained, making Zephyr roll his eyes at him before turning towards me," Irina, once you're done eating, come with me, got it? We need to go to the forest ." He said to which I nodded my head in response.

"I guess I'll see you both later, then." I hurriedly chomped down the omelette and bowed toward Dylan and Jack before following Zephyr out of the room.

After I left the kitchen, I took some steak to Zaphira who was waiting in my room and went patrolling in the forest with Zephyr. 

Zephyr seemed to have a bad temper ever since he left the kitchen and I sighed to see him being that silent. I stole a quick glance at him and our eyes met.

"What?" Zephyr asked with a frown.

"Well, you look like you're mad about something."

"Think about it yourself. If I'm mad, it's your fault." He said and looked away.

"Come on, that's all you say," I said in an annoyed tone but he said nothing back and walked deeper into the forest.

"You two have gotten real close, huh?" A voice called making us both turn towards it.

The vampire who attacked me came out from the shadows of the trees with a thin smile on his face, eyes blazing with pure hate.

"The person who's been watching me recently was you, wasn't it?" I raised my eyebrow to which he gave me an evil smirk.

"But why? I didn't do anything to you!" I almost shouted.

"You're in our way just by existing, Elf. Damien is thrown off by even the slightest presence of yours." The man replied.

"Where is Damien?" I asked but Zephyr stopped me with his hand and stepped forward.

"Leave, Ethan." Zephyr told the man.

"Hand over the girl." The man named Ethan replied.

"No."

"Zephyr, do you even understand what you're saying?!" Ethan shouted with a glare while I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong as I heard them speak.

'Why doesn't Zephyr capture this man? After all, that man had attacked me, and if we don't capture him then, he may harm many more people.' I thought, confused.

"Irina, I'll deal with him, you should go back to the mansion," Zephyr told me.

"But-"

"No buts, leave right now. I won't let you get hurt twice in front of me." He frowned at me but his voice sounded somewhat sad.

"Listening to you speak like this...You've become a coward, Zephyr. Don't tell me you were moved by this girl." Ethan said and this time, I glared at him.

"Shut up," Zephyr said.

"Damien seemed like he favoured you, Zephyr. So I stayed quiet until now. But that all ends here, I'm going to kill you both to not leave any witnesses." 

"What is he talking about, Zephyr?" I asked, looking back at Zephyr.

The doubt that I had been denying countless times grew so big inside me that I couldn't deny it anymore.

"You don't get it yet? Zephyr's one of us. He's part of our coven." Ethan laughed mockingly at me.

"No...that's...not true," I said and looked at Zephyr but he said nothing.

"Well, I guess it's all in the past now. It seems like he prefers you, an elf, over us vampires." Ethan said as he took out his sword slowly.

The shock was so much that I couldn't think straight anymore. My heart forgot how to breathe and my legs started to feel weak. I tried to deny it over and over again but failed to do so.

"I trusted Zephyr, and I was planning to attack you once you were alone with him but it turns out that I've been betrayed," Ethan said.

"You bark too much for a dog, Ethan." Zephyr exclaimed.

"Well, now you're going to die in the hands of this dog, Zephyr!" Ethan shouted as he thrust his sword towards Zephyr.

"It seems like you won't back off no matter what I say, I guess it can't be helped then," Zephyr said before turning to me.

"Irina, I'll explain later. So right now, trust me and do as I say. When I give you my signal, run towards the mansion, get it?" Zephyr looked at me from the corner of his eye as he confronted the man showing me that a fight was about to start right in front of my eyes.

"You traitor! How low have you fallen to protect an elf?! Even if Damien forgives you, I won't!" Ethan dashed at Zephyr and the blade cut through his arm.

"Zephyr!" I screamed.

"I'm fine, Irina." Zephyr assured me before turning towards Ethan, "You're doing all this for Damien? It's pitiful that your devotion for him has blinded you from seeing the things as they truly are." 

"Don't get so cocky, kid! A poor child...raised by an elf, ain't that you?" Ethan exclaimed and Zephyr's shoulders twitched in astonishment. 

'Zephyr was raised by an elf?!'  I widened my eyes as I thought it over and over again in my head.

Seeing Zephyr's surprised face made Ethan regain his composure and he twisted his lips slightly upwards.

"You think it was hard to find out about your past? A poor vampire child, taken in and raised by an elf. The elf was a nice person though, wasn't he? He gave you his blood without fear. But do you think we would let such an elf go unnoticed?" Ethan asked, mockingly.

"You bastard, you wouldn't-"

"Oh yes I did, I was the one who killed him!" The man said with a smirk and Zephyr's eyes turned red with anger.

The atmosphere around me was getting too heavy and I stood watching them as every word hit me like a whip.

"Without knowing it was me, you appeared straight before me, Zephyr. I wanted to burst out laughing at that time. Because I realized that you were looking for his murderer." Ethan gave Zephyr a smug smile.

"That man with the mask who attacked my house, that was you, Ethan?!"

"Oh, it was. I bet it devastated you, Zephyr. You were young, yet you tried so hard to protect him. But, unfortunately, you were just a little boy back then." Ethan said and fake cried, then continued with a smirk, "As a result, he was brutally killed right before your eyes and had all the blood drained from his body by me. I was going to kill you too, but Damien stopped me. Hear that? You're alive because of Damien!"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Zephyr kicked him away with all his might, slamming Ethan against a big tree.

"I'm going to kill you right here, right now," Zephyr clenched his fists as he closed in on Ethan and punched him. The sword dropped from Ethan's hands and Zephyr kicked it away. The sword rolled through the air and stabbed the ground next to them. Ethan started to tremble violently, frightened of Zephyr standing over him.

"Atone with your death!" Zephyr said and was about to behead him but before he could, an external force pulled him back and Damien came out of the shadows. 

Zephyr quickly came in front of me in a protective way and using that time, Ethan went near Damien and stretched his arm towards Damien but I noticed that Damien was wearing an expression of ecstasy.

"Damien, you told me to keep Zephyr alive but see now that he's a traitor trying to protect an elf. It goes against your decision, right? So let's kill him now." Ethan exclaimed with a frown while I looked at the scene in front of me in complete disbelief and gulped. 

I was one of the perfect marksmen of Valeria, I was the archer who never knew what was fear. But at that time, it felt too true that I was getting scared by vampires.

I held Zephyr's hand tight and watched them staring at each other while Damien slowly pulled out the sword from the ground, making Ethan smirk at us.

 But at the next moment, Damien pierced the blade through Ethan's heart and I stared at the scene in shock as Ethan fell to the ground with eyes wide open. Then, Damien snapped back Ethan's head roughly and the dark hair was no longer connected to Ethan's body.

I gasped for a moment and stared at Zephyr who quickly noticed my frightened expression and hugged me close to his chest. My heart started beating faster as I felt his body onto mine.

"You did too much for your own selfish rate, Ethan. You would've only gotten in the way at this rate," Damien said coldly to Ethan, who lay on the ground, lifeless before turning towards us with a twisted smile.

"Zephyr, you figured out the culprit who killed your stepfather was from my coven. And, you realized my true intentions. Well, unlike Ethan, you're pretty smart, I must say." Damien declared as he looked at both of us and Zephyr tightened his hold on my hand. 

Damien noticed that and continued, "That's why you kept her away from me, am I right? So, that tragedy wouldn't repeat itself. Even if it meant that you'd be playing the role of a villain, you chose to protect an elf, the woman you love."

"What? No...way..." I said and looked into Zephyr's eyes but said nothing back and kept silent. 

'He was protecting me this whole time?' I thought.

"Zahara's daughter, you're a lot like her. You're honest, and once you've decided something, there's no way of changing that decision. This explains, why Zephyr worried about you and kept pushing you to go back to your family although you refused his words and decided to stay. You understand now, Irina? You made the decision yourself only to quicken your death." Damien said and I glared at him.

"You're speaking an awful lot today, Damien," Zephyr said making Damien turn towards him.

"There's no need to feign friendliness anymore because it's about time, Zephyr. I was going to use Irina's powers but you betrayed me. And guess what? I don't need you anymore, Zephyr. I feel bad for you two, but you'll have to die." Damien said in a sarcastic tone and swung his sword at Zephyr.

 Zephyr quickly pushed me out of the way and dodged as he shouted, "Irina, go back now! I can fight him off, but not with you here!"

Damien regained his stance and dashed towards us again, and that time, the tip of the sword drew close to Zephyr.

"NO!" I screamed.

"Spirits of the wind, lend me your powers." A voice said and then suddenly, a strong wind storm blew violently, along with a bright light and Damien was sent flying backwards. 

I turned towards the voice and smiled slightly in relief to see Rosario who started walking towards us.

"Are you alright, Irina?! Zephyr?!" Rosario asked and I nodded quickly and turned to Zephyr to see him smile at Rosario.

"Reinforcements, hmm? I guess I should pull back, for now." Damien said, shaking his head in disappointment as he stood up. 

"Ugh, he is standing even after receiving a blow of my magic, he's too strong," Rosario exclaimed as Damien dashed back into the deeper part of the forest.

"No!"  I tried to run after him but Zephyr held me back by my wrist.

"We don't need to go after him now, Irina. Let's go." He said and I sighed before nodding slowly.

"Zephyr...you..." I began.

"I'll tell you everything once we get back." He said making me nod again.

"I don't know about Damien, but I feel like I'm in the way at the moment." Rosario chuckled and I looked down, flustered.

 I shot a glance at Zephyr and saw his lips curved into a thin smile. He came beside me before we all started walking back to the mansion.