63__Icky, sticky love

Kamilla sighed as she poured herself another glass of wine, filling the crystal up to the brim.
These Vampires. Why did they have so much wine when they couldn't even get drunk? It was top quality wine too. Probably centuries old. Hah.
Kamilla shook her head in disapproval as she carefully lowered the bottle onto the table.
She scooted forward on the thick carpet and put her elbow on the table to support her head.

Swirling her wine, Kamilla scoffed.
What? She, Kamilla Drew, was in what? Love? With who?! Viktor King?!
"Hah!" Kamilla scoffed in annoyance and poured half the contents of the glass down her throat.

This was preposterous. How could she possibly be in love with him? How?! It was one thing to be forced soul mates and a totally different thing to fall in love with him!
Kamilla scowled.
Damn him. She would get over these ridiculous emotions immediately! She didn't come here to fall in love!
Well, she didn't come here at all, she was kidnapped, but still... She wasn't shackled and forcefully brought here to fall in love!

"Damon, wait!" Grace's squealing voice suddenly reached Kamilla a few seconds before the door to her lonely sanctuary burst open and Grace came running through, a huge grin on her face as Damon chased after her.

Kamilla blinked lazily at them as Grace raced behind the couch, keeping it between her and her attacker.
"Grace..." said Damon soothingly, the grin not coming off his face for one second. "Give it back. I'm not playing now, that's a thirty million dollar piece."

Kamilla nearly choked on her wine. Thirty what?!
She coughed to clear her throat as the two continued their antics.

Grace lifted a fancy, glittering watch and twirled it around her finger with mischief in her now green-grey eyes.

"I don't know about that, Damon. It is really heavy though." She looked at him with a grin and leaned over the couch. "How fast do you think it would fall? Shall we throw it out this window to see?"

Kamilla nodded at the question as she was also curious as to how fast the thirty million dollar piece would fall.
Apparently, Damon wasn't crazy about the idea because the moment Grace pushed open the tall window he leaped over the couch to get at her.
Kamilla nodded at his exceptional leaping skills as she poured herself more wine. He could've been in the Olympics! If... well, if he were human. Being a Vampire and going to the Olympics is a whole new level of cheating.

Damon caught Grace around the waist and pulled her away from the window, making her squeal so loudly, Kamilla spilt a bit of her wine.
Looking at the precious drops of red wasted, Kamilla scowled at the two of them.
To make things worse, turning Grace around in his arms, Damon began to practice all kinds of kisses! Kamilla was appalled. That's what "love" did to you?! You acted this mushy and disgustingly sweet?!
That was it. Kamilla was determined to be cured of the horrid illness, come hell or high water.

Nodding with determination, she glanced back at Damon and Grace to see them still grinning, kissing and acting like the drunk of Cassius!

"Just swallow each other whole!" Kamilla snapped, snarling at the pair.

Damon and Grace jumped in surprise, clutching each other as they looked at Kamilla.

"Oh... sorry," said Grace.
"We didn't see you there," added Damon, sheepishly.

Kamilla nodded sarcastically. "Of course you didn't! Why would you? Too busy staring down poor Grace's throat. God help us."

Damon and Grace shared a look, eyebrows raised.

Damon looked at Kamilla. "Why do you sound like a moody elderly man?"

Before Kamilla could throw a crystal glass at Damon, Grace hurried forward and sat down beside her, laying a calming hand on Kamilla's shoulder.

"What Damon means is, why do you seem upset? Has something bad happened?"

With a sigh, Kamilla nodded, looking at Grace with a pout. "Yeah..."

Grace looked worried and scooted closer. "Oh, no. What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

Kamilla's pout only grew wobblier as Grace put a hand to her reddened cheeks, feeling for a fever.

"It's that horrid illness," Kamilla complained to Grace. "It makes people swallow each other whole!"

Grace blinked in confusion as Kamilla threw back more wine.

"What's this?"

Kamilla froze at the sound of that voice.
Slowly lifting her gaze from over the rim of her glass, she looked up at Viktor and his disapproving frown.

"Back to your drunken ways?" mocked Viktor as he walked into the room.

Slowly lowering her glass, Kamilla glared sharply at his offensively gorgeous face. There he was! The devil who'd done this to her.

Viktor came to the table. "You're going to finish all my damn wine."
He reached for the bottle but snatched his hand back when Kamilla's teeth suddenly snapped at his fingers.
Viktor looked at her with a surprised frown. "What the fuck? What are you, a piranha?"

Kamilla bared her teeth. "I'll turn into a damn piranha if you don't get away from me!"

Grace looked at Viktor apologetically. "Kamilla's not feeling well. She's ill, King."

Viktor frowned and looked closely at Kamilla as she glared darkly up at him, looking like a minion from hell. He scoffed. "Drunk, is what she is."

Damon chuckled. "I am still not over what I saw in Cassius."

"Was it that bad?" Grace asked softly.

Viktor raised his brows. "She was swaying in that bar like a seasoned drunk with her fellow alcoholics-"

"Stop!" Kamilla yelled.
The room went still and they all looked at her. "Can you guys just stop?!"
Pushing away from the table, Kamilla stood and angrily stomped to the door.

Viktor caught her by the elbow, tugging her back.
"Hey, what the hell's wrong?" he questioned with a frown.

Firmly pulling her arm out of his grip, Kamilla walked unsteadily out of the room.
Clenching his jaw, Viktor stalked out after her as Damon and Grace glanced cluelessly at each other.
"Kamilla!" Viktor growled when she stomped away, ignoring him.
He caught her arm and spun her around to face him, eyes narrowing when he saw the tears glimmering in her eyes.
Her chin wobbled beneath her pout as she glared up at him.

Viktor's frown lessened. "What the fuck is wrong?"
Kamilla swallowed hard. "You!" she said, futilely trying to pull her arm away. "Ursula, s-said I keep putting you before myself and I... it's gonna cost me and I- I don't want to love you, but I do and it's bad for me. I have to let you protect me, but I don’t want to and she said I’m gonna pay a high price and that scares the hell out of me. Why do I have to pay any prices just for wanting to keep you forever..."
Viktor pulled her against his chest and the rest of Kamilla's rant got muffled against his chest.
He raised a brow as she sniffled against his chest, a wet patch growing where she was snuggling against him.
“Is that what Ursula told you?” he asked.
Kamilla nodded, her eyes falling closed. “Mm-hm. She wants me to tell you about my dreams even if it’s gonna m-make you dark and scary again... but I don’t wanna. Not yet... just a little while longer... a little bit.”

Viktor ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek as he thought her words over. "Got to lock away that damn wine," he murmured.

Kamilla nestled against him, inhaling his scent and letting it soothe her for a while before she raised her chin and blinked at him. "How come... Why aren't you mad that I love you? It's horrible. What happens when the bond gets broken and you hate me and I have to pay the high price?"
Viktor looked at her in dark silence, gripping her soft chin and lowering his mouth to hers. He felt her mouth soften against his as she absorbed his calm and quietened her own nerves with it.
Viktor lifted his head, pushing hers against his shoulder as he carefully lifted her into his arms. “Sleep, Kamilla,” he told her, carrying her to his chambers. “You’re not making sense.”

Viktor clenched his jaw as he walked. Ursula had been on his property, talking to Kamilla. He knew it. And the witch wanted Kamilla to reveal what she was hiding.
That was what irked him right there. Kamilla was hiding something from him. And Viktor got the feeling that when he found out what it was, he might just lose his fucking mind.