Sylas1

Freda’s POV.

As I entered the great hall of the castle, I could feel electricity pulsing under my skin.
I felt shivers down my spine, this was an unusual feeling that I couldn't ignore. I was something more than the terrified human that the vampire kingdom didn't want, my pack too neglected me and called me names. Now I'm stronger and I can feel the power inside of me.

A very great power. And I was ready to deal with whatever followed. But my heart turned inside my chest the instant I saw Damien, standing at the far end of the corridor. He looked the same, with his sharp eye for a second he looked happy to see me but I saw that happiness wash off and I could see the curiosity in his eyes.
"Freda," he said, his voice rich with feeling and depth. His hand stretched out to cup my cheek as he passed the gap between us in a moment. "You're back.” I leaned into his contact, feeling the warmth of his skin against mine, but there was a coldness that had crept deep inside me and I wasn't sure would ever go away. I said, "I'm back," my voice hardly a whisper. He looked at me, maybe the lady I used to be or the girl I used to be, searching my eyes for something. Which he liked was unknown to me.

"You have changed," he murmured at last, sounding little depressed. I answered by nodding.
"I must." Between us, there was quiet heavy with unsaid words. The stress was palpable in his hand, which shook just very gently against my flesh. Though he was attempting to be strong, I could see the gaps in his armor—the anxiety that had rooted itself in his heart. Freda asked, "What happened??" He enquired gently, but his voice was forceful.
"What did Sylas treat you?" I moved to the middle of the hall, pulling away from him with shadows clinging to my feet. My training with Sylas kept coming back to me, his brutal techniques, the way he had pushed me to the brink, and the strength that had risen within me when I at last broke through. But with that power came knowledge, knowledge of who Sylas actually was, of his goals, of the darkness that lay within me.

"Everything," I said, looking at Damien. "He did all he could to break me. And when he failed, he showed me how to use the shadows, how to make them mine. The tone of Damien grew grim.

And did he share with you why? I hesitated, Sylas's discoveries weighting down on me. "He intends to assume their authority for himself, therefore toppling the council. He sees me as his weapon of choice for acquiring what he wants.

Damien's eyes closed as a flicker of wrath swept across his face.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted.” My voice stiffening, I responded, "I know." Still, it is not all.

He also told me about the deal you made and introduced me to Isabella about a deal and a decision you never shared with me. Damien froze, staring right at me. "What did he tell you?" "That you're ready to hurt people, kill people... all in the name of power. You will do terrible things to keep your throne." There it was, the blackness between us, I felt a lot of negative emotions just by starting at Damie.
Though his expression stayed the same, I could see the sorrow and suffering in his eyes. He said gently, "I have to do what I had to."
"To guard our people, to guard you." Though the pictures Sylas had created in my mind were too clear, too terrible, I wanted to believe him that what he had done was justifiable. "Damien, is that all this is? Not a struggle for power only?"
He stepped towards me, his hand stretching once more, but I stayed still. “No, Freda. More than that is involved here. Surely much more. I did all of this since I love you and cannot imagine a world without you in it and what I have to do for Isabella is not certain, Sylas is feeding you with lies” Damien was gifted in his wordings. He knew how to make a person fall for him easily without even trying. His words pierced right to your gut.” For a split second I wanted to collapse into his arms and let him embrace me and reassure me everything would be fine. but I couldn't.

Not following all I had seen and all I had studied. My voice breaking, I said, "I don't know if I can do this." "I doubt whether I can still be me, in your world, and in my world too." Damien's demeanor softened, and his sad eyes tore at me. "You need not be terrified of the night, Freda." Everybody has this to some degree.

That does not mean, however, that you must lose yourself to it. "I'm not afraid of the darkness," I said, speaking more forcefully now. "I worry about who it will make me into and what it will cause me to do." Closing the distance between us, his hands rested on my shoulders.

You are stronger than you would believe. And I will be right here with you at every stage. Looking up at him, the weight of what we had gone through hurt in my heart. "I would like to think, Damien.

I actually do. But I need time, time to define who I am and what I want. Though he nodded, there was a flash of agony in his eyes. "I see. Get all the time you need. I am not giving up on us, though. I'm not quitting from you. His comments were like a salve for my spirit, yet they couldn't remove the uncertainty still slinking through my brain. "I'm not giving up either," I responded quietly. "But I have to be sure. I have to realize that this is not only what I truly want, not only what fate or destiny have me pushed into.

Damien's gaze was sharp as his hold tightened on my shoulders. "Whatever you choose, Freda, I will help you. But know that my love for you is derived from you, the woman you are, the woman you have evolved into, not from fate or destiny.


His comments spoke to something deep inside me, something buried under all the uncertainty and anxiety. But before I could reply, the hall became suddenly cold, the shadows surrounding us deepening. We both glanced towards the door, where a black man waited. My heart stopped to identify the silhouette, Sylas. He entered the light, his eyes shining with a terrible clarity. " Freda," he murmured, his voice low and threatening. "I see you arrived safely at the castle.



You did not, however, return by yourself. As I understood what he meant, my breath seized in my throat. The powers in me, the power I had borrowed from him, was a link rather than a weapon.
And Sylas had followed it just right here. Damien came up front, his posture defensive. "What are you doing here, Sylas? Sylas grinned, a frigid, deliberate smile. "Nice meeting you king Damien, I'm here for what's personal to me and what's mine.

Tension permeated the air, the blackness closing in all directions. At Sylas, I could sense the power changing and shadows dragging at me. And at that instant I realized that the struggle for our lives, that for our love, was far from finished. And I knew, with a terrible feeling, that the decision I had been dreading was no longer mine to make as Sylas fixed his eye on me.