Chapter 51-Space between

Chapter 51: 51-Space between

Kayden, seated nearby, had been listening to the games from the beginning. He found it noisy, very noisy and wished to put an end to it but Varitreya wasn’t telling them to stop and if Varitreya didn’t mind, Kayden didn’t see any reason to interfere.

He simply leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest, listening to the laughter drifting from the back of the bus with an expression that suggested he was tolerating a minor inconvenience.

Occasionally, his eyes wandered toward Varitreya. She looked relaxed despite the atmosphere and that was enough for him. If she was comfortable, he could endure the noise.

Lumi, on the side, was even more disconnected from the games. She sat beside Luan with an old book open across her lap.

The leather cover was worn almost smooth from age, and the faded lettering had been carefully preserved by enchantment.

The Chronicle of Vonvaki and Zissa, the first vampires in existance, whitebloods to be exact. The ancient pair whose story had become woven into vampire mythology. It was the read she chose for the road.

Lumi turned another page, tuning out the noise. The descriptions of Old Scaris immediately pulled her attention away from the bus.

She had been there before with her father, she remembered being younger, walking through the ancient streets while he explained the history of their people. She remembered the old stone buildings, the narrow pathways and the ancient ruins that had survived longer than most vampire kingdoms.

Her father had loved history and he had made Lumi love it too.The memory brought a quiet ache to her chest. She lowered her eyes toward the book.

For a moment, she could almost hear his voice again. "Look closely, Lumi," he would say, his voice warm and positive. "History is never just about what happened. It’s about what people chose to remember. That’s what matters."

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the page. She swallowed and continued reading, she didn’t want to play the game. It wasn’t because she disliked Maisa or Sapphire, she simply didn’t want to disturb the memories the book had awakened.

Beside her, Luan seemed equally uninterested. His attention was scattered between the window, his thoughts and Kayden, mostly Kayden.

The last thing Luan wanted was to hear Sapphire and Maisa suddenly start talking about how handsome the whiteblood prince was and since they didn’t, he didn’t mind their games.

He had already suffered enough humiliation. If they wanted to play their ridiculous human games, fine as long as nobody started praising Kayden.

He closed his eyes. The voices entered one ear and exited the other.

"You’re cheating!"

"I’m not!"

"You definitely are!"

Luan sighed. He opened one eye. He didn’t mind their games but the noise was loud. With heightened senses, it was even louder. He looked around and wondered how the others were able to remain indifferent when his eardrums were hurting.

"No one is fawning over Kayden. Maybe I should take comfort in that and..."

Lumi glanced at him. "Why are you talking to your self?"

"Nothing," he brushed it off. He didn’t dare to call out Kayden’s name outloud and jinx himself in getting everyone talking about him again.

She shook her head and returned to her book. "Tey not to lose your mind during the trip. I wouldn’t know what to tell mother when we get back," she reminded him.

Luan leaned back. He didn’t understand why Kayden’s presence irritated him so much. Perhaps it was because Kayden was a whiteblood, far stronger, faster and more powerful than him. Or it was because he was Varitreya’s closest friend and outranked him in status.

Perhaps it was because Kayden had that infuriating confidence that came from knowing exactly how powerful he wa or it was because Luan couldn’t shake the feeling that Kayden had deliberately threatened him through that mental link.

Whatever the reason, he wanted distance from him from the white-haired vampire. Unfortunately, the trip had only just begun and he had a feeling that Kayden would keep true to his word.

Across the aisle, Addessa hadn’t participated in the games at all either. Her phone remained in her hand and her mother’s messages had been deleted from the screen, but not from her mind.

She stared through the window. Outside, the landscape blurred into streaks of dark trees and moonlit roads. Her thoughts were darker.

She knew her mother, Adelaide Challan wasn’t bluffing. She would absolutely continue and press on; she would manipulate politicians, influence the blood council and pressure nobles to see her way.

She would use every connection available to her and if necessary, she would sacrifice Addessa’s position, reputation and even their relationship to achieve her goal.

Adelaide’s hatred of redbloods had always been stronger than almost everything else in her life, even her daughter wasn’t exempt from it, Addessa knew that.

That was why defying her mother wasn’t as simple as saying no. The Challan name had given Addessa everything: her education, her status, her connections, her position beside the princess and her future.

If she openly opposed her mother, she could lose all of it and Adelaide would not hesitate to make an example of her own daughter.

Addessa looked toward Maisa, the redblood was laughing and her dark red eyes were bright. Her shoulders had relaxed and she looked genuinely happy.

Zolani was laughing beside her, clearly enjoying herself despite still struggling with the rules. Something twisted inside Addessa.

She had spent years being taught that redbloods were inferior, now her own heart had chosen one as the one destined for her and worse, Maisa wasn’t behaving like the monster Addessa had been taught to expect.

She was kind, confused and mostly frightened by the new world. More human in ways Addessa didn’t understand and that made everything harder because hatred was easy when the target was faceless. It was much harder when the person had a laugh you could hear from across a bus.

Addessa looked down at her hands. She couldn’t betray her mother but she couldn’t bring herself to destroy Maisa so easily, the bond wouldn’t allow it.

She was trapped in the space between blood and bond, between family and fate and between the woman who had raised her and the girl destiny had placed in her heart. And she had no idea which one would eventually break her.

"You okay?" Varitreya noticed how quite she had grown.

"I’m fine."

"Addie, if don’t want to tell me then at least don’t lie to me."

"I an not fine," she admitted. "But I also don’t want to talk about it."

Varitreya nodded. "If you change your mind. I’m right here."

Addessa glanced away. She understood that if Varitreya learnt what her mother was planning, she wouldn’t be as willing to be there for her.

’It’s all up to me,’ she thought.