Elizabeth Fraye looked serious, undressing me once more, and I slightly fidgeted. She stepped closer, not answering. But every step she made, my heart pounded against my chest until her hand reached it. I gasped because when her palm rested tenderly against my chest, I felt my veins begin to pulse stronger and alive.
I looked at her, puzzled. "What is that?"
"My roots, my blood, and it seems to me it loves you better than me," she replied jokingly, although her eyes never did. I frowned before she continued, making it clear. "I mean, I could easily release blood without drying like a corpse, but it slightly weakens me. And when it does, only a mate could replenish it."
"How would I know if you needed it?" I wondered as she helped me repack.
"You start looking for me badly because my blood will overflow." She answered as she handed me my swords, which were perfectly clean. "You'll bleed a lot."
I nodded before guessing. "The same with the Knightrose mate's heat?"
"Yes, but since we both marked, you won't feel that kind of heat with me anymore," she clarified, then her smile became mischievous, and then she teased, "But maybe with your wife."
I glared as she reminded me of the question she hadn't answered earlier. "Speaking of, answer my question. You're slipping."
She laughed, saying, "Guilty." I glared at her. She chuckled, surrendering before she explained. "Alright, Mirxalyn won't mind us being mates. The Knightrose was open to polygamous mates. Some already had theirs." I frowned because I hadn't read their family politics since I'm not a fan, or heard it among the members. I didn't realize it applied to their family. I sighed. "And besides, you drank my blood. It's proof that you're mine."
I checked our mated mark on my chest, which was the only crimson mark among my tribal tattoos. My forehead was the same, but it wasn't thorny; it was an infinity with a rose. I touched it, and she flinched.
"Don't touch it like that," she warned as she stood closer to me.
"Wha—why? " I stuttered slightly as heat began forming on my face.
"You're making me want to do it again." Her voice dropped but was steady, and I shivered.
I blushed, melting. I leaned my forehead over her chest. I asked softly, "And you're mine too?" She nodded and showed me the same mark on her chest. When I saw it, I felt warm and proud, making me kiss the mark before I met her and asked, "But Fraye, how should we talk about this to Mirxalyn?"
"She'll be fine. If not, I'll beat her ass again." She chuckled, stretching before continuing, "But kidding aside, she felt it through your half-mark. She knew it, and she'll be more grateful that it's me than the others she didn't know."
I searched for uncertainty in her eyes, but there was none. I sighed. "If you put it that way, then better."
Then she offered her hand, asking, "Are you ready to meet him?"
"Are you with me?" I asked, taking her hand, entwining our fingers before walking to the other side of her area.
"I'm sorry, darling. I can't leave this place if you haven't finished the reason why you're here," she answered gently as she guided me to the next gate without being chased.
I sighed, saying, "Then I'd better finish it, and I'll come to pick you up."
"I'll be waiting then," she said hopefully and kissed my hand before letting it go. "Go ahead. There's nothing else beyond this gate except him. But always be on your guard. You'll never know when he'll greet you."
"Noted." I nodded as I passed the gate, waving my hand at her. But as the gate closed behind me, I felt alerted to the deadly danger engulfing the area. "This is worse than the rest."
***
The area was nothing like the brightness of Mate's domain here; it was cold, and the more I walked cautiously through it, the darker it got. It was not long before I reached the only stone coffin in a ruined mausoleum, and I quickly did what the old man instructed me to do. I paid respect to the Knightrose ancestors, but it was never done. My skin perked in warning, and I quickly stepped away from the stone coffin when a thin strike came behind me.
My eyes narrowed where it landed, and it was a needle—sharp and filled with malicious intent—death. I didn't look behind me because I knew the culprit wasn't even near me. I closed my eyes in a split second, navigating where my target was, but I quickly stopped and ducked when another strike happened.
"This is going to be tough," I thought. I put down my things beside the stone coffin, and without hesitation, I sat comfortably. Technically, I shouldn't be doing it since I'm not a kid anymore, but the stone coffin was in the right vantage point to see everything. "Let there be music," I muttered, grinning darkly. Although the area was empty, music began to play. My Sigbin power came out naturally, freer, engulfing the area with terror. "Let's dance."
The music was a violin playing a melody, Senbonzakura, and in the darkness, my opponent shot me again with needles. But since my Sigbin power was out, nothing touched me. Every attempt was in vain, and every needle became a dark, bloody rose.
"Hm, that's poisonous," I muttered, grinning before I placed my hand on the coffin's cover, waking the dead.
"Hear my voice, arise from the valley of the dead.
Come forth and dance with grace.
Under the moonlight, never miss a beat.
In one strike, waking the lonely heart.
And so, let it be done."
Once I ended my chant, the stone coffin I was sitting on moved, opening the cover. It released a deadly malice, and a decaying corpse came out. As the corpse, a man, came out, it walked toward the center, invoking its power and turning it into a blade before dancing under the moonlight, blocking the needles with exact accuracy.
As the needles were distracted, I closed my eyes, channeling the energy around the area and navigating the core's exact location. In a beat, I vanished from my spot and appeared beside the man. Without hesitation, I grabbed its face, pushing it to the ground. The impact was heavy, making it stumble toward the dancing corpse. It hit the core, but when they collide, I wish I hadn't woken the corpse because they merge and become more powerful.
"Oh, my bad," I muttered, and with the same stunt I did, his hand found my face and slammed it on the ground. Again, I was reminded that I was fighting with a dead body, and no matter how much I cut it, it would regenerate and give a stronger counter. I might have blocked it, but it hasn't stopped me from stumbling on the ground, grunting. "This is going to be...interesting."
But before I could even get up, something magically wrapped around me, a gravitational force. I quickly braced myself for whatever my opponent was planning and had prepared for, and I was tossed and smashed on the ground like I was nothing. I would be long gone, but I am not an ordinary human.
I felt my wife's ring on my ring finger and Fraye's mark on my chest burn, making my blood run fast in my veins. I composed myself despite being a smashed toy on the ground and remembered the chains weren't binding my soul core anymore. I reached for it and borrowed a little power to face a monster of another kind.
'Arise, little one.'
I smirked when I heard the Fenrir's voice, Sage's voice in my ears, before saying softly, "Always."
Before I met the ground for the fourth time, my eyes opened, and my sight became clearer. The energies were the souls of the weeping, screaming, and wishing to be freed. That's how I instantly vanished from its gravitational force. My blades came to me. With one swing, everything was cut. I landed on the ground quietly, and by the time I made a step, I was already in front of the man.
We fought equally matched, but I was moving with the wind, and the darkness was helping me to vanish from sight. With one gap, it was the tiniest second where I managed to strike its old wound, its empty heart, ending everything.
I coughed up blood and fell on my knees, but he vanished, leaving only his soul core morphing into his old features.
'Wow, you're better than Mirxalyn.'
"How?" I asked, coughing more blood.
'You're crazy, but never like Elizabeth.'
"Well, I could tell she's worse and lovely," I said casually, but I heard softness in them, and I found myself smiling.
'Good that you're fully mated with her.'
"Meaning?" I wondered weakly.
'You can heal yourself faster than your kind.'
I frowned before asking as I coughed, "How can I do that?"
'Hm, she didn't tell you about her blood power. Alright, the Knightrose were blessed with selective, unique powers, unlike other vampires who possessed gifts too. Mirxalyn isn't only known as a bloody conqueror; her Knightrose gift is to conquer, mostly at the battlefield.'
"To simplify it, she'll get whatever she wants." I giggled, but it was a wrong move because I coughed again when I had to save my energy and looked for something to treat my wound.
'Yes, most of it. Elizabeth Fraye might possess the power of water and air, from which her icy power was born. But her Knightrose gift was blood because she was the first one who could control our bloodthirst. But her bloody gift wasn't only that; she managed to learn how to replenish her blood without needing too much blood from the others. In short, you could heal yourself by controlling your blood flow. So try it.'
And I did. It worked. I smiled weakly and lay on the ground before saying, "Thank you for sharing that." Then I quickly sat up, looking at him in wonder. "Why did you become the soul core here?"
'I've lost my control, and I couldn't get back, especially when I don't have any mates. And being an enhancer without an anchor, it's tough because growing power doesn't stop even when you feel tired. It kept moving whether you liked it or not.'
"I heard that I'm an enhancer," I said, making him grin.
'I could tell through our exchange, and you're the first one who has defeated me with my body.'
"I thought your body was gone," I said, sounding like a guess.
'My real body was. But after trying to possess some family member, I noticed my coffin was filled with my old bones. So whenever Gilmesh sent someone here, I haunted them.'
I smiled before commenting, "That explains the decaying form of your body there."
'True, but I won't be able to get inside...'
"I'm here; you can try," I suddenly said. I looked at him, confused, but my instinct was telling me to do it.
'I don't think...'
I don't understand it, but whenever my instinct bothers me like this, I have to try. "Let's try," I insisted. He studied me for a moment, and I honestly admitted, "I'm unsure either, but something tells me that I had to try it."
We went to his coffin; his body gained more flesh after fighting me, and it almost looked alive, like how I remember kissing a corpse before. I shook my head from the memory because I'm still embarrassed about it. I focused on the corpse, and through a cut from my finger, I began writing on his forehead and his chest. I don't know about it, but like a muscle memory, I moved as if I were possessed.
I opened my palm to him and asked seriously, "Do you entrust me with your soul core?"
'Yes, please, I want to atone for my sin, and maybe love.'
"Never break your word, as it serves as an oath," I reminded him, and he nodded.