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3RD POV.
Kade points out his hand above his head, signaling for everyone to stop, and they did follow his command. Kade, Kyle, and Chester halt their horses, peeling their eyes at the woods.
“What is it?” Kade asks as he moves closer to Kieran, stopping next to him.
“There’s a sudden change in the weather. Did you not notice the sudden rumble in the sky followed by the rain?” He is focused on scanning the woods, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary; he didn’t even share Kade a gaze.
“Well, then, perhaps we should get off these horses.” Kade’s tone sounds more like a suggestion than an order, to which Kieran agrees. Kyle, on the other hand, groans. He’s actually still hurt, so they understand why he doesn’t want to walk.
The effect of the crumbling of the tunnel twisted his leg
76Kaya’s POV.One moment ago, I was thinking about my life, confused at the very core of all the decisions that I’d made. I am wondering if this is actually what I want for myself or what someone wants for me. It’s so complicated, and at the same time, I feel stuck.I feel like there’s no way that I can get out of this bondage, because just when I could have escaped one, I went deep into another.I followed the path Olivia saw she could make for me.Inside the woods, while the rain falls with heavy drops, beating at my skin, I have hidden myself under a large tree with quite deep roots and a heavy canopy from its many branches.Now that I’m within nature, I feel nothing. I remember when I was at the cottage; the instant I walked into the woods, I had a full knowledge of every plant. I know what damage or repair they could do, and it always makes me happy. I would stay inside, speaking out my feelings like they were some books wherein I was writing a diary of my life.It used to be fu
77Kaya’s POV.I wake up in a familiar room and scratch the back of my head at a heavy ache.“What in the heavens...?” My voice trails off as I tighten my eyes shut. They crinkle at the sides as I groan when I roll out of bed.What happened? The last thing I remember was being inside the woods, but I’m here now. I look around and suddenly understand why this room looks so familiar. It’s because I’ve been here for a long time once, and then my eyes snap to the balcony, where I confirm better.“Fuck,” my heart feels like it would bleed blood at the way it jumps to the edge of my throat, blocking me from being able to breathe well.I’m hyperventilating out of the blue while my lenses dilate as I watch around, being careful of my situation.I hurry to the door and try to open the knob, only to see that it isn’t locked. I’m almost opening the door to try to escape, but then I stop myself. Should I just cast a spell that would stop anyone from being able to enter while I try to reach Olivia
78Kaya’s POV.“Percipe essentiae meae existentiae. Olivia me reperi per aerem. Veni ad me. Praesent tristique in mi nec iaculis. Auxilium tuum peto.” I call into my palms where I have allowed the pendant to relax upon before I cast the spell.Right after the glow in my eyes, the bracelet resonate with a low hum, inaudible to anyone without magic. I’m still sitting on a footstool, in front of the kitchen counter except finished with the pancakes already.There’s no space for me to run away, so I hope that Olivia can hear my message and come for me. I’ve never thought I actually needed her this much until now.I can hear the whispers of those ass whip, while wondering exactly what it could be they are discussing about me. I’m not very interested anyway or I would have casted a spell for that.Finally done with the chit chats, they come back to join me at the counter and I stand up. “I demand to leave.”“Kaya, please.”“You can’t stop me.” My voice is thick and stoic and that’s a very g
79Kaya’s POV.I read out loud, “Rose Miles. Alan Miles. Williams Miles. And...” I see no name at the last one and it brings up a wrinkle to the skin of my forehead.“That’s a grave we made for our babies. We lost them before we even decided on a name.”“Kyle thinks we allow you bring up a name and maybe we will sculpt it on the stone.”The brothers keep on talking, mentioning things that I hadn’t required of them to do.They are completely wrong to have thought they could bury them and it would be the end of all my anger. This is only a reminder, that these families of mine who are six feet into the ground aren’t supposed to be the one in there, but these darned evil men.It only brings back the memory of how I want to make them suffer for what they’ve done. This only brings back that memory. Once again, I am hurt by them without their realization. They want to change, don’t they? They want to grovel, don’t they?They are doing it wrong, and I shall be their end frankly.I turn to fa
803RD POV.The dungeon is dark, a replica that they know of regarding all the times they’ve locked their own mate there based on selfish reasons.They are having a taste of their medicine and it plunges at that heart so much. It feels heavy, like there’s a dagger continuously piercing through their chest, reaching out to take away their lives.Now, things have changed. Kaya is their reason for being here, when they used to be the reason she suffers. The emotions spiralling through their minds makes them understand the pain Kaya has once felt when they betrayed her again and again and again.They blame themselves how they’ve misused her, how they have slept with her like she was some dog when in actuality, they loved every moment but just won’t admit it. They regret every decision that has brought them to this stage. But most importantly, they regret that they have completely changed Kaya into someone else entirely.In the fight of good and evil, they have turned good into evil, now h
Kaya’s POV.My eyes open to the sound of wood crackling as it burns. As I stand up, adjusting my weight so I can sit up and rest on one arm, I watch as the fire burns the woods.It’s a beauty that lights up the space and leaves it cozy and warm for me, but what damage does it do to the woods? I think of its beauty and see that, but what happens to the woods? They burn and turn into ashes and are finally blown away, and the coldness is back except more wood is burned.It’s a theory that rings in my head in relation to all that’s happening around me. My anger justifies my actions for me. It makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing or what anyone would expect of me after all that I’ve faced, but at what cost? What more damage have I done and not realized?It’s all sweet until it hits back at me, and thankfully, I know better than to think that darkness is the path to healing me.Anyway, thinking of where I am, I look around to see a grumpy shape, and then my eyes pop out of their soc
Kaya’s POV.“My beautiful daughter, how far apart yet closer than never before time has brought us. I never meant for you to be placed in such a situation, but these are delicate times and you must do what you really want to do. Remember the daughter of whom you are.” My mother speaks with such grace and the tears in my eyes flow with ease.“I should have taught you better. I should have helped you know that in every pain, you must find absolution for yourself but look at you. You grew to learn that yourself. I am so proud of you, Kaya, and forever and ever, your mother and I love you.” My father whispers into my ears within a tight hug, which my mother joins in with.Williams won’t waste his chance as he tightens the embrace more. “I won’t say I miss you, sister, as you’re very annoying, but I love you so much I’d have moved heaven and earth just to protect you had it been I was every minute there with you. However, I wish you can know that in your mind, we all reside there and come
83Kaya’s POV.The sun rises with me locked inside this room, and now it has set. I am pacing from one end of the bed frame to the other, my brows arched downward as I remain lost within my thoughts.I really do hope that Chester hasn’t forgotten me here or his Lords. And most importantly, if he doesn’t, he comes to save them.I don’t want to use force until I know that I’ll be getting some help as well, as I’d need someone—someone who would always remind me not to go back into that trail of darkness. It’s why I didn’t try to use my magic against anyone yet, even when the maids came to bring me food.I can’t rest, so I have been standing ever since, my thoughts wider than the large space of this room. I’ve walked over the balcony many times with the thought that maybe if I could turn myself into a bird or maybe an insect, I could find my way to where the triplets are being kept.While I could have tried working on that spell since morning, because I have the book that Olivia gave me w