Avian was alone in his room when he felt a rush of wind brush past him and it felt nothing like the normal wind. Even though he was sure he had locked the door, he immediately turned back when he felt a presence behind him and there she was sitting lazily in the couch with a devilish grin glued to her face as usual. It was none other than Laverna ready to taunt him on the second request he had made to her.
"What are you doing here?" Avian asked with a cold expressionless tone.
"I just find your request so amusing, I wonder what Lothaire would do to you or your mate if he finds out." Laverna drawled with her honey coated but mischievous voice.
"He can't do anything to you so you don't have to worry about the consequences." Avian said with a hard voice and Laverna chuckled darkly at his words.
"Do you really think Lothaire is truly that pathetic and weak to not be able to do anything to me?" Laverna asked rhetorically but Avian was silent as he let her continue speaking. "There's a lot of things Lothaire could do to me but he chose not to because I'm useful to him and I keep my peace so don't you for a moment underestimate him, it'll be a bloody mistake to do that." She warned with gleaming red eyes and Avian understood what she meant.
"So you're not sure it'll work?" He asked with a stoic expression. Even if it didn't work, he'd at least try every possible means to prevent mass destruction even if it meant sacrificing himself...Or his mate.
"It might..." She said as she played around with her lush thick hair but Avian was getting tired of her.
"What do you mean?" He asked with impatience clearly visible in his voice.
"You should be patient when dealing with a goddess or you'd fail miserably and if you fail, it won't end well for you or your mate." She warned but it came out as a threat. She immediately vanished into thin air and suddenly appeared standing so close to Avian as she whispered in his ears as if anyone would hear them.
Onyx immediately walked in uninvited and her mouth slightly parted in shock and jealousy as she saw Laverna so close to Avian whispering in his ears which looked too intimate to her. Laverna caught sight of her and she immediately cleared the air.
"You don't have to worry love, he's definitely all yours." She said and with a blink of an eye, she disappeared into thin air leaving Onyx in a state of confusion. Then she averted her gaze to Avian with a twisted face.
"Why was she in your room? And what was she doing so close to you?" She said angrily like a jealous wife but Avian's blank face just stared at her.
"What's with the questions? You said you wouldn't get attached after the sex." His voice was cold and devoid of emotion as he spoke and he was right but still, she had the right since she was his mate and even though he acted like he didn't care, she knew deep down he did.
..........
Larisa's head spun lightly in dizziness as she struggled to open her eyelids and when she did, her eyes fell on an unearthly gorgeous being seating beside her. 'Oh! It was just Lothaire'. She thought as she sat up groaning softly as she couldn't recall anything yet since her head was still in a spin.
"What happened?" She asked with a soft tone and Lothaire's eyes narrowed at her for a moment.
"You tripped and fell from the Tower." She heard him say, but his voice was hard and cold unlike the regular warmth it held when he had usually talked to her or when he teased her.
"Oh! I'm sorry." She said with a small voice as she recalled the incident.
"Don't ever tell me you're sorry." He said firmly with a serious expression, too serious and his eyes held an emotion she couldn't quite understand and she immediately knew that something was wrong and it wasn't because she fell from the Tower, no he would be teasing her instead on how clumsy she was but he wasn't.
"What's wrong Lothaire?" She asked with a worried expression as she moved closer to him.
Lothaire didn't want to worry her about the sorcerers who were hellbent on getting rid of her to take the Empire, but he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with a mixture of anger, guilt and fear. He was angry because of the sorcerers plans to kill her, he felt guilt because he was the reason her life was at a great risk and fear because they could attack out of the blue which was the reason he didn't want to waste any more time before making a deal with his father to help protect his mate.
"It's just vampire business." He said plainly but Larisa couldn't shake off the feeling that it was more than just vampire business. She felt uneasy in the pit of her stomach and felt nauseous at the same time and she knew deep down that there was real danger on the way and they hadn't even started.
"I feel it too, you can't lie to me Lothaire. I feel what you feel." Larisa said as she placed her small hands on his and Lothaire looked up at her with creased brows. He knew breed mates felt strong emotions from the other but he wondered how she knew about it.
"What do you feel?" He asked with a deep voice as he stared at her hazel eyes filled with worry rather than fear.
"I feel...Fear, pain and guilt." She said with a small voice as she locked her gaze firmly with his and the emotions in his fiery golden eyes slowly revealed and she could see the hurt and fear in his eyes, no matter how hard he wanted it to be impossible, he was in his reality and the impossible could become possible and he felt fear of the possibility that he could lose her.
"I feel those things but I'll never let anything happen to you." He said firmly with burning eyes that spoke a lot. He'd do literally anything to prevent harm from coming near her and he didn't care what he had to do.
"What's going on?" She asked as she felt the uneasiness in her stomach tighten more.
"If you knew you'd worry too much." He said, reluctant to tell her.
"If I don't know, I'll worry even more." She persisted with a firm expression. Lothaire sighed deeply, she was right but he didn't think telling her was a good idea but when he saw the look on her face, he gave in.
"It's the sorcerers and Laverna thinks they have a motive for creating the strange creatures." He said and she got a bit lost but she listened attentively anyways.
"The goddess? How does she know?" She questioned and she probably had a million more to ask.
"She's here with Onyx and Avian." He explained and her eyes widened in excitement because she would finally see Onyx whom she had missed but the uneasiness in her stomach reminded her of the dangerous problems they had.
"Oh! They're back." She exclaimed and Lothaire nodded. "So what's their motive?" She said as she waited for his reply which she had a feeling wasn't in anyway good.
"To weaken me...By killing you." He replied with a straight face but she could see the fury building up in his blazing eyes and the air around him turned cold and dark.
Larisa was left speechless as she froze in shock that she was used as bait to weaken Lothaire and she couldn't help but feel guilt and blame herself for what was happening to him. Lothaire looked at her sad eyes filled with guilt and a bit of self resentment and he wondered why she'd be feeling that way when he was obviously to blame for.
"To take the Empire?" She asked with a bewildered expression and he nodded slightly.
He could hear the rapid beating of her heart in her chest like it was about to explode.
"I told you not to worry but your heart is pounding so hard it might burst any second." He said with a smirk and she felt a bit of relief after seeing him smile a little then her heart slowly returned to it's normal pace.
"I'm not worried about dying..I'm worried about you after I die."