Lothaire watched as Larisa's face soften as she finally fell into a deep slumber on his chest while he cradled her in his arms, he wondered what nightmare she had that made her so scared to the extent that she was crying and calling for him so earnestly.
It was morning soon and Lothaire continued to hold her in his arms as she held onto him, refusing to let go. She had been clutching on to him ever since her nightmare.
Larisa's eyes were sore from the crying last night after her nightmare that it became a hassle to even open them but she still managed to open them anyway, she was surprised to find herself being cuddled in the arms of Lothaire.
She wanted to pull herself from his hold when she remembered the painful words he had told her but she found herself still laying in his arms, it was so comfortable and she couldn't resist his hold even though she wanted to badly, she closed her eyes back and pretended as if she was sleeping, she thought he wouldn't be able to find out if she was awake because her head was on his chest with her face hidden from view.
"You're awake." She heard Lothaire's deep masculine voice ring in her ears and she jolted upwards as she realized she was found out. "Did you sleep well?" He asked again ignoring her sudden movement away from him as he sat up.
Larisa couldn't find her self to speak to him when she remembered what he said to her and her face twisted in anger as she looked away.
Lothaire noticed she was angry at him for what he said to her but he wasn't really bothered as long as she was safe but it seemed like she had forgotten about her nightmare last night since her expression was totally free from the fear stricken one she had last night.
"What was your nightmare about?" He asked and the horrid nightmare she had came to her in a flash, she shuddered slightly in fear as she remembered the nightmare, she opened her mouth to speak but words could barely be formed.
"You don't have to be scared, it was just a nightmare." Lothaire assured her but the look on her face said otherwise, she shook her head vigorously, the anger she had felt for him turned into fear, fear that he may lose his life knowing fully well that he was immortal which didn't make any sense to her.
"I..it wasn't just a..a n..nightmare, it felt real a..and the b..blood, you died! Your h..heart was r..ripped out, I.. felt it...." She choked up on her words as heavy drops of tears flooded her face. Lothaire wrapped his arms around her as he stroked her hair gently while she continued to sob.
He wondered how the nightmare she had could seem so real to make her believe he had really died, something didn't feel right and he knew that it wasn't just a nightmare.
"No matter how real it felt, I'm still here and besides I'm immortal so don't let a nightmare get to you." He said as he continued stroking her hair. Larisa's sobbing finally lessened after hearing Lothaire speak, he was right, it was just a stupid nightmare and he couldn't die but why did the nightmare seem to haunt her and why did it feel so real.
She even felt the chilly air on her skin and the warmness of his blood even if it wasn't real and she wondered if it was normal to feel things inside a nightmare but she quickly shifted it to the back of her mind even though it was hard to just ignore.
She slowly lifted her head from his chest as she gained full view of his sinfully beautiful face, her eyes were sore from the crying but still she strained them to look at him.
Lothaire gulped as she locked her gaze with him and it didn't take him long to figure out what she was thinking as she tilted her head upwards, pouting her lips. She wanted to kiss him.
Lothaire got off the bed like lightning, leaving her startled and face flushed with embarrassment.
"You should eat something, Onyx will join you for breakfast, I have other things to attend to." He said with a straight face and Larisa almost laughed at her stupidity but mostly how embarrassing the situation was.
She watched him exit the room and she planted her face on the pillow as she screamed, releasing only muffled sounds.
How could she even try to kiss him after what he said to her at the hot tub but in her defence he was the definition of a living, beautiful temptation.
.....
Onyx as well as Zion and Adina was already seated at the dining when Larisa got there but to her dismay, Valerie was also there.
"Hi Larisa!" Onyx voice was cheerful as usual.
"Good morning." She greeted but only referred it to Zion and Onyx whom she looked at.
"Hey Larisa wanna go learn archery some more after breakfast?" Zion said excitedly with a grin on his face, she noticed his silver hair wasn't falling down freely on his shoulders but instead it was tied in a ponytail, she also noticed he liked wearing colours that matched his hair like light purple, sky blue, grey, silver black or white.
"But I suck at it." She complained as she took her seat at the dining next to Onyx and Zion totally ignoring Adina and Valerie.
"Never mind him Larisa what about the soirée?" Onyx chipped in obviously excited, Adina couldn't help but roll her eyes at Zion's and Onyx's pathetic relationship with Larisa.
"What about it?" Larisa asked.
"Have you picked a dress yet?" Onyx asked curiously.
"Not really." She said with an unsure expression.
"I'll pick something for you to wear." Onyx said with a delight filled face. The number of times Valerie scoffed couldn't be counted as she watched Larisa and Onyx converse like they were long time friends.
"Thank you." Larisa said gratefully.
"I heard of a rumor that Lothaire's trying to give you immortality by resurrecting Hela, the goddess of death and ultimate psycho." Valerie added out of nowhere, the topic was uncalled for and far from their discussion but Valerie's goal was purely to stir up intensity. Everyone including Adina looked at her as if she had spoken a forbidden word.
"Why would you say something like that in front of her." Adina said with a raised voice but Valerie's smirking face didn't end as she saw the confusion filled face of Larisa.
"I'm so sorry, did I startle you honey?" Valerie said with a mock filled voice. Lothaire always left her out on everything and she felt left out on his decisions like she wasn't a part of it, the thought that Lothaire couldn't trust to tell her his secrets while everyone else knew deeply hurt her more than she thought.
"Its probably not true, its just a rumour, Lothaire wouldn't endanger everyone like that." Onyx said with a short laugh even if it wasn't the right moment for a laugh. 'Was it what he meant when he promised that he'd protect her by raising the goddess of death that didn't sound like a good thing?' Her mind wandered.
....
Lothaire walked into Avian in the hallway.
"Have you prepared for your journey?" Lothaire asked Avian teasingly with a sarcastic smirk.
"We're leaving tomorrow." Avian said with a flat tone and proceeded to leave. Lothaire was too annoying for him.
"What do you mean tomorrow? I clearly said you're leaving today." Lothaire said in an authority filled tone while Avian gave him his stoic expression which he just wanted to punch out of his face but he knew very well that even if he was in pain, his expression wouldn't change.
"There's been a change of plans, we can't go there empty handed, you know she doesn't accept guests who come empty handed." Avian explained as straight as ever while pushing back a stray of dark brown hair that had come down in front of his face.
"We're already bringing her sister back." Lothaire stated as he glared at him.
"That'll take a while, we need to give her a gift immediately we arrive." Avian said as he locked gaze with Lothaire without flinching. Lothaire had always admired him for his braveness to stare him straight in the eye and even as much as to go against him, something no one would think of doing.
"Fine, you'll go tomorrow with your mate then." Lothaire said teasingly as a grin spread on his face.
"Her being my mate is none of your business." Avian said with a cold tone.
"I'm just trying to help, you avoiding her is a very selfish thing for a mate to do." Lothaire teased more but he didn't get the reaction he expected from him.
"Talking about being selfish, isn't endangering your mates life because you want her by your side a pretty selfish thing to do?" Avian retorted and you'd have thought he had a smirk on his face but it still had his straight facial expression.
Lothaire was a bit taken aback by his retort, mostly because he had never wasted his time exchanging words with Lothaire but now he did and his words hit Lothaire different when he mentioned how selfish he was for endangering Larisa's life, he hated to accept it but unfortunately it was true.