by Rana Demiriz
“Are you sorry you stayed?” I shook my head again. He seemed pleased with my answer.
“Why are you so nervous?” I turned my eyes away and looked down. I was blushing. “If that's about the Mistress of Darkness thing...” The subject kept circling back to this embarrassing situation. Was I going to tell the truth? From now on, yes.
I closed my eyes and slowly nodded. I wondered what he was going to say, but surprisingly, he just hugged me. That made me hesitate for a moment, but then I got a whiff of his naked chest, and I held him back tightly.
“I'm not going to do anything against your will,” he said. And I spoke for the first time or rather whispered.
“I know, thank you.”
He kept holding me softly. He was too good to be the Master of Darkness. Damn it. I couldn't hate him, and that was what got us here. When he let go of my arms, I walked in front of the mirror, and he got under the black satin sheets. I realized he was watching me as I was combing my hair. He was watching me carefully. When I finally finished combing my hair, I walked towards the huge four-poster bed. As I lifted the duvet and felt the cold satin against my skin, I shuddered.
“What happened?” Alejandro asked.
“I'm cold,” I answered. He held me tight, and I leaned my head against his chest. His skin was warm, so I instantly felt better. I began to warm up.
“For a moment, I thought you had left with Julia,” That made me hesitate. I raised my head and leaned with my elbows on the bed.
“Where did you get that idea?”
“Because you were so interested in what she could offer... On the one hand, you had me, and on the other hand, you had your sisters...”
And I picked you over my sisters; I finished his sentence in my mind. I also thought about that all night long, and eventually, I convinced myself that they would support me no matter what and tried to comfort myself. I sighed sadly. “Yes.”
“She made great offers. The thing you have always desired. An ordinary life, going to college, finding a decent job and…” he stopped talking as I pressed my finger on his lips.
“But I choose you.” He smiled, but his smile froze after a while. The look in his eyes was intense. He leaned towards me and kissed my lips. My heart was about to beat out of my chest but somehow, it felt stable. I felt like I had butterflies in my stomach, but at the same time, I was numb.
You resemble your mother a lot, Mia.
No, I don't, I protested to my inner voice.
I let myself melt into his arms. My hands reached out to his shoulders through his back instinctually. The warmth of his embrace and what he had to offer swept me off my feet. But he moved away from me. I opened my eyes in surprise. His eyes were dark again.
“I'm sorry, but I can't control myself. You're driving me crazy," he said in a hoarse voice. I leaned my palm against his cheek, like a loving partner. I leaned towards his lips and kissed him. He closed his eyes but then he politely drew my hand away from his face. "My self-control is not limitless."
The dark look in his eyes traced around my face. The hoarseness of his voice made my heart beat faster. He got off the bed and walked towards the door without saying anything. I straightened myself up on the bed.
“Are you leaving?” I asked. These were not the words that got stuck in my throat.
He couldn't say anything. He just looked at me with dark, painful eyes and nodded. And then he opened the door and left. As I heard the door being closed, the sobs in my throat burst out into hysterical tears. Was I this upset because he left, or because of the cold surrounding the air in his absence, or was it the fact that he could control himself? I covered my mouth with my hand to prevent him from hearing me. I even bit my hand to control myself. Even though it didn't work at first, I calmed down afterward.
After a while -after I soaked my pillow wet with silent tears- I had more time to think by myself. I wasn't mad at him; I was angry at myself. I myself was the reason why I cried, and the emotions I was sure I had. He respected me and did the right thing according to my demand. I knew what made him do that.
I wasn't hesitant. I was sure he loved me as much as I loved him.
CHAPTER 24
I woke up in the middle of the night when I felt the bed caved in slightly. I suppose Alejandro was back. When I remembered what happened last night, I felt more awake. This wasn’t the right time to confront each other and talk. It must have been really late at night. I let him go to sleep. I pretended to sleep without him noticing. But I winced when I felt his hands over my shoulders. He was whispering my name at the same time he was shaking my arms gently. Something was wrong. When I turned towards this insistent person, I fell silent with shock for a moment. Even though I couldn’t tell who he was at first in the dark, I recognized him by his curly hair.
Rio!
The moment I figured this out, I started screaming. I sent all the air in my lungs to my vocal cords with all I had to warn people in the house. Rio covered my mouth right away. After struggling for a while, I quieted down. He took his hand off my mouth. I didn’t scream again.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered. He smirked arrogantly in the dark.
“I’m here to save you.”
The main question was why any of our guards didn’t come to save me after my scream.
“What are you talking about? If he finds out you here, he’ll kill you. He wouldn’t wait until the war.”
He understood who I was talking about.
“He can’t do anything. My men took care of him.”
The shock, sorrow, grief, and worries struck me…I couldn’t hold back any of my emotions.
“Did you kill him?” I whispered with a panicked voice. He hesitated for a moment. He must have been surprised by my reaction.
“I’m going to wait until the war.”
“But I don’t think you can kill each other with regular swords.”
“Yeah. We were both given special swords years ago. These swords can kill us both. Don’t worry, I have my sword with me, but I gave it to one of my men. He used it to neutralize him.”
I was terrified of what he said. They must have hurt Alejandro badly. If they used that sword on him, his wounds would take time to heal. I wondered if he was in pain. But it was relieving to hear that he wasn’t going to kill him tonight.
“Let’s go,” he said. He lifted me up before I could say anything. He held me out my black housecoat. I took it gratefully. At least that was something I couldn’t refuse. I fastened the sash tightly. After all, it was a low neck nightgown and it seemed like a good idea to cover up even at that moment. I felt safer.
Rio watched me in silence this whole time. He suddenly wrapped his hands around me. I froze still in his arms. I was petrified.
“I missed you so much… Did he hurt you? I’m so sorry that I couldn’t stop him. I apologize to you a million times, Mia.”
I just stood there with my arms on my sides. He realized my lack of reaction and moved away. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m not coming,” I whispered. Instead of being surprised, he glared at me in anger. His expression changed instantly. And then I realized this was the first time I have ever seen Rio like that.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he yelled.
“I don’t want to come!” I yelled in response.
“You’re the Divine Being. You need to stand by my side.”
Apparently, Julia still didn’t give him the breaking news even though it was a lie. She didn’t even bother to use her persuasion techniques on him. The only thing I was sure that Zathefs were scared of the fact that I was the Divine Being. They tried to persuade us that Divine Being didn’t exist. But the reason why they didn’t try it on Rio was a mystery.
“I’m not obliged to do anything. I’m staying. Gather your man and get out of here!”
He grabbed me by the elbow. “I’m not going anywhere without taking you!” He dragged me two steps forward but then I got my strength back and
stood up to him.
“I told you I wasn’t coming!”
His green eyes were like two fireballs. This was not the appropriate behavior for the Master of Light. God, hell must have frozen over.
“What did he do to you?” he said.
“What happened to you, Rio? You’re the Master of Light, did you forget? You are supposed to be the symbol of goodness, Rio.
“I’m good, okay?
He seemed like he was trying to persuade himself more than me. “I’m not coming, Rio,” I said patiently. His anger spiked up. He grabbed my hair with his right hand, and I screamed. I automatically tried to get him away from me, but I failed. Apart from being a thousand times stronger than me, he had a serious grip on my hair. Suddenly, he let go of my hair and grabbed me by the wrist, locking them together. All of these happened in a second. He moved so fast that I couldn’t find the chance to interfere.
He bound my hands behind me like I was wearing handcuffs. My handcuffs were his strong hands. I struggled and screamed, but it was in vain. He was going to take me. He was so strong that he managed to both open the door and hold my hands in place at once.
When the door opened, I squinted because of the bright light, and everything went blurry, but then I could see everyone. Simon, other people from Darkness, Eva… All of them had guns against their heads and then finally, I saw him. He was held captive by his own magnificent sword, which is probably Rio’s. He was still wearing his track pants without anything else on, his chest was naked. He was on his knees. I quickly check to see if he was okay. Thank God he was fine. He wasn’t bleeding. Even though there was a sword above his head, he still seemed as prideful as ever. He managed to hide his despair pretty well.
His dark eyes met mine. Right at that moment, we formed an unexplainable bond of emotions between us, which I have never felt before. I couldn’t help myself and tried to run to him. Rio tightened his grip on my wrists and pulled my hair back. I screamed. My head slightly fell back because he yanked my hair back. Alejandro attempted to stand up, but he had to stop when the white-clothed man put the sword on his throat. That sword may bring his own doom.
I have never expected any of these from Rio. He was totally confusing me. He was acting evil while he was supposed to be good. Damn it.
Rio was right behind me. He rubbed his nose against my neck. I could see that Alejandro was bursting with anger as he watched. I closed my eyes, and I turned my head to the other side to show my dislike.
“Alejandro, my beloved brother, apparently you stole our little Divine Being’s heart. She resisted me a lot,” he said in a sarcastic tone.
I struggled once more. I screamed as he pulled my hair back again. Alejandro squirmed in distress. He stopped the moment he felt the sharp edge of the sword on his throat. Rio laughed out loud. What was going on? Rio would never do such things. When he finished laughing, he tried to drag me by the wrist towards the elevator. And of course, I resisted. Rio froze still when he heard Alejandro’s howl.
“Don’t do this, Rio; let her go!” I gulped.
Rio laughed. “You can’t stop me under these circumstances. The Divine Being is on the side of the Light.”
“Stop, Rio. You can’t kidnap the Mistress of Darkness.”
He froze still for a few seconds when he heard those words, just like every other person in the room. The men of Light were not the only ones who were surprised by that, like Eva and Simon.
Alejandro kept on speaking. “Haven’t Julia told you that yet?” Rio winced when he heard Julia’s name, but he came to his senses right away.
“Prove it.”
Alejandro had a pleasantly blank face. He spoke confidently. “You can just ask Mia.”
He wasn’t supposed to say that. I couldn’t lie. Damn it. Rio, who knew that already seemed pleased with himself. And he put that into his words. “Yeah, I’m listening Divine Being. Is it true that you became the Mistress of Darkness just like I heard you have exceptional sword skills?”
Whoever said Rio I was good at sword fighting was as good as dead since Alejandro would find him sooner or later.
Rio turned my face to be sure that I was telling the truth with his hands in my hair. I cried out. “Is it true that you are the Mistress of Darkness?”
That familiar warmth was climbing up from my neck. I was blushed to the tip of my fingers from the roots of my hair.
God, please, not now.
Rio pulled my hair back impatiently. It hurt so bad that I screamed, “It’s true!” But my voice trembled even though I yelled. I hoped he wouldn’t notice that. Why couldn’t I lie? I was already gone red. Why would my voice tremble?
Rio laughed.
“Let’s go, boys,” he said to his men. Our eyes met with Alejandro in that last second before Rio pushed me into the elevator. I looked at him with apologizing eyes. And he looked at me with dark, frozen and angry eyes. I left him on his knees behind me.
After an endless elevator ride in utter silence, we passed the lobby in a rush. My black morning coat was fluttering around me. Thank god, there wasn’t anyone else other than the receptionist at this hour. A grey Mercedes minivan was waiting outside, glistening under the street light in the darkness of light. There was a white Range Rover behind it.
Somebody opened the door of the minivan. Rio pushed me in, and I sat down on the seat harshly. I rubbed my wrist while giving Rio piercing eyes. There were two opposite seats in the van. Rio sat right against me. A blond woman sat beside him, she was all dressed in white. On the other hand, I was sitting next to a frail, skinny man who was armed to the teeth. Rio turned to the blondie and said: “It was a nice operation, isn’t it, Pam?”
Pam giggled flirtatiously at Rio. She was very beautiful with blue eyes and blond hair. But she wasn’t just a pretty face. She seemed nearly as dangerous as Eva.
“You’re right, sir. It was very clever,” she flattered his pride. Or, more precisely, his ego.
Rio turned to me. “Mia, this is Pamela, but I call her Pam. She’s my fellow.” Just like Eva, I thought. And then I remembered this girl. This was the girl who put a gun against Eva’s head.
“You mean like Eva?” I said to annoy them both.
Rio frowned, but Pam smiled. “Yes, just like Eva.”
“Why didn’t I see you before?” I said. If she was anything like Eva, she would be with Rio at all times.
Rio answered my question. “Because I sent her on a mission to Italy,” Rio put his hand on her shoulders. I had a strange urge to turn away, and I started to look outside the window.
After a fifteen-minute long ride -the fifteen minutes I have been avoiding Rio’s questions- we arrived at El Cristo De La Luz. Before we get off the van, Rio held my wrists again. After we passed the familiar corridor with torches, we reached the marble sanctuary of the Light. It was brighter and somehow whiter than I recalled. I felt the need to blink my eyes. Flower smell dominated every corner of the room, filling up my nose. There they were, the inseparable friends: Freyja and Egeria. They both courtesy to Rio, but only Freyja gave me a slight nod. Egeria stared at me with blank eyes. They both obviously hated Pam, so they ignored her.
“Freyja, can you look after Mia? She seems a bit shaken.”
Freyja nodded.
“Come along, Pam. We’ve got work to do,” He looked at me while still ordering around. I answered him back with a hateful glare. Rio walked away with Pam. Egeria and Freyja both took my arms. They almost carried me upstairs. And then they led me up to my room, which I never got to chance to spend a single night in.
Nothing has changed in the room except for my suitcase and little handbag lying on the white satin sheets. I ran towards it, hoping that I could find my phone in the bag. I heard Egeria, and Freyja closed the door behind me. But they were still in the room. I looked through the bag and found my phone. It was turned off. I turned it on right away and pressed my code. The blow-battery notification blinked on the screen. I grabbed my charger, and I moved towards the bathroom a
s fast as possible. I washed my face and hands as I waited for it to be charged enough to turn on. Who knew how hard this was for Alejandro. I had no doubt that he was going to rescue me. Probably he was trying to come out with a clever plan. He knew I was fine, so I wasn’t going to call him.
When I could finally turn on my phone, I saw that I had a great many of missed calls. Lana had called me six times, Carmela had called eleven times, Sophia four times, and Aida twice. I could call back every one of them, or I maybe I wouldn’t have the time. I dialed Carmela’s number at first. She picked up the call on the third ring.
“Hello? Mia? Where the hell are you? I was about to lose my mind!”
“Carmela… Calm down. Well… I’m in Spain.”
“Spain? What on earth are you doing there!?”
“It’s a holiday assignment. I am with Rio.” I said. Carmela fell silent for a moment. She was thinking about my words. She didn’t realize I was lying for the first time.
“I see. It’s all right then.”
“You can let the others know, right? I don’t have much time here.”
“Okay, don’t worry about that.”
“I love you so much, Carmela. Please tell the others I love them too.”
“Sure. But Mia--” I hung up.
I was relieved by the thought that Carmela would let the others know I was okay, which made me realize how much I missed them all. Though I was still pleased to know that they were away from this chaos.
When I got out of the bathroom, our eyes met with the goddesses. I was still wearing my black nightgown, which was the only thing that didn’t match the white room, and that was the exact reason why I wasn’t going to take it off. I just tightened my morning coat’s sash and covered my décolleté.
“Is Alejandro still as handsome as before?” Freyja asked. Egeria poked her with her elbow. I hesitated for a moment. I thought about how Alejandro bragged about his fatal charm. I guess it worked on Freyja pretty well. I nodded, smiling.
“Is it true that you can use your sword well?” said Freyja, ignoring Egeria’s efforts. Freyja had always been more sincere. Egeria was still a closed book for me.