Avian stood at the balcony, staring into space as his thoughts drifted to Onyx. He tried to avoid thinking about her but it was impossible as every breath he took reminded him of her and it hurt like hell. To everyone, he was dealing with it in a logical way judging from his outside appearance but on the inside, his soul had been stripped dead and he was tormented by her death and it grew worse with every passing second.
He cussed at nature inwardly for giving him a beautiful gift that came with the payment of eternal pain. He had no regrets whatsoever but the only regret he had was not being able to protect her or at the very least give her the family she had always dreamt of before she died.
Lothaire stared at Avian for a moment as he stood at the balcony facing the dark skies. Even though he didn't show it, he knew he would be in hell with himself with every passing second but what he didn't know was how deep the hell was. He made his presence known as he moved closer to him but Avian still stood unmoving like a statue, not tearing his gaze off the blue dark skies.
They both stood in silence for awhile as they looked at the skies with different thoughts running through both minds.
"I'm curious...What are you waiting for before you jump off a cliff?" Lothaire asked with a flat tone and a serious expression which stated clearly that it was no joke but Avian didn't need to look at his face to know that. Lothaire thought the least he could do for Avian was kill him since the death of a mate was unbearable and it caused eternal pain but no one who lost their mate had lived to see another day as they would all commit suicide because of the unbearable torment they would be in.
Avian didn't reply as he kept staring into space, he would have taken the path Lothaire was offering him since it would relieve him from the hell he was in but he still had something he had to do so he would bear with the pain until his job was done even though nothing mattered to him anymore but Onyx had made him promise to her that he'd get it done no matter what to prevent the evil from being unleashed on the earth after he had told her of his plans since she was the only one he could fully trust because of the mating bond.
"If I could, I would have brought her back to life." Lothaire said and he meant it since she had sacrificed her life for his mate but apart from that, he naturally didn't care.
"I'm guessing that's your first wish." Avian said with a stoic expression on his face as he stared into the sky not sparing Lothaire a glance but he knew all too well he was lost in his own world of torment even though he was been sarcastic.
"Death is the only way to free yourself from the hell you're in." Lothaire said with a hard expression knowing it was impossible to live with the demise of a breed mate.
"I'll let the flames of hell burn me for a while before I choose death... Or it chooses me."Avian said blankly as his gaze held onto the sky.
Lothaire held meaning to his words as he realized there was a reason he chose not to die and free himself from eternal pain and longing and knowing Avian, it was definitely for something worth it.
"Spill it out Avian!" Lothaire's voice had gone hard, he didn't give a dying fuck if Avian chose to remain in eternal pain but the fact that he was hiding something big from him bothered him especially when he had Larisa to protect and he wanted to know if Avian's little secret was a potential danger to Larisa and if it was, then he'd make sure he joined his breed mate six feet underneath.
"It has no business with you or your mate, I'm doing it for Onyx." Avian said convincingly as he lied smoothly with the stoic expression still glued on his face. Lothaire had his doubts about the cunning demon but he didn't see any reason why he'd hurt his mate so he took his mind off of it but a hint of doubt still lingered in his head as he could never fully trust anyone.
"Good luck then." Lothaire said as he gave his shoulder a hard pat before he walked away, leaving him to his thoughts as he stared deeply at the blue skies that reminded him of Onyx's blue eyes.
Lothaire went into his liquor room as a maid followed behind him, he had been famished for days but he couldn't feed from Larisa with his hunger and now that she was grieving, he'd give her a break.
He pinned the maid on the wall harshly with a hard grip on her shoulders not caring that he was hurting her as she winced in pain. He didn't waste any time as he dug his elongated fangs into her neck and she let out a shrill cry of pain as he pierced her skin deeper with no remorse in his cold golden eyes as he sucked her blood to every last drop and he pulled out his fangs after he had his fill even though her blood was shitty. Her lifeless eyes were still open as she became limp and she slumped on the floor dead and drained of every blood in her body as her skin turned pale.
Lothaire wiped the red juicy liquid trailing in the corner of his mouth with a kerchief thoroughly as he walked away to his room after he ordered for the dead maid's body to be taken care of.
Lothaire walked into his room to meet Larisa sleeping and his brows creased because he knew she had nightmares every night for the past one month which didn't sit well with him, so he stayed beside her as usual, ready to comfort her if her nightmare began again.
The morning sun peeked through the thick velvet curtains and Lothaire was truly surprised that she didn't have a nightmare that night as he had waited all night but nothing happened, she slept so peacefully through out the night that it was almost hard to believe. He wondered if it was the sorceress that had been giving Larisa nightmares and if it had stopped because she was now gone.
Larisa woke up, eager to see Lothaire but he was nowhere in the room and she wondered why he always disappeared when they had issues but she got ready and set out to the dining room for breakfast hoping to see him there.
She walked into the dining room to meet Felix, Darius, Zion and Adina seated at the table and she wondered where Felix had been for the past three days and he hadn't even been around for Onyx's burial. Her eyes averted to Lothaire's and she felt a sting of regret as she looked at his eyes and she almost regretted lashing out on him the other night. She took a seat beside him as she stared down but she could feel his peering golden eyes on her.
Felix gave her a warm smile and she gave him a small one back, knowing Lothaire's gaze were fixated on her. Her eyes locked with Zion's grey eyes but his face was hard as he looked away with cold eyes, he was a ghost of the cheerful Zion she once knew and she realized just how hard Onyx's death had affected him especially. Adina gave her a barely recognizable smile which was hard to believe and she returned it thinking maybe she didn't hate her anymore, but it was probably because Onyx liked her.
Breakfast was in silence and Larisa observed how gloomy the air was. She noticed Zion fiddling with his food and she herself didn't even have the appetite for food either, her eyes narrowed to Adina who ran her fingers round the edge of her blood filled glass thoughtlessly, she realized she must have been very close with Onyx even if she never acted like it.
Larisa sat in the garden alone as she fiddled with the plants and after breakfast, Lothaire disappeared from her sight and she had no idea where he went to but she didn't ask as the air between them wasn't totally cleared yet. She was engrossed with the beautiful varieties of flowers as she stared at them in awe but she was warned not to touch them since they were poisonous but she was tempted by it's beauty and she felt the urge to touch them with outstretched arms towards the flower when she immediately felt a strong hand on hers, stopping her in her action. She jumped up startled as she turned around to meet the golden eyes of Lothaire staring at her with a hard look as his brows creased questioningly at her.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" He scolded.