Warlock Ch 206. Heavy Price
Damian's eyes widened slightly. "He wanted to rule the magic world," he muttered, the pieces falling into place.
"Yes," Victoria confird, her gaze eting his. "He saw you as a threat, as soone who could challenge him. But he also saw you as an opportunity. With your power, he believed he could rise above everyone—vampires, mages, warlocks, demons. He thought he could beco untouchable."
Damian's grip on her wrists tightened, his mind swirling with a mix of anger and confusion. "And you? What about you? Why did you side with ?"
Victoria's lips pressed into a thin line. "Because he didn't just plan to kill you, Damian. He planned to get rid of , too."
Damian blinked, his confusion deepening. "What?"
"My bloodline was valuable," Victoria explained, her voice steady despite her words. "But only as long as I was alive to produce heirs. Once he drained you and took your core, he no longer needed . I was disposable."
The room fell silent, her revelation sinking in. Damian stared down at her, his mind racing to process everything she'd said.
"So you used ," Damian said finally, his voice low. "You used to get rid of him."
Victoria's gaze didn't waver. "Yes," she admitted, her voice unwavering. "But not in the way you think. I didn't manipulate you, Damian. I didn't need to. The mont you learned the truth about his plans, you made the choice yourself. You killed him because it was the only way to stop him."
Damian's chest tightened, his mories flashing in fragnts—the battle, the blood, the chaos. "And what about after?" he asked, his voice sharp.
Victoria's expression softened, a flicker of vulnerability crossing her face. "Because you saved ," she said simply. "That night, you could have killed too. You had every reason to. But you didn't. You protected ."
Damian's grip on her wrists loosened slightly as her words sank in. "I protected you?" he repeated, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes," Victoria said, her voice firm. "You chose over him. And for that, I owe you everything. You even gave your blood… to save my life."
Damian stared down at her, his mind a whirlwind of emotions. Her words replayed in his head, each one heavier than the last. He had been prepared for deceit, for manipulation, for more layers of her gas. But this? This raw honesty wasn't what he had expected.
"I gave you my blood?" he asked, his voice low, almost disbelieving. Then the vision he'd seen earlier clicked into place. 'So that's why I went to her at the end,' he muttered internally.
Victoria's expression softened. "Yes. You did it to save ."
Damian clenched his jaw, his thoughts racing. 'That explains how she knows I'm Kaelan.'
He'd been too distracted to piece it together before, but now it made perfect sense. For a royal vampire like Victoria, tracking soone based on their blood was as simple as breathing. Yet, that raised another question—a bigger one.
He narrowed his eyes on her. "Then why didn't you take ?" he asked, his voice sharper now. "Why didn't you hide ? If I saved your life, why didn't you do the sa for ?"
Victoria let out a bitter laugh, her crimson eyes glinting with a mix of frustration and sadness. "Do you think Kaelan would've accepted that?" she asked, her tone cutting. "Do you really think you would've stayed if I offered you sanctuary? You, who even left your best friend and your little witch behind?"
Damian stiffened at her words, his past choices hitting him harder than he wanted to admit. He said nothing, but Victoria pressed on.
"I was nothing to you, Damian. Nothing," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "Would you have possibly accepted my offer when you couldn't even stay with the people closest to you?"
She looked away, her expression unreadable for a mont before she continued. "Besides," she said, her voice softening, "you left . Just like that. After giving your blood, you disappeared. No explanation. No goodbye."
Damian closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "Yeah," he said with a huff. "That does sound like sothing I'd do."
Victoria's lips curled into a faint, humorless smile. "It was."
She paused, as if gathering her thoughts, then continued. "Do you know how I passed the days after that? After you left?" Her voice grew quieter, but her words filled the room. "I tried to look for you. I searched everywhere. But I couldn't do it openly. With my husband's death, everything changed. The politics within the vampire faction shifted. Everyone was watching , waiting for to falter."
She leaned her head back against the pillow, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. "And he managed to wound ," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "Not badly—your blood had already healed . But I still needed ti to recover my power. Ti I didn't have."
Her eyes flicked back to his, her expression hardening. "So I locked myself away. Pretended to mourn, like the perfect widow everyone expected to be. But I wasn't sad. Not for him. Not even for a mont." Her voice broke slightly, but she quickly composed herself. "I was worried about you. I knew you were badly injured too. I didn't know if you'd survived."
Damian scoffed, though the sound lacked its usual sharpness. "You speak as if you didn't use ," he said, his tone laced with bitterness. "You did use . You said it yourself."
Victoria's eyes flashed with sothing fierce. "I used you," she admitted without hesitation. "But you ended up taking sothing more from ."
Damian frowned.
Victoria let out a shaky breath, her gaze softening in a way that made Damian's chest tighten. "I paid a heavy price for what you done," she said quietly. "More than you'll ever know. You didn't just save my life. You didn't just give your blood. You… took sothing from ."
Damian's grip on her wrists loosened slightly, confusion flickering across his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"
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