The instant Xiran hesitated, his father took advantage and bolted to where he stood and plunged the needle into the soft spot of his neck. Xiran punched him but it was too late and his father had his neck in a death grip.

Using his powers in full force, he began to choke and blacken his veins, reducing him to his knees,

Xiran desperately tried to breathe, his hand went to his throat, clawing at his father’s hand. His strength dwindled with each passing second and his greyish orbs turned misty before drooping. He soon passed out as the power-subduing serum began showing its effects.

Phantom finally released him from his vice-like grip, dropping him to the ground.

"He is becoming too strong for me to handle," his father confessed to Xifin who had finally collected himself from the rubble and now stood with his father with a grimace, straightening his clothes.

"I hate him and how he has been endowed with so much power and different abilities. He doesn’t deserve them," Xifin had always been jealous of his brother due to his appearance and the unique powers he possessed.

"Take him to the basement and bind him opposite her. Make sure they face each other but can’t touch," Phantom ordered, seeing the mess he had made of his study and shaking his head.

Two more vampires were called, who helped Xifin to take Xiran to the basement where Aselia was already bound using chains.

Her head jerked when the sound of the door opening reached her ears and a horrifying look passed over her face, seeing them drag an unconscious Xiran inside. An unimaginable agony surged through her, causing her eyes to widen with raw disbelief. Her heart, tormented and anguished, a desperate cry lingered on her parted lips. Every rhythm of her beating organ echoed the torments she felt upon witnessing him in such a wretched state.

The opposite wall had chains embedded in it, so they dragged him there and bound his hands with them, leaving him half hanging and on his knees.

Xifin stood in the doorway, watching and relishing the pain Aselia experienced. Her face was like an open diary today, with all her emotion written in bold letters all over it.

"What have you done to him?" she screamed in disgust, turning her face to Xifin.

"Shut your mouth. If father had not forbidden me from touching you, I would have destroyed that pretty face of yours. Until I have permission, enjoy the view," with a booming laugh he closed the door, leaving them alone.

Aselia had all her memories back, so she knew exactly who he was and what he had done. The scars he had given her, physical and emotional.

She closed her eyes to get rid of the images that swirled in her mind and slowly opened them to peek at Xiran. His muscular arms were taut and outstretched behind him, his silvery strands had spilt out of the bun he had them holding in and half of them fell on his face, concealing and embracing half of it.

The insidious tendrils of darkness snaked their way across his face, tracing a chilling map of despair. His once unblemished skin was now marred by the inky tendrils. The sinewy veins, like sinister rivers, extended their reach, enshrouding his neck and arms with their ebony embrace, to the point she could see and far beyond it.

"Xiran!" she anguishedly whispered. He was so near and yet so far away from her. His graphite orbs were still closed and his chest rose and fell slowly. Every cell in her body wanted to reach out to him and yet she was bound and helpless.

Tugging at the chains she wanted to break loose, they rattled and their clinking sound filled the confined area, but they were too strong and held her in place. The desperation that birthed inside her burst out in the form of hot tears that flowed down her bruised cheeks.

"Xiran!" Once more, her voice shattered the air, laden with despair so profound it pierced the very fabric of her being. It carried the weight of her torment and sorrow.

Her voice reached him and he finally stirred, slowly opening his eyes he felt disoriented, his breathing jagged as not enough oxygen reached him.

Xiran slightly lifted his head and through the silver curtain of his hair, that bewildered gaze went straight to her, making him gasp.

Her face was bruised, her cheeks puffy and her lower lip was cut, the blood had dried and splotched there. That beautiful neck of hers had so many punctured wounds, which were turning purple.

A storm of fury swept across his countenance, transforming it into a visage contorted by sheer wrath. His brows furrowed with intense rage, forming a menacing ridge above his piercing eyes that blazed with a fiery, unnerving glare.

The lines etched upon his forehead deepened. His clenched jaw quivered, each muscle rigid and taut, as his lips curled into a snarl, baring a glimpse of clenched teeth.

From the fiery intensity in his gaze to the pulsating black veins that embellished his temples, every feature on his face bespoke an explosive anger that seemed poised to unleash its tempest upon those who had wronged her.

"Leia! They hurt you," his voice was enveloped in immense pain.

"I am alive, don’t fall in the river of self-loathing," she knew he was diving head-first into it.

"But...," he began, only to be cut off.

"This was bound to happen sooner or later. And they can’t break me," she was putting up a bold front just for his sake.

"Are you in pain?" he slowly asked, his eyes soaking her in as she squatted on the floor with both her hands cuffed and chained to the wall and so were her ankles.

"I am not, are you?" her eyes lingering on those inked veins.

"No, it’s fine," she wanted to reach out and touch his face to soothe him, as they both stared at each other in an emotionally wrecked state.

The door opened shattering the world where only they existed and Treia stepped inside.