Chapter 48 - Sanctuary*

Moonlight flickered on and off between the clouds in this darkest night.

Luna had spent the day scattering her scent from every corner of the castle, transporting from place to place, to the outskirts, and to the town markets, from the crowded areas to the wasted lands all over the Vampyr Realm.

She needed to throw off her scent so that the search party wouldn't be able to find her easily.

Luna had done that ever since she had escaped from her home in the Sacred Valley along with the Amazons that she could proudly call herself an expert escapist.

She needed to lose her pursuers, the military general, and his cohorts, especially under the orders of the Vampire King.

Luna didn't know how long this game plan could work when she was a mate to the Blood Beast.

He could detect her by instincts alone as if her existence was written in his mind, in his heart, in his bones.

The Vampire King probably knew by her presence, her life force leaving traces for him to follow.

He knew where she was hiding.

Luna was practically an extension of his life force and it was only a matter of time.

The Blood Bond. If one of them dies, the other one's pain would be so unbearable they would just commit suicide. They would suffer so much for the rest of their lives that the person would choose to end it.

Fei's solitary living space was an angular structure made of discolored stones shining sickly in the dark. Flowers and wreaths decorated his humble home. Climbing ivy and moss grew in the cracks of the stone as piles of leaves gathered in the roof.

Latin spells carved into the walls.

So this was where the High Priest lived.

It was a hut located in the middle of the forest isolated from the Castle and other inhabited places.

Luna frantically knocked on the wooden door but nobody answered. She knocked so hard that the rusty lock snapped open and she rushed to the entrance, letting herself in.

"High Priest, I need your help."

Luna saw Fei dressed in a habit, his clasped hands rested on a well-thumbed page of an open leather-bound book as he chanted prayers about life and virtue.

A small window had let a few rays of moonlight in. It must have been too late for her to realize that he had interrupted his meditation. There was a skull, urns, artifacts, books, an hourglass, and a large burned-out black candle that represented the brevity of human life.

"You are back, High Priestess."

Fei pushed back the long grey hair that fell over his shoulder. Soft gray wings framed his face, lessening the severity of his hawk-like nose and penetrating dark eyes. His sun-darkened face was etched with the fine lines only the wind can engrave.

A full bottom lip belied the solemnity of a jutting jaw covered by a year's growth of beard.

Sweat poured between his grey braids in icy rivulets as he struck a match and lighted the candle. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I couldn't defend you earlier."

A fine edge of anticipation cut the air.

"Don't tell the Vampire King that came to you beforehand." Luna warned him. "I need to hurry up and find a sanctuary away from here."

Fear cavorted in Fei's eyes; the shadows thrown by his candle danced on the walls. "A sanctuary?"

Luna nodded and the candlelight flickered brightly. The room smelled like mildew, rust, and fresh flowers. It was a confusing scent where the old had coincided with the new.

"Tell me the truth so that I can help you." Fei stared at her intensely as if he was trying to read her mind. "What did the Vampire King wanted from you?"

The branches creaked as the outside wind blew hard, stirring stuff inside Fei's sanctuary.

Luna focused on the bird and insect noises before deciding to tell Fei the truth finally.

"The Blood Beast turned me into a Vampire."

The High Priest sighed and closed his eyes.

"You didn't die. I couldn't sense that you have turned into a vampire." Fei said as he stroked his beard in contemplation. "Your scent didn't change. I couldn't tell that clearly since I was just an old warlock, neither an immortal nor a vampire."

"Cederic had noticed something different and I cloaked the intensity of scent my magic and an obscene amount of courtesan's perfume that annoys the vampire's sense of smell," Luna whispered but the sound was loud enough to hear in such a small space. "The Beast made me his Blood Mate and the Vampire King figured it out. He was determined to wed me and I barely escaped from his clutches."

"By God's bones!" He turned to look at her accusingly and then resumed his pacing. "The King wants to marry you when you are the High Priestess?"

"He wants to marry me tonight to secure me as his." Luna retorted as she faced him head-on. "He needed my blood, Fei. Nothing else."

Fei who had been listening to her sighed heavily and said, "This is unknown territory."

"Is there any place for me to stay?" Luna demanded as she fisted her knuckles in desperation.

"You can't stay in my cell." The High Priest was pissed off at her disrespectful tone and yelled at her.

"Then where?" Luna nervously bit her lip. "I thought I was under your wing. You're all talk, old man."

"The Vampire King had chosen you." The High Priest allowed a rare smile across his lips. Was he amused because it was a hopeless pursuit or was he generally happy that the Vampire King had chosen her as his wife?

She hissed. "So I am on my own, then?"

"I can help you find a sanctuary to hide--"The High Priest finished his sentence with an awful grimace—"I'm sorry but you need to do the protection spells yourself. You are on your own now, Luna."