I decided to go back to the fortress right away.
The witch's words rang in my ears. He will lie to me? Deception is written all over? I ran faster until I saw the cobblestone streets. I slowed down to catch my breath, lost in thoughts. It was impossible to believe that Marcus would lie to me or deceive me. His eyes were filled with longing when sending me only a mile away, just for a couple of hours. But he did scheme against me and my family. He didn't cancel that kidnapping plan until the morning of the wedding.
A nice drive to some random destination around sunset time is one of my favorite memories with Jonathan. We used to hop into his mom's old car after classes. Sometimes we ended up at the rustic coffee shop where we broke up, and sometimes we used to leave town on a whim. One time we drove up to Milwaukee on a Friday evening with no set plan, well we had plans to go to a mutual friend's birthday party somewhere in Downtown Chicago. Somehow we ended up visiting all the best fall foliage spots in Wisconsin over that weekend. Life was spontaneous and carefree when I was with him. I found myself reminiscing these good old times unexpectedly. I think every time I lost hope with Marcus, my mind shamelessly wandered back t
"Why can't he give it to me himself?" I asked Max with a frown. "I am not you guys' messenger boy you know. Take it or leave it." Max wanted Marcus to hear it so he yelled it out. "She does everything on a whim anyway, might as well keep a weapon handy. To cut things like ropes instead of uprooting shit again." Marcus came out to the backyard. "Tell him I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't such a sly two-timer."
"This is a special casserole made with lamb brains, plenty of cheese, and I topped it off with this beautiful sea urchin that you can all see." My stomach lurched in disgust. "And oh! The most exciting one is coming up, I am sure Allena will love it; not sure if you ever tried it before Allena but peacock meat and eggs are considered a prized possession in Rome. They are very expensive." I was horrified by the names of the dishes rolling out of our host's tongue the following day at dinner. We stopped at some noble ally's home for food and bed who apparently loved to host fancy dinner parties. "... mixed with honey, nuts, raisins, cheese, and mint..." I tried to shut him off from my mind while looking for a simple salad on the dinner table. The host was trying to impress Marcus's father by cooking the most exotic and weird dishes that the Romans ostensibly loved. And then to my horror, he asked two of his servants to serve a little bit of everything into all of our
The beautiful valleys and rolling hills of Switzerland and France soon gave way to rich coastal flatlands once we neared the ocean. We passed several farms and a web of communities before hitting the sea. I could never get enough of the breathtaking views of mountainous terrains dramatically spilling into the sapphire blue waters. It was my favorite part even when going to the fortress with my family. And I was so glad we weren't going to go through the caverns this time. "Caverns? Who the hell dares to attack us??" Marcus asked me arrogantly when I mentioned it to him.
"What's so great about sunsets? Why do you love them so much?" Marcus asked me warmly, staring at the evening sky. He saw me get excited every day of this week around this time. Today's sunset was extra special. Rain clouds cleared out and the sky was painted in bold and fiery hues. Also, it was the first sunset that we were watching together, without sulking or ignoring each other. "It's not just about the sunsets," I told him, unable to express myself any better than that. We were huddled together in the corner of the boat. We had an early dinner and Marcus refused to stay away from me the entire time. He said it was to make up for all the lost time. I have been sitting on his lap all evening because he wouldn't have it any other way. Everyone, especially Rhea and Max, looked at us whenever they were bored and mocked us for being so extreme. We got on their nerves every day with our petty squabbles until this noon. "You two apparently like to do it everywhere except
Marcus gave me a totally unexpected and wonderful surprise when we were about half a mile away from his home. We were riding down a hill, and his house was situated in a valley below. It was surrounded by trees and a few other houses. What looked like the garden side of the house with a fountain was overlooking the river. I was straining my eyes hard to see the house more clearly when my family appeared out of nowhere. Marcus invited them the day they were leaving. He just never told me. The Romans did a ceremony to take the new wife into the house, similar to modern-day but in a slightly different style. "Aaahhh...!" I was super thrilled and climbed down my horse to run to them. "Where's the sex glow??" That was Selma's first question. "She's tired. Don't bother her already." My mom said happily, crushing me into a warm hug. Marcus and Max both talked to my brothers without being rude for the first time. Aiden was taken aback by their niceness, in fact, he looked disa
"This should be made illegal! It's totally unacceptable!" Marcus protested. I was with him on this one. After sacrificing a pig and throwing nuts and what not at me saying fertility a hundred times, these people won't let us sleep together now. We both looked at our parents in disapproval. "Avia says today is not an auspicious day. The propitious time for it passed mid-afternoon." Maia tried to explain and Marcus looked at his grandmother threateningly. "Why didn't you tell me then, Avia? What can be more auspicious than the fact that we two are willing? You know how long it took for us to get here." "Ahem! Not long at all." Quintus chuckled. "Considering how you felt about her less than two fortnights back, I have to say this is going too fast!" "I know what I felt, and I was a piece of shit then. I am glad you aren't the in charge here, Quintus." Marcus scoffed at him and turned to my family. "Let's go with the rules of Allena's culture this time." He looked at m
"Oh my god, Marcus! Thank goodness it's you. I was worried that it was your mother." I said, trying to block him from entering the kitchen.His nose crinkled up before he coughed and sneezed several times."Did something catch fire here? I can smell it from the garden."I took up the herculean task of preparing lunch for everyone in Marcus's family. I was quite confident about my cooking skills and was feeling like a domesticated wife, trying to impress Marcus. It started out all good during the first five minutes, and I never experienced so much joy in cooking for someone.But I guess I was too anxious to please. I got nervous once I started worrying about if he was going to hate what I made. He loved eating all those weird brains and extreme foods that I didn't know the recipes for. I should blame Allena and her clumsy hands. These clumsy hands plus my nerves were the perfect recipe for disaster. Never had anything that I made come out so gross be
"How can that be? Billy took them?""Liam Cooper checked them out."Marcus and the Druid had some heated exchange of words about the Druid not telling Marcus about Liam earlier."We were focussed on finding Alyssa's home address back then, not who Liam Cooper was or why he exists, remember?"We went to find someone named Jake, the doctor."You folks are driving me insane. That guy looked exactly like him but spoke perfect English," Jake said, pointing to Marcus."Please ask him about Allena's condition," Marcus prompted him.I was so confused about who this other Allena was if Alyssa was in the alternate world as Allena. How many worlds have these people infested?The Druid translated Jake's words for Marcus, "Looks like she underwent the last surgery and was out of danger. As expected, he is going crazy as to why both Allena and Alyssa are still unconscious. He is also suspicious about who we really are. Alyssa said you were h
Marcus's feet staggered, and I caught him from falling to the ground.She loaded the next one to aim at Marcus again."No! Stop!!"He seemed to be awake but not able to get off the ground. What the hell did she shoot him with? Poison?I ran to stop her but was too late. She took a shot at him again."Stop, don't kill him." My voice cracked when I tried to beg.She grabbed another dart and was loading once more. I reached close enough to attack her, but she pulled out a strange weapon from underneath her tunic and moved toward me threateningly, speaking in a foreign language.But what was she going to shoot me with? She loaded nothing in there. It was too tiny to be a weapon. Was she fooling me?I disregarded her warning and pulled my knife out from my boot while grabbing her hair with my other hand.I heard a click sound and saw her nervous expression before she pressed it again. She was too slow, and I had already
I followed Marcus to the hallway where all the guests were accommodated, including my family. He lightly tapped on a door and stepped in.The windows facing the courtyard were all shut and I couldn't hear a thing. I exited the house through the garden entrance to see if the room had windows facing the river like ours. I scaled up to the second floor and stayed behind the window curtains."It just occurred to me now. No wonder she couldn't visit Chicago." I heard Marcus's voice."If the stones work only one way, how were we able to return then?""I think by one way, it means the place where they can be activated from. We can activate my stone only from here. And hers only from Chicago. We used the portal you created from here to return. If the portal had closed, I think we would have been stuck in Chicago."Chicago, portal, stones... what was he talking about? Maybe they were speaking in a mixed language because most of it sounded like gibb
After the wedding feast, Marcus was beginning to look distracted and stressed again. His eyes wandered around, searching for someone. Who else would he be looking for?"Are you looking for Laelia?"I couldn't hide the anger out of my voice.He made me feel so special that I forgot all about her existence until now."Laelia is not here," he said"Was she not invited? Or did she not want to come?"If I had to attend my boyfriend's wedding, I would probably be a crying mess.He looked at me with amusement."Why do you care?""I don't care. I will take it as an insult though if you stare at her while I am in your arms."He stroked my cheek, setting it on fire, "How can I stare at anyone else?"I was at a loss for words. I should be feeling ashamed of myself. I made such overconfident claims, even said to Marcus many times, that I loved Neill. Here I was, dying to hear such cheesy words from him.Ev
Alternate World TwoAllena's POV"I think he suffers from a personality disorder," I told my mother."That won't stop this wedding. Stop making stories up and look down so that she can do your hair well.""It's true! I know no one would believe me if I told them. He has three different personalities, all different from one another.""And what are these?" Selma asked.She thinks I was already so into him already that his hot and cold behavior was bothering me."The first one is the arrogant jerk who is madly in love with Laelia and doesn't give two shits about me."It was my mother's turn to look amused."Does this girlfriend really exist? Or did you make this story up as well? Where is she? I expected her to dress up better than you and taunt you already. That's the kind of impression you gave me about this imaginary woman.""He must have sent her away somewhere when he got possessed by that second personality of
Alternate World TwoMarcus's POVI struggled to focus on what was important. Things were a mess in Chicago, and I was clueless as to what exactly was going on.Thankfully, the Druid from here was very cooperative. He looked almost a decade younger than the other Druid. I was wary about giving him all the details at once and freaking him out. He was already quite panicked that I knew his time traveler secret.But once I talked to him long enough explaining my situation, and when I told him that an older version of him existed, he was all up for helping and meeting his older self. He wanted to know what he had done differently so far in the parallel universe, and all the adventures he went on.The older Druid definitely went back further in time or lived longer in the past to have aged so much more. This younger Druid was particularly excited about portals to the alternate world, which I had no idea even existed. If they did, it w
I wanted to feel anger or indifference. I just wanted to cry my heart out while in his arms."Please don't leave me," he said.I was so determined to leave until this moment. But now I was wondering if I should leave it for Allena to decide. She knows what has been going on so far, and unlike me, she may already know what she wants. I did not have the heart to say no to him. I also did not have much time left with him.After a long and tight hug, he released me from his arms. I saw him look vulnerable for the first time."I am still learning to love, and I will probably never learn to live without you. Please, stay."His words made me cry more. They also had me realize that I could not leave him in the lurch. What if I forgive him today and Allena tells him to fuck off tomorrow?"I have to tell you something, something very important.""Oh yeah? Me too.""Um... What I have to say is not easy to explain. When I show you so
Something inside me had snapped. His words delivered such painful blows that feelings of hopelessness engulfed me; hopelessness about now and forever.I pushed my way out of the kitchen, with a dozen servants watching the drama. Selma followed me to the room, but I didn't want to talk to anyone for as long as possible. I closed the door and locked it, pretending to not see her.What just happened? How I wished this was one nightmare while under sedation.I locked myself in for the next two days, not caring about Marcus or breaking the curse. Nothing mattered anymore.I knew I shouldn't feel so devastated. We didn't share the soulmate bond. I wouldn't even be here two days from now. It was like getting mad at my Marcus for something Damen did like when he lied to Nyneve. The sorceress said 'about' three weeks. I hoped each day that it was the last day.I guess I already blew up my chance to find the portal and do something meaningful. Ma
They say it's very hard to love something that doesn't need you. But it was harder to stop loving the ruthless version of Marcus, even if he didn't want me.He avoided me at all costs for the rest of the afternoon. He said I had to stay in my room until my ankle healed completely. It would save me from all the back-breaking work for sure, but how was I ever going to get another chance to sneak out of the fortress then?I considered telling him about it, asking him to take me to the cave himself. That was the easiest and safest way. I walked to the training grounds, wondering if he was over there."Where do you think you are going?" Logan stopped me."I am looking for the Legatus.""And why would he want to meet you?""He would very much want to, and that's why I am looking for him.""Get back to wherever you are supposed to be. You don't own this place, so stop walking around as if you do."Huh!"I will go back, just tel