ROSE I stared at the swell in the throat of the one who had just made love to me in the most passionate way. His calm breathing has become a lullaby necessary to numb my senses and put me to sleep. Since that day on the roof, I couldn’t sleep like normal. Maybe the sudden switch to a normal life—one without bullies, without someone constantly berating me, without the stress and adrenaline grip to keep my body in a perpetual alert and flight or fight mode—is the cause of this. I have so much energy stored at the end of the day that I lay awake throughout the night. Or maybe it was that dream of me turning into a monster that gnaws on my nerves, keeping it awake and alert. I reached out to stroke that angled jaw, rubbing my skin along the stubble, and his breathing skipped a beat. The arms around my waist tightened and I was pushed deeper into his embrace, my breasts flattened against his muscular chest, its black curls tickling me. I felt a smile on my lips and leaned in to k
ROSEI walked up to the handsome guy standing by the river, pondering.Hands listless at his side, his eyes at some place distant where I can’t see, he looked lost…and frightened. I slid my fingers through his and snuggled to his side, and he blinked, awoke from his thoughts, and glanced down at our hands entwined before turning to me. He lifted our hands and kissed the back of mine before pressing it to our chest. ‘You look like shit,’ I muttered, resting my cheek against his shoulder. A chuckle vibrated through his skin to my cheek. ‘I feel like shit.’ I wanted to check his face, out of concern, but I knew that would make him feel worse, so I shrugged and said in the most casual tone I could muster, ‘that makes two of us.’ He laughed a little and fell into another long silence. Then, very quietly, he said, ‘My uncle’s consumed by the dark whims.’ I tensed up but forced myself not to look at him. Instead, I stared at the flowing waters before us, trying to distract myself wit
ROSE ‘But there was nothing here when we first came. And there’s nothing here now.’ I scanned the familiar vast sea of green grass swaying gently in the fresh mountain breeze. Rum looked around. ‘It’s hidden. That’s why we can’t see it.’ He tugged my hand and moved closer to the pond. ‘It’s here alright. I’m sure of it.’ ‘Rum….’ He looked at me with a warm smile that seemed to remind me of what I had agreed to earlier. I need you to trust me, Rose. I squeezed his hand to tell him I’m fine and shifted closer to him to let him know that I trust him. I guess I was scared to leave Mrs. Hook’s cave because that place felt safe; it was high enough to disappear from plain sight and Mrs. Hook has lived there all her life—well most of it—so with her skills, she’s a strong fighter. As we circled the pond, I observed that strong jaw I’ve held and kissed many times and chided myself for being a scaredy cat. The dark whims are contained within a single werewolf so there’d be none floa
ROSE Because Alpha Erick hardly leaves his room, it was safe for Rum and I to move around the halls of the castle—I mean the manor—without announcing our arrival. Erasmo gave us a map to help us navigate around the manor, reminded us for the fifth time not to go anywhere near the main hall, and that our quarters would be outside the manor—his stone hut—and then left us at the library. ‘What if someone sees us?’ I asked in a low whisper when the door closed behind us. ‘Erasmo will take care of it.’ Rum moved into the library and I followed closely. ‘He’s going to tell the others that we’re his VIPs and we’re not to be disturbed.’ ‘And they’ll listen?’ ‘Gosh.’ He halted and turned around with a frown. ‘I really need to do something about those bullies when we go back there.’ Chilling fear gripped my back, straightening it. ‘Are we going back?’ The human world now felt like a nightmare to me. It shouldn’t because Joy’s still there. But it is. And I can’t seem to help it.
ROSE Rum quickly searched the second scroll he’d picked up earlier while he explained, ‘I remember reading it. The dark whims must’ve struck a deal with my uncle.’ A deal? I arrived beside him, watching his finger scroll across the page. ‘Like a contract?’ ‘Yes!’ Rum unrolled some more and scanned the paragraphs. ‘I remember reading it… it must be here somewhere….’ ‘Kinda like the Ghostrider.’ I still feel surreal about the idea. ‘Or Doctor what’s his name, who made a pact with the devil and sold their souls for something—that kind of deal?’ Rum frowned at me. ‘Goddamn it, the Ghostrider didn’t sell his soul—his father did.’ Irritation narrowed my eyes. ‘Who’s the human here?’ Those blue eyes widened with the recognition of his signature response and rolled skyward. ‘Fine. Five points to Cintilar.’ He returned his focus to the scroll and added, ‘but no–it’s not like that.’ I was grinning from ear to ear when he exclaimed, ‘here it is!’ And I shifted closer to read the p
ROSEThe entire scroll reads like an instruction manual in Latin; I could pick out a few words and guess a few symbols, but I’m missing the whole picture. After a few more unrolling, my brain felt like an engine that’s completed a million miles without break. It was then the scroll that I fetched earlier caught my eye. It was lying beside the first scroll that Rum had brought to the table so I stood to get it. Rum was immersed in his reading, which was a good thing, so I decided to continue minding my own business. Let’s see… this is the same scroll that Elena picked out for me back at the White Crown castle—manor—whatever. The scroll unrolled to reveal the same passages that I saw a few days ago and this time, they were being captured properly—earlier, the sentences felt like what I would see in an F1 racing car. It says that the born healer possesses both the abilities earned by the made healer and the ones gifted by the deity’s light; the former guides the essence of the deity
ROSE The library? I couldn’t stay focused on my thoughts. What did I do? Oh god… my tongue kept twirling around his, sliding and stroking, deliciously addictive. His hands slid up my dress from my waist to my breasts and started fondling them passionately. ‘Mmm…,’ I moaned in approval. I needed to get closer, to feel all his muscles… its strength and power—and my palms pressed against the door to push my body forward. The effort was rewarded with a grunt of delight from him—his brows knitted in frustration, as though we were in a competition and he had lost, and his body slammed against mine, banging my back on the door—-his kisses, fiercer, urging me to keep up. And I did, moaning harder, clutching him tighter, even though his chest was grazing my breasts like a dough, flattening my back against the door. Just when things were becoming hazy, his knee came between my thighs and started rubbing…. Electrifying sensations shot up from my toes, tearing my mouth away to let o
ROSEHis eyes widened with renewed revelation, as though he’s never heard those words spoken to him before. He didn’t seem upset. Rather, he looked relieved—he’s finally found someone who could say the words he’s been waiting to hear. ‘How is it….’ He gazed down at me. ‘That you always manage to say what I want to hear?’ I was too mesmerised by the shimmering swirls in his blue eyes to respond, and he added in a lowered voice, ‘I told you not to keep turning me on. But you keep doing it.’ His mouth inched closer. I wanted to kiss him too. But if I did, we won’t be able to stop till morning, and we need to start training now. So I shifted back and whispered, ‘I’ll try my best not to turn you on.’ When those gorgeous blue eyes blinked like a confused child, I stifled a giggle and mustered a serious tone. ‘What do I do to shift?’ Realisation crossed his face when I stepped back and—is that a pout? It was there for a flick of a second and then replaced by a university professor’s s