'Your fault...'
'Everything happened because of you...'
'I wish you were never born...'
'I could never love somebody like you...'
With a jerk she sat up in her bed, nausea making her want to curl up in a ball and die. Leaning over the edge, she puked out until she felt tears running down her cheeks one by one. Her forehead throbbed uncontrollably making her want to smash everything until nothing was left except chaos.
"Tch."
She didn't have the energy to gasp out when she saw Davina watching her from the shadows of the room. Stepping out into the light, she waved her hand and the mess on the floor was no longer there. Eva wiped her eyes, refusing to show her weak side to anybody.
"Does he know?"
"It's better for everyone if he doesn't," Eva replied, getting up on shaky legs and finding her way to the bathroom with the support of the wall.
Davina seemed to have followed as Eva opened the tap and began rinsing her mouth thoroughly to remove the foul and bitter taste that had taken over her taste buds.
"Why're you running away from him? I think everybody's noticed by now that you seem to be hesitant in getting close to that bastard," she spoke and Eva turned the faucet off a second later.
"I have made plans—"
"Let me guess. He's not included in those plans?" she raised a brow when Eva glared through her narrowed lashes.
"You might be the only person who has remained alive after giving me that look for a whole minute."
"You're telling me that no one—"
"The others only lasted for seconds and Theodore for approximately a minute and one second."
'So she's still behind him at this too...'
Eva smiled faintly. "He looked away?"
Davina's answer took her by surprise though she didn't let it show on her face. "I looked down. He's the King for all of us and probably the only one who I might respect in all my Eons of living."
Eva wanted to scoff. "You call him a bastard."
"Oh, he is one. But a hella faithful and capable bastard at that. Each one of us is grateful to him for one thing or the other. And I'm sure you know that clearly enough." she spoke with a knowing glint in her sharp cat-like eyes as Eva looked away.
She knew what Davina was referring to. She wouldn't be here, breathing freely, if he hadn't saved her that day and caught her from falling off that tree. Her skeleton would probably be rotting away in some part of the Enchanted Forest and she would've never met him in the first place.
The thought made her shudder involuntarily.
"You're both acting like fools currently no matter how much I try to think differently," she commented. "But I'm no meddler and neither do I ever plan to be one."
"What are you doing here then?"
"I'm here to warn you, though I'm sure that bastard won't forget to either."
Eva raised her brows at this and turned around to face Davina. They weren't on eye level, Davina only came to her shoulders, she was similar to a toddler in front of Theo, Kai, or Sebastian. But still, she managed to scare them shitless every time, Eva thought with a small smirk.
Davina eyed her speculatively. "Firstly, don't ever look straight into the man's eyes unless you're fully certain that you won't be hypnotized. Secondly, don't touch him for more than five minutes no matter what the circumstance. Thirdly and most importantly, don't and I repeat don't." her eyes turned into slits of seriousness.
"No matter what, don't stray off the path and let your curiosity take control of you, girl. Don't leave Theodore's side and you'll be fine."
Eva gulped, nodding slowly as she processed her precautions carefully. She could do all that except for the last part. She'll stay close to his side but not too close. That was similar to getting a heart attack for her.
"Well, that's all. I shall be leaving now." without wasting another second, she stalked off toward the door and closed it behind her with a not-too-loud bang.
The last thing she wanted right now was to hear a knock on her door, Eva knew if she opened it, his face would waste no time in appearing before her and that would fluster her for the rest of the day. So she hurriedly opened her closet, chose an appropriate dress to go dungeon hunting, and then rushed toward the bathroom to change.
Her hair was plaited casually into a braid which lay by her shoulder as she exited the room and found the hallway empty. Voices could be heard from downstairs and she slowly walked down to the living room. What were they even discussing?
All eyes were suddenly on her as she appeared on the last step of the staircase. His eyes traveled down her body and Eva resisted the urge to clench her legs. The wink that Gwen passed her way made her want to sprint back up to her room. They all seem to have confirmed that something was going on between her and Theodore.
Damn it...
"Is there a problem?" she asked, approaching the table from Kai's side and receiving a small grin in response.
"Darling Eva." drawled Kai and Eva glared. "We were just talking about our strategies on how to enter the dungeon. As you might now have observed, we are yet to come to a decision."
"Take a break from bickering and maybe that brain inside your rotting skull might start working," Davina advised and Kai shot her a scowl.
Her eyes traveled from Sebastian to him. He looked... extremely beautiful and tired. His hair was in its usual form. All messed up and tousled with black strands falling here and there. His eyes had shadows around them and as she looked closer, the black in his eyes had small flecks of silver swirling around like stars. He looked melancholic and breathtaking, too benevolent and dangerous for this world to handle.
A hand on her shoulder. "Breathe."