64__I don't need you! Hah!

Kamilla moaned, turning over in the huge, warm bed. Blinking her eyes open, she lay still, staring at the bed sheets, an inch from her face.

“Hey!” said a cheerful voice. “Are you awake?”

Startled, Kamilla lifted her head, squinting over her shoulder. “Uhm...” she croaked, blinking at a smiling Grace who sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Here,” said Grace, offering Kamilla a large mug. “The King said to feed you this once you woke up. It’s Demetrius’s special concoction.”

Kamilla pushed herself up, struggling to get all of her hair out of her face. She looked around the room, scratching her chin. “Uhm... Grace, where’s... where’s Viktor?”
Grace frowned in thought for a moment. “He went... out. Yes, he went somewhere early in the morning. With the Legion, I think.”

Kamilla nodded, reaching for the mug before her hand froze in mid-air. Slowly and with increasing panic, strange thoughts began to trickle into her blank mind. Kamilla frowned and shook her head. What were these bizarre memories that she most certainly could have never done?

She frowned. *“Ursula said I keep putting you before myself...”* Her frown darkened. *“...why aren’t you mad that I love you...?”*
Kamilla gasped, eyes wide.

Grace looked worried. “What’s wrong?”

Kamilla shook her head slowly. *“...why do I have to pay any prices just for wanting to keep you forever?”*

Kamilla slapped a hand over her open mouth. She was crazy. She was insane, she’d lost her goddamn *mind*! Wailing loudly, Kamilla clutched at her messy hair, tugging at it in frustration. “I’m such a freaking idiot!”

Grace didn’t know what to do. “Kamilla? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Should I call Damon? Damon!!”

Still wailing, Kamilla turned her face up to the ceiling. “Take me now! I don’t wanna live anymore. God, I’m an idiot.”

Grace looked frightened out of her mind. She turned for the door again. “Damon!”

Kamilla reached out and clutched Grace’s wrist. Looking gravely at the frightened woman through her bedraggled hair, Kamilla gave a slow shake of her head. “Don’t call Damon,” Kamilla told her seriously. “In a situation like this, he’s likely to mock me. I’m just...” She released a breath. “I’m going to pretend this never happened. And also, I’m never going to drink again.”
Grace nodded with wide eyes as Kamilla crawled out of bed. She looked at Grace. “Grcae, where did you say Viktor went?”

Grace shrugged one slender shoulder. “I don’t know. He just went... out.”

Kamilla pursed her lips and frowned in thought as she nodded. “Okay...” She tilted her head. He couldn’t have gone for Rogan, could he? Without Kamilla? No, he wouldn’t dare! Who would have his back? Well... Kamilla bit her lip. He was most probably cringing from discomfort at her sudden love confession last night, so it made sense that he’d distance himself.

“Uuugghhh!!!” Kamilla groaned loudly, hanging her head weakly. “What’s wrong with me?!”
Grace flinched. “You’re hungover?”
Kamilla lifted her head and looked at her with a sigh. “Yeah. That too. A little.”

Huffing out a breath, Kamilla disappeared into the bathroom and Grace looked at the closed door.
Well... good thing she didn’t tell Kamilla that Viktor ordered for her to not be let out of the castle while he was out. It didn’t seem like Kamilla was in the mood for that kind of news.
Leaving the mug of steaming beverage on a nightstand for Kamilla, Grace left the room.

When Kamilla finally got out of the shower, she poked her head out of the bathroom, to see an empty room.
Hurrying over to the mug of Demetrius’s blissful concoction which clears all symptoms of headaches, she took a single gulp before hurrying into the closet.

Kamilla came to a sharp halt in the room and blinked around at the shirts, pants and jackets all three times her size. She eyed the ties. Oh, right. This was Viktor’s suit closet. Kamilla face-palmed. His other closets definitely wouldn’t have anything that fit her either. How annoying, she had to go all the way to her chambers to find that badass outfit he’d gotten her to steal the corpse in.
There was nothing else she wanted to fight Rogan in. Smirking in determination, Kamilla grabbed one of Viktor’s coats off the hanger and, dropping her towel, put it on. The dark coat nearly reached her ankles, serving as a great cover-up.

Smiling, Kamilla flipped out her damp hair from against her back and fastened the coat before hurrying out of the closet. Cringey, drunken love confession or not, if Viktor thought he was fighting this battle without her, he had better think again! Let them just wait.
Kamilla reached for the bedroom doors and pulled them open. The moment she got her badass, leather, one-piece on, it was *over* for all those motherf—

“Where are you going?” asked a calm voice.

Kamilla froze in the doorway, staring up at Viktor’s face. One dark brow rose, the only movement on his expressionless face.
Kamilla clutched at the collars of the coat, tugging them tighter around her neck as she lowered her gaze. “Uhm...” She cleared her throat. “Th-that’s... that’s no business of yours!”

She tried to walk away gracefully, but Viktor easily stepped into her path, eyes narrowed on his coat.
“Is that my coat? Are you...” Viktor’s gaze ran from the top of Kamilla’s body down to the slippers on her feet. Bringing his eyes back up, he looked at her wet hair and swallowed. She was naked under that coat. Such powerful temptation this early in the morning. “Surely, you dried your body off before putting my expensive coat around it, didn’t you?”

Kamilla put her nose in the air, but kept her gaze downcast. “No, I did not, so what? And yes, my hair is wet too, so what? And yes, I said I loved you last night, so *what*?!!” She rubbed her nose and looked at him from the corner of her eye. “It’s merely a crush! You’re a Vampire King, obviously my half-human brain has been overly oppressed by your exceeding charms. Don’t take it seriously.”

Viktor narrowed his eyes as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself and walked off in the direction of her chambers. He clenched his jaw. Kamilla talked too much. With her naked body wrapped up in his clothes, she still had the audacity to say all that to him.

Don’t take it seriously? Who said he was? It was nothing but their forced bond.
Feeling the muscle in his jaw tick, Viktor went after her.

Kamilla just barely made it into her room, when he barreled in and threw the doors closed behind him, eyes dangerously narrowed.
She squeaked and held a hand to her heart. “What in the name of bagels—”

“You know what, Kamilla?” Viktor growled as she stared up at him. “I’m not taking it seriously at all! Just as you said, I’m a Vampire King. There have been countless women over the past centuries who fell in love with me. *Real* love! I never batted a damn eyelid. What you feel is nothing but the effects of the oath our fathers swore, tying our souls together. It’s not even *real*! You think I’d fall for that bullshit?!”

The pierce through her heart was sharp and instant, but Kamilla bit down on it. She clenched her jaw as she looked up into Viktor’s furious eyes. “That’s right.” Kamilla laughed humorlessly. “I keep forgetting. It’s not even real, what’s the point of worrying?” She nodded. “Right. One day, our bond might be broken anyway. Until then, I’ll remember that we’re really just strangers. I'll help you defeat Rogan—”

“I don’t need your help,” said Viktor firmly. “That’s my battle—”

“He killed my father too! I think I have the right to fight him if I want to.”

Viktor narrowed his eyes. “The danger is too great—”

“That’s for me to worry about! We’re really just strangers, remember? You don’t need to concern yourself that much.”

They stared at each other, both tense from anger and frustration.
“Fine,” Viktor growled through gritted teeth and Kamilla watched him turn on his heel and disappear from her chambers, turning into dark air right before her eyes.

The cold, dark air chilled her skin for a moment and disappeared. The moment he was gone, Kamilla felt her knees wobble, but forced herself to remain standing.
She glared at the space before her even as her heart throbbed painfully and her stomach sunk heavily. This was horrid! Even when she was so furious, looking at his face, Kamilla had been unable to not want him. Their bond was more frustrating than anything she’d ever encountered!

To hell with it and Viktor! Did he think she was absolutely helpless without him? With an angry huff, Kamilla stomped into her closet and looked through clothes, flicking them angrily aside until she managed to find an outfit.

Sitting at her dresser, she angrily slapped on her creams and moisturizers, while glaring into the mirror.
Kamilla got dressed and then sat on her bed with another huff as she crossed her arms and legs.

She bit her lip. Damn that wine. If it wasn’t for that, she would have never become so vulnerable to Viktor. He’d had access to all of her thoughts! And worse was, she still didn’t know if she told him everything.
Kamilla shrugged. It couldn’t be undone. All she could do was focus on her future and make sure she was never again this vulnerable to Viktor, whom she had no real connection to!

Kamilla looked at herself in the dresser mirror with narrowed eyes. She’d show him. She’d find out all of Rogan’s secrets on her own and fight him all on her damn own! Let’s see what Viktor will have to say about that!
Filled with determination, she marched out of her room.

Kamilla stopped through a hallway on her way to the reading room when she spotted that spiraling staircase. A vague memory occurred to her and she bit her lip.
Hadn’t there been a bizarre floor in the castle? The old, dusty floor where Demetrius had met her for the first time.

Kamilla looked up the staircase, remembering the locked doors on the floor. Her heart tugged and Kamilla put a foot on one step. Something told her she had boarded the right train of thought. It really was rather bizarre how the rest of the castle was kept clean and yet the top floors seemed so abandoned.

Inhaling deeply, Kamilla hurried silently up the stairs. It wouldn’t hurt to check. It didn’t matter if there was family treasure or family secrets up there, checking would at least get rid of the nibbling feeling in her gut.
Upon reaching the floors, Kamilla felt the cold that greeted her. She rubbed at her arms as she tried the first few open doors.

Like last time, they were empty.

Kamilla went on until she reached the locked door that drew her deeper and with more force than a black hole.
She looked at the keyhole and, slowly, pulled a few pins out of her hair. Whatever she would find in this room, Kamilla felt like it would most definitely be the most shocking thing she would discover in this castle.

Well... at least she hoped so.