The air was bitterly cold against my skin, and it had an acrid, almost death-like scent to it. I used one of my hands to cover my nose and another to rub my goosebump-covered arms to generate some warmth. I’d been walking through this darkness for a while, afraid and completely alone. I called out a few times, first for Kiyan, then Ophelia, and even for Nicholas. But I was greeted by nothing but the deafening sound of silence. Not even my footsteps seemed to make a sound. The darkness seemed to be endless, and I had no idea in which direction I was walking nor which destination I was supposed to be making my way towards. Then suddenly, flickering in the far distance I saw a tiny shimmering white light. It felt as though the light was calling out to me, inviting me towards it. At first, I was a little cautious, slowing my pace a little just to make sure I was not seeing things. I rubbed my eyes a little and prayed that when I opened them, the light would still be there. And it was. Tha
I stayed silent, running things through my mind over and over again. All of those late nights and weekends away from home. All of those long trips that lasted months on end and her general illusiveness. Ophelia was always constantly busy and always constantly travelling. Of course, I sometimes had grown suspicious, but to believe that it had been because she was Raegan Kane would have been far-fetched. However, now that I gazed at her guilt-filled face, I couldn’t deny how plausible it seemed.Ophelia sighed before explaining further, “After I’d taken you and your brother in from that… situation, I knew that there would be others like you, doomed to the same fate. So many lycans had been mistreating humans for centuries and that was not going to stop anytime soon. And so, I made up my mind to do something about it. I was well connected in the lycan community and so I caught wind of the servant markets and tried to intervene and save as many humans as I could. But I didn’t stop there,
It had been weeks since the engagement and the funeral. And although the entire world knew that I was engaged to Nicholas thanks to the announcement he’d made, in reality, I did not feel engaged to him at all. We hardly got the chance to see one another with him off with Theo and Ophelia, trying to make good on the promises that were given− freedom to the children. They were constantly in meetings and a lot of the time they were away from home. I suppose somewhere in my mind I assumed that I’d be going along with them wherever they went, like a well-running team. But they were so worried about my safety and sanity that they instead kept me locked away. Melissa and the rest of my friends had been dismissed from the house, though they were still paid each and every week. The only people I’d been left with were the guards who stood outside and Kiyan. He’d begun to come and visit the house more often, making my loneliness his excuse. But I suspected there was another reason… “For someone
“I have a condition,” I said, gazing down at the ring and then into his curious grey eyes.“Name it and I’ll fulfil it,” he earnestly said.“I want to help you, Theo and Ophelia. I want to travel with you and sit in boring meetings and−”“No.”I frowned and narrowed my eyes at him before folding my arms over my chest, upset firstly by him abruptly cutting me off and then by his answer to my request.“Why not?”“It’s a safety issue Ariya. We’re going out into the real world, away from the protection of these walls. I can’t take you anywhere if I’m not guaranteed that you are safe.”I tried to understand, I really did− I was human and they were lycan. Yet, it still did nothing to convince me to change my mind. I was the person who had come up with this idea and I also wanted to see it through and be a part of this instead of finding myself locked up almost every day. But still, even after I explained this to him, he seemed hesitant to agree. And so I let out a deep sigh before shaking m
Silence ensued and the both of us just stared at each other cautiously. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. I was in a state of disbelief, unable to comprehend that he could have killed his friend whom he loved. Perhaps, I thought to myself, it had been an accident, just like with me. But that didn’t make it any less eery. At least with me, Nicholas hadn’t actually killed me. My body had been in a state of in-between, drawn to death, but able to come back to life. And so, I wondered if Theo could still bring someone back if they’d completely crossed over. If they’d already been kissed by death and embraced it openly. Was that what had happened to Portia Knight, or was it something else, something more sinister… “Say something, please…” Nicholas said softly, breaking the silence between us. There was a sense of desperation in his voice and his eyes were ashamed and seemed to be eagerly searching my face. But I couldn’t find my words. “I… I−” Suddenly, there was a loud, despe
When my eyes opened, I was met with a pair of dark brown ones. A sense of confusion crept up on me and I whispered out a soft, "Dante..." His eyes furrowed and his lips parted as he took in a sharp breath and gazed down at me. Then, his brown eyes filled with a conflicted look, as though he were contemplating something very deeply. That was when realisation dawned on me, and I shook my head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Daniel. You just... still remind me of your brother," I said softly. Daniel smiled and gave a soft and awkward chuckle, "It's alright, I'm glad I remind you of him. You always seem to speak of him so fondly." His smile was genuine and bright and the previous feeling I'd had of discomfort when he'd brought me to my room almost completely vanished. But I couldn't help but wonder why he was currently in my room. And so I questioned him. Daniel's face turned a little more serious and he let out a deep sigh. "Melissa... was poisoned. She's unable to wake up.”Immediat
“You know what,” Daniel said, “now that I think about it, there was a man that used to come to visit Melissa. I saw him once or twice.” “What did he look like?” I asked curiously. Daniel fell silent for a moment as he sat and thought hard. Then his eyes brightened, and he nodded to himself before saying, “I didn’t get a good look at his face. He wore a shroud of dark cloth that covered most of it. The only feature of his that I could see was a pair of dark brown eyes… Oh! And on the clothing he wore was a purple flower.” My hands shook and my skin became covered in goosebumps. My mind was brought back to an interaction I’d had a while ago with a man who matched that exact description. It was Hawk, the leader of Wolfsbane. I wondered now if Wolfsbane really was responsible for this, but for a completely different reason. Perhaps Melissa had been a part of Wolfsbane after all. Perhaps something had transpired between her and Hawk, and he needed to get rid of her. Theo watched my cont
And so, Kiyan explained the origin of his hatred. Kiyan had always hated being cooped in and so he always managed to find a way to get out during the day. Ophelia so happened to need eggs from the store that day, and so Kiyan was eager to venture out and buy some for her. Kiyan took his time wandering the aisles, until he stumbled across the eggs on the shelf. He reached up and retrieved a carton, and as he did, one of the staff members came crashing into him, knocking the eggs out of his hands and spilling their contents on the floor. That’s when the lycan owner appeared, completely set on beating both Kiyan and the employee who’d bumped into him. But, as Kiyan explained, he was left untouched once the owner recognised him as ‘Ophelia’s boy’. Kiyan recalled the shame he felt as he watched the human employee being hit by his lycan master. And that was how his hatred developed. He didn’t want to be some human favoured because a lycan had taken him in and he couldn’t take another day in
“Dante… what have you done!” I yelled out as the flames began to engulf the outskirts of the house.He frowned and shook his head, “You don’t look nearly as impressed as I expected you to be. Did you want it grander?”“Grander… you’re a sick bastard!” I said before spitting on the floor next to him. Then, I attempted to near the house to head inside, grab Nicholas and drag him out. But just as I reached the door, Dante grabbed my arm and yanked me back. Immediately I retracted my free arm, ready to punch him in the face. But someone else beat me to it, smacking him in the side of the head and causing him to fall onto the ground.“K-Kiyan?” I gasped out.“No time for questions! Let’s get your fiancé out of there before the rest of them come!”The rest?But he dismissed my words and ran into the house immediately. I followed suit, rushing towards the bedroom.“Can you stand?” he asked Nicholas who seemed half asleep still.“Sort of… what the hell is going on… and what’s that smell?” he
I fell asleep in the warmth and comfort of Nicholas’ arms, but my sleep was a restless one. Something had begun to worry me. It rang over and over in my head, nudging me with extreme caution. It was the words that Daniel had said earlier on today, “You wouldn’t by any chance need a bandage, would you? I always keep some on me, in case anyone has bruised knuckles…” And along with these words came a memory of the first night a spent here. It was a memory of Dante who had bandaged up my bruised knuckles. And although some part of me wanted to pass it off as some kind of strange coincidence, my instincts were telling me differently. Although they were twins, Daniel was too much like Dante. And so, a glaringly obvious deduction began to swirl around in my mind. And as outrageous as it sounded, it was the only one clear thought I’d had these past few weeks.Suddenly I was awoken by the loud sound of tapping on the windowsill, coming from outside and the harsh whispers of “Ariya! Ariya!”I ga
I gasped, completely dumbstruck by what he’d said. I thought that I would be the only weakness that King Nicholas would have. I thought that they were all completely invincible. But I was wrong.“I thought that, perhaps she had made a mistake,” Nicholas continued to speak, “that she’d take it back and apologise. But when I turned around, all I saw in her eyes was pure hatred. It had poisoned her completely and she drew another blade and tried to stab me with it. I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t listen. She was too corrupted… that was when Lorenzo entered the front door, a gun in each hand. I realised then, that the whole thing was orchestrated by him. He tried to shoot me with one of his silver bullets, but I was too quick and evaded his aim. But he was careless with his shots and at one point he almost shot Portia. That fucking careless bastard. Each time he pulled the trigger and each time Portia tried to lunge for me, my hatred for Lorenzo only grew. Until I couldn’t ta
Daniel had left soon after he’d confided in me regarding his mother. But the cruel experiences of Portia Knight stayed with me. Part of me could not believe what Daniel had said, and the other part felt bad for denying what had happened to his mother. I’d never known Nicholas to be cruel or vindictive. Then again, he’d lived for centuries, and I’d arrived here a few months ago. What I knew about him was only a drop in the ocean of who he was. And as I walked to his room, I’d resigned myself to approach this in a very logical and very open-minded way.“How dare you, you cruel bastard!”Or not.“Excuse me?” Nicholas muttered, his eyes were wide in shock, and I could see confusion slowly creeping into his grey irises.There was a moment of hesitation on my side. I was fuelled up on anger and I knew that everything I would say now would stem from that anger.“What have I done Ariya? Why do you look so disgusted?”But I couldn’t keep in the information I’d now learned.“Portia Knight… you
It had been more than a day after Nicholas had fallen ill, and although he was slowly starting to get better, his body was still extremely exhausted, and he found it difficult to use his abilities. He’d spent most of his time asleep, filling the hallway with the sound of his snores. I found it so strange for him to be this weak and powerless as opposed to the formidable man that he usually was. Nonetheless, I tried as best as I could to look after him, putting my relatively mediocre cooking skills to the test. In fact, I’d been in the kitchen, making a toasted cheese sandwich for him when I heard the sound of knocking at the front door.“I’ll get it!” I yelled. And as I tried to shift the pan on the plate of the stove, it slipped from my fingers, and I burnt my thumb. I hissed in pain and quickly tried to run it under some cool water before I rushed to meet whoever was at the door.One of the guards, Arthur, stood there with Daniel next to him. After the incident with Melissa, where t
And so, Kiyan explained the origin of his hatred. Kiyan had always hated being cooped in and so he always managed to find a way to get out during the day. Ophelia so happened to need eggs from the store that day, and so Kiyan was eager to venture out and buy some for her. Kiyan took his time wandering the aisles, until he stumbled across the eggs on the shelf. He reached up and retrieved a carton, and as he did, one of the staff members came crashing into him, knocking the eggs out of his hands and spilling their contents on the floor. That’s when the lycan owner appeared, completely set on beating both Kiyan and the employee who’d bumped into him. But, as Kiyan explained, he was left untouched once the owner recognised him as ‘Ophelia’s boy’. Kiyan recalled the shame he felt as he watched the human employee being hit by his lycan master. And that was how his hatred developed. He didn’t want to be some human favoured because a lycan had taken him in and he couldn’t take another day in
“You know what,” Daniel said, “now that I think about it, there was a man that used to come to visit Melissa. I saw him once or twice.” “What did he look like?” I asked curiously. Daniel fell silent for a moment as he sat and thought hard. Then his eyes brightened, and he nodded to himself before saying, “I didn’t get a good look at his face. He wore a shroud of dark cloth that covered most of it. The only feature of his that I could see was a pair of dark brown eyes… Oh! And on the clothing he wore was a purple flower.” My hands shook and my skin became covered in goosebumps. My mind was brought back to an interaction I’d had a while ago with a man who matched that exact description. It was Hawk, the leader of Wolfsbane. I wondered now if Wolfsbane really was responsible for this, but for a completely different reason. Perhaps Melissa had been a part of Wolfsbane after all. Perhaps something had transpired between her and Hawk, and he needed to get rid of her. Theo watched my cont
When my eyes opened, I was met with a pair of dark brown ones. A sense of confusion crept up on me and I whispered out a soft, "Dante..." His eyes furrowed and his lips parted as he took in a sharp breath and gazed down at me. Then, his brown eyes filled with a conflicted look, as though he were contemplating something very deeply. That was when realisation dawned on me, and I shook my head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Daniel. You just... still remind me of your brother," I said softly. Daniel smiled and gave a soft and awkward chuckle, "It's alright, I'm glad I remind you of him. You always seem to speak of him so fondly." His smile was genuine and bright and the previous feeling I'd had of discomfort when he'd brought me to my room almost completely vanished. But I couldn't help but wonder why he was currently in my room. And so I questioned him. Daniel's face turned a little more serious and he let out a deep sigh. "Melissa... was poisoned. She's unable to wake up.”Immediat
Silence ensued and the both of us just stared at each other cautiously. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. I was in a state of disbelief, unable to comprehend that he could have killed his friend whom he loved. Perhaps, I thought to myself, it had been an accident, just like with me. But that didn’t make it any less eery. At least with me, Nicholas hadn’t actually killed me. My body had been in a state of in-between, drawn to death, but able to come back to life. And so, I wondered if Theo could still bring someone back if they’d completely crossed over. If they’d already been kissed by death and embraced it openly. Was that what had happened to Portia Knight, or was it something else, something more sinister… “Say something, please…” Nicholas said softly, breaking the silence between us. There was a sense of desperation in his voice and his eyes were ashamed and seemed to be eagerly searching my face. But I couldn’t find my words. “I… I−” Suddenly, there was a loud, despe