by Jennise K
“Nobody said this was going to be easy.”
“And this is?” I told him, but he didn’t reply.
I breathed out loud as he bit into my sweet spot and instantly suckled onto the skin. A low growl left his throat, and I felt the sharp tips of his canines almost piercing my neck.
“You’re making a love bite, aren’t you?” I breathed out again when a minute later, he was silent.
Pressing a peck on the spot, Romanov moved back and smiled at me—a real smile—and if I hadn’t seen the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, I wouldn’t have believed what he said next.
“No, Olivia. Because I’ve already made the love bite.”
~
Life was such a contradiction. And to each person, other people’s lives were contradictions.
Sitting in a coffee shop, or a restaurant—or just about anywhere—and seeing, say, an old lady walk in, I often found myself wondering about her story, about her life. Like how she was when she was young and dazzling and now when she had aged in wisdom like a fine wine.
Or had she even been wise at all?
Sometimes I wondered if other people also do this—looking at others and trying to figure out their stories through guesswork. I wondered if other people watched me and wondered about my life story, too.
It was strange. Lately, I’d been finding myself suddenly speculating if there was a possibility that anyone thought about Lady Edika after what she’d done.
It wasn’t strange when I had found an ancient book hidden on the topmost shelf of the castle library, concealed amongst the other books. It wasn’t even strange to me that the author, Julius Naightuitem, had begun to research and write about his young, dead bride after her demise.
What was strange, though, was how fascinatingly detailed his work was.
Julius Naightuitem had really been curious about Edika’s life, pondering enough to actually pen down her life story.
Her portrait covered the entire page of 349. One glance at it and it was no doubt that Julius Naightuitem had been smitten by the woman. It was painted with such precision that you could even see the tiny beauty spot above her left breast. Her greenish eyes with its yellow flecks pierced straight at me from the portrait like she knew she was being stared at. Her long, dark, and straight ebony hair fell down until it covered her waist. Milky white skin strongly contrasted with her full red lips.
Even I couldn’t look away from the woman.
Her whole face and her composure seemed to demand attention. I found myself wondering how someone who looked like her could be so rotten inside. What and why? These were the words that I often used to ask myself about the evil Lady Edika.
What had led her to being so?
And why had she let herself be?
A slow breath slipped from between my teeth, and I ran my flat palm on the page I was currently on.
Gemini.
It seemed so simple, and yet so exact, the way Julius described his estranged dead wife.
Gemini. Twins. Two faces. Two sides. Beauty and decay.
Yes—I flipped the book close and slipped in a bookmark—very accurate.
It was getting dark now. Between updating my journal and reading Romanov’s great grandad’s book, time had seemed to fly.
Unconsciously tugging on the scarf tied around my neck, I slowly tidied my hidden alcove as I prepared to return to the company of breathing humans.
I had spent almost all day curled up with my laptop and the bulky black book by my side, Julius’s handwriting curving and curling in the most intricate of ways on every page.
Picking my laptop, I eyed the black book where I left it and quickly picked it up. I placed it with my laptop, holding them both against my chest.
“Oliviaaaa…”
A dreaded chill ran down my spine at the sound, and my hairs stood on end when I felt something move behind me. The whole library suddenly felt darker. My grip on my book and laptop tightened.
“Oliviaaaa, sooonnnn. Sooonnnn, Oliviaaaaa…”
It was only a whisper, but it seemed loud, its sound completely resonating around the massive library and echoing back at me from every wall. I realised the source of the whisper was from everywhere.
“Deeeeaaaath…”
I froze. The whisper seemed closer now. Like it was behind me. Flinching as the sudden sweep of cold air hit my back, I clenched my eyes shut, gritting my teeth together, hoping and praying the whisper would end.
Somehow after what had happened in the morning, I had expected this. But I had hoped, just like I was hoping now, that it would not, that it would just let us be with our lives, that it would end.
But it didn’t…
It only persisted in its taunting. The whisper continued.
“Blooooddd…”
“Sooonnn…”
I let out a whimper. The voice was only soft, yet its menace was enough to scare all other supernatural beings out there. I couldn’t imagine if it shou—
“Soon!”
I let out a loud scream as her whisper now turned into a shriek. Loud. It was so loud it could make my ears bleed.
My eyes landed on the closed balcony just before me, its flimsy white curtains flapping in the air despite the closed doors.
But my attention didn’t stay there for long, for there she stood.
I could see her tall silhouette and her long straight ebony hair covering her face. But she just stood there. And I watched as Edika had finally shown herself.
The legend was real.
Chapter 19
There was a click and a thud, then the library door opened behind me, but I didn’t even flinch. I just stood there, still staring at the ghost standing in the balcony.
“Olivia!”
Gasping, I turned around to the voice. That voice.
Romanov.
The rush I felt as I thundered into his arms was something that I would cherish forever. Instantly, his arms came around me as he frowned, looking around the room for the cause of my distress.
“What were you doing here? I’ve been looking for you for hours!”
“I—Ro—I—”
I couldn’t speak. My throat seemed like it was glued together. My mind kept going blank, and my mouth kept opening and closing like a fish’s. Frustrated with myself, I turned around again, my eyes widening as I watched the same balcony that held the century-old ghost—empty.
Cold dread swept down my back.
“Olivia! Why were you screaming?”
Desperate, I turned towards Romanov and hid my face against his chest, grasping at his long-sleeved grey shirt and trying to breathe. His arms tightened around me in warm assurance. His cologne helped, wafting through my nostrils and calming my soul.
“I—t—take me to my room. Quickly. Please!” My gaze snapped to Romanov’s, and his curious ones widened. Steeling with silent anger, he suddenly bent down and immediately scooped me up, turning towards the door and running to safety.
We passed corridors and stairs in a blur, and a few exhales later, Romanov slowed, my eyes quickly adjusting with the sudden return to normal speed.
A glance ahead, and I blinked at the man standing by Romanov’s room. Orik, looking very alarmed, quickly pulled the large doors open just as Romanov sped into his room.
I cringed as my laptop and the large book bounced against my chest when Romanov dropped me on the bed. The loud drumming of my heart felt as if a cardiac arrest was well on its way, but by the look on Romanov’s face, I had a lot of explaining to do, which, I have to admit, was far scarier.
I gulped, putting my things down on the bed as a diversion. I couldn’t bear to look at Romanov in that moment. I didn’t want to see the look of guilt on his face when I say it. Because I knew he would have.
“I saw her.”
It was a low mumble, my voice so low it was almost as if I hadn’t even said anything. But Romanov’s sharp intake of breath cut all my hopes short of him missing it.
“She was there…o
ut on the balcony,” I continued and slowly turned around to face Romanov, lifting my eyes to meet his black pools. To my surprise, he showed not a sign of guilt in his expression. Instead, he was furious.
My eyes widened as his facial features quickly began morphing into his true self. His ears started to peak up as his jaw tightened and narrowed, and his nose morphed halfway into a muzzle.
“Olivia, did she hurt you?” Romanov bit out each word slowly as if it was difficult for him to talk. I blinked as I watched him stand in front of me. He looked like it was taking him great effort to even just stand there.
“No.” I shook my head, trying to smile at his half-beast form. His shoulder-length black hair that looked like it had been finger-combed back, strangely made him look even more lethal. I almost shuddered.
“Lies!” The beast in front of me suddenly snarled into my face, and I moved back, his sudden close proximity catching me by surprise.
“I’m not lying,” I spoke out quietly, talking slowly in a low voice as I looked at the creature in front of me—a creature I had always imagined to only be in movies or books.
The sound of a quick catching of breath broke me out of my thoughts, and I refocused on Romanov to see my open palm a whisper away from his jagged cheek.
Startled at my own actions, my eyes moved to Romanov’s golden ones before slowly dragging my attention on his face, and then back to my palm.
I closed the distance between my palm and his skin.
Yes. This seemed better.
Inhaling a shaky breath, I felt the rough skin under my touch. Romanov let out a low growl against my palm, and my eyes widened as I felt the vibration of the growl against my hand.
“Come here,” he grumbled, his beast’s baritone deeper, gruffer, rougher. I slowly moved up, sliding my arms around his broad, hard shoulders and inhaling the new earthy sort of scent he suddenly carried. Romanov’s arms came around my back, and I smiled as we just stayed there, in each other’s arms, hugging each other—keeping each other close.
It felt strange. I was wrapped around a being that hardly looked human, but I’d never felt more completely at ease. Despite his appearance, this beast was still very human to me.
~
How many minutes passed—I did not keep track of—but it sure felt like a long time has passed. A sure knock on the door sounded around the room, and I felt Romanov’s arm slip away. His half-beast self turned to face the door, and I settled myself back on the bed, the closest I could get to comfort from all the chaos raging in my mind.
“Enter.”
The door creaked open, revealing half a dozen worth of people standing outside the door. All of them—looking panicked—quickly marched into the room. The most panicked, and the one leading the group, was Aunt Meryl.
Instantly, she found me and made her way towards me, slipping her hand around my shoulder. I noticed Romanov stiffen when Aunt Meryl’s hand touched my skin. But he didn’t look back.
Looking forward at the men and women standing in front of him, he nodded towards the seats on the far left side of the room. The small crowd nodded and made their way towards the seats. Aunt Meryl and I, on the other hand, watched silently.
“I need two guards with my mate, Olivia, when I am not here. I want the best of your guards, Lyam.” Romanov talked to the tallest of the men, Romanov’s height only beating this man by two inches. His height wasn’t the only noticeable thing, though; in the lighting of the room, his short red hair stood out like a beacon.
My gaze ran over the dozens of images and symbols tattooed on his hands when suddenly, his fist clenched. I looked up, straight into his face, and was met by his staring green eyes. My breath hitching in my throat, I looked away.
The rest of the meeting amongst the warriors, which Aunt Meryl joined in soon after, settled uneasily for me. The constant feeling of having the Berlin’s alpha’s eyes on me left me in a sour state of mind. Alpha Lyam did not like me.
I suppose it was something I should have seen coming. Not everybody could like me just because I was their king’s soulmate, and everybody was entitled to their own opinion. His piercing gaze struck me again for the tenth time, but this time, I looked up at him.
My eyes met his gaze, and I watched as his entire eyes pooled black. Shocked at this strange physical morph, I jumped back. What was weirder was when all the blood rushed to my cheeks, which Lyam caught. I let out a silent curse, which he took delight in, his lips forming into a smug smirk.
My gaze snapped to Romanov’s back, feeling a little bit desperate to just get away from this room—from Lyam. While I waited for a response from my soulmate, I tried to avoid looking back at the devil of a werewolf alpha again.
Finally, as if feeling my gaze, Romanov turned around and began making his way towards me, still in his half beast mode.
“That will be all. Thank you all for coming,” Romanov announced loudly behind him as he kept walking towards me. I smiled slowly at Dominic, who looked worried, and, despite myself, made a face at a smirking Grayson and all the other people.
I didn’t know what was expected of me or how I was supposed to behave with these people.
Trying to avoid everyone’s attention, my eyes quickly glanced towards Romanov again when a girl in the group caught my eye. Her expectant soft gaze stayed on mine, and I couldn’t help but smile in gratefulness. They were risking their lives just to protect mine. I owed these people. Instantly, the girl’s eyes brightened, and her lips curled up in a bright smile before she quickly bowed and hurried out of the room.
I was still afraid to look at the rest of the people, though, who I knew was only going to glare at me like Alpha Lyam had.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Livia,” Romanov murmured against me as he scooped me up in his arms. He settled back onto the bed, and I straddled him, just as the door closed behind all the other people.
Aunt Meryl was the only one left behind. She slowly began making her way towards us, settling herself on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t think he likes me. Berlin’s Alpha,” I related to her. Aunt Meryl frowned.
“Nonsense! He’s volunteered to guard you! He just doesn’t like women.” Aunt Meryl chuckled lightly, waving her hand in front of her. Noticing the look on my face, she quickly sobered, shaking her hands in front of her face in an almost panicked manner. “Oh no, no, it’s not what you think. Lyam is not gay.”
“I’m not enjoying this conversation.”
Both Aunt Meryl and I froze. Romanov did not need to say it louder for us to get the warning.
Strangely, I felt Romanov’s arms loosen around me. Looking up into his eyes, my eyes widened as I found him looking down at me with his golden orbs, his brows furrowed in his usual angry expression.
Sighing, I found myself snuggling closer to him until his arms tightened around me again.
“I’m fine, Rome. Much better right now,” I whispered against him, cringing when I heard Aunt Meryl’s breath hitch in her throat. Looking back at her, I watched Aunt Meryl look at the door and quickly stand, her pink face refusing to look at us.
“Well, all right then. I suppose I should be off now. Good night, dearies,” she called back in her cheerful manner. Stopping short at the door, she hesitated for a minute before she faced us again and looked at Romanov. “Roman, dear, you might want to control your walls. It’s al—”
“I’m working on it,” Romanov quickly cut in, and I frowned, trying to make sense of what the aunt and nephew were talking about.
With that, Aunt Meryl was out of the room.
“What was that about?” I mumbled softly as the sound of the door shutting close echoed around the now silent room, my fingers fumbling playfully with the front of Romanov’s shirt.
“What is that?” he asked back.
I blinked, looking at Romanov for a minute. He frowned harder as he stared at something behind me. I traced where his gaze was directed towards and found the object of his attention.
> He was looking at Julius Naightuitem’s Gemini.
I sighed, but I supposed there was no reason why I should lie about it.
“I—I found that hidden behind a row of books in the library today. Your great grandfather wrote it. It’s about—about her. It even has her picture.”
Romanov looked away—his jaw tight, his dark eyes angry. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of it, but his human self was now completely back.
He sighed, and I watched as his Adam’s apple went up then down.
“I don’t care about her face as long as you keep it off our bed.”
And soon, the thin strands of sleep whisked us away into the dark land of dreams and wonder. I had no idea how long we stayed curled up in each other’s embrace, but suddenly, the sun was already up and began shining into the room with its warm glow. The day knocked on our windows loudly no thanks to the chirping of the birds.
Not the morning person in the slightest, Romanov found solace in the bathroom after I shook him up while I stayed in bed, decidedly planning out ways of informing him of my sleepover at Jaydin’s tonight.
It seemed difficult, especially after what happened yesterday evening, but I wasn’t giving up. After all, he did say I would always have protection since I was under threat by the curse. I suppose he either meant to cast himself as my bodyguard or to actually assign me guards. Either way, I was okay.
The hard task of telling Romanov passed, and with the solid fact of having him come with me settled, five hours later, I was in my favourite little restaurant, seated in front of Abigail and Michael. Despite our seating arrangement, Michael was the receiving end of Abigail’s and my glares.
“What happened to school today? I told you not to skip classes,” I demanded in a low tone, trying to keep my tone as casual as possible so the rest of the people in the restaurant wouldn’t speculate.
“Needed the money,” Michael mumbled back like a little kid who knew he was in trouble.
“What exactly for, boy?” Abigail shook her head as she watched Michael consciously take a large bite of the burger in front of him.
“Saving for Ma’s birthday present this Saturday.”