Aselia’s POV

I glanced in his direction and he was peculiarly looking at me. "What’s wrong?" He got up and moved towards me.

"Nothing," I attempted to contain myself and the anguish I had felt. He bent down and picked up the picture I had dropped and his expression darkened his forehead creased and he clutched the picture so tightly his knuckles became white, and veins popped up in his slender hands.

"Whose picture is this?" I inquired and he didn’t meet my eyes. "Who is this man?" I pointed to the man with icy blue eyes in the picture.

"My father," he responded with gritted teeth, his declaration drained my body of all my resilience, all my strength, and all my energy. I felt lightheaded and would have slumped to the ground if not for the patience I had gathered over the years of training.

He looked at me with a pained face and said: "Sorry you had to see his face, I didn’t know my mother had kept a picture in one of her books." His words were no longer making sense to me, nothing made sense to me anymore, as a lifetime of hate and animosity I had garnered began to resurface.

His father was the Phantom Vampire, the man I had searched for my whole life, the man who murdered my parents and made me an orphan, the man who destroyed my life, the man I wanted to kill, the man who carried out genocide on my kind, the man who birthed someone who assaulted me and left me for dead.

The rage I felt was indescribable and I clenched my fists. Why didn’t he tell me that his father was a mass murderer? He acted like he was different from his father but was he really? Why did he hide his father’s identity from me, why? Surely he knows where his father lives and where all his secret hideouts were.

At that moment something snapped inside me and all I felt was hatred for Xiran, his brother, and his father. I wanted to punch his face and scream at him but I knew I had to remain calm. But my mission was over and I had found what I was looking for. I would be leaving within a few days now and will be taking him with me and he will tell me where to find his wretched father.

"Aselia... You alright." I blinked as his words jolted me back to reality.

"Yes, just thinking about your father and how he has made your life hell." I formulated a response so he won’t act suspicious of me.

"Don’t, he doesn’t deserve that kind of attention. Forget him." Xiran bent the picture and pocketed it. His jaw clenched while I held back tears of rage. Hatred, I felt pure hatred fill my heart, and pain coursed through my veins at the thought of hating him. I fought it, now was not the time to give in to his charms.

"Come," he took my hand and dragged me toward the bed and I wanted to jerk his hand away and yet I didn’t. Settling down in the bed he wrapped his arms around me and I felt sick as he began to read from the book.

The voice that was so soothing a while ago was now gnawing at my consciousness. I wanted him to shut up and leave, but I just sat there acting like I was listening to him. While in reality, my mind was racing at an unknown speed, formulating a plan, my escape plan.

His voice seemed to be coming from far away, his touch irked me, he had rendered me weak, and he had made me squeamish. It was time to leave him behind, leave everything behind, no matter how hard it was. I had no life with the son of a murderer. At the end of the day, he was still his son.

"Leia...Leia," he shook me slightly and I came out of my stupor. How long has he been calling me?

"Are you feeling sick again?" He asked me quietly, shutting down the book. I hadn’t heard a single word he had read from it.

I refused to meet his eyes, he would put me in a trance again. All I needed was hatred if I wanted to do what needed to be done.

"I am just tired," I murmured.

"Let’s sleep," he placed the book on the side table and slid down, his hands grabbing my waist and pulling me down with him. I cringed at his touch and faced away from him as he spooned me. His lips were near my ear when he whispered:

"I know you are upset seeing that picture, the man who wronged you and the man who wrongs me were there and you hated seeing them." He thought this was about Xifin and what he did. Although I hated his brother but nothing could match the hate I harboured for his father.

"Hmmm," I mumbled and he kissed my neck making me go stiff. My insides screamed, I didn’t want his affection, why was it so damn difficult to hate him.

"They won’t hurt you, I promise." He murmured while continuing to kiss me.

"Let me sleep, I am tired." Hoping he would stop and he did.

"Sleep, I won’t disturb you." He placed his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply but didn’t do anything else. Letting me sleep but there was no sleep for me today just mind-numbing pain and betrayal.

He thought I didn’t know what Phantom looked like, thinking he was protecting me somehow. While, in reality, I felt like he purposely kept that information from me.

Not telling me, not telling the world that his father was the genocide-inflicting mass murderer. He was helping his father by keeping his identity concealed when he could just shake hands with our organization and stand against his father whom he claimed to hate. Instead, he branded us his enemies and killed Agent 35.

He was as bad as his father and brother. Of course, what was I expecting, he was a vampire after all. All they craved was blood and lust and then they would kill you without batting an eye.

He moved closer his legs brushing mine and my body reacted involuntarily and I cursed inside me. This bond needed to be broken, I couldn’t afford to have ties with him. Not now not ever.

Hours passed away like that and my eyes flew open when he suddenly spoke:

"What’s bugging you Aselia? I know you are still awake. Talk to me." He held my arm and rolled me towards him so I was facing him. I kept my gaze lowered while saying:

"Nothing, my body aches. The aftermath of the fever I guess."

"Then why are you not meeting my gaze." He tilted my chin up with his fingers so our eyes could meet. I felt like he could see through my soul and find out all my deepest darkest secrets.

"You are overthinking."

"And you are horrible at hiding your emotions. I can see you are uneasy because of that picture. I wish you hadn’t seen it. Brought back dreadful memories for you? Didn’t it?" His hands rested on both sides of my face now.

His brother was the least of my worries right now but I went on with it. "Yeah, that incident keeps playing in my mind."

"Do you want to forget it? Forever? No traces of that incident will be left as if that had never happened." He said with a strange look in his eyes. What was he even talking about? I couldn’t understand what was he on about.

"What are you talking about?" I inquired clearly having no clue.

"I can take away those memories from you, forever. It’s one of my powers, I can make people forget whatever I want. How do you think people don’t know about my existence? And how I let people go who do know about me. I wipe their memories. That’s how I protected you from my family. I made Xifin and Sohlia forget that you existed."

I gasped at his words, a shiver went through my body. He could wipe my memories just like that. He could make me forget anything I wanted or he wanted. What if he had already made me forget something? He was so much more dangerous than I had fathomed him to be. I moved back from him before saying:

"Did you...?" I left the words hanging and his hands fell on the bed where I was moments ago. Hurt imbued his face as he blinked at me, not believing I would accuse him like that.

"I would never, not without your permission."

"But you have done it to other innocent people, you have taken their memories from them." I accused with my eyebrows raised.

"Yes, I have and I will continue to do so to keep you safe. Not everyone was innocent." He extended his hand to me but I was afraid of him now. I didn’t know how his power worked and it took away the control I sought. I backed away and said:

"You mean to keep yourself safe. Don’t ever think of doing that to me."