The tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped it away angrily with guilt. "You should kill me. I have been the one wreaking havoc after all."He stopped, his eyes studying her with his little flame, before he crouched next to her, taking her wrist and studying the fresh burn left behind.She didn't move away from him, because at his touch the voices became silent and the weight on her mind felt a little lighter."I killed people. I hurt them." His focus was on the bloodstains and he looked up at her with a smile. "They must have deserved it." A glint of admiration flashed in his eyes and a smirk sharpened the corners of his lips when he confirmed the blood wasn't hers.It felt inappropriate for him to look at her that way after what she had done. With pride and absolutely no reproach."Was it fun?" With his serpent-like eyes, he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Fun?Belladonna frowned, snapping her hand from his now, because now the relief it brought was g
Belladonna chuckled, pulling her wrist away from his grip. "I knew it.""Knew what?""That you can't make such a huge sacrifice without anything in it for you.""Can't blame me, how can I seduce you if you are far away from me."Eli stood up, filled with rage and sick of witnessing this. "We should all sleep. Separately.""That's sad," Alaris stood up, his stance filled with challenge as he turned to Eli. He was the taller, only by a little. His massive black leathery wings behind him held attention for their peculiarity. Everything about him was peculiar, like those glowing tattoos he had on his face and chest, that peeped out through the unbuttoned part of his shirt, his glowing hair, and his serpent-like mismatched eyes."I was planning to cuddle with you, brother." Anger blazed in Eli's brown eyes, and for once, he let his tongue sharpen with his burning rage. "Alaris. Whatever you are planning to achieve with this seduction ploy of yours will not work. Give up now or--""Or what
It was too easy to get her to the cave spring, despite her vocal and physical resistance. Belladonna could feel the quick and effortless sway of Eli's step as they went further and lower in the cave. Before she knew it, she was chest-deep in cold blue water. The images of the night she almost drowned flashed before her eyes and for a second, panic blazed in her mind like wildfire, but he was there, holding her to himself and keeping her upper body above the water, and against him - her back pressed to his chest, his firm hand anchored around her waist and his voice whispering comforting words. "Look at me. I am right here with you. You are not alone." His gruff voice commanded and she obeyed instinctively. Her head rested on his chest, the wetness of his shirt damping her very short hair, while her electric blue orbs found peace in his brown ones. For that moment, her mind felt peace and all she could hear was the gentle trickling of the water as they moved, and a low gush of it
"Deceive." The word slipped past her lips and her hands reached to his, trying to pull them away. "Stop saying these words to me. Stop getting into my head. Stop deceiving me!" She snapped and he let her go. Her heart was racing, her breathing loud. The light of the moon and the glowing blue gems that lined the cave, reflected in the water and bounced on the cave walls."Are you in doubt of my affections? Let me prove--""No. I am in doubt of mine and you will stop interfering with these manipulative lines of yours. Stop getting into my head, let me think. I have to do this alone.""Manipulative?" That word stung. "Donna, I play no games with my sincere words. Yes, my past puts me in the wrong light but do not shut me away in such a cruel way. Give me a chance. I know I do not deserve it but please be merciful.""There is it again! I---" she pulled her hands over her ears and yelled, and the cave echoed back her voice. Finally, she stopped and tears streamed down her cheeks. When sh
The intruder finally threw off her hood, and her eyes went wide with the naked woman who stood some distance in front of her. "Who are you?" Belladonna's question echoed lowly through the cave. Before the woman could respond though, a sword was levelled against her neck, it was so sharp she could see her reflection and the eyes of her likely killer, even with the din blue light of the cave. She froze in fear of the blade dipping any further. "Answer her," Eli commanded. He was shirtless, his pants were dry and his hair didn't look as wet as it did earlier. Eli quickly glanced at Belladonna to ensure that she wasn't harmed, his heart skipped a beat at seeing her naked state, the effect it left in his veins would require another bath tonight."I came here with my sons," her voice trembled. The woman was probably in her late fifties, she was a small chubby woman but Eli still treated her like a threat.It was better this way than to underestimate her. "I saw them and I have taken car
"My greatest apologies for causing your family pain." It was Eli apologizing this time. Tamina blinked her tears away, waving a dismissive hand in the air as her sons resigned to a brief moment of sadness. "We were all fooled. What is done is done. The right thing to seek now is the way forward." She clapped. "Boys, let us be on our way now. Help the travellers with their things. We use the backdoor, do not forget the ones we are avoiding." Her sons started getting to work. Done, they all started their short journey to Kami's family house. Now realizing they had left their carriage behind, Eli walked behind Belladonna like her shadow, if she were to be tired from exhaustion, he would be there to help."Boys, do not tell your wives of this."Were they all living in the same house with their wives?"What? That is impossible! Kristi knows everything I know." Braided beards yelled, as they moved around the trees. "Can you, for once, keep a secret?" Baldy jabbed. "It is going to be ha
Belladonna didn't want to panic, she didn't know what abilities the ghosts brides that lived in her head had. Could they read minds? Her thoughts? What about all the conversations she had been having? Had they heard them all? Could they hear them right now?Most of the time, to get a response from them, she usually had to ask them in her head, then, they would respond.So, maybe they could not. "Kami used to hate her room so much," Tamina's voice interrupted Belladonna's train of thought, her attention was divided. She tried to see if Kami would respond to anything her mother was saying but from her side, there was only silence. "She said it felt too much like her brothers'. It is so hard to train a girl child when you only have one, even harder when you already have seven sons before her. You just forget you know, and have to relearn." Still silence. Maybe they really couldn't hear them. Maybe the door situation was just a pure coincidence and not a trap. Convinced that she
With Kami now in control of Belladonna's body, she led her mother to a hidden passage in the wall of her room that led to the roof. At first, Tamina had been very confused, but soon enough she was able to understand what was going on, and as any person would wish in that situation, she wished she could spend longer time with her daughter. They spent heartfelt moments together, talking about how they had missed each other and how they wanted each other to be happy. Kami made her mother promise her that she would tell her father and her brothers to be happy too. They talked about a lot of things, her brothers and their families. For the things she had missed out on, her mother did well to fill her in. Then they danced to the rhythm of the piano that floated to their ears from downstairs, as the gentle breeze carried it around them."Mother," she said with tears in her eyes and a real smile on her face. "What, Kami?""I must leave now." Her action was jerky and when she snapped her
Her stomach rumbled, but it was quiet, and for the sake of her dignity, she hoped that he hadn't heard it. “You don't need the sun, you need food; I know a place.”“Get out of my sun.”“I’ll take you there.” Quickly she was on her feet, his arm along her waist to keep her stable. “Are you even listening or are you just deliberately ignoring me?”“Deliberately ignoring you.” “What? I expect the elderly to behave with more sense,” she jabbed, annoyed with his interference. “There are no elderly here.”In a flash, he is with Arlo. Then before she could tell, they were before a table that must have been prepared for them only moments ago. She was dizzy from the speed but the lovely aroma in the air could not be mistaken; there was food here. She felt Ikrus push her into a chair and she took her seat, blinking to regain her stability and clear vision. When she finally did, she looked around. They were in a kind of glass room with flowers on the ceiling. The table before her was smal
She cleared her throat, changing the topic. “Is my age a problem for you, Ikrus?”He sucked in a deep breath, looking away, still thinking about why he had brought her and Arlo here - still trying to figure out his thoughts. “No. I was merely surprised, that is all.” “I’m not bothered either.” She leaned closer to him, a hair’s breadth between them, catching him off guard with her action. “Don’t worry,” she skimmed her fingers over his hair and he stilled, forcing himself not to move as more of her fragrance consumed his air. “I have always fancied old men.”What?!Old men?!Old men where?!“I’m not old,” he said, clearly offended. “You are thirty-two,” she said as she lay down and closed her eyes. “Exactly. I am not old.”She felt his shadow over her and she sighed, wanting the warmth of the sun on her skin once again. “You are thirty-two… and blocking the sun.”“That is not old at all.” He sounded like he was losing his mind, but his voice was leveled. She shrugged nonchalantly
She turned to him sharply, wheels turning dangerously in her head already to come up with a lie, her lungs clogging with fear, only for her to discover that he wasn't looking at her but at someone else. “Look! Arlo is walking!” He declared in hushed excitement. Aniya rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath of relief, tucking away the poison bottle. He didn't catch her, she could still kill him. “Arlo can walk.”“For long distances like that?” He turned to her, surprised. “Yes.”“Oh.”“In fact, we must redesign the room to accommodate him. He keeps on trying to pull things down.”Ikrus frowned. In a flash, he was holding Arlo who was strongly protesting against being held. He certainly wanted to play on the ground. “How old is the little one?”“Arlo,” she said, emphasizing his name, subtly ensuring that he wouldn't call him “little one” again, “will be two soon.”Ikrus nodded, taking the information in as he easily moved Arlo from one hand to another in his struggle to get down. “H
Aniya told her about the strange lily she found in her coin bag while telling her how she had come by it, although leaving out part of the poison, while watching to see if the witch had told Oana about what she was searching for. It didn't seem like the witch told her anything. “I have seen something like that in my room before,” Aniya said. “I’m scared of what it means and I am afraid—” she looked over to Arlo for the umpteenth time, “of harm coming to Arlo or me.” Oana was very concerned and she said she would tell the Alpha and Luna about it so that they could give orders for the Pack House to be thoroughly searched. Then Aniya asked, “What about last night? Why did the sun suddenly come up and merge with the moon?” She rushed to the window. “Everything seems normal now.”“Elder Superior said it was a result of something that happened in another realm. It is none of our concern; our Realm stays unaffected, and all the portals remain sealed.” Aniya panicked.Another realm? Wha
That night, after they had both eaten, Alaris took Belladonna to a nearby river, where a burning incense was placed on a leaf pad to float away. “It is to let go of the past and begin anew,” he has explained. It was something that helped Belladonna even though she hadn't known she needed it. Her heart felt lighter and with a more positive perspective, she left the river bank.The Belarion Rebellion and the rest of the Cave had fully returned now. Shortly after, Belladonna and Alaris started trying to create the army. They were once again under an open sky. Nyka watched from a distance, just like every one of the dragon people had been advised to do. Her father was right next to her, he wasn't supposed to be here. He was still injured from the torture he had received from the White King’s warriors that had captured him but he was terrified that if he as much took a step from her, the Heir would seize her and kill her. “What do I do?” Belladonna asked, trying to shake off the press
[LYCANS’ REALM]The coins vibrated on the floor, clanking as they added to the slight trembling she could feel around her. Aniya’s heart jumped. Quickly, she dashed to her bed and grabbed Arlo, taking him swiftly into her arms. She could hear a bell ringing from a distance. Voices of terrified people seeping into the air, even with her ordinary human hearing, the building chaos felt loud to her.What was going on? Before she could make it out of the room, though, she felt someone sweep her away, and in a flash, she was in an enclosed space, an arm around her, so that she held Arlo between them. She knew it was Ikrus; with such speed and the feeling of momentarily ease that went through her, it could be no one else. She hated the Matebond for many things but for this little ease that she could feel right now, she appreciated it a little. Even if this relief was a lie that everything was alright, it was better than the sheer terror she had been experiencing.The rumbling continued,
Finally, they were under an open sky.The Moon was full in its glory above them. “It is a perfect night,” Ny'ka said before intertwining her with Belladonna's.“Close your eyes.”She obeyed. “Think of the Bearer, of her grave, of her presence, and connect with her.”The Bearer. Belladonna allowed her mind to roam, remembering the silver-haired woman she would always dream about. She had never seen her face so there was no way she could see that. The image was blurry and soon it was nothing but darkness. “Open the windows, open the door,” she could hear Alaris' voice. Then she remembered her way of sealing the windows and the doors of her mind. So many things were happening in her mind. She could see the path to the castle, down to that room, to that sarcophagus, Then she was back in that room again - with the windows sealed and the doors locked.There was a white beam outside the window and a woman with long silver hair that shadowed her face.“Open the doors and the windows!”
“Don't kill me please, I believe now. You are the Heir, you are the savior. I see it.” Ny'ka begged. They were in one of the underground rooms, away from the people of the Belarion Rebellion and those of the Cave. This was something Alaris didn't want many to know about.“Please, take my life instead and spare my daughter,” Leader Tyrek begged. He knew what crimes Nyka had committed, the Priest told him everything.“You tried to kill me,” Alaris said to Ny'ka who was still on her knees, begging, tears running down her cheeks.“It was a mistake. It won't happen again.”Alaris smiled. “It won't.”He held her wrist and pulled her up, but while he did that, he crushed her bones, and pressing his flames into her skin, he healed her, just like he had seen it happen with Nightshade and that stranger in the Castle during their escape.It was an excruciating moment for Ny'ka and it didn't help that he did it again and again and again…By the time he was done, she was back on her knees, breat
The moment the ambush came upon them, some guards had taken Ny'ka and discreetly escaped from the scene. They were headed to the White King’s Castle to be highly rewarded for bringing to him the daughter of the leader of the revolution against him. They were supposed to take Leader Tyrek along too, but it seemed the guards who had him in captivity had been attacked. There would be much to tell the King upon getting to the castle. While they silently snuck away, Ny'ka found a way to free herself from the bondage and attacked them. She would rather die than have them take her alive; it was looking like that was the only option for her until she felt she had until Alaris' showed up. He descended from the sky with his massive leathery wings and he saved her; he killed the guards and swept her up into the air in his arms. In that moment, she saw what the others saw in him. A saviour.In that moment, something changed. “You saved me,” she said, the wind almost stealing her words away