POV: Adrian
One spot. She's been staring at just one single spot for hours. No movements, no words, just breathing paralyzed and trapped inside of her head. It was safe to say I've tried everything to shake her out of the haze she was in, but it was useless. So I just lay next to her, curving around her fragile frame and enfolding her in my embrace. I listened to her shallow breaths and her steady heartbeat in silence, just trying to transfer my warmth to her, letting her know that I was there and she's not alone. I lay there until her eyelids closed and sleep drifted over her. Once she was long lost in the world of dreams I carefully got up, covering her with a blanket and brushing away a few lost strands of her hair.
I strolled downstairs to the living room, only to be reminded that our friends were still there. Rose was straddling a chair she's dragged from the kitchen, talking quietly into her phone, Lissa and Christian were on the sofa discussing something and Dimitri was half sitting half leaning against the armchair, staring at one of my paintings with a brooding expression. The scene irritatingly reminded me of the time Jill got attacked. Upon my entrance Rose disconnected her call almost instantly, a pissed off look on her face, while Lissa looked up at me and adding to the feeling of déjà vu asked: "How is she doing?"
"Not good", I answered with a lot more control over my emotions than I had the last time.
"Of course, she just saw her cousin's chopped off head and came face to face with a Strigoi", Christian observed.
"That's not it", Dimitri muttered, knowing the same thing I did, reminding me, yet again, of how well he knew her and understood her.
Since it was evident he wasn't about to elaborate, I added: "She just killed someone."
After a brief pause, Christian mumbled: "Not to be rude or anything, but this is not exactly the first time she's done that. I mean she's been a Strigoi for five years."
"Exactly", I confirmed, "She has taken lives when she had no soul, no conscience, nothing to stop her and make her care. Now, there is no evil inside of her driving her to do it and all of her emotions, her grief, it's drowning her."
"But it's not like she enjoyed it, she did it to protect you", Rose argued.
"It doesn't matter", Dimitri concluded with a grave look, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
I faintly heard a distant noise somewhere in the background, like glass shattering. I tensed up, but no sounds except for our breathing followed. I quickly brushed it off, concentrating on the more important matter at hand. I gave Lissa an accusatory look, knowing the answer to my question before I even asked it: "Did you know?"
"Know what?", she answered, attempting a look of innocence.
"Don't play coy. Did you know about Avery's kidnapping?"
"Yes", she whispered, guilt washing over her.
"And it didn't cross your mind to mention it?", I fumed, clutching my hands into fists in order to keep myself in check.
"I was going to", she cried out, "I just wanted to give you guys a worry-free night, before burdening you with all of that."
"Well you've done a splendid job."
"Adrian, this isn't Lissa's fault. How was she supposed to know that it's all connected to Emilia?", Rose jumped protecting her best friend.
"Hmm, let's see, her cousin got kidnapped by a Strigoi, yeah, you're right totally not connectable", I retorted.
"We didn't know who kidnapped her and even if we took a blind guess saying it was Alexei, I still don't see his motive."
"You mean besides the tremendous desire of her ex-whatever to torment her as a punishment for screwing him over?", Christian prompted.
"She told us everything that happened. He himself said it wasn't about that", Rose protested.
"And you're going to take the words of a deranged-psycho-Strigoi for granted?", Christian sneered.
"Christian, why would anyone, deranged or not, go through so much trouble just to torture someone? It doesn't make any sense? And what about the rest of the people from the hospital, what happened to them? It's obvious he didn't pull this off alone. So how many of them helped him? Why? How does the human guy fit into all of it? I mean sure, Strigoi keep humans around occasionally, but it's just all too strange to be coincidental", Rose blurted out in one breath.
Everyone stayed silent for a while, mulling over all of the unanswered questions Rose reminded us off. Eventually, pulling my shit together, I spoke up: "Let's agree on the fact that it's not coincidental, that this is a part of some bigger picture. If so, we'll have to figure it all out, but right now I need you guys to go home so I take care of my fiancé."
Once I walked the out I went to check on Emma, pushing the door of the bedroom open gently, waking on my tiptoes, trying not to wake her up. That was until I noticed something was off, the blanket was positioned strangely, her black curls missing from the pillows, the window opened, cold air blowing in. The next couple of steps I took were rushed and loud. I tugged the blanket towards me, only to discover what I already knew. The bed was empty, Emilia was gone.
POV: Emilia
At a certain point I felt him shift behind me, gingerly getting off the bed. In the matter of seconds, his warmth was replaced by a blanket, his touch lingering on my face only for a few brief seconds and then he was gone. As soon as I was alone, without his presence to calm me, my eyes flew open and I straightened up in the bed. Warm and cold waves washed over me repeatedly one after another, I felt sick to my stomach and my entire body stiffened, writhing under the agony consuming me. I killed someone. No matter how much I tried reasoning with myself, regardless of all the excuses swimming around my mind, I knew that, despite my good intentions, I've done something terribly wrong.
I tossed the blanket away and got up, barely standing on my trembling legs. I couldn't breathe so I opened the window, shivering as the cold air crushed against my chest while I leaned out. When I pulled back, I restlessly walked to the bathroom, leaning against the sink for support as I looked up, my distraught expression staring back at me from the mirror. I felt numb, but that numbness transformed into anger as dark thoughts filled me. Now I'm truly evil. Now I hate myself.
Before I could even think it through, my hand clenched into a fist and flew up, slamming against the mirror and smashing my reflection in it. The glass fell into the sink and I instantly flinched, pressing my hand against my chest while wrapping the other one around it like I was holding a wounded bird. Now I literally have blood on my hands too, I thought as I watched uneven, red circles spread around the tiny shards of glass stuck in my knuckles.
I suddenly felt the need to wash off the guilt, the anger and the panic. I opted for something rather literal, stripping by clothes off, while ignoring the stinging pain the fabric of my shirt gliding over my wounds caused. I filled the tub before slowly lowering into it, a small trace of relief working its way through my body as the warm water embraced me. I rubbed my hands against my skin, scrubbing the invisible taint from it, but only causing the water to change color from the blood still oozing out of the cuts.
Even though there was no one talking to me outside or inside my head, I felt like the world itself was too loud, judging me through every rustle of the leafs outside, the soft noise of crickets in the distance, the water-drops dripping from the tap and hitting the edge of the bathtub, the ticking of the clock hanging across from me. I wanted, I need to shut it all out, so I gripped the edges of the tub and pushed myself downwards, letting the water gently slide over my head and pull the strand of my hair carrying them slowly in various directions. I closed my eyes and relished the sound of silence. It was so lenient, so calming, such an unearthly feeling of peacefulness. I wish I could stay like this, just drift away and disappear into nothingness. But then, all of a sudden, I felt myself being jerked harshly out of the blissful oblivion and my body crashed through the surface leaving me in a slight state of shock. I blinked up, trying to determine what caused the snap back to reality and the first thing I fixed one was a pair of furious and fierce emerald eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?", Adrian shouted as the contents of the bathtub kept splashing against his legs and onto the tiles underneath him.
"I, I was, I was just washing up-", I stammered, as his hands straighten up my helpless, fragile frame further.
"Oh and where does drowning yourself fit into that?", he screamed, harshly ripping me out of the tub and landing me on my weak feet.
"I wasn't, I just wanted, I wanted-", I muttered, before falling silent cause I honestly didn't know how to explain myself.
"You-", he started before his gaze landed on my hand, "Emilia, what did you do?"
His voice toned down as anger got replaced by worry. He gently pulled my hand closer examining it. He moved to place his palm over the cuts as he stated: "We need to get this fixed."
"No", I muttered twitching my hand back, earning a confused look from him, "No spirit, no magic. You can help me patch it up the natural way."
"Emilia-."
"No!", I firmly repeated fixing his eyes with the most determined look I could form.
"Okay, okay, fine", he said, reluctantly letting go of me and turning around to search through the bathroom cabinet, "Dry yourself up and pull on your robe until I get the first aid kit."
As I rubbed the towel against my skin I watched Adrian dig through the medical supplies with a big frown on his face. That's when I realized something. I am evil, but at least I'm evil for the right reasons. I'm going to hell for the things I've done, but he is worth it.
POV: Adrian
"There, it's done", I whispered as I finished bandaging her hand.
I raised it to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on top of it, wordlessly trying to show I wasn't angry at her, I was just worried and afraid. She nodded in understanding as she wiggled her hand out of mine to graze my cheek with her fingers before gently griping my chin. I leaned in, kissing her with an unspoken apology and she used her grip to keep me in place, deepening the kiss. Like always, I got intoxicated by the sweetness of her lips, losing myself entirely until she moved to straddle my lap. I managed to move back slightly, mumbling against her lips: "You need to rest."
"No, I need you", she responded hugging me around my neck.
"Emma-."
"Please Adrian", she whispered pleadingly and unsurprisingly I was a goner.
It was maddening how I couldn't resist her, even when I knew it wasn't right. I stopped trying to push her away and allowed her lips to find mine again.
*M-ish* (not graphic, more like T)
I slid her robe down, letting my hands wonder over her body, purposefully making my movements light and slow, because I wanted to comfort her with every touch and every kiss. She undressed me with no haste before I picked her up and gently laid her onto the bed. I climbed next to her, leaving small kisses on every inch of her skin I could reach. We were always driven by passion and hunger before, but this was different. Yeah, there was passion, it was always there between us, but the usual flame dialed down to tiny sparks, everything else turning into a desire to lose ourselves in one another in an emotional, compassionate and tender way. We moved in sync as always, every thrust, sigh and kiss brushing away the rest of the world slowly, but surely.
*definitely not M, go back and read it wuss*
Afterwards, I held her in my arms like my life depended on it, because it actually did. I couldn't live without her and I couldn't bear to see her suffer because of the actions she took to protect me. She relaxed in my embrace and I knew I managed to push away the darkness at least for a little while. I held her tight through the night, praying to whatever was out there that she'll be alright, that we'll make it through this, that we'll defeat everything that comes our way, that I'll never lose her.
POV: Emilia
Waking up in Adrian's arms was usually the best part of my day. However, as soon as my eyes opened, I felt my heartbeat kick up a notch. The waves of panic I had last night were gone, but I was still left with their bitter aftertaste. Admittedly, Adrian came rather close to kissing my worries away, but they sadly still lingered. After swallowing the acidic pill of "I just murdered someone", the bigger problem started to settle into my head.
As always, when I looked up at Adrian I found myself admiring his beautiful features, the relaxed lines of his angelic face, traces of innocence I so often forgot he had within him. This time around though, there was also a gloomy cloud of menace only I could see, lingering and floating above him. I knew what Alexei meant when he promised to make me suffer, what pain awaited me, what was the only thing he could take away from, the only thing I had left. It was Adrian and his love. He was everything and without him I was nothing.
I shivered at the thought of how big of a threat Alexei posed when it came to the love of my life, which subconsciously made Adrian tighten his grip and snuggle next to me more. I knew that one day I'll have to face the person who terrified me the most, but I was hoping that time wouldn't come this soon. For the first time, in a long time, something was crystal clear to me. There wasn't a slightest chance we could both keep walking this earth. As long as he is alive I won't be able to rest. I have to finish this once and for all, find him and end him, even if it means I'll die, which was probable since I could hardly imagine fighting him and living to tell the story. I was ready to take any risk though, if it meant saving Adrian.
The moment Adrian opened his eyes, gazing at me adoringly as the last traces of his dreams ran away from our bed, I knew I had to do something I never thought I could. I had to lie to him. Since the moment I set my eyes on these mesmerizing emeralds I have never let a single lie past my lips, not even the little things. I felt compelled to tell him the truth, so keeping this from him, lying to him now felt miserably disgusting, but it was a necessity, because he will never let me go and neither will our friends. This was something I had to do alone. And if I was going to step over that line, I was doing to do it thoroughly. There was no point in hurting him further by worrying him about my condition, especially now that I probably didn't have much time left with him. I'll make him believe I'm alright, make myself believe it too, because it's the only way I'll find enough courage to fight back.
"Morning Handsome", I whispered, pushing my lips into a smile.
"Hey Gorgeous, you look a lot better", he responded while gliding his hand up and down my body, clearly satisfied with my play pretend improved mood.
"Are you trying to say I usually look like crap?", I joked going into the full-blown-I'm-just-fine mode.
"Shut up", was the only thing he bothered to say before gracing me with the glorious feeling of his lips.
At some point we managed to get ourselves out of the bed and onto the breakfast making job. He opened the fridge, rummaging through it as he asked: "Any special wishes this morning?"
"Actually I'm in the mood for some pancakes", I confessed, thinking about the last time he made those for me.
I guess you could say I was all about walking down the memory lane. Life threatening situations can do that to a person. Plus, it beats thinking about the details of the "how to kill my ex-Strigoi-boyfriend?" plan.
"Marvelous idea", he responded grabbing the ingredients and setting them on the counter, "You want to help?"
"Sure."
I rounded the counter and came to stand beside him in the moment he accidentally pushed some random cookbook off the counter, making it land on the tiles with a loud bang. I twitched back, almost tripping over my own feet which dragged his attention, making him freeze upon seeing my alarmed expression. He touched my arm carefully as he muttered: "Hey, are you okay?"
"Mhm", I hummed as I tried to force my mind into a rational mode where it could process the sound as anything rather than a gunshot.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine. The noise just surprised me, that's all", I reassured him, doing my best to give him a wide smile and topping it off with a quick kiss before bypassing him and grabbing a bowl. I'm okay, I'm fine, everything is alright! If you repeat a lie time and time again, you start believing it yourself right?
Adrian was still eyeing me suspiciously, so I quickly added: "You want to measure the ingredients while I crack the eggs?"
"Mhm", now it was his time to hum, as if he was letting me know that pretending and hiding my true feelings in front of him was going to be harder than I thought it would. Luckily, I was pretty good at masking my aura, perks of spending time with a Spirit User boyfriend. I was just hoping that will be enough to make it work, because his life depended on it.
POV: Adrian
It was annoying as hell that her aura wasn't telling me squat. Neither was she, but I knew she was hiding something. It was impossible for her mood to go from zero to a hundred in one night. I saw the pain in her eyes before she closed them and it was still there this morning, but her words and gestures constantly tried to prove otherwise. Though she seemed pretty cheerful, even going as far as to giggle when she playfully puffed some flour my way, I could still feel a slight pang in my gut. I was almost certain something disastrous was brewing under her calm façade and I was desperate to find out what, but I also didn't want to push her too hard.
She did most of the talking during breakfast, while I kept studying her, waiting for any slip-ups in her behavior like the one with the cookbook, but there were none. By the time we were done with our coffees, I finally relentlessly gave up. Either she was really doing better or she has gotten damn well at pretending. Maybe I was just lying to myself when I kept repeating over and over in my head that everything is going to be alright, that all of it will pass, but lying was the only thing I could do at this point.
I did wonder what will happen when we go to give our statements, whether talking about it will trigger something, so when Lissa called to notify me it's time to come to her office my insides did a back-flip. On our way there though, Emma looked more like someone who just got out of the house to take a stroll, rather than someone who was about to stand in front of a room full of people and tell them about how she committed a murder.
Rose was waiting for us outside and, as soon as we reached her, she announced in a hushed voice: "Lissa requested a smaller meeting in order to make things more comfortable. Ariana will be the only council member present."
I nodded, while Rose glanced at Emma and with a supportive smile added: "Don't be nervous! But the time we are done with our testimonies, there'll be hardly any doubts about your actions left."
"I'm not nervous", she stated, glancing towards the door with a blank expression, "I did nothing wrong."
Rose frowned, giving me a quizzical look behind Emma's back, obviously just as confused by her sudden change of heart as I was. I shrugged, having no explanation to offer, before we walked in.
When Emma's turn came, she talked about everything that has happened with absolute tranquility. Arianna's interruptions were seldom and they were usually made when she asked questions she deemed necessary. She kept scribbling notes into the pad before her, rarely lifting her eyes from it.
"Guardian Hathaway was trying to lead Lord Ivashkov and I to safety when the human got up and produced a blade from his coat", Emma's voiced echoed in the silent room.
When she paused, Arianna glanced at her and prompted: "And then?"
"Then he started running, the tip of the blade aimed at Lord Ivashkov, so I grabbed the gun and shot him", Emma finished, the expression on her face not moving an inch.
"If you haven't done so, Lord Ivashkov's life would have been on the line, correct?", Ariana asked.
"Yes", Emma confirmed, finalizing her speech.
"Alright, thank you for your cooperation Lady Lazar. The witnesses supported the story you just told, so you will be cleared of all charges. The case will be closed and my notes sent to the Alchemists so they can sort out the administration. You're free to go."
A life was taken and it all came down to administration, no wonder Alchemists viewed us as monsters, I thought as we got up to leave. Just like that it was over, though I was certain it was just a glimpse at the tip of the iceberg of our problems.
As we walked outside I felt Emma's hand graze mine. Her touch felt different and though I laced my fingers with hers without a second thought, I knew I was right to doubt her. She was, for sure, playing us all, playing me and I didn't feel any better about the fact that I was about to do the same to her. I just hopped that after everything, we'll be able to forgive each other for the things we've done.
POV: Dimitri
I barely managed to open the front door of my own home. Something was blocking it from the inside. As I slipped in I was immediately greeted by boxes upon boxes of files and papers. I huffed and shouted: "Roza, what in the God's name-?"
"Good, you're here", she exclaimed popping her head out of the gym, "Come join us."
"Was this really necessary?", I asked as I managed to push my way towards the gym that was now turned into a research center. The boxes in the hallway were nothing compared to the ones stacked up in here.
Roza wore a deathly serious expression as she explained: "This is the best place for secret government stuff."
"Rose, please stop calling it secret government stuff", Lissa exclaimed, "It's just research."
"Yeah, research about an evil mastermind Alexei, his minions and plans. Sounds like secret gov-."
"Don't, just don't say it again", Christian cut in, raising his hand to massage his temples.
"Where is Eka?", I asked, looking at Adrian whose eyes were glued to the screen of the laptop in front of him.
"She won't be joining us. She needs to stay out of this, so she can stay safe", he responded firmly without bothering to look up.
"Are you sure you want to lie to her?", I questioned, knowing damn well how she felt about lies.
"No! I don't want to lie to my fiancé, but I have to. It's for her own good", he retorted typing angrily on his keyboard.
"So what is my task?", I simply asked getting him to finally fix his gaze on mine.
He smiled bitterly before he said: "You get to do the most fun task of them all. You get to create a distraction."
Chapter song: What I've Done - Linkin Park
From the previous AN: My wonderful friend who goes by the name of najmanjanja around here, helped me get my writing mojo back! She is awesome and I want everybody reading this to know it! This chapter is naturally dedicated to her! Thank you najmanjanja for being so amazing and for constantly supporting my writing!
P.S. I hope nobody got offended by the little M warning joke I made (the wuss part, just a JOKE)! I originally didn't put any warnings, but then I realized somebody might think its M stuff because of the robe coming off part. But seriously the only "inappropriate" word used is thrust so feel free to read it.
