The sun slowly rose over London. It looked like it would rain today as it did often from what I knew.

I stepped off of the plane and immediately got in the black car reserved for me. My guards slid in around me to keep a close eye on any and all threats. That was how it had to be. There were other cars around us as we continued on through the city.
.
.
.

The door was in front of me and yet I couldn't bring myself to knock. I let out a deep sigh and knocked. Melody opened the door and quickly ushered us in. " Tristan. " She murmured, bowing " Guards, come in." They nodded acknowledging her and they took their rightful places against the walls within the small home.

She lifted a gentle finger and whispered " I'm worried about Katherine... A lot. She came home at 5 am and she didn't look okay. Go." I nodded, following her instructions. Worriedly I climbed the stairs and gently knocked at her door. " Baby what's wrong?" I murmured softly. I knew she was there but the air was definitely off. I heard the gentle click of the lock and the knob turned.

She opened the door slowly and her hazel-green pupils were black. She looked scared,relieved and bored at the same time and I knew something was up. Her skin was stark white, papery almost and her breathing wasn't normal. Almost as if she were sick. The only thing that could do this to a vampire would be... There was only one way to know.

I grabbed her hand and broke the skin with my teeth. She never even flinched and simply kept her eyes on mine. Her blood was almost orange in color. I dropped her hand and gently pulled down her under eyelid, exposing the flesh that should've been pink. The flesh there was a blueish gray. She drank dragon's breath. Witches and warlocks could tolerate it, but it was the only thing that could make a vampire ill.

She blinked once and her voice sounded hoarse and tight " Never... again." She whispered, fear in her eyes. I stepped back and the guard leaned in " Take her to feed. She has to get at least 3 liters of blood in her to wash it out. If she isn't almost passed out, don't bring her back." He nodded without hesitation. He reached out for her hand and her hand that looked so fragile held onto it. As the door closed I looked at my other guard
" Dragon's breath." We both muttered in unison. Raymond chuckled and pushed his air back. " Spiked with dragon's blood of course. Her blood was orange and it takes a lot of that to alter the appearance of her blood." I agreed. " But... Why?"

I sat at her piano stool and sighed
" As a human, or rather when her vampire nature was heavily suppressed... She was sick and drank the pain away. Her heart hurt being away from me and she only did what she's always done to feel less pain." Raymond looked away, almost sorry. " She doesn't understand what she feels and never has so... She only knows passion, heartache and numbness." Raymond looked surprised " Anger? Hate?"

" She's learning that. It's just taking much longer for her to process and cope with."

Raymond was holding his tongue and I could tell but he said it anyway " I know its not my place to ask but... My lord why do you love her? What does she have that your suitors didn't?"

I looked at him somewhat hesitant " I don't know sometimes. But she has a hold on me that no one ever has... She's jealous and angry. She's possessive and has even risked her sanity for mine. She loves me in the best ways that she's able to. She tries to be normal and I guess it doesn't work out a lot but... She's always willing to try harder. For me." Raymond chuckled, looking back at me almost as if I was insane " She sounds nice. Hope we got to her early enough so she'll at least be okay at around two." To that we both agreed.

A quick knock at the door got our attention. It was her dad. He opened the door and closed it Raymond eyed him uncertainly and sighed " It's good to see you again, Tristan." Agreeing, I pulled him into a quick hug and sat with him. " How bad?"

" Pretty bad but... She's going to be okay. I know it."

He glanced at me, uncertain but he trusted me. " I don't know why but... I wasn't surprised when Cherry's sister turned us in... I was hurt but not at all surprised...

I stood and opened the curtains, letting the warm light shine into her room. It was a little dark but I wasn't surprised " Now they're both dead... They were traitors."

" Yes. We have an alliance with the witches now?" I looked at him through the corner of my eye.
" We always have. We just never knew."

I saw the confusion but I made it clear for him " My mom was tortured and killed because she hid the fact that she was part witch. My father told me he never planned on telling any of us that we were part witch, some of us more than the others."

The grim look on his face said a lot more than it needed to " You?"

I folded my arms " No. Kaden. Besides that, he plans to privately marry Duchess soon. I'm proud of them." He smiled widely" Duchess and Kaden? If her father got a whiff of that... " he didn't continue, because we all knew.
" I'm happy. She's had it hard and Kaden was always sort of left out of a lot. What about your sister?"

" My sister is sort of working out things on her own. She refuses to speak to me for the most part." It hurt a little but maybe it was for the best.

Trent came back with Katherine, whole looked faint but had color in her again. He lie her in my arms and backed up, closer to the wall. Her eyes pierced my own and she winked. I rolled my eyes at her and pushed her hair away from her face. Blood coated her lips and there were drying patches on her cheek. " Hey." She mumbled, smiling. Her eyes had cleared up and her skin was back to normal.

I grabbed a towel and her remaining cup of water to wipe the blood away. Her eyes closed and she let me, which was strange. She was usually reluctant... But she was coming down from a feast. She wasn't 100% herself. " Thanks." She whispered. She came in closer and lie against my chest. " Babe what happened last night? Why did you go out and drink so heavily?"

The smile wavered and All she could do was sigh. " I felt... Heavy. Everything hurt. I'm okay now. Sort of." She grimaced. She was disappointed in herself. I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. " I'm just glad you aren't a zombie anymore. Your dad is here to make sure you're okay."

She let out a sigh and tilted her head back until she was face to face with her dad. He stroked her hair and caressed her cheek " I was worried. I understand but I think it's time for us to work on this... It's not okay, especially if you don't know what's compatible with what. We'll even help you along but we need to first agree and acknowledge that you need help." Sitting up, she got off of my lap and stood her hair fell around her shoulders and her burgundy shirt was stained. I caught my eyes as they wandered down her body and looked away. " Yeah dad." She whispered sadly, regret lacing her words. She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. Not her running away from it but... Delaying for a bit.