Chapter 201

Chapter 201

(Eden’s Pov)

“Do you really think something is going on with Arthur?” Beauty Trowned “I just can’t imagine it. Arthur has always been cautious. But what do you suggest we should do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out what went wrong. I just think his attitude has changed a lot in the past few weeks.”

Beauty snapped her fingers “Maybe it’s just pack business. You said Eros has also been acting distant. It could be something related to succeeding the throne, and it must be taking their time”

I wasn’t sure what to believe, but I didn’t voice out my confusion again.

I was suddenly reminded of Nova.

If Nova was here, she would have had an answer to things like this. She was always the type to have a ready solution to every problem.

But Nova was dead. Beauty was the only one left to comfort me, but I didn’t deserve the comfort. Nova’s death was my fault.

If only she didn’t try to protect me, she would still be alive.

Anger surged in me as I thought about how she was murdered. It was something I would never forgive Alice. She was supposed to be my friend too.

“What about Tom?” I asked Adonis.

Ever since I was told of his capture, I refused to go see him. I feared that Tiara would lose control and attack him.

Beauty and Adonis exchanged a nervous glance, the kind that looked unsettling. Beauty clasped her hands together and looked away just as Adonis sighed, and his shoulders droped in a resigned manner.

“He’s dead.” Adonis announced.

“What? How?” My eyes widened. It was hard to process what he just said, “What happened?”

Adonis hung his head in guilt. “We should have told you earlier. I’m sorry. We never intended to keep it a secret; it’s just that things have been happening so fast we could hardly keep track of it. First with Alice and Tom, now with you and Eros. We thought it could wait.”

“Wait?” I barked. My voice sounded harsher than I intended. “You thought it was wise to wait before you told me that the vampire who killed Nova and tried to kill me is dead?”

I scoffed. Tiara was not pleased.

Adonis winced. “I can see now that it wasn’t the best decision. We should have told you as soon as it happened.”

I looked away, still a little angry that this information didn’t reach me earlier. “How did he die?”

Adonis exchanged another look with Beauty, who was silent. She nodded slightly before Adonis started to talk.

“It happened while we were away. Beauty and I left the house while Arthur was in charge of watching over Tom. We needed some supplies, and we had to get them. But when we came back. “Adonis trailed off.

I looked at him. His eyes were locked on a spot on the wall as he recalled what had happened. When he continued, his voice hardened.

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Chapter 201

“We found Arthur beside a lifeless Tom; he was covered in cuts and blood.” Adonis sighed.

“Arthur?” I had a bad feeling about this already. “What happence?”

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Adonis took a while before he continued. “Arthur told us that he brought Tom his meal as usual, but Tom had attacked him instead. In defense, he fought back and killed Tom.”

I felt a twist in my stomach as I digested Adonis words.

“That doesn’t seem to make much sense. Tom attacked Arthur?. I mean, he was locked up for weeks and was barely given enough food; besides, Tom would need blood to be strong enough to attack Arthur. Did you feed him blood?”

Adonis shook his head. “No.”

“So how did he have that kind of strength?” I asked.

Beauty took a deep breath. “That is what Arthur told us. It was hard to believe, but we couldn’t question it either. We weren’t there, so we don’t know exactly what had happened.”

Adonis ran a hand over his face, a frown deeply formed on his brows.

“It was a very strange reason. It was harder for me to accept because Tom had started to open up to us. After weeks of trying to make him confess, I was sure he would break that day. I had gotten through to him.”

“I don’t like this.” Tiara growled within. “The story sounds suspicious.”

agreed with Tiara. I started to ask questions about it.

“Why would he suddenly spring an attack if he was that close to giving in? It was obvious he wanted to stay alive if he was willing to confess. So, Arthur should have kept him alive by all means and gotten the truth out of him.”

Adonis shrugged. “That was the exact same thing I told him. His actions still baffles me till this moment.”

We all went silent, each of us lost in our own thoughts. My mind raced as I pieced together the tiny bits of information.

But there was no rational explanation that made me accept Arthur’s claim.

“What did you do with the body?” I asked Adonis.

“We burned it. He didn’t deserve to be buried. He was a traitor.” Adonis replied.

Fair enough.

Beauty held my hand. “I know it seems odd, but I don’t think this is something we should be worried about. Arthur must have had reasons why he-”

“He was alone with Tom.” I said. “And now Tom is dead. Something isn’t right.” Beauty gave up, and I turned to Adonis. “Keep a close watch on Arthur, in case there is something he isn’t telling us.”

“Yes.” Adonis said firmly.

Lleaned against the bed, my body desperate for more rest. Ever since I found out about this pregnancy, I have been

no reason.

I should tell them about the child. They would be excited. If a doctor had attended to me, they would have found out already.

“No!” Tiara said it with more force than necessary. “Don’t trust anyone yet…”

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Chapter 202

ROSE’S POV

I stood in front of Shevek’s room door; the brown mahogany surface stared back at me.

I wasn’t sure if he would like to see me, at the same time, I wanted to comfort him.

It took all the strength I had to finally knock on the door..

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There was no response. But I knew Shevek was inside. That was the first place he went immediately Eden was laid on the bed to recover.

I knew he came here to reflect.

Today was about him sharing a part of his life with us. It couldn’t have been a simple task.

And then, there was Eden’s reaction to it. I was glad she was fine my daughter is everything to me.

I knocked again. When I still didn’t get a response, I tried the doorknob and found it unlocked, then I entered.

It was daylight outside, but his room was shrouded in darkness. The thick curtains that hang over the windows were not drawn open today.

I closed the door and allowed my eyes adjust to the room before I said a word.

“Shevek.” I called.

I could see his silhouette by the window. It was almost too dark to not mistake him for the curtains, but I saw him.

“What are you doing here?” He asked. His voice was rough and cutting. “I wanted to be by myself.”

“I know.” Tired of squinting in the dark, I said “Open the curtains, please.”

It took a while before Shevek moved and dragged a hand over the thick curtains. He drew it to the side, and light poured into the room through the floor to ceiling windows.

His back was turned to me, facing the window. I saw the slump in his shoulders and his crossed hands. He looked lost in my presence, even though I knew he was aware of every movement made.

Before I could say another word, he placed his hands on the windows and pushed. To my surprise, it gave way to a balcony that overlooked the house grounds.

I never knew he had a balcony attached to his room. But then, what do I really know of Shevek aside from what he has allowed me to know in the past few days?

I followed him as he stepped onto the balcony.

“Rose,” he called softly. He didn’t look at me, but I could sense the sadness in his voice and with the way he carried himself.

I closed the space between us and placed my hand on my shoulders. I wanted him to face me and share his pain with me.

“Do you want me here?” I also needed to respect his wishes.

He took a pause before he gave a stiff nod. “Stay… I didn’t think you would want to see me again after knowing the truth of what I did to my beloved and how my actions threatened Eden’s shot at happiness.”

His voice cracked. “Or are you here to blame me for everything that happened? If that is your intention, don’t bother. I

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1401 Thu. Nov 28 VO

already know how much of terrible person I am

My heart arlied

His beloved.

The thought of how he had to kill a woman he loved still plagued me, but looking at him, I knew it was something he would never forgive himself for. He was still haunted by it.

“I’m not here to blame you. I would never. I started. “I admit you could have done things in a better way, but that doesn’t mean that I do not see the man beneath all that rage,”

He turned to me, and I saw the depth of vulnerability he had masked earlier.

“You don’t need to pretend to be kind, Rose. I know you are scared of me; neither do I deserve you to forgive me for keeping Lyraea a secret.”

I sighed. I removed my hands from his shoulder and stood beside him.

I leaned against the railing and lifted my face to the sky, the clear afternoon air ran over my skin. I closed my eyes. For a few seconds, I stayed in the same position before I opened my eyes and faced him.

“You are allowed to keep your secrets and tell me when you want to tell me. I knew you hid it from me because you want me to hate you because of what you have done in the past?

didn’t

“Are you saying you forgive me for not telling you everything before now?” He frowned. “Even when I tried to make Ryker, Eden’s mate?”

Truly, that part took me by surprise, and I would have stopped him if Eden’s friends hadn’t intervened at the right time.

“I must confess you shocked me, but I see now that it was your own way of trying to protect your daughter. But Lyraea has hurt you, in a way that has made it difficult to heal without scars I said softly

Lord Shevek looked at me, his gaze intense. “It was hard for me. She was my fated, and she betrayed my trust.” His jaw clenched tightly.

I stretched out my hand again and touched his arm. “I know how that feels. I understand you more than you think.” His gaze didn’t leave my face. Suddenly overwhelmed by my own emotions, I looked away. “My mate. Griffin. He was different from who I thought he was. There was no fairytale for me, no happy ending.”

Shevek cocked a brow in surprise. “I assumed you haven’t met anyone else.

I chucked.

“I did. But he rejected me.” I said.

“I’m sorry.”

I nodded. “It wasn’t your fault.” I thought about it. “Or maybe it was slightly your fault. You got me pregnant after all, but then Griffin’s actions are in no way justified. I was used and abandoned over and over again.”

Shevek growled. “What happened?”

“I met him after our night together and found out I was pregnant. He rejected me. I had false hope that he would come to love me eventually, but he didn’t; instead, he married my best friend and used me as a mistress until he got tired of me.” I sighed.

“Why did you allow him to do that to you?” Shevek growled, his voice laced with anger, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me.

III

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“I was a fool for hoping he would eventually love me, but Griffin was a manipulator. He knew how to get me to stay exactly where he needed me to be.” I smiled. The pain in my voice is evident. “It was tough.”

A tear slipped out of my left eye, and Shevek cleaned it off with his thumb as I continued.

“I hated him. I still hate him for the lies and how he used me. So many times I thought of killing him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” I murmured.

“Believe me, you don’t want to.” Shevek gave me chuckled. “You deserve better.”

a

sad smile. “It never makes you feel better….talking from experience.” He

I smiled. “You too.”

The air grew heavy with an uneasy silence as I weighed my next question. “What about us? You told me I was your second chance mate. You asked me to give you some time. Tell me, what have you decided?”

Shevek ran his hand over his hair, blond strands just like Eden’s shielded his beautiful eyes from my view. I felt tempted to use my fingers to sweep them back, but I held myself.

“Rose. I still need more time to decide. I need to figure out what I want. It’s not as simple as

you make it seem.”

“And it’s not as difficult as you make it look.” I said with a frown. My eyes grew heavy with tears as I felt one roll down. “You know what? Take all the time you need, Shevek.”

I turned away, about to leave before the tears could spill over, but before I could take another step, Shevek grabbed me and pulled me to him.

I fell into his arms just as he leaned in and kissed me.

It was nothing like the rough, fiery passion we have always had. No, this was gentle, sweet, and overly passionate. He deepened the kiss, and I matched up with his pace, our lips moving in sync.

He broke the kiss and laid his forehead on mine as we stared into each other’s eyes.

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“I’m scared… I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t trust myself to do right by you. but I don’t want to lose

you either.”

His grip tightened on my arm, and he kissed me again, pouring out his heart into it.

The kiss finally came to an end, and at that moment, the sky changed. We looked up to see a rainbow stretched across the horizon. It shimmered.

“Maybe it’s a sign.” I smiled.