Bab 17: Revenge
As Damien's health continued to decline under the encroaching mate-sickness, the more pointedly Dezzy started pressing him to come with her to the vampire castle. The more Dezzy pushed Damien, the more stubbornly he insisted that he would never go to the castle. Several times, they devolved into shouting matches that were only broken up by the intervention of their mother.
Of course, shouting at Dezzy became less effective as Damien grew weaker. As the days dragged on, he ended up looking more and more pathetic, gasping for breath and barely lifting his head, just to wheeze ineffectively at his sister about how he would rather suffer indefinitely than be forced to actually share space with that damn vampire.
What Damien didn't realize was how heavily the arguing was weighing on Dezzy - she was the sort who hated to let someone else win, and Damien normally gave in when facing her stubbornness. But this time he refused to back down, and he didn't realize that the fights meant more to Dezzy than a mere argument she refused to lose.
That was until, during what had to be the twenty-sixth argument since the first time they'd fought, Damien made the mistake of wheezing an irritated, "Would you stop telling me what to do? How many times do I have to say that I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life with that vampire?"
And Dezzy froze, her mouth agape. She blinked once, then blinked again. Then, inexplicably, she burst into tears.
Damien felt his anger vanish in an instant, feeling terrible. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he immediately apologized. "I didn't -" but he couldn't finish the sentence, because it wasn't that he hadn't meant what he said. He was simply sorry that what he said had upset her. He really would rather die. And clearly, Dezzy knew he wasn't lying when he'd said it.
"You did," Dezzy snarled, her tears clearly tears of frustration, and not those of sadness. "And that's what makes all of this so stupid!"
"It's not stupid!" Damien argued. "It's not stupid to not want something. Especially something like going to a vampire's castle," he insisted.
"Damie," Dezzy said, sniffling and swiping angrily at her eyes, blinking away the tears as quickly as they'd come to her, "I understand that you don't want to go. I just don't understand why you think dying is a better solution than going to him."
What other option did he have? He didn't want to die, of course, but he hated the idea of facing the vampire again even more. Damien opened his mouth to answer her, but he paused at the furious look Dezzy tossed his way. Instead, he leaned back against his pillows and gestured for her to go on. He was tired of fighting, and he didn't think that anything she could say would change his mind. Still, he knew she would never stop trying, and he didn't have the energy to tell her to leave him alone.
"It's just… that vampire already took so much from you," Dezzy said, spinning on her heel and striding away from Damien's patient cot. She turned back around suddenly, pointing right at Damien. "And you! You're just going to let him steal your life from you, too?" She growled, curling her hands into claws, her sharp nails catching the light of the embers glowing in the hearth. "Why would you let him win?"
Damien blinked. He hadn't heard this argument from Dezzy before. She'd argued that he should value his own life, and that it didn't matter who the vampire was, so long as Damien could live and stay healthy. That it would be easy enough for Damien to go to the castle. That the vampire wouldn't care if Damien took his clothes. But she had never mentioned this before - never pointed out that the vampire won if Damien did nothing and wasted away from his mate-sickness.
The more he thought about it, the more strongly Damien felt that she was right - the vampire wasn't another wolf, he had no nascent bond tugging at him. Damien's suffering meant nothing to him, and why would it? Vampires weren't the sort of creatures to be bound by any mortal. How could they understand the anguish of mate-sickness?
But, then, wasn't that the reason why it made no sense to go to the vampire? He wouldn't care about Damien. So how would going to the castle help? What difference would it make?
"How would going to that castle be any better than just staying here in my current situation?" Damien asked, slowly. He didn't want Dezzy to start shouting again, or revert back to her old arguments. This argument actually intrigued him, against his better judgement.
Lifting her head to glower at Damien, Dezzy answered. "You want revenge, don't you?" Her scowl deepened as she continued, "Make him miserable, then. It hurts to see you suffer, Damie. I want you to make him suffer, instead."
Damien hadn't thought of that. "How would I do that?" he asked, genuinely considering the possibility for the first time.
Dezzy shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I know almost nothing about him." She leaned forward then, a mad gleam in her eye. "But I know a way for you to find out."
Damien sighed, hating that she'd somehow won him over. "If I go to the castle," he admitted, weariness of his voice an echo of the deep-seated exhaustion lingering in his bones.
"Exactly," Dezzy said, a dangerous grin spreading across her tear-streaked face. "So let's get you to that castle."
. . .
Mother must have warmed up to the idea before Damien had, because when Dezzy and Damien went to her with news of what they were planning, she seemed unperturbed by the suggestion. Damien didn't understand exactly how Dezzy had won Mother over - or if perhaps she had realized, as Dezzy had, that there was nothing more to be done for him here.
"You'll need some protection against other vampires," Mother had said, in her typical no-nonsense tone. With that, she'd handed him a small stone, and Damien had frowned down at it.
"This is going to protect me from vampires?" he asked, inspecting the smooth stone and turning it over in his hands. It was small, about the size of a songbird's egg, but it felt heavier than one would expect it to be, given its size. Its texture was oddly smooth, like the stone was polished, but it remained muted and dull like an uncut gemstone. The color was a simple gray, like granite. As he rolled it around, he noticed that it seemed to radiate warmth against the palm he held it in. "How does it work?"
"It's an amulet of protection specifically warding you against the undead," Mother explained. "It was taken from the grounds of a temple of the Guardian of Peace and blessed for two hundred years by the gentle seasons of the living forest. It has lain under the light of a full moon for the last fifteen years, and is now full of life magic. This sort of magic only grows stronger in the presence of a werewolf's own magic.
"Wow," Damien said. He knew the Guardian of Peace was one of the old gods, one that was rarely worshipped anymore, but was known to be a very powerful figure that people prayed to during times when uncertainty abounded. The Guardian was known to be very possessive of peace, and harsh with those who would break the bonds of safety and comfort. The living forest was also famous, and not far from where Mother worked - it was home to many magical plants and animals, and was a pilgrimage site for those who worshipped nature gods. The amulet had to be one of the most valuable things she owned, despite its humble appearance.
"If it's such strong life magic, how is Damien supposed to get near to the vampire he's bonded to?" Dezzy asked, leaning over to look at the stone, too. She poked it with one finger, and then glanced over at Mother, waiting for the answer.
"Damien can choose to set the amulet aside," Mother explained, and of course her answer made both Damien and Dezzy feel a bit silly for even asking. But she wasn't finished explaining, for she continued by saying, "Or, if Damien's bond is strong enough, it may overcome the amulet's own magic and welcome the vampire he is bonded to despite the protection spell."
Damien's eyebrows rose at this. He hadn't realized werewolf magic was that strong. This amulet had to be one of the most powerful in the world, and Mother thought that his bond would be able to overpower it? "Werewolf magic can do that?" he asked.
"Of course," Mother said, patting his shoulder gently as she reminded him, "Why else would it be nearly impossible to prevent a werewolf's transformation? The wild magic of a werewolf is nigh untameable, but by the power of a stable bond."
"Oh," Damien said, feeling a bit sheepish. He'd known that werewolf transformations weren't possible to stop, but he hadn't realized it was because their magic was strong! Werewolves weren't mages or anything like that, so he hadn't quite realized that there was so much magic in them. He hadn't realized that the reason why nothing stopped the transformation was because of how powerful the werewolf's curse was. He knew that bonding allowed werewolves to keep their human minds during the transformation, and made it less painful (and less lonely, too). But he hadn't realized that the magic of the bond was so strong because it needed to be able to overpower the magic of a werewolf. He hadn't realized that this meant a bond could overpower other types of magic, too. He felt like there was so much about himself and his own magic that he didn't know.
"So there you have it," Dezzy said, patting his shoulder too, eyeing the smooth, gray stone with obvious interest. "A rock to chase away all the vampires except the one you want to be close to you."
Damien grimaced. "Unless I drop it somewhere, I guess."
Dezzy grimaced back. "Maybe you should wear it," she suggested, and then turned to their mother. "Don't you have little charms to wear?" she gestured the shape, as if Mother didn't know what she was talking about. "Could Damie use one of those pouches?"
Mother nodded. "Indeed he could," she said, then glanced at Damien. "But be certain that, however you choose to carry it, you don't forget to keep the stone with you," she warned him. "When you sleep, when you bathe or even change your clothes, make sure it never leaves your side. I want you to carry it with you always."
"Yes, Mother," Damien agreed. "I'll be careful." He hated the idea that another vampire might come after him - dealing with one vampire was bad enough. He couldn't stand the thought of enduring more than that.
"I already packed our bags," Dezzy said then. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."
Mother and Damien both gave her a sharp look.
"I should have known those were crocodile tears," Damien grumbled.
"They were not!" Dezzy protested. "I was really upset!"
Damien didn't quite believe her. From the look on her face, neither did Mother.
"I will see you two off tomorrow," Mother said, glancing between the two of them with a sad look. "Be safe while you are gone, and remember that my door is always open to you."
Damien frowned. "Dezzy will be back soon, though," he said, glancing between the two of them, confused.
"What are you talking about?" Dezzy demanded. "Did you think I was going to drop you at the castle and leave you there all by your lonesome? I would never!"
Damien felt his heartbeat quicken as he stared at her in shock. "But… you don't have to go there!" he exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I don't trust those shifty vampires," Dezzy said. "I can't go into the castle - I don't have an amulet or a bond, so there's a high risk I could be enthralled. But I'll stay in the town just below the castle - if you ever need me, I'll be right there, Damie. I promise."
Damien swallowed hard. "But… Mother…?" he turned to look at Mother, who nodded slowly.
"Both of you," she said quietly, a little sadly, "be safe. And come home to visit, sometime."
"We will," Dezzy promised.
"We'll try," Damien corrected.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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VHBlood Thank you to all of my regular readers! It's been really encouraging to see the power stones and views steadily ticking upwards. I hope you're enjoying the read as much as I enjoy writing it! Drop me a comment to tell me who your favorite character is so far :3
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