Part 23

4 months earlier

"What…what did you do to me?" Dafne muttered, trying to force herself to calm down. That was easier said than done. She stared at the mark on her wrist, praying that this was a bad dream. She wanted to be in her own little villa, enjoying peace and quiet. That villa had been Lucien's gift for her after she had served him for almost two centuries.

They had become good friends, companions and occasionally lovers. He had wanted something more, but this time she had been the one who hadn't been able to give him that. She did care about him, perhaps even loved him, but she just couldn't be what he had wanted her to be. What she had longed for was her freedom. Her independence. He had given that to her and she would be forever grateful to him. For a while she had been free to build her own life and she had enjoyed every moment. Of course that hadn't lasted for long.

"My apologies," Tristan said. "I'm afraid you didn't leave me much choice."

Dafne looked at him, unable to hide her anger.

"You came to my home and kidnapped me."

"No, I made you a very generous offer," he argued. "Unfortunately you didn't accept it."

Dafne was so furious that it took a moment before she was able to speak.

"This…" she murmured and touched her wrist. "What is this?"

"Just a small precaution," he replied. "As I said, I'm afraid I must insist."

Dafne was suddenly painfully aware that she was alone with him in a bedchamber. Yet she was determined not to show him any fear.

"What does my lord wishes me to do then?" she asked coolly. "Jump up and down?"

He smiled.

"No. As I said, I will pay you a generous compensation for your service."

"And as I told you, my lord, I am not a nurse."

"Yes, I know, but I believe you have other…skills I want to test."

Dafne frowned.

"I have worked as a maid and as a scribe, my lord; I cannot do what you wish me to do."

"I believe I want to see that with my own eyes," he replied smiling.

This was just perfect. He wanted her to somehow help his sister who apparently had some kind of mental issues. How was she supposed to do that? What on Earth had made him to think that she could do something like that in the first place? As she had said to him more than once, she wasn't a nurse. Could this have something to do with Elijah? Surely Tristan knew that Dafne didn't live with him anymore.

It had been a while since she had even thought about Elijah. She hadn't wanted to think about him, but that didn't mean she wouldn't care about him at all anymore. Sometimes she had heard some rumors about Elijah and his siblings and few times she had even asked if Lucien had heard anything about them. Apparently all of them, except Kol, were still in Europe.

Lucien had mentioned that according to the rumors, Kol had spent a lot of time in Africa with a group of witches. It wasn't a surprise that Kol was interested in magic; he had told Dafne that he had been a witch himself before becoming a vampire. Right now Dafne wasn't very fond of any witches though, not after what Tristan's witch had done to her.

"Alright," Tristan said and touched Dafne's shoulder, making her flinch. "Shall we go and meet my sister?"

"Do I have a choice?" Dafne replied coolly.

Tristan didn't reply to that, he simply walked over to the door.

"Come with me."

Dafne's legs were moving against her will, she had no choice but to obey him. She truly hated this. The huge mansion he had brought her to, most likely belonged to the Strix. Apparently Tristan was their leader now after Elijah had abandoned the society he had created. Dafne still couldn't understand why she was here. Why did Tristan think that she could somehow help his sister? they walked silently across two long hallways before Tristan stopped in front of a door and knocked.

"Aurora?" he called before unlocking the door.

The room was dark, but Dafne saw someone lying on the bed.

"Aurora? Sister?"

Tristan walked over to the large windows and pulled the curtains aside, letting some light in. The bedchamber looked messy and the woman on the bed was curled up into a fetal position. She was a beautiful redhead.

"Aurora? I would like you to meet someone," Tristan said. There was softness and gentleness in his voice when he talked to his sister. He glanced at Dafne and motioned her to come closer. Reluctantly she obeyed and moved beside him next to the bed. The redhead's eyes were open, but she wasn't looking at either Tristan or Dafne, she was staring into emptiness.

"Aurora, this is Dafne. She will keep you company for now. Is that alright?"

The redhead didn't reply or show in any way that she would have heard her brother's words. Tristan sighed and sat on the bed beside her.

"My dear sister…" he murmured and stroked Aurora's hair.

Some very small part of Dafne felt sympathy for him, but that feeling vanished as soon as she remembered the mark. She had been free and he had taken that from her. Fine, she might as well do something useful as she was stuck here. He glanced at her when she started to clean the chamber.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This is called cleaning, my lord," she huffed. "You wanted me to work for you; this was what I did for living."

He didn't reply, but he looked at her somewhat curiously. After a while she noticed that the redhead was also looking at her. Dafne didn't like the look in her eyes and she had a feeling that she was in a lot of trouble.