"Oh, Mother, Seraphus, you scared me to death!" I angrily hiss, looking into the demon's golden eyes. "Damn... I thought something had happened again, and I was in an illusion."

I run my palm through my hair and hate how fast it's growing back again. I have to do something about it. I'm going to ask Fima to teach me how to care for and collect them. Otherwise, I'll freak out and cut it off, and then I'll be punished.

"So," I suddenly remember an important detail and look again into the eyes of the silent Seraphus, who hasn't even moved a millimeter, "why are they all asleep? Why is the healer sleeping? Isn't that strange?"

"I put them to sleep," Seraphus replies calmly.

"What, why?" I frown incredulously.

"Follow me, since I can see you're feeling fine, Kan," Seraphus barks, turning around and disappearing into the back of the chamber.

I swallow, and follow him, not sure what's causing the distinct scent of rage and anger coming from Seraphus. Oh, I've said some things to him. Of course I did. Seraphus is still my teacher, the oldest and most respected demon here. I should have held my tongue. Lua reminded me of that often. He used to slap me when I crossed the line, because I could be thrown back into the pit, or worse.

I'm surprised to find Seraphus leading me to his room. He opens the door, and I enter. Warmth immediately envelops me, along with the scent of the demon himself. Everything in here smells of him. And the room is much bigger than mine. He's the teacher. His room comprises two separate rooms: a living room and a bedroom. Although the living room is more like a study with a lot of books, vials, herbs and candles. There are shelves of books and other things besides a desk, a chair and two armchairs.

Seraphus walks forward, swinging open the double doors, and I make my way to his bedroom. It's even bigger than my room. There's a very large bed under a dark canopy, a wide sofa, two armchairs next to the fireplace, and an ottoman by the open balcony door. Everything is in dark, gracious golden-brown colors.

"Lie down," Seraphus points to his bed. I shift my gaze to him in bewilderment.

"What?"

"Lie down. You'll be sleeping here tonight."

"Um... this is... um, yours... um... bed," I mumble.

"So? It's not good enough for you? Or do you necessarily need company in bed?" Seraphus hisses, squinting at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I shake my head, sighing heavily. "Why did you put everyone to sleep? Why did you bring me here? And why do I have to sleep here? It's not right."

"Not right," he growls. "But you will follow my orders, Arkan. I'm still your teacher. And since you're unwilling to take your recovery seriously, I will. Besides, your room is a crime scene, and it's being investigated. There's no one here to stop you from restoring your energy. Or are you so anxious to go back and energize the damn elf and then the rest of them? Are you really decided to favor everyone there?"

I frown, completely confused.

"And still, I don't understand why you're talking to me like that. Why are you disrespecting and blaming me for neglecting my health? I didn't do anything. Or is it because I told you the truth, Seraphus? It offended you. I'm sorry, but the truth is ugly. I can't be blamed for someone else's mistakes. Is this your way of revenge on me?"

"Ah, sleeping here is revenge for you, Arkan?" He raises his voice.

"No, I..."

"So you'd rather be their whore instead of accepting my help with gratitude?!"

I flinch at his shout.

"Why did you do that?" I whisper bitterly, staring painfully into his anger-filled eyes. "Why do you insult me, Seraphus? I don't know what I've done to make you so angry. I guess there are too many reasons, but I won't stand for this kind of thing. I have never slept with anyone. And I certainly wouldn't give myself to someone who's taken. I have some pride, Seraphus, and you don't dare insult me like that. If that's all, I'd rather go back to my friends who really appreciate me and won't attack me for no reason."

"Wait." Seraphus grabs my hand and sighs deeply. His eyes stop glittering gold and become calmer. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Kan. I forgot how crazy this whole thing could be. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. I was a little out of line."

"But why? Was it because of what I said? Or did something else happen?"

Another deep breath comes from his lips, and I see...no, more like feel doubt, grief, sorrow, and remorse, and it's like seeing something behind thick, darkened glass. I feel a strong flow of heavy energy enveloping Seraphus' consciousness, as well as fatigue.

I cover his hand holding my elbow and pull his fingers away from me, but I don't let go. I squeeze his hand in mine and step closer to him.

"I have no right to do that to you, Kan. You're absolutely right. I'm sorry I allowed myself to behave like that. If you're so comfortable with Stellare, then so be it. You can go back there, to him... to them. I'm sorry."

"I don't understand at all, Seraphus," I frown. "What does this have to do with Stellare? What did he do? What did he do to provoke your anger?"

"Do you like him?" Seraphus' scrutinizing gaze makes me hold my breath with another gasp of surprise.

"Um, he's my friend. Yeah, I'd like to consider him a friend. Today, I think we all passed the test, showing each other that no matter who we are or how strong we are, we won't leave each other in trouble. And then...I saw him as a very vulnerable guy, abandoned and hurt, even I would say unloved. There's nothing between us. I told him so. They forget themselves in each other's arms, and I... I don't know how to do that and I don't want to. Is that what this is about? Are you worried about my feelings for any of them?" I ask interested, instantly remembering Seraphus' aggressive tone when he discussed the topic with the Headmaster.

"How old are you, Kan?" Seraphus gently touches my cheekbone and runs the tips of his claws over it.

"Still very young, apparently, and talking nonsense," I chuckle.

"No, no, that's absolutely not what I'm talking about. You're very wise for your age. Very. I didn't expect you to be so wise. And I'm ashamed of what I called you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not mad, I said some bad things to you today too. I had no right to make my conclusions about you and Ellior. It's..."

"You're right. You were absolutely right," he interrupts me and pulls me behind him to the ottoman. Seraphus sits down on it, and I sit beside him, still holding his hand.

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it? Why do you put up with this, Seraphus? You don't deserve to be hated like this," I whisper bitterly.

"I do deserve it. I did betray my kind, Kan. I betrayed them."

"To please Ellior? Did he really manipulate you?"

"No," Seraphus grins crookedly. "That is an absolute lie. Ellior is a complicated elf. Very insufferable at times, arrogant, nasty, selfish, and I want to strangle him, but he wouldn't be able to manipulate me. We were true to each other, Kan. Do you know what the true ones are all about?"

"One love for the rest of your life."

"No, it's more complicated than that. True ones are one destiny for life, one pain, one love, one suffering. If one suffers, the other suffers. If one dies, the other dies. And betrayal is the same poisonous pain that destroys both. It's impossible to manipulate each other, as well as to hide your thoughts, desires, secrets, emotions. You feel everything. It's like you see the world through each other's eyes. You don't need words. That's why Ellior would never have been able to make me do something. I did it myself."

"I knew Stellare was wrong. Ellior isn't as bad as Stellare knows him to be," I whisper.

"Ellior is complicated, like I said. Very complicated. He was taught from birth, as I was, that we were each other's enemies, that we should hate each other, kill each other. And when it turned out that killing each other would destroy the world, we both had to find ways to live with that. We thought that if one side won, the war would be over and we could fix everything later. Our love would have a place in this world. But we were young, ambitious, emotional, and full of energy to prove to everyone that they were the fools, not us."

"If that's so, then why didn't Ellior protect you? Why didn't he stand up for you?"

"No one would have let him do that." Seraphus shakes his head, looking away. "That time was scary for both of us. We were locked away from each other. We were both held as traitors in the pits of the dead. Their stench poisoned us, made us weak and helpless. But by killing one, they killed the other. And Ellior's life meant more to his fathers than mine to my family. And that's the only thing that made them sign the peace treaty. We're purebloods. There aren't many of us left, and Ellior and I are both heirs to the strongest creatures of our world. Our fathers are weaker than us because they lost their powers during the war, we didn't. So they let us live, but with conditions. The conditions were for me. I'm not allowed to contact my family, to step foot in the lands of the elves and the dark ones, to stay away from Ellior. And our feelings were sucked out of us through an ancient artifact and then it was shattered before our eyes. We are no longer true to each other. And at the same time, we can no longer love anyone."

"Not anyone?" I ask back with horror. "You mean... neither you nor he will ever fall in love again? But how can that be, Seraphus?"

"I thought so," he shifts his tense gaze to me. "Yes, I thought so. I've been fine without love, Kan. Absolutely no need to belong to someone, to love someone, to protect someone, to desire someone."

It's hard for me to accept this truth. It's hard for me, because it turns out that I made up the kiss with Seraphus so that I could survive, endure the pain, and not die. I have created an illusion for myself. Oh, Mother, it hurts so much.

I stand up warily and, turning away, slowly walk over to the shelf with the many books. I need space to work through my personal disappointment with myself.

"What about him?" I quietly ask Seraphus without turning around. "Does Ellior feel the same way? That's not what Stellare said. Said he doesn't limit himself to intimacy with others, has completely forgotten about you and moved on with his life. He's not affected by all this?"

"You want to know the whole truth, Kan?"

Turning to Seraphus, I nod. He rises, and slowly, like a predator, golden eyes glinting, he approaches me. I instinctively take a step back, my back against the rack of books.

"That's a lie," Seraphus exhales, smirking. "What they say about Ellior, about his almost harems of lovers, about his affairs, is an outright lie. I suppose he puts an illusion on his lovers. I taught him that. His illusion, unlike mine, takes on a completely different form. I can cast any illusion. He's limited, but he can cast a lover's illusion. One that won't harm the other."

"How can you be so sure of his vow of celibacy, Seraphus? Or is it only your hopes?" I whisper, perplexed.

"Oh, no," he laughs, shaking his head and resting his palm on the rack next to my head. "I know that for a fact, because I would have felt it otherwise. And the answer is very simple, Kan. By breaking our true, Mother-blessed bond, our fathers made us immune to sex. Said, we just couldn't get a boner. We were impotent. And if Ellior was hard, I could definitely feel it. Just like he senses that something's changed in me. He knows I'm not under those limits anymore. He feels my desire, my lust, my passion."

His husky whisper makes me gulp, and goosebumps run down my spine. I lick my lips open a little, and Seraphus's gaze lowered to my lips. The warmth and sweet scent of passion reaches my nose and penetrates me. Why am I feeling this?

"But...you said you...um...can't," I say with great difficulty.

"No, I mentioned past tense only, Kan. Past, not present," he moves closer to me, and I hold my breath.

"You mean..." I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue again, "you mean now... can you feel it? You feel Ellior's passion, and your bond is restored?"

"No, I absolutely don't feel Ellior, Kan," he touches the tip of his fingernail to my bottom lip and presses on. I flinch at the wave of heat coursing through my body. "Ask your question. Ask me."

"Ask?"

"Yeah, ask. You want to ask me something, right? It's a question that's on your mind. I may not know what you're thinking yet, but I can feel the doubts in your head when you look at me. And I put together all your questions, all your insights that you just couldn't hear from anyone but me. You were conscious, weren't you, Kan? When you were dying in front of me, in my arms, you heard everything, you felt everything. Am I right?"

I nod quickly.

"Then ask me, Kan. Ask what you care so deeply about."

Seraphus's face is so close to mine, I breathe his breath. My mind shuts down completely, and an unbearable desire comes to the forefront.

"Was there a kiss, Seraphus?" I ask him, barely audible.

And at that moment, Seraphus thrusts forward. His lips touch mine, sending shivers through my body. My eyes widen in shock, but I don't believe it. Really, I think it's just another joke, my damn illusion.

"Why... that's cruel," I squint and shake my head. "It's cruel. Who put this illusion on me again? Can I get out of it? How can I get out of it? Why are they doing this?"

"Kan," Seraphus' palm rests on the back of my head and I freeze, looking fearfully into his sparkling eyes, "this isn't an illusion. This is real. I kissed you. I probably breathed life into you and your regeneration has begun. I still haven't really figured it out because it's the first time in my memory. But I kissed you."

"Then do it again," I exhale. Not an illusion. Absolutely not an illusion. It's real.

Seraphus's lips cover mine. His fingers hold the back of my head as he kisses me lightly. My eyes roll up with pleasure, and I touch his chest under the thin material of his shirt. I respond to the kiss just as I imagined I would. His lips are soft, full and warm, a little moist and have a sweet taste to them. It's like I'm being dipped in a thick, hot fog and it feels good. It feels so good.

My heart pounds frantically in my chest, like it wants to jump out. My hands reach for his body, wanting to drown in the heat of Seraphus's embrace. I feel every cell in my body awakening to life, filled with energy and desire.

Seraphus's lips continue to caress mine, creating a wave of bliss that penetrates to the very depths of my soul. Our kiss becomes more and more intense and passionate, as if we are merging into one. At that moment, I forget everything else, focusing only on that inexpressible feeling of heat in my body and passion.

The air around us is filled with an electric charge, as if the magic of our senses is creating a powerful polar storm. We stand on the edge of two worlds of reality and forbidden desire, where time stands still and nothing else matters but our shared pleasure.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through my head. In pain, I open my mouth and desperately claw at the rough fabric of his shirt.

"Kan?"

The shocked look in his golden eyes is the last thing I see before my stomach twists into a knot of pain, and then my soul is yanked from my body with a loud whoosh. Everything goes dark.