Anne to the rescue. As always 😭
ANNEI stay inside the room, unconsciously wondering what’s happening down there or what Zero is doing.I suddenly feel interested to know what has him so twisted and irritated all the time that he is letting his rational mind die so his stupid side can take over.After spending a few hours in the room and only watching the vampires through the windows, I finally decide to step out of the room and go see things for myself.Possibly, the Vampire King will not let any harm come to me on my first night in his place. Perhaps, I am overestimating his hospitality, but I don’t care.Pulling the door to my room open, I stroll out and close it behind me gently. My eyes scan the dark surroundings, while my ears echo with the eerie silence.‘ It’s all so quiet. ’ Neela whispers in my head.I agree with her silently and make my way to the staircase. I step down the stairs and end up in another empty hallway.This place is huge. If Liam had not shown me around already, I would be lost.Not so much
ANNEIt seems like time passes so slow here. It almost took an eternity for the sun to rise and for the darkness to fade.I sat by the door, the whole night. I couldn’t turn off the lights, and couldn’t sleep. It’s nothing new, given that I have been like this for three whole months.What Zero did with the shadows has gotten to me. The thoughts have consumed me and I have lost the touch as that Original—Kathie said will happen that day. I can’t even blame Zero anymore. I can only hate him, to avoid hating myself for being so weak.When Natalie revealed that he had spent centuries under such induced sleep, I did feel bad for Zero but I couldn’t bring myself to just go back to the old way.I can’t even remember the old way, the old me.How was I? Brave? Blunt? Or always a scaredy cat? I can’t tell because now, I am scared of almost anything. I flinch at the thought of fighting, I fear the dark, I fear the night.It’s fucked up. I worked on strengthening myself in these three months,
ANNE “ You never died. ” I let out, my eyes wide and round. I have been in shock for the last five minutes or so. She helped me settle back in the chair, which I got up from desperately. My mind is still numb, and my hands are cold as ice. She sits down on the right chair from the Vampire King, staring at me for what seems like decades. I glance at Zero from the corner of my eyes. He is staring out the window. He refuses to look at me or her. I know her presence is making him tick but he is not leaving either. Because he doesn’t want me alone with them, I know. “ I died. ” She sighs. I glance back at her, and the trance of numbness shatters into a million pieces. Anger takes the place of initial shock and denial. “ What happened? ” I hardly contain the fury and keep my tone balanced, neutral. “ Given that you thought I was dead, I think…Zero has told you his side of the story already. ” She whispers, her blue eyes cast down. I don’t deny it. I can’t tell her that it was not Z
ANNE“ You really want to leave? ” He puts me down on my feet and closes the door to my room.I take a deep breath, trying to calm my tits when all I want is to go down and continue attempting to rip their throats out.“ Yes. ” I push my hair back from my forehead, huffing.“ What about Natalie? ” He looks at me with those dark eyes of his. “ What about her? ” My voice drops as I take in the absolute emotionlessness of this man.How is he so fine after finding out about his mother? How much is he trying to stay calm and collected in the face of that woman?“ You came for her. Will you be fine leaving now? ” He blinks, consciously.“ I didn’t come for her. I came because… ” I trail off.Because of what? Of course, I came for Natalie. I frown, lowering my gaze to his clothed, softly heaving chest.He waits until I have composed myself and I am ready to answer.I pick my head, and stare at him for a moment more. “ I came for her. You are right but…I think Ryker can protect her. ”He co
ANNE “ Even when I say I have something of yours in a tight grip? ” He leans forward. He is smug. When he leans in, I know he has something on me which might make me waver momentarily. Maybe, my parents. Or maybe, one of the fake fucking human friends I made in the city during my stay. My heart misses a beat but I don’t let it show. “ no.” Nothing can make me sway when it comes to him. And I don’t fucking know why. I have to get by this. “ Okay. ” He nods, leaning back. “ get rid of that little she-wolf, Liam. She is of no use to us. ” He is not referring to me. He— He—he is referring to Giana. “ No. ” I spring up from the couch, my eyes wide. “ What do you mean by no exactly, Anne?” He asks, amused. Liam chuckles from behind me. “ Who is it? ” I just have to make sure. There is no way it’s Natalie. And there is no way, he thinks someone other than Giana is more important to me than my own life. I fucking hate this. “ I thought you don’t want to know.” He smirks. My
ANNE “ Put me down.” I sigh as we get close to my room. My hands move to my cheeks to wipe the tears. It’s so weird to cry all the time. “ Are you already done pretending? ” He turns his head at me, giving me a knowing look. I gulp, staring at his face from so close. It’s strange that he, sometimes, figures things out without me having to tell him about what’s going on. “ Did I pretend to be weak enough? ” I wonder if the Vampire King could see right through my dramatic crying as Zero can. He doesn’t answer. My eyes move towards his neck, the vein pulsing in it as he moves his head back. I know I will feel the pain again when he finally puts me down. It might take a lot of time for me to heal on my own given that my healing process is shitty due to the low—born hereditary traits. I lean in and place my lips over his neck. He hisses as my lips meet his cold skin. A jolt of electricity rushes down my spine as I open my mouth and start trying to nibble on it. My heartbeat skyrock
ANNEThird time throwing up in the same hour and I feel dead. The broken bone in my spine was better than this.I sigh when my stomach refuses to send the non—existent food hurling out of my mouth for the fourth time. Leaning back, I collapse on the cold tiles of the attached bathroom. My eyes move towards Zero who is standing in the doorway like a statue, his gaze fixed on me.I would have felt better if he was at least smug or saying things like ‘ I told you ’ but he is silent, still, and watching me. At my worst. Throwing up again and again.This is so embarrassing.“ What did Ryker say? ” I scrunch my nose, getting disgusted by my own stinky breath, the metallic taste lingering on my tongue, and my aching throat.“ He is going to look for her right away. ” He informs me.I told Zero everything that happened downstairs. I thought he will be shocked but he was calm and I was the one panicking.He didn’t even display any anger. He simply went into the rational mode where he called Ry
ANNEAll of a sudden, he leans in, our faces brushing as he whispers in my ear. “ She is coming here. Don’t speak so loud. ” I stumble back on my feet after he is done stealing my soul by rasping in my ear. For a torturous moment, I thought he didn’t like the idea of me talking about Liam like this.We exchange a knowing look before he takes a step back, noticing my discomfort due to his closeness to my blazing body.A knock sounds on the door, drawing my attention. Peeling my gaze off Zero, I fix it on the door. The person on the other side knocks one more time, politely.Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I stomp to the door and pull it open.“ Anne. ” Freya gasps on the other side, her hands clasped together in front of her stomach and a weak smile plastered over her lips.Many curse words run through my head but I hold them in. I can do it for Giana—I have to play safe and good until I have her back.“ Yes? ” I smile back. I am good at acting. I always was. There is no way she