38__Jumping to conclusions

Viktor walked over the tops of the buildings, watching Kamilla as she walked below on the streets.
The wind tugged at his hair as the sky darkened, thunder rolling in the distance. The electrified sky perfectly matched his mood.
Viktor’s jaw clenched as he watched Kamilla rush down stairs, disappearing into the subway station.
His eyes fell closed on a burst of rage and the sky lit up with lightning as Viktor swept aside his black coat and transported himself to the subway station.

Kamilla hurried through the crowds, hugging her bag tightly to her chest. She was insane for doing this. Crazy! What if Viktor caught her? What if he got so angry there was no appeasing him? He’d roast her with those blue eyes and unleash his fury upon her poor head.
She threw a worried glance behind her but saw no sign of Viktor. She didn’t even feel that he was close by.
Would she get away with it?
Kamilla stopped where she was supposed and looked down the platform, her heart in her chest. Where was—

Kamilla froze, eyes wide as she stared at the person waving madly about six benches away from her.
A gasp escaped her and Kamilla put a hand over her mouth as she started running.

“Mum!” she whispered as she rushed into her mother’s arms.
“Kamilla!” her mom said hugging her tightly. “Oh, baby! Look at you!”
Her mom held Kamilla back by the shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. Kamilla laughed through her tears, pulling her mom back into her arms.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” she whispered hugging her mom tightly. “I missed you so much, mum… so much!”

Adelaide Drew brushed her daughter’s hair back as she rocked her quickly from side to side making Kamilla laugh.
“Stop, we’re gonna fall onto the tracks!” she chuckled, pulling her mom towards the bench.
They sat down, grinning at each other. Adelaide wiped the streams of tears running down Kamilla’s face and looked worriedly at her.
“How’ve you been? Hm? Are they treating you well, love?”

Kamilla nodded quickly. “Yeah. They treat me like royalty.” She sighed. “Thanks for coming all the way from the US for me. I didn’t think you’d make it!”

Adelaide brushed back her blonde hair with a scoff. “To see my baby, I’d have hopped on an eagle and flown!” Kamilla laughed at the absurd image and Adelaide smiled. “Besides… it was about time I saw England since I left over twenty-years ago. It’s changed quite a bit.”
Kamilla tilted her head and smiled adorably at her mom. How she’d missed that crisp English accent and those warm brown eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here, mum. I wish I could take you with me.”
Adelaide’s face went pink and she shook her head with a chuckle. “No, love, that couldn’t be done. Your father hid me from that Kingdom for a reason. And… Viktor? How does he treat you?”
Kamilla bit her lip and nodded, unable to stop her face from getting hot. “He, uhm… good. He treats me good.”
Adelaide raised a brow. “Kamilla. You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?”
Kamilla made a face and scoffed loudly. “What? No! It’s not like that. Oh, my God, you have *no* idea how annoying he is! He’s so proud and arrogant and thinks he can boss me around!”
She ended on a huff and her mom narrowed her eyes at her, looking like a brown-eyed ginger cat. “Oh, but he’s a Vampire King, love. They’re like that. But you can’t tell me that you’re strong enough to resist that attraction. That pull that only a Vampire can have.”
Kamilla’s face went pink. “No, ew, stop!”
Adelaide threw her head back and laughed, the sounding warming Kamilla’s heart. “It’s alright, love. I experienced the same thing with your father.”
“Mum!” Kamilla said chuckling.
She sighed and held her mom’s hand as Adelaide’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Does he know you’re here?”
Kamilla bit her lip and slowly shook her head. She watched as her mother tilted her head back and raised a brow.
“You sure?”
Kamilla tensed, nodding uncertainly. “Uhm… yeah.”
Adelaide tilted her head. “Honey.”
Kamilla’s heart clenched in her chest and her grip tightened around her mother’s. “He doesn’t, mum! Don’t… don’t worry.”

Adelaide smiled sweetly and nodded. Quickly, her eyes turned serious and she looked intently at Kamilla. “Okay, but if he finds out and gets angry, you make sure he doesn’t get to hurt you? Okay, Kamilla? And if by any chance, he ever manages to lay even a finger on you, love, get out of there! I don’t care if we have to run around the world for the rest of our lives to escape from them, we’ll do it! You hear me?”

Kamilla pursed her lips and nodded quickly. “Yeah. But…” She sighed. “Viktor wouldn’t hurt me. Not like that. I think there’s a greater chance of me physically hurting him when I get mad. But if he had to hurt me, Ma… it would have nothing to do with physical violence.”

Adelaide sighed, leaning back as she understood. Her heart filled with worry for her daughter. Her Kamilla, who was half-human with a heart that had more of an ability to feel pain than a Vamp’s. A heart far more inclined to fall in love than a Vamp’s.

A train pulled noisily into the station as Kamilla hugged her mother tightly, wanting more than anything to keep her by her side.

Viktor tilted his head as he watched them from afar, his hands buried in his pockets. Oh. She… wasn’t running away. Blowing out a breath, he scratched at his neck. Well… he’d jumped to conclusions, hadn’t he?
What was this bizarre emotion? Frowning, he looked away from Kamilla and her mother. This was what humans called guilt. Viktor knew what it was, but he had no clue what he was doing feeling such a useless emotion! So what if she missed her mother? There was nothing special about moms, humans were just weak!
With a forced scoff, Viktor leaned back against a pillar, ignoring the many looks he got from women walking by, their eyes full of flirtatious interest.

Soon, Kamilla came hurrying past his pillar. She saw him and jumped so hard, her bag fell off her shoulder.
“Oh, my God!” she gasped, eyes wide. “Viktor…”
Viktor calmly looked at her and then pushed away from the pillar, glancing down at the empty platform.
“Where’s your mother?” he asked.
Kamilla bit her lip and looked at her shoes. She’d been too stupid to really think she could slip out and Viktor would be none the wiser. Damn, him! Did he have a tracker on her or something?
She peeked up at his calm expression. Was this the calm before the storm? “I uh… called her a cab. We decided to take separate exits.”

Viktor stepped forward and reached down to pick up her bag. Kamilla watched him with wide eyes. What was going on? Where was the rage? She’d broken his rules, hadn’t she? Well, she hadn’t run away, so technically… she hadn’t?

Viktor pried apart her tightly clenched hands and wrapped his around one. “Any time you want to see your mom, let me know. I’ll make it happen for you.”
Kamilla blinked at the back of his head as Viktor started leading her out of the subway.
She frowned when he suddenly darted under a dark stairway, jerking her in with him.
Kamilla gasped when the darkness transformed into the elevator and they walked into his apartment. She could never get used to that.

“Grab your stuff. We’ll get food on the way,” Viktor said as he started to let go off her hand.
When her grip didn’t disappear, Viktor stopped and looked down at their hands. Silently, Kamilla wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his chest.
Viktor stood very still as her warmth enfolded him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.

Viktor’s throat worked as he swallowed hard. Dropping her bag, he put his hands on her shoulders and slowly eased her off. “W-why are you being like this?” he demanded. “None of that mushy rubbish! We need to leave.”

Kamilla watched him stalk off and couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips. Look at him acting all macho! Geez. Did he think she hadn’t heard his heart racing? It had sounded like there were horses running in his chest!
Scoffing, Kamilla prepared to leave.

******************************

Kamilla shuffled into the parlour trying to carry all her shopping bags without dropping anything. She’d bought so much on the way, making plenty stops, much to Viktor’s annoyance. He’d still willingly paid for everything though. The big black hat she wore flopped down over her eyes so she tilted back her head to see as she walked further into the castle.
“Demetriuuss?” she called just as came he racing out.
“Kamilla!” he exclaimed happily, immediately engulfing her in a big hug. “You’ve been gone forever!”

Viktor stalked past them. “Get off her!” he barked as he went in.

Kamilla was grinning from ear to ear as Demetrius released her and gave the back of Viktor’s head a look.
“We’ve only been gone for a few days!” she told him.
Demetrius sighed and took her bags. “It felt like forever! I’ve had to break up like two-hundred fights between Seth and Vlad and Damon won’t even let Grace hang out with me. Apparently, I’m a womanizer! Hah! Ridiculous, right?”

Kamilla laughed, nodding as they went in. She had no idea that she’d be this pleased to return here. “Absolute rubbish. You’re a saint!”

The smiles froze on their faces when Kamilla and Demetrius came to Viktor’s wing to find him standing in a lounge area, trembling from rage as he stared at Rogan who was reclined on a sofa across Damon.

Damon stood and put his hands in his pockets. “Leave Rogan. Now.”

Rogan smiled as he sighed heavily. He glanced over at Kamilla and she tensed.
“Oh. My Queen. I see you’re well and alive. Looking good, Kamilla”

Viktor’s hands fisted. “Rogan,” Viktor warned.

“Looking really good,” Rogan groaned.

Kamilla hadn’t even blinked and Viktor was across the room, Rogan’s throat gripped tightly in his hand.
Kamilla gasped, both hands covering her mouth.
Damon stepped forward. “Viktor!”

“Don’t fucking touch me, Damon,” Viktor growled out, his eyes bright beneath his swaying black hair as he stared into Rogan’s eyes.

“Go on…” Rogan forced out as Viktor gripped his throat tighter. “K-kill me… you’ve a-always…. wanted to! Kill me… and let everyone find out that… their King is nothing but a bastard…. A Cassius bastard!”