A Sylus Myth Banner/Sylus X MC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Part 3
A haunting emptiness filled the castle. But the decor didn’t seem to match the isolation that echoed in the halls. The stone was dark, but the ambiance was warm.
I had hunted vampires to their castles and hovels before. Generally, they were hollow, empty shells, and occasionally, a vampire might keep trophies.
I didn’t see anything that would qualify as the usual vampire trophy. Not a skull or bone in sight. Not even a single splatter of blood.
Amidst the black stone walls and floor and the dark wood furnishings were flowers of red and violet. Vines grew on the walls, the flowers all in bloom despite the cold. Gold and silver trinkets lay on decorative tables, carefully chosen and displayed.
Sylus led me to an open living space where a fire crackled and basked the room in its red and gold light. Large seats, all a dark wine red, but had blankets and pillows of white and violet, red and black, black and violet. Warm rugs, incredibly soft to the touch, graced the floor. Bookcases lined the walls, full of tomes from floor to ceiling. Three crows flew down from their perches among the shelves to greet their master.
I watched Sylus with them. I certainly didn’t intend to tell him that I was also fond of crows.
He fed them each in turn, caressed their feathers and then sent them off, before he turned to face me. I stiffened when that gaze fell on me again.
None of this was normal for a vampire.
I shot him a glare. “And you had answers. Or so you said.”
This might be his territory, but I had destroyed hundreds of vampires in their dens. This wouldn’t be any different.
“What nonsense were you talking about? Were you speaking in riddles just to lure me here?” I drew my blades, prepared for his trickery.
“No. I meant every word. I’m tired of this song and dance of ours, kitten,” he whispered.
He approached me and his imposing height and breadth filled my vision. I realized I could actually lose. My hands trembled on the hilts of my blades, but not from fear.
Fear would’ve been smarter. Instead it was anticipation that made my hands shake, though I had no idea why. What was I waiting for? The answers he still dangled in front of me that he didn’t offer willingly?
“What song and dance?” I bit out, trying to hold onto my annoyance and anger.
Why did his presence, the tenderness on his stoic features, affect me? It was all a trap. It had to be. He was a vampire. None of them could be trusted.
“The one where you hunt me down, try to kill me, only to change your mind.” His voice caressed. “Where you fight the truth until your soul resonates with mine. The one where we live out our days in bliss until you leave me.”
Now his gaze flickered with anger. Or anguish. His right eye glowed brighter than the other.
“Again.” His smile returned as if that agonized moment hadn’t existed at all. As if I hadn’t seen it. “And then I have to wait. Wait until you come to hunt me again.”
I felt my jaw hang open at his impossible statements. I didn’t get a chance to gather my thoughts when he spoke again.
“Tell me, kitten. Doesn’t this all look familiar? Doesn’t my castle look like a home?”
He offered me his hand. “Shall I take you on the tour of our lives together? Of every piece of yourself you added to this hollow space? To remind me when you were gone that you were still here. To haunt me as I waited.”
“I don’t believe you,” I finally managed to breathe.
“Hm.” But his smile didn’t leave his lips. He dropped his hand. “I suppose you do have no reason to trust the word of a vampire. But you agreed that you didn’t want to waste time, so… we won’t.”
His long strides took him to the mantle over the fireplace where a curtain hung. The type that covered a portrait. Red curtains fringed in black and gold. He pulled the rope at its side to reveal—
Me. In a gown of black feathers and red silk, draped in the arms of the vampire before me. Neither figure looked out into the room. Both only gazed at each other.
I took a step back and my blades clattered on the stone floor. No. I stared at the physical man, unable to look at the image he’d presented.
“You said I hunted you.” My heart hammered so violently it would likely bruise my ribs. It wasn’t possible that he had a portrait of me and him—like that—when I’d never met him before now.
“Have I always been a hunter?”
Sylus gave me a slight nod of his head. “Always. And you always arrive in Tartarus Town eventually.”
“I’ve betrayed my oath in…every life?” I breathed before my legs finally gave up their strength.
In a swirl of black and red mist, Sylus was at my side and caught me in his embrace before I crumpled onto the castle floor.
I didn’t fight him. I clung to his arms.
“In every life you’ve had to learn the truth about those who bound you to them. And why they want you to end me.”
Sylus lifted me into his arms so easily, I felt dizzy. My hat fell off my head. The way he looked at me…
“Who are you?” I breathlessly asked.
Sylus’ gaze caressed my face. “You don’t remember, kitten?” he teased.
“I’m the other half of your soul.”
