“Did Silas really deceive us?” she asked him in a quiet voice.

“Looks like he did. I am sorry for pulling you into this mess,” he sighed, “I should have sent you to the north empire,” but hearing this Katie shook her head.

“Please don’t blame yourself over something that you have no control of…even if its a little I would be happy to help you.”

“You don’t understand Katherine. All this while I have used people for my advantage, being able to draw out a plan and execute it. I never meant to get you involved more than necessary but it seems like the situation went out of control, putting you now in this current state,” he frowned, “I cannot say how much my blood is boiling seeing you with those bruises,” he said it with a certain edge in his voice.

Something had been bothering Katie since Ester had left the room and she wondered if it was safe to talk about it while there were guards standing right outside the door. Looking at the door warily, she dropped her voice,

“Doesn’t the ceremony of massacre take place on the full moon?” If she wasn’t wrong, the full moon day had already passed before she and Malphus were captured.

“It does but today is the month of Oculus. A day when the moon appears to be full for the second time in the month which occurs only once in a decade. The moon tonight will emit enough energy for the witches to proceed with their rituals,” this was something she hadn’t read about when she had been to the library, “The witches have planned to overthrow the entire balance of the empire, to have a land of their own. The council would if it was negotiable.”

“They want the whole empire,” she murmured.

“That’s why it isn’t negotiable.”

“Hmm…Does this have something to do with the pentagram?”

“You have done your homework well,” Alexander looked impressed, “If you know about the pentagram, you should know what are the five sides of it. The black witches tonight are going to gather under the red moon light to start the ritual-”

‘Light’

“- first with a sacrifice-”

‘Blood of the innocent’

“- and then by mixing it with their own blood along with a white witch’s heart-”

‘Blood of the witch and blood of the white’

“-finally completing it with a dark witch’s blood. These are the five sides of the pentagram by which the witches will gain enough power to annihilate any and everything,” he explained it to her and before she could ask anything more his eyes began turning dark.

His fingers twitched, like a thousand nails that were pricking him at a time. Katie could see his manicured nails trying to dig into the metal chair which screeched in friction, “Aargh!” he groaned.

“Alex!”

She was worried. She never knew that holy objects of God could do this much harm to a vampire. She with Lord Alexander and the others had visited church in Valeria before but not once did it affect them. Ironically Lord Alexander even wore a cross around his neck which didn’t affect him either which would only mean that the witch had added more than just holy water in it.

“Pardon me. I am in my lowest strength form right now.” Lowest strength? Katie thought to herself, her brows furrowed in question and then she realized, oh no.

“When was the last time you drank blood from a human?” she asked holding her breath as she waited for him to answer.

“Since you last left Valeria,” Katie closed her eyes in regret, “Don’t blame yourself. It was my decision.”

“But why? You could have taken blood from someone else, I wouldn’t mind it. I don’t,” she shook her head.

“Silly girl, do you think a pure blooded vampire could stay sane with the lack of in their system for four weeks? I have been taking blood capsules in place of it. They don’t taste that great but it’s manageable,” he answered her.

Alexander had contained himself from drinking anyone’s blood since Katie had left the mansion for his own reasons and one of them being that he would not touch another woman while she was there. Lord Nicholas had been helping him by providing him blood capsules to cope with his hunger for blood. Unfortunately when the council members had arrived to retrieve him they had drawn blood out of him to weaken his body.

He needed blood but none of the guards would get in unless it was ordered by the Lord or the Lady of the south. If she could, she would give her blood without a thought but with both of them bound to the chair that option was ruled out. But then Katie thought, if she could somehow get to where he was then possibly they could turn the tables around.

She moved her body, trying to move the chair along with her while making sure not to scrape the ground to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

“Wait,” he said making her stop suddenly to see him looking towards the door and after few fleeting seconds he spoke, “You can move now. The guards have moved away from the door.”

Hearing this, she began pushing and balancing herself while moving towards where Alexander was. It wasn’t easy or fast and rather she felt like a tortoise. Unlike Alexander’s metal chair, she had been bound to a wooden one which at one moment of time she almost lost balance and fortunately missed falling flat on the ground.

It took her minutes but she finally made it near Alexander. Her chair next to his. She didn’t want to know how she even made it there because the idea of what she did seemed ridiculous in her head.

Alexander and Katie gazed into each other’s eyes before his eyes trailed down to her lips to her jaw and then finally settling it at the region that connected her neck and shoulder. Bending his head down to her neck he sank his fangs into her skin, feeling the warm and sweet blood seep through his lips. Katie had felt her skin pierce when Alexander had sunk his canines in her neck, feeling her head get dizzy with the sudden amount of blood been drawn out of her body. When he was done he licked the spot clean, not letting a single drop go waste.