TWENTY SEVEN

Word Count: 1913

Tonight, my door isn't locked, and no one is guarding it.

Which means sinful ideas have crept mercilessly into my mind, all of which seem to lead back to me leaving here. Vaia told me that tomorrow morning I will be allowed to leave, which is an opportunity I plan on taking without much protest.

But I have a bad feeling about the sudden lack of guards outside of my room. Either Vaia truly doesn't see me as a threat, or she does plan on actually letting me go tomorrow. It's going to mean she will come at me with all the more force when she finds out I betrayed her trust.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stare at the closed door.

Huffing out a breath, I get to my feet, pacing back and forth before deciding I really am going to risk sneaking out tonight. I have plenty of good information to share with Kailor when I return, but any additional evidence would be perfect.

Maybe I could get into Vaia's room...Maybe even Marek's.

The hallway is empty as I peer outside, still nervous that at any moment, I will be found and dragged back to my room. It's evening at this point, a gentle glow cast across the house as I walk down the familiar red carpeted hallway, thankful that I at least know this place like the back of my hand.

No one is near the stairs as I stalk down them, keenly aware of any sounds that may send me hurtling back to my room.

There is still not evidence of anyone being about as I walk through the bottom level, weaving through the hallways, aiming for Tai's old office. I imagine that will hold a wealth of information about Vaia and her next plans.

Just before I go to walk past the dining room, I hear voices floating from it, all chillingly familiar.

"You look tired," I hear Jessa say.

I pause, lingering near the entrance of the dining room. This is a risk, but clearly everyone has gathered in here, so I wait, pressing my back against the wall, not willing to risk a peek around the doorframe.

"I feel tired," I hear Vaia admit, her voice dragging. "Things are moving slower than I would like."

"We have a new batch of volunteers coming through," Jess assures her.

My stomach turns. I can't believe I once trusted Jessa, that I brought her here many months ago to give her a better chance at life. Instead of being grateful, she turned against me, siding with Vaia. Thinking back on it, I should never have allowed her and Vaia to become so close. Now they are lovers and Vaia managed to completely manipulate her against me.

"Volunteers this time...How lovely," Marek says flatly. My stomach sinks at the sound of his voice. I want to speak to him again, to dig as much out of him as possible. I'm starting to have doubts that he is working with Vaia as closely as Tai and I first thought.

What if my new theory is true...What do I do now?

"They are apart of a local cult. They think they are doing good work by sacrificing themselves," Jessa says, sounding somewhat amused.

My stomach churns, knowing they are talking about those they are using to test water from the Forbidden River on. Clearly they haven't been successful in trying to make it not lethal anymore, and I'm not even sure if they will ever figure it out.

"How noble," Vaia says sourly. "At least now they have a purpose in their empty lives."

My hands clench into fists.

"So are you truly going to let Akara go?" Marek questions, veering the conversation into another direction completely. I'm grateful for it, since I've been curious for the answer to this myself.

"Can't get her out of your mind, can you?" I hear Vaia tease. I can practically see her taunting, knowing smile. I wonder if she has always used me as a way to make fun of Marek. Her tone is not only joking, she also sounds accusatory, like this is something she wants to know.

"It's just a question," Marek replies uneasily, likely wondering if he shouldn't have brought it up in the first place.

"Does it bother you that she not only moved on from you, but also Tai? You have to know by now that she never loved you," Vaia claims, the bite to her tone revealing her hand. She doesn't truly believe that, she is just trying to get under Marek's skin, to turn him against me even more, if that's possible.

I hear Marek shift. "Why would I care if she ever loved me?"

"Because I'm not blind of stupid, Marek," she retorts. "It was obvious you were in love with her."

"Once upon a time."

So it's true, he did once love me, even if those feelings have since diminished. He told me he still cares about me, but whether that constitutes love still, I doubt it. If Marek truly did feel that way for me, even in the beginning, he would never have betrayed me, he would have never allowed Vaia to stab me with the intention of killing me.

"And perhaps you still are, whether you believe in this cause or not," Vaia says, tempting him to admit it, to open up to her. If I know anything about Marek, he won't reveal his emotions unless utterly necessary. "And I'm starting to hate that about you."

"I don't love Akara. She has promptly moved on, and I couldn't be more grateful that part of my life is over," Marek replies smoothly.

Even though that shouldn't bother me, that I should even be happy that he doesn't love me, my stomach sinks regardless. I hate that part of me that still looks at him and thinks about how deeply I felt for him all those months ago.

"Do you believe him, Jessa?" Vaia questions.

I can hear the smile on Jessa's voice as she speaks. "Not for a second."

Jessa was the person I came to when I didn't have anyone else. I vented all my feelings about Marek to her, so she knows how I feel about him, and probably how Marek felt about me. Now she has all that information to feed back to Vaia, which makes my stomach churn.

"I've been loyal to you for months," Marek growls, his patience thinning. "Don't push me, otherwise you're going to lose another follower."

"Whatever, I'm bored of this," Vaia mutters.

Unable to hold my curiosity back any longer, I peer around the corner and into the room, still concealing myself behind the wall. Vaia and Jessa sit next to each other, Marek opposite them. His plate is completely untouched, whereas it's obvious the others have already eaten. I wonder if he still hunts for Vaia, or if he has moved up a position.

Marek's gaze flickers to me, burning with a frosty fire as they alight with recognition. I pull back, pressing my back against the wall as my heartrate accelerates. I should run, I should get out of here, but I'm frozen in fear.

"I'm going to bed," I hear him mutter, somewhat hurriedly.

"Goodnight Marek," Vaia replies mindlessly.

Turning on my heel, I hurry down the hallway, hoping I can get back to my room before I'm caught. However, Marek seems to appear out of nowhere from behind me, grasping my arm tightly, pulling me back to face him.

I open my mouth to protest but he presses his finger to his lips, motioning back to the dining room where Vaia and Jessa would be able to hear us.

Despite my wariness, I allow him to lead me back down the hallway and up the stairs again. I assume he is taking me back to my room, although when he passes it by, my fear truly starts to accelerate. My attempt to tug away from him is in vain, his grip tightening on my arm to the point of pain, continuing to drag me down the hallway.

"Your room...Seriously?" I mutter as he opens the door, guiding me into it. I look around, realising I haven't been in this room before. It's not anything special, bare of anything that would have meaning.

But it does make my nerves flutter being in here.

Marek closes the door firmly behind him, turning to face me with his arms crossed over his chest. "Vaia is likely going to send someone to your room to kill you tonight, so I would suggest complying."

"She's going to find out I'm here," I say breathlessly, trying not to look around the room curiously. If she finds out I'm in Marek's room, we are both done for.

Marek closes his eyes for a moment, looking as though he regrets everything. Sweeping his hands back through his hair, I watch nervously at the way it reveals his marking, the silvery blue mist that scatters across his forehead both beautiful and terrifying.

"She won't...And tomorrow, I'll get you out of here," I assures me.

"You're going to help me?" I ask, trying not to sound too relieved by that. I figured Vaia had no interest in letting me go, that she was going to have me killed instead, so knowing I can rely on Marek is a relief.

Marek looks surprised at my surprise.

"Of course," he murmurs gently, taking a step toward me. I freeze, anxious at the sudden proximity. He seems to think it would be obvious that he would get me out of here. It may have been what I was relying on all this time, but I still had my doubt about whether he really does want the best for me.

"Thank you, Marek," is all I say.

"You should get some sleep." He motions of the bed, which in all it's plainness, is suddenly terrifying. I'm not sure if I can sleep, not with the potential for Vaia to walk in here and kill me at any moment, whether Marek wants to protect me or not. "It was dangerous you sneaking out tonight."

"The door wasn't locked..." I tell him, my voice weak. He shakes his head at me, closing his eyes for a moment.

"If Vaia found you, she would have killed you right there," Marek tells me, something dark and sinister in his tone. I sigh, wishing he could tell that I already knew that, that I stepped out of the room knowing the risk.

I go to sit down on his bed. "Would you have stopped her?

Marek pauses, drawing in a breath. Would Marek have put everything in his life on the line just to stop Vaia from killing me?

"Yes," he murmurs. "I would have."

🧡••🧡

If you guys want to read ahead, you can read more of KING'S SEDUCTION on Radish! It's chapters ahead of Wattpad (:

You'll will find it under KING'S POSSESSION on Radish, as season 2!

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I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radish! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!

I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:

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~Midika 💜🐼