"Damien and your relations.h.i.+p aren't too far from what my parents shared. The creatures they came from and who they were, maybe just improvised version. I don't think I would like to see Damien heartbroken and wither away if something ever happened to you. It is good to consider that his life resides in your hands now because of the bond," Penny had never thought about it like that until now. She knew that pureblooded vampires placed bonds but she didn't know that it was serious. She turned to look at Damien with a frown on her face.

"Stop scaring her like that, Alex," Damien tched, turning to her he said, "There's nothing to worry about."

"I am not scaring her," Alexander's voice was serious as they walked through the dark path the lantern in his hand, "I am merely stating the truth."

"Tell me more," Penny said as she didn't have much idea about the bonds. 

"You should ask him yourself, Penelope. Because I don't know what kind of bond he's placed and only he can explain it," when Alexander didn't explain it to her, Penny turned to Damien for answers where he ran his hand through his hair which he mostly did out of frustration. 

"Why won't you tell me?" Penny asked. She never knew putting herself in danger would automatically put Damien in the same boat, now that she had heard part of it, she wanted to know more about it than being ignorant about it. 

Feeling her unbroken gaze, Damien finally said, "The bonds the pureblooded vampires leave on their partners is life long. It is something that ties both the souls where they form a sort of sync where if one person dies, the other follows. If you die, then I will die in time too. The bond doesn't take into consideration if I am a pureblooded vampire who has the ability to live long or not. It is a soul contract. And if something were to happen to me, you would follow. Very few have survived the break of bonds."

"Okay," she whispered, taking in what he said which wasn't too hard to understand except for how it happened. Was Damien ready to die for her sake? he did confess that he loved her but she didn't know it would be deep enough for him to tie their souls to each other. 

"See, it wasn't that hard," Alexander raised his brow looking at Damien when they finally made it to the wooden door. Taking his chain, he took hold of the pendant to push it into the keyhole and turn it around which clicked open, "This was built by my father for my mother so that she could store what she had in here. Though a lot of things are useless in the eyes of humans as well as vampires, only the white witches who know what ingredients each of them smells like will know what it is."

"There are no labels in the secret room of the church too," Penny added to his words. The room needed a bit more brightness than what the lantern provided for one to be able to look at what was in here. There were some books in the corner which was stacked in the corner. It resembled similar to the council with the various looking flasks that had unlabelled potions in it.  

"Which is why you will find most of them useless yet the witches have continued to store and save them."

"You did too," Damien pointed out the obvious. 

"These are mother's few last things which I have saved. We all have something of our mothers," Lord Alexander's eyes fell on the chain and the pendant that Penelope now wore, "I feel that it might come to be useful someday." 

"May I?" Penny asked Alexander's permission before she would start touching that was in here. Children were often privy to their parents and belongings that belonged to their family. 

"Please," Lord Alexander moved aside, going to stand next to Damien to whisper carefully, "Did you say she has a hunter attached to her?"

"One so far. I will have him taken down if he's still alive once we return back to Bonelake."

"Why not keep her here? You do know Valeria is the safest place for her right," Alexander asked, looking back at Penny who walked in front of the potions and looked at them closely. 

"I rather keep her near me than a place where it's termed to be safe." 

"Lovestruck vampire," Alexander shook his head. 

Damien grinned like a young man in love, "Is it that evident?" he asked his cousin, Alexander rolled his eyes, "It is why I am on off duty right now. I traded Nicholas' silence over the matter of what happened to Creed with my day off here in Valeria."

"He must be very delighted to know that. Does he know about her?" 

"I think he has an inclination just like most of us do for what is taking place. What was about the moon sign? The humans have sun signs too but they don't fret over it," Damien questioned his cousin, his hand reaching to the lantern to increase the flame of it.

"When a ritual is formed the black witches or the white witches need ingredients to perform and complete it. Apart from the minuscule objects, they need a witch. If it isn't a black witch and if like Lord Henry said, it isn't a white witch. It means it is me that they need to complete the unbinding as one of the direct blood," as Penny was looking at the potions lined in the open shelf, she turned around when she heard what Alexander just said,

"Your mother was one of the witches who left the binding magic on the black witches' power?" Penny couldn't help but look in awe by hearing this. 

Lady Isabelle wasn't just a first-generation white witch but she was one of the few witches who had fought back and stopped the black witches!