~Rory~
After Tala’s revelation, I found myself right across from Hickman’s home.
Elijah warned me about the danger of wandering off, especially when my emotions are all over the place.
I closed my eyes, concentrating, hoping that I’d be in Elijah’s room again when I opened them.
The icy caress of the midnight air on my skin told me this wasn’t a vision. I’m here physically, uncertain of why or what to do.
I tried again, channeling all my energy into picturing Elijah’s room, his home, his arms, and the warmth his body provided before I fell asleep. It didn’t work.
I glanced around, inspecting my surroundings. Empty streets on both sid
~Rory~We had too little time to investigate Hickman’s home thoroughly. We only had tonight because tomorrow, this place will be locked down for a different examination.Elijah and I had to be careful of what we touched, what we hauled. The danger of being linked to this case is so high that we had to creep like the lawbreakers.I took charge of the second floor, while Elijah took care of the first, including the basement. The fact that we had no idea what we were looking for made things harder than they already were.In his room, I found endless books about self-care, self-love, emotional health, and healing. This is the strangest thing I found about Hickman since I’d taken an interest in his life. How can a man who owns an overflowed set of inspirational bo
~Rory~A day working with the feds was exhausting physically and mentally; imagine an entire workweek with them swarming the station, questioning the investigation we did over the past five weeks, and impugning our faculty to do our jobs. Even Mayers look maddened in sharing the progress he had with them. I can sympathize with him. No matter how appalled I was at his treatment of me, there’s no questioning his dedication to these cases. He gave this case his one hundred and more attention, and now the feds had taken that chance away from him.A week has gone by since Zwick and Hickman’s death. A week of being a double agent for my daytime job and the nighttime task of helping the team locate Tauri. Even with the additional strong point brought by my shift as Lycan, my energy level was at rock bottom.Eli
~Rory~I can’t remember the last time I laughed my heart out. My cheeks were in pain from being pulled too long. God, how long has it been since I had this much fun?I wasn’t the best skater. Paul was much more graceful than me, but Elijah was worse. My fingers in both hands and feet weren’t enough to count the times he had fallen on his bum.“Cazzo!” if his curse words were boulders thrown each time he’d mutter them angrily, this rink would’ve been only debris by now.I circled the six-foot giant sitting on the ice, elbows on his knees, as he glared straight at the bleacher. He tossed his beanie long ago, and so did his scarf. The two offending materials are scattered at both ends of the rink.
~Rory~A hate-filled relationship grew between darkness and me since the beginning of this year. This is probably the only time darkness will redeem itself in my good graces.In the dugout, Elijah removed my skates and left my feet bare as he secured a black scarf around my eyes.“Are you nervous?” He needed confirmation even if he could hear my heart pounding on my ribcage walls.“A bit.”“And the rest?” he chuckled, leaving my side. Sounds of things tossed inside the duffle bag filled my ears.“Excited…” I bit my lip. “Aroused, and I’m wet.”He groaned. Two can
~Rory~“Sight,” I replied without hesitation. I figured it was my best option because he had my hand tied on a bed before. And I wanted to see him so badly.Elijah chuckled, standing up to remove my blindfold. My brows creased, eyes adjusting to the light to find him smiling down at me, amusement filtering his face. “What?”He shook his head. “Remember the rules.”I bit my tongue from further questioning him and remained standing. My eyes flitted across the room. Indeed, I was standing on the side of a king-size bed, scattered candles providing warmth, light, and a sensual aroma in the air. The source of the sultry tune was a record player on the side of the bed; beside it was a bottle of wine, a half-filled glass, and another filled w
~Rory~“Again,” I demanded.Elijah chuckled. “Again? I did it three times already.”I nodded, “please?” My eyes were dreamy, and my heart was warm with affection for this man.“Alright,” he conceded.Naked from waist up, hair tousled from our previous coupling, he cradled an acoustic guitar in his lap. His smile was mesmerizing, and the way he bit his lip as he glanced at the strings, strumming and changing keys, made my belly flip.Tonight, I discovered a lot of things about Elijah.One, I love his domineering side in bed more than the gentle giver. Just thinking about what we’d do
~Rory~Looking at Jace, holding the steering wheel with one hand, the other clenched into a fist pressed on his lips, elbow resting on the windowpane as we thread the route to Seattle made my stomach twist bitterly.“Stop staring,” Jace groaned, keeping his eyes on the road.It was his schedule to ‘babysit’ me, a joke going around my odd circle of friends lately. Today was Saturday, my day off from work. Eloisa and Gail guilt-tripped me into meeting them for a drink with a couple of our friends. For all I know, they just want insider gossip about my relationship with Elijah.“I can’t help it,” I leaned back in my seat, giving Jace a scrutinizing side eye.Can he blame me? I had known
~Rory~“What the hell is Jace doing?” I grumbled under my breath. Blood pumping fast in my veins, I stepped out of the pub.The guys told me that Jace and Paul had an argument with two other fellows in the booth next to us. ‘They are going to settle it like adults,’ were Ethan’s exact words. He was wise not to get in the middle of the situation. Four men in an alley will gather less attention than a larger crowd. I can’t really blame Ethan for trusting Paul. He had done this too many times back when we were together. He knew how to keep things on a low profile, but knowing his true identity sent gooseflesh to rise on my arms and legs.Jace was a wild card. He never does anything without intent, but it was unclear what he wanted to get out of this one.
“Jace…” “Sh…” I cooed, kissing her quivering lips. Her cheeks were wet from crying. I wiped it away with my thumb as our lips grew frantic, unwilling to pull apart. Her kiss was different. It wasn’t of love but of sadness, of fear. Fear of what? I do not know. “I love you, Aurora,” I said, cupping her face. “I will come back.” “There must be another way….” She whimpered, pinching her eyes close, setting her hand above mine. “You know there isn’t. Plus, I get to be the hero in this story.” She shook her head. An outcry followed, and she was snatched away from me. “No!” I pushed up from the bed, sweat rolling down my skin. Running my fingers through my drenched hair, I exhaled the emotions brought by that dream. This night was different. Usually, it would end with me telling Aurora I would come back. Now I am boasting about being a hero? What the hell does that even mean? A dream about Aurora was another sleepless night for me. The full moon made me restless. I shouldn’t have taken
~Elijah~Henry sighed. “Can you at least pretend that you’re listening to what I’m saying?”We are on our way back from inspecting the western border of Sapiro. The peace in the kingdom was monotonous, but boring is better than war. Last month, there was a conflict between the Lockwood pack of the west woodland and the Riverstone pack of the northern woodland. Alpha Lockwood believed that the members of the Riverstone packs were crossing the border to hunt for food. And Alpha Riverstone was throwing the same accusation towards the Lockwood pack. They could hunt in each other’s territory, but they had to ask for permission from the other pack.We did an investigation, and it turned out that Alpha Lockwood’s firstborn son had been sneaking out to meet Alpha Riverstone’s youngest daughter in secret. Both teenage wolves were afraid their parents would disagree with their blooming romance. They recently found out they were mates.Lockwood and Riverstone had a century-long rivalry. And it w
~Rory~For weeks, I’ve been dreaming of a boy with gray eyes, dark brown curls, and a snooty smirk. He was playing on the beach, sitting on the sand. His trousers were wet from the waves hitting his leg on the side, hands and toes were covered in sand... his cheeks too. He kept rubbing the back of his hands on his cheeks, leaving traces of wet sand there.He looked up and met my eyes, smiling brightly. Those gray eyes twinkled as his eyes narrowed to slits. He dropped the shells he was playing with and raised those tiny hands, opening and closing, asking to be picked up. When I didn’t, his lips quivered, eyes widened as a saucer, clouded with tears. His cry was so loud that I woke up from my sleep, discovering I was alone in our bed.Looking on Elijah’s side, a red rose lay on his pillow, weighing down a paper folded in half.The sun hasn’t risen yet, but he told me he’d be out the entire day to check the western border of Sapiro, accompanied by Henry.I reached for the rose, sniffing
~Rory~ I refused to live in the castle. It was aesthetically beautiful but a constant reminder of what I lost when I stepped inside its vicinity. The council disagreed with my choice, but Elijah was adamant about giving me what I wanted. We compromised on building our home close to the castle. Surrounded by trees in the clearing ten minutes away from the citadel, they turned it into a keep, a fortress, yet I got to design how our house would look like. It was inspired by Elijah’s estate in Salvatore hills. The place where Elijah and I had been the happiest. I am happy to be with him, truly, and I could never ask for more. But life as royalty was not as glamorous as I thought it would be. As the crowned princess, responsibilities weighed upon my shoulder even in my sleep. It’s different from working a nine-to-five job where day-offs and holidays are offered. In fact, rest has become a foreign word in this household. Elijah was always out. He spends more time with his council, meeting
~Rory~The moment my eyes fluttered open and saw the familiar gray ceiling of Elijah’s room, tears brimmed in my eyes.I feel the same old me, but not. The fear in my chest deepened as the seconds ticked by. I’m alive. Jace’s plan worked.I pushed myself from the bed, hearing footsteps echoing through the hallway. Not a second later, Elijah barged into his room, hair disheveled and eyes wide with worry and relief in equal measure.“Rory…” he breathed out, eyes clouding as he ran to my side.“Elijah…” I buried my face in his chest as he cradled my body, murmuring how grateful he was that I was alive, worried, and much he loved me.Words are not enough to voice out my happiness. My throat was tight, with emotions storming inside me.We are alive, Elijah and I. We survived the ritual and that damn prophecy.“Cara mia,” Elijah cupped my face, leaning to press his lips against mine.His kiss did it if his touch wasn’t enough to convince me how alive we were. The familiar taste of him. The
~Elijah~“Do you want to have children?” Rory asked, glancing up at me with those big brown eyes. Her cheeks were flushed from our previous coupling, hair wild from my tugging and pulling. The warmth of her naked body entangled with mine was heaven under the silk sheets.“Children?” I repeated my thumb, drawing circles on the small of her back. “Plural?”She hummed a yes, circling the crown of my nipple. She knew it was my tickle spot, but she loved tickling me. I caught her fingers and playfully bit them.“Yeah.” She giggled, squirming. “Being an only child is sometimes lonely.”I honestly wouldn’t know. I didn’t actually have a normal childhood. King Emilian was kind and did everything to give me what a child my age must have. But circumstances didn’t allow him to be a father like he did with Greco and Orme. He was forced to take me out of Lira to protect me.I relished the way she talked about the future. A glow in her eyes only appears when she doesn’t worry about the prophecy or
~Rory~Tayen and Jace were just leaving with reinforcements when we arrived at Salvatore Hills. After bringing them up-to-date on what happened with Elijah, we had to devise a new plan in under ten minutes.They were keeping Elijah on the estate’s west side ruins. It was the highest part of the land and the best spot to see the eclipse at its peak.Even if Henry, Tayen, and Nolani knew this place like the back of their hands, planning this attack was difficult. We cannot be overconfident with the advantage we have.Jace and Henry did a quick sweep of the area, taking details on the number of the enemies waiting for us to come. Meca was with them. She was Agata’s witch friend and Greco’s mistress. Our best guess is that she’s the reason Greco was able to survive the Lycan venom he attained two thousand years ago. She has grown stronger, is what Henry told us. She also cast the warding in Greco’s room; hence, the witch we have to unbind Elijah from.About thirty vampires were guarding t
~Rory~“What do you mean he was taken?” I threw my hands in the air.After Elijah vanished from my grasp, I called Henry, Nolani, and Ali into Greco’s room.I told Ali what had happened after he left. There wasn’t so much to tell, anyway. He literally just disappeared, as if he suddenly harnessed Ali’s disappearing act and did the trick on me.We’ve turned the room inside out. Nolani and Henry went to the other quarters to see if there was a witch’s hex bag or any clue that might lead us to where Elijah went but came out bereft of answers.“It’s the only explanation I have right now,” Ali murmured dejectedly. The three of them looked tired and shaken. They have been in the heart of the war, and Elijah’s disappearance clearly imposes a toll on their morale.“But how can someone as powerful as Elijah be taken with no trace?” I asked, desperate to know where he was.We’ve completed the mate bond, but I can’t feel him or reach him. Our bond was supposed to be stronger than ever, which mea
~Rory~Something is happening to me. There was an unfamiliar, simmering energy inside me.Like a spring suddenly appeared somewhere in my core, an endless energy flow blossoming into a beautiful sensation that enticed my body to wake up from a deep sleep.It was exhilarating.“Open your eyes, cara mia,” Elijah’s melodic voice floated in my thoughts. “Please… come back to me... I love you.”I searched for the will to do as he asked. His pain was excruciating. He was in agony, and I wanted to ease his torment away.Forcing my body to move, I squeezed my eyelids and obliged them to part. The bright light blinded me. The war’s outcry brought me back to where, how, and why I felt so much pain in my body. Greco. Recollection of what happened before I lost consciousness flooded my brain.Like an image that suddenly made sense, my pupils adjusted to focus on the man holding me.Elijah smiled down at me. His eyes were wild with a mixture of emotions, cheeks drenched with tears and crimson liqu