Chapter 002

This has better be a joke.

I dropped my hand immediately from his arm and turned to take the tray - needing to get away from him, but Kael grabbed my hand, stopping me.

“Sera wait - we need to talk about this.”

“There's nothing to talk about, Kael.” I murmured calmly, even though I was feeling anything but, “excuse me. I need to get these to the sitting room.”

“You can't be serious Sera. Something big just happened and you cannot just walk away like it's nothing.”

Oh the nerve of him.

“You are the one who is definitely not serious. You rejected me, remember? There's no way the goddess has decided to pair us together again. Besides, even if that's the case,” I grabbed the tray, “it means nothing. We shouldn't even be having this conversation. My sister, your wife died only less than twenty four hours ago. Whatever this is - I suggest you trash it.”

I bumped into his shoulder as I walked past him out of the kitchen.

Although my whole body was shaking, I still managed to push whatever just happened at the back of my mind because it wasn't worth thinking about.

Hours later, one by one the visitors left the house leaving just my mum, Kael and I. My father was still nowhere to be found and I was starting to grow worried. And honestly a little bit pissed off.

Mum stood up and walked upstairs, occasionally breaking the silence in the whole house until she closed the door to her room.

I sighed and stood up, but Kael held my hand.

“Sera, please!”

“Do you really have no shame?!” I slapped his hold away angrily, “do you have no shame or simply no regards for my sister?”

“I do. But unlike you, I tend not to run away from things.”

His words hit me like a slap and fury bloomed, “Run away from things? Maybe, I don't know - just maybe I'm trying to respect my sister who is dead - something you obviously seem to not care about!”

“Sera…”

“Or maybe I hate the idea of having anything ever! to do with you Kael! Maybe I just don't give a damn and do not want to waste my attention on something this irrelevant.”

He walked back a few paces, “a mate bond isn't irrelevant.”

“Yeah, right. You sure weren't thinking of that when you were busy cheating on me! When you humiliated and betrayed me.”

His shoulders dropped, “Sera…”

“Now get the hell out of the house because I do not want to see your disgusting face ever again! Get out! Or I'll make you.”

Kael's face fell, but he didn't protest or say another word - luckily for him.

I watched him leave the sitting room before going upstairs to the room that was once mine.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

“Seraphina — “

I jerked awake and looked around at the voice but saw nothing.

Was I just having another weird imagination?

But before I could close my eyes again, I noticed a small light from the corner of the room - a small white glow that had me frozen as I watched it increase and shine brighter until it formed the shape of a door.

Then out of it, just like a dream someone stepped through, right inside my room.

“What the….”

The woman, who looked like she just materialised out of a fantasy, looked at me and smiled.

She looked so surreal. Like a goddess.

I couldn't scream, not that I wanted to. As strange as it seems, there was something about her presence that felt so calm and peaceful and divine.

I could only imagine how I looked as I stared at her.

Long red hair that hung down to her waist, blue eyes that shone as bright as the morning sky, white pale skin that glittered like a diamond.

“Hello Seraphina, please do not be afraid - I mean you no harm.” She said walking closer to me, her long white gowl swaying graciously with each movement.

I wasn't afraid.

Far from it - I was amazed.

“Wh…who are you?”

“That isn't the right question to ask now, for there's no explanation I could give you that you will be able to comprehend. I have come here to warn you. I am, from the beginning of time - with many others. But as I am beautiful, so are there others who are dark and ugly.”

I frowned. Okay, surely I'm dreaming.

“Come with me.”

I stared at her outstretched hand sceptically but eventually got out of the bed, only because it felt right.

The lady led me to the light and urged me to step through.

Maybe I've gone mad - or I'm seeking my own death, but I stepped through without question.

And what I saw made me freeze completely to my bones.

“Is this heaven?” I gasped looking around me, because this place surely looked like heaven. There were green trees, beautiful flowers everywhere - and hills.

The beautiful clouds were so close I could reach them with a slight jump.

I turned around and noticed that I was alone. The lady was nowhere to be found.

Before I could scream or move, a darkness rapidly set in, covering the bright sun that illuminated the place

The trees, as if being eaten by invisible termites slowly turned to dust, with everything there.

And fire fell from the sky, burning everything.

In less than ten seconds, the beauty turned into chaos. Just like the vision I had seen earlier.

I looked down between my legs and saw a mark that looked like it was imprinted by a sharp nail.

“This - this is what shall be of your world.”

A deep growl said and I screamed.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

I was panting when I woke up, and my legs immediately dragged me to the windows to push them open and let some flickers of light into the room.

My heart was racing and I was even sweating.

What the heck was that?

Just like the vision I had the other day - but that was no vision…or was it?

Surely it means nothing. Surely there's no meaning to it.

But even as I tried to convince myself to push it all aside, my mind could not help but wander to my sister.

What her body looked like - from what I saw in the pictures taken.

I shivered again, and shoved the whole incident down my mind as I went downstairs to check on my mother.

But upon reaching the sitting room, it was Kael I saw sitting there and looking so lost and haggard I wondered if he even slept at all.

The moment I saw him, my heart leaped and butterflies filled my stomach.

Fucking mate bond.

“What are you doing here?” I asked heatedly, folding my arms over my chest and he winced.

“I just want to talk to you, Sera.”

“And how many times am I to tell you that I do not…”

“Look, I understand you more than you can imagine. But no matter how much you try to run away, you cannot fight destiny.”

I gave him a glare, “you did pretty good running away from that same destiny, Kael. So now, my sister is no more and I'm the sloppy seconds?”

Kael shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose for some seconds before opening them, “Look, I'm not here to talk about this. I want to discuss something different… it's concerning your sister's death.”

That had my interest piqued, so I straightened, “what's it about her?”

“Look,” Kael said looking around uncomfortably, “can we go inside, somewhere more private? This is important.”

I hesitated for a moment before sighing, “fine, we can. But it better be something important or else -”

“I promise it is.”

I led him upstairs to my room and closed the door behind me.

Kael walked in, glancing around the room and seeing him like that - in the middle of the room brought back so many memories, so many beautiful memories that I had no business letting into my mind.

“Oh, nothing has changed,” Kael muttered and flashed me a smile that looked half sad, “I vividly remember when you used to sneak me in here.”

“Good for you. Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?”

Kael sighed and pulled off the back pack he was carrying, “I know how this might sound. After - after your sister ehm…died, I decided to dig deeper, you know to know what caused such a strange death. Last night, I went to the scene.” He finished unzipping the bag and brought out different photos, handing them to me.

I looked at the pictures and my breath hitched as I recalled my sister's fate once again.

The scene looked like it had been clean out, and there was nothing in the photos he was showing me except a dark stained wall, trash can and…

“What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Look here,” Kael pointed at an area beside the trash can and..I froze.

That mark.

I saw that Same mark in my dream last night. It looked like the shape of a fire but with something like a skull inside it.

“That's weird isn't it?”

I nodded, trying to hide how shaken up I was.

“I decided to research. I found out that it's an ancient mark associated with some voodoo centuries back. Magic that stopped existing a long time ago.”

I stared into his eyes.

“I do not know what that means but one thing I know for sure is Sera, your sister died under mysterious circumstances and I'd love to…” he trailed off and shut his eyes. When he opened them again, they looked desperate, “I'd love you to help me find out what happened to your sister.”

I took a few steps back, my jaw dropping as I stared at Kael.

Has he lost his mind?

“Are you…have you gone completely crazy?” I asked, “let the dead rest Kael. What do you aim to achieve by this? Thalia is dead and I get that you miss her - I miss her too but may her soul rest in peace! There's no need to turn detective on it.”

Kael's eyes flashed and he marched forward to grab my arms, pulling me closer to him, “Your sister deserves this! We can't just push what happened under the rug - that's not okay. And are you actually saying these because you really don't want to, or because you are too scared to get answers?”

I wanted to answer his question. Goddess knows I have a retort on my tongue to fire back at him, but suddenly my mind was ore occupied by him. Suddenly I became way too aware of how close he was standing, how his warm breath fanned my face and how warm his arm was against my skin.

I shivered as I felt tingles spread from the place he was holding me, to all over my body, especially the area between my legs which was starting to become damp.

“Damn it,” Kael growled, his nostrils flaring as his expression also changed. He must have noticed this sudden and unwelcome shift in the air.

His eyes darkened slightly and he pulled me forward until my plump chest was against his, and he inhaled sharply staring deep into my eyes - looking into my soul.

“Kael, don't…” the protest sounded too weak to my own ears and I hated myself for that.

Hated that I was tilting my head up, craving, yearning for a closer kiss, yearning to get lost and drawn in this forbidden fire blooming between us.

I hated myself, and I blame it all on the fucking mate bond.

“Don't what?” Kael asked. There was definitely no sort of resistance or fight in his eyes, “Don't want you? Can't you see, Seraphina? I am burning for you - and damn everything to hell because right now, all I can think of doing, all I want to do, is pick you up, rip apart that sexy lil pyjamas, throw you on that bed and plough so deep and hard into you until your throat is sore from screaming my name.”