The Aurelia family sat for a meeting in the Dominik guest house as Theon kept pacing through the room and everyone else sat near the fire. The living room for the guest house was huge, with its Victorian theme. The room had a red and golden theme. The sofa set was placed near the fire as everyone sat on the sofas, Aeneaus and Flavius sat on the floor swiping up on their phones, seeming completely unbothered. Aine had her head in a book as she was lying on the sofa. As for Cyra and Guiellia, they both were watching anxiously pacing through the room on the chocolate brown wooden floor.
"You have to stop at some point," Cyra said as he stopped in his tracks. His silver hair fell onto his red eyes as they beamed with rage and confusion. Cyra with a calm expression asked him to sit next to her. "We have to calmly discuss this." She said as she stood up and walked over to Aine, she snatched the book from her hands and then walked over to the twins and held her hands towards them. They both looked up at her and obediently gave their phones to her.
"What happened was unnatural," Cyra said as she placed the phones and the book on the coffee table. "..and I think there is something Agathon is hiding from us. Today was the first time I heard Agathon knew Clarissa from college. Does anyone know anything?" Cyra sat down and again gestured to Ainar to sit with her. This time he obliged and sat along with her.
"I knew he was involved with some human girl," Guiellia said as she looked around the table and her eyes fell on Flavius. "You told me that when you went to visit Agathon that summer."
Flavius sighed as he sat up. "Agathon did not know she was a werewolf. I never met her, he only talked to me about her. I was not interested much in his love life because I knew things wouldn't work with a human so I did not want to indulge much or push his love-stricken self more into it. I tried talking him out of it. I don't know what happened afterward."
"Okay, that's a start," Cyra said as she looked around the room. "Someone else who knows anything?" She asked.
There was silence in the room for a few moments. Just then Aine sat up as if she had a realization. "Kavi saved her."
"What?" Theon asked.
"During the war when me and Aeneaus were cornered by Clarissa, Agathon came to save us. Aeneas was blacked out at the time and I was on the brink of losing consciousness." She took a pause. "He went out on Clarissa. But he did not release Kavi, he used his strength. I didn't think much of it but the moment light fell on Clarissa's face Agathon paused for a second and he was going to kill her at that moment. She was unconscious and badly beaten. I never really understood why Agathon stopped at the moment. Now I remember Kavi came out right at that point. He stopped Agathon from killing Clarissa that night."
"So, Kavi has an emotional attachment to Clarissa?" Cyra asked as she exchanged looks with everyone in there. The horror seeped into them as they looked at each other.
"That's impossible." Theon broke the silence in the room. "He's a demon."
"He called her his bride," Aeneaus said and the silence again enveloped the room.
"But marriage is the bond between the human souls, demons don't partake in that," Theon argued.
"Could it be…" Flavius said in a low voice. "Could it be that he was not talking about the wedding today?" He looked up at everyone and in that silence, everyone talked. The atmosphere became even more dark and fearful as they sat there.
"We have to protect Clarissa at all costs," Guiellia said as she looked at everyone at the table. "If anything happens to that girl, all hell would break loose."
_
Agathon's whole body went stiff as the fits ran all through his body and foam kept coming out of his mouth. The nurses held him down to make sure he would not hurt himself. Clarissa was by his bed in her torn wedding dress and blood stuck to her face. This was the first time Clarissa had seen Agathon in such a vulnerable state. It makes shivers send down her spine. Agathon was her fiercest enemy against whom she knew she didn't stand a chance. He was in such a vulnerable and weak state that any rookie could easily get rid of him.
"Clarissa.." Her father placed his hand on her shoulder. "Go on, go home. I'll stay here." He said and she shook her head lightly letting him know she was not willing to leave. "His family did not even bother to co-"
"I'm his family." She said with a stern expression her eyes still stuck to him. "You married me off to him, Dad. He is my husband and his partner and wife. I will stay here."
Her father did not know what to say. She was right. The man was her husband even if they had not been married for more than 24 hours and her father was the one who forced the marriage on her. He knew his daughter was stubborn and there was no way he would win the argument with her so he agreed with her and left.
The reason Clarissa wanted to stay was because she believed anyone could hurt Agathon in that state and where she did hold some sort of hatred towards him, she had gotten into this marriage for one reason only; peace. If something were to happen to him the treaty might fall apart so keeping each other safe was another bigger part of the marriage.
The door of the hospital room opened as the Aurelia family made their way into the room. Guiellia was the first one to enter while the siblings followed behind her.
"You should rest," Guiellia said as she smiled at her politely and held her hand.
"I'm fine. I don't think I can leave him here." Clarissa said and Guiellia smiled at her.
"Such a devoted wife, you are." Guiellia said as she looked into her eyes slightly tilting her head she asked, "Would you like to take a walk with me?"
Clarissa had this feeling in her gut that she should not refuse so she nodded as Guiellia smiled. They both made their way out through the hospital as Guiellia made small talk about Clarissa's well-being.
As they reached the hospital's garden Guiellia paused but Clarissa walked a few steps away when she realized Guiellia was not walking with her. Clarissa turned back to see Guiellia standing with a small smile on her lips and pity in her eyes.
"What happened between you and Agathon during college?" She asked.
There was a small silence between the both of them as the wind breezed around them. Clarissa looked a little confused but slightly shrugged.
"It was nothing too serious. We did not know each other's true forms at the time and we both believed for each other to be human. Honestly, we were just trying to experience a good college life together but it was nothing too serious." Clarissa replied and Guiellia sighed softly.
"You met Kavi today. Have you met him before?" She asked and Clarissa shook her head.
"During the war, I saw him but today was my first time interacting with him," Clarissa replied.
Guiellia nodded as she gestured to Clarissa to sit with her on the nearby bench. Her red eyes looked at the sky and she let out a deep sigh. "Do you know what kind of creatures vampires are? Are you aware of their true form?" She asked.
"I know that a vampire is a human who coexists with a demon." She replied.
"Sounds so simple, right? But it's not." Guiellia replied. "For a common vampire that is true. They do coexist with a demon but for royal vampires, the original ones like the Aurelia family, they don't coexist with demons. For us, we have contracts with Moon Gods."
"Moon Gods?"
Guiellia nodded her head lightly as she looked up at the moon. "It's a royal secret only the royals and the upper-class families are aware of."
"If it is a secret. Why are you telling me this?" Clarissa said and Guiellia smiled at her.
"You are a part of us now. After today when I announced you as an Aurelia, it was not a formality but to let everyone know that you are an Aurelia and you are a part of the royal family now. It was more of a warning; you come after her you will come after us. I believe you should know everything there is to know, even the secrets." She said looking at the dark sky with a soft smile on her lips.
"You are not scared that I might give this information back to my father. This can change the way werewolves look at vampires."
Guiellia chuckled. "You can betray us or stay with us, that is completely on you. But as the head of the family, I have to tell you everything there is you need to know." She leaned back, resting against the cold bench as she looked towards the moon.
"Everyone believes that we make contracts with hell demons even vampires believe that but that is not the case. No one knows about it. We don't make contracts with hell demons, we make contracts with moon Gods. Eight original bloodlines still exist. Each family has a specific God that wants to contract with them. It is similar to having genes similar to how you can inherit blue eyes from your great-grandmother. If there is a deity that has made contracts with your ancestors there is a very good chance you or one of your children might inherit that deity. " She continued. "Moon Gods are born pure. They are either pure evil or pure good. There is usually not an in-between except for one case."
"Kavi?" Clarissa said and Guiellia nodded.
"Kavi has been in my family's bloodline for eons now. With every birth in my bloodline, everyone prays that Kavi does not make a contract with the baby. You see Kavi is strong, he is the strongest of them all. I have never heard of a person who encountered Kavi and survived. After today I was shocked. He just stopped when you told him."
"I thought- maybe it will work. I did not count my chances. But why did he stop then?" Clarissa asked.
"I wish I knew. I have to talk to Kavi about this but it seems he is being difficult right now." Guiellia said.
"Difficult?"
"Agathon does not take this long to wake up after Kavi takes over. This is the longest he has been asleep which means Kavi is keeping him in for now."
"Isn't that concerning?" Clarissa asked.
"It is but we can't interfere since they are bound by contract. Even if we interrupt that may worsen things more." Guiellia sighed but then lightly chuckled as if reminiscing something. "Did you know Agathon was born prematurely? His father and I were scared to death that he would not survive. He was so weak and so vulnerable. His body was not properly working. Even the doctors told us he may not survive. There was only one way to save him if a strong deity would make a contract with him." Tears came to the edge of her eyes.
"The night we were informed his heartbeat was not stabilizing and there was a good chance he may pass away. I sat down and prayed. I have heard of Kavi before but never met him or saw anyone inherit him. Although he was a deity who was in my family bloodline, he had not contracted with anyone for the past five centuries. I prayed to Kavi that night. I spent the whole night barefoot under the moon calling out to Kavi. He answered my prayers and made a contract with Agathon." She sighed.
"Kavi is the strongest of them all but we can not predict what he wants or needs. Like I said he is neither evil nor good. I can say he is rather selfish and his actions are dictated by whether something benefits him or not. It is good for Agathon in a way because he makes sure that nothing bad happens to him."
She paused for a moment as if trying to build courage, then reached out and held Clarissa's hand.
"I know this is too sudden and you just became a part of this family but for some reason, you have power over Kavi. We are still not sure why he listened to you. But if it was anyone else who talked to him like you did. He would have slashed them then and there. You were not only able to stop him but even calm him down."
Clarissa just stared at her for a moment. "What do you want me to do then?" She asked.
Guiellia gave her a soft smile as she squeezed her hand and said, "Tame him."