Chapter 144-The price of power (2)

Chapter 144: 144-The price of power (2)

"And if you think I’m lying..." Taratoya suddenly caught her by the shoulders and turned her around. "Take a look!"

Maisa’s gaze followed the direction and caught someone was coming down the stairs.

It was Zolani. The mixedblood descended calmly, dressed in a beautiful green dress. She looked vibrant at first glance, almost cheerful.

Her three-toned hair framed her face beautifully, while her ruby-pink eyes shimmered beneath the dim lights.

Taratoya leaned toward Maisa’s ear. "A pureblood’s hair, eyes, and blood are connected to their soul from birth," her voice became a whisper. "That’s why their colors naturally correspond."

Maisa stared at Zolani. She already knew that, she had mastered the entire library. Everything vampirism that was recorded on public books, she had in her head.

"But when those colors change... It means they’ve given up the part of their soul capable of compassion and humanity," Taratoya paused. "It takes pain capable of shattering the soul to get a vampire to take that measure."

Maisa’s heart sank. She knew that too, but that was the problem. Zolani had started pulling away from her since the blood trial and had been hostile towards her. And she hasn’t seen the vampire at any meals the previous night.

She hadn’t felt Zolani’s distress or her pain. Her hand involuntarily moved up to her chest and rested above the fate mark. Even now, she couldn’t tell what Zolani was feeling.

"A confused soul can no longer recognize itself," Taratoya went on, unbothered by the trauma Maisa was having internally.

Maisa’s eyes remained fixed on Zolani. Only now did Maisa truly notice the changes.

Zolani had once possessed crimson hair, crimson eyes, and crimson blood. Now, her hair was different. The roots remained crimson, while the middle length had darkened into a deep red. And the ends, they matched her eyes and were ruby pink.

Maisa’s breath caught. She had seen Zolani countless times, yet she had never really looked at her to notice anything that might trigger her. She had never noticed how drastically Zolani was suffering to the point of her soul becoming confused.

Taratoya tilted her head thoughtfully. "Now I wonder..."

She scratched her chin, though there was no real curiosity in her expression. "What kind of pain did she suffer?" Her eyes followed Zolani. "What could have hurt her so deeply that she chose to turn off her humanity?"

Maisa’s face drained of color just imagining it. A pain so strong that a vampire chooses to stop feeling everything all together.

Taratoya’s voice remained almost conversational. "And how did you not know?"

Maisa looked at her. The anger in her eyes was gone, replaced with an unreadable expression. Maisa wanted Taratoya to be wrong, she badly wanted that.

However, the wicked vampire hit the nail on the head with her analysis. It was true that the medicines prevented the backlash of the bond but it seemed the price she was paying for the protection was of equal value.

She was suffering a loss equal to the gains she was making. On a scale, on one side was her getting strong and making a name for herself and on the other side was losing her mates and the special bond that keeps them connected.

"How did you not know your mate was drowning in so much pain that her own soul can no longer recognize who she is?"

The words struck harder than the dagger ever could. Guilt flooded through Maisa. She had been so consumed with her training, her powers, her goals, and her transformation that she hadn’t noticed.

She had been standing right beside her mates while one of them was apparently suffering badly enough to turn off her humanity.

Maisa remembered what she had read about it. Turning off one’s humanity wasn’t some casual decision. It was a vampire’s final escape, a desperate attempt to silence unbearable pain. And once the switch was flipped, turning it back on was notoriously difficult, sometimes nearly impossible.

Maisa’s chest tightened. She looked at Zolani again. For the first time, she wondered how much pain had been hidden behind that bright smile.

Taratoya stepped away from her. "And now..." she gave Maisa one final look. "Here comes the warning I promised you."

Maisa remained frozen. There was more? The advice was already enough for her to keep away from Taratoya for a while. No wonder the others stay away, the vampire was too knowledgeable and had a talent for bringing people down from their high horses.

"Medicine, no matter how precious and valuable becomes poison when its expiration date arrives," Taratoya’s expression was unreadable. "Just because the medicines your benefactor gave you worked doesn’t mean they were good for you."

She turned away. "Sometimes the thing that saves you from one consequence quietly creates another," she began walking toward the exit. "Food for thought."

Taratoya glanced back over her shoulder. "Enjoy your night, Mai Mai."

Then she walked away, leaving Maisa standing among the dying plants, staring at her poisoned palm while the weight of every word settled heavily upon her.

Just as she was on her way, a figure blocked her. "What about me, Teetee?" Varitreya asked. "Any advise or warning?"

Taratoya smiled at the princess, her look changed immediately and her dominating aura dulled down a couple of notches. She appeared almost innocent.

"Cousin, I’m going on a picnic. Let’s bond after I return."

Varitreya still blocked her path and remained unmoving. Her determination to get the answers she need were more important than Taratoya’s wish.

She needed to know what agenda the palace had, why Taratoya had agreed to be their weapon and more importantly, why she targeted Kayden by wrapping up Luan like a gift.

"We need to sit and talk," she let out.

Taratoya massaged the spot between her eyebrows. She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"With how messy your council is, I’m surprised you have the time, cousin."

Varitreya clenched and unclenched her fists. She was well aware of the mess in her own backyard and how badly that will look on her resume in the palace’s eyes but she needed the answers in Taratoya’s head.

"I’ll handle Zolani later. Let’s talk," she insisted.

"Not just her," Taratoya inched closer. "Lumi is debating locking away her magic because of what happened. Addessa is busy with goodness knows what and Kay Kay..."

Varitreya looked up, her eyes searching Taratoya’s eyes for what she meant. Taratoya had set the perfect trap and set bait for Varitreya to bite.

The princess knew it, if she took a bite, the talk she wanted wouldn’t take place. But if she refused and insisted on talking, she’d end up on a losing end and the desperation that would follow, it would send her back to square one.

She gritted her teeth and debated what to do. Taratoya’s face that was so close to hers, bloomed into a bright smile.

"I can’t wait all night after all... the only thing on my schedule is a picnic," she said lazily. "You however..." Her tone changed, darkened. "I wouldn’t say the same."

Varitreya released the tension in her jaws and relaxed. "What about Kayden?" She took the bite.

Taratoya beamed a victorious smirk. "He went out yesterday at evening. He looked upset and last I checked, his blood has been sealed off."

Varitreya skin drained of colour. "What?" She didn’t let the shock linger, she took out the blood compass and fetched a glass bottle full of Kayden’s blood and trickled a drop on the compass.

Taratoya waited, she wasn’t anxious like she already knew that the chances of being proven wrong was close to none.

The compass lit up with red light and pointed in every direction to search. Less than a minute later, the compass light died out.

"How?" She panicked. "What happened to him?"

"I’ll leave that to you to figure out," she cleared her throat, straightened and circled around Varitreya. "You have your hands full with the nightmares. Take care of them first, cousin, then we can talk."

She walked away to find Katrina and neither Maisa nor Varitreya stood in her way to stop her.

"As for the advice you asked for, here it it... knowledgeable, influence and power are what makes one untouchable. Have it all and you’ll be unstoppable future queen!"

Maisa felt a chill ran down her spine. The way that Taratoya said future queen sounded exactly like that mysterious enemy that possessed Lumi.

She glanced at Taratoya’s retreating figure and wondered. Was she advising Varitreya or me? Her heart shook.