Chapter 189
Chapter 189
KAEL
The sun isn’t up yet when I open my eyes.
She’s asleep beside me, barely breathing, curled in a way that makes her look smaller than she is. But even unconscious, she clings to me, one leg wrapped around mine, her hand gripping my arm.
It shouldn’t feel this natural, but it does.
She fits here.
I sit up slowly while trying my best not to wake her from her slumber. My body feels different, stronger and centered. No more of that silence, no more of waiting in the dark.
The hallway is quiet as I head downstairs. Before I know it, Kovas’s scent hits me as I reach down. When I enter the kitchen, he’s standing there, coffee already made, while his eyes are glued to the paper.
“Morning,” he says, eyeing me. “You called me last night. Unfortunately, it was a tad bit too late for me to come.”
“Yes,” I remember. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Mhm?” he waits for me to continue.
I take a seat on one of those chairs, looking straight at him.
“Don’t tell me it’s about your mother.”
“No, she left last night.”
“She did?” He raises his brow. “She didn’t say anything?”
“Well, there were some words spoken. Not many. Some apologies and some long–overdue truths. Doubt she’ll return for a while.”
He nods, accepting the situation.
“Well, what is it then?”
“The key, the one I gave you.”
“To?” It takes a moment for him to recall, as it has been a while now. “Oh, right. That room’s key. You want it back?” he questions, brows furrowing with confusion.
“Yes.”
“Why?” He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back, leaving the paper completely on the table now.
“Just–I need it.”
“Well, you did tell me not to give it to you.”
“I did?”
He gives me another stare, this time of suspicion. “Is everything alright? Is Rhea fine?”
“Yes. I just need the key.”
1/3
Chapter 189
For what?
“I want to move the body.”
The creases on his forehead deepen even more at my response.
“You mean her body?
I nod once.
He exhales. “That’s not something you just decide one morning. Where would you even move it to? She’s safe up there.”
“I’ve to take precautions.”
“For what?” He shakes his head. “There’s no one coming here. You said so yourself. And you told me, very clearly, that the room remains untouched”
“I changed my mind.”
“So quickly?”
“Get the key, Kovas.”
The quickly snappy questions stop right there when I raise my voice. There’s a moment of silence between us. He tilts his head slightly, the way he always does when he’s trying to figure out if he misheard or if I’ve lost it.
“Why?” he asks again, slower this time. “Aron, what happened? You don’t change your mind about things like this. You said it yourself, it was too dangerous. If you’re going to do something, some kind of magic, it’s not going to work, and I’m going to let you take that risk.”
My fingers curl slightly over the edge of the table. “I’m not doing anything. I just need to move the body, far from here. Somewhere else where the Council can’t reach. Rhea isn’t comfortable with it, and that matters. So, just do what I tell you and get the damn key.”
“Rhea?” He frowns. “Why would she-”
He stops by himself, words lost in his throat when he meets my eyes.
It hasn’t been too long, has it? He’d notice the difference, the appearance, everything about me that’s no longer Aron.
He was always the first one to notice it.
“Oh, fuck, Kael. Seriously?”
“Get me the key.”
“Tell me of your intentions first and I will.” He sighs and stands up upon realization and then starts pacing around the room. “Where are you going to move her?”
“Just somewhere far.”
“Where?”
“I don’t have to answer to you.”
“Well, I do have the key so you do have to answer. Or you can try and rip off the door with your bare hands, I mean it won’t work, but be my guest and give it a try.”
“Don’t be a fucking ass, Kovas. I just need the key. Get me it. And while you’re at it, also find out about the witch.”
“The witch?” His face only grows more surprised. “Liliana, you mean?”
“Find out where she is.”
ค.เว
Chapter 189
“I’m not going to
“Don’t make me lose my patience. It has never gone well for you
That’s because you don’t have any.” He fights me like he always has. Always trying to get a rise out of me.
I shake my head and stand up. I’ve made my point clear, I don’t need to argue with him any longer, and I know well enough that he’ll get me the lay in one way or another.
And then Rhea can have it.
Whatever she wants to do with the body, she can do it. Bury it, hide it, burn it–whatever it is. It doesn’t really matter because, after that, she can stop being afraid. She can stop fearing death, that it’s going to come one day and take her.
And once she stops, she’ll become better.
She’ll become everything that I’ve ever wanted. I know that
because can
see that in her eyes. The madness, the desire, and the hunger.
There’s no one who’s going to be stopping me this time. Especially the Council. They’ll have nothing to hold over my head because Rhea will be right next
to me.
We will have each other.
We will have the North and every territory that I lay claim to. And the Council. They are going to be the first thing I destroy, and they will feel every bit of their demise.
It will be slow, painful, and bloody.
No mercy.