AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Me?!” Endora cried. “How’s that?”
“Yes, you,” I answered. “You’re the one who thinks this is a great idea, remember?”
“Nothing is going to go wrong,” Mirielle cut in. “Because we’re going to plan it perfectly. Aren’t we, Endora?”
Endora grimaced, not exactly inspiring confidence in me, but the commitment was already made.
The show was about to start.
Chapter18
Mirielle
Day three on my own, and there was still nothing from Agnan.
Could he have given up on me? Were we wrong about him?
The idea was hot and cold, bittersweet as I washed the dishes in the sink. The tiny apartment in downtown Catalonia was starting to make me claustrophobic, but I didn’t dare leave. The surveillance was in a perfect place, as we’d planned it before I’d left the castle. I didn’t want to put myself in unnecessary danger.
“You don’t leave for anything,” Zen warned. “We have cameras everywhere, so when Agnan shows, we’ll be there in a heartbeat. The guards are less than thirty seconds away.”
The leader of the Order of Souls should have already come for me. If he had someone watching the castle, he should have had reports that I left and was on my own in a place in Catalonia.
The only ones that knew about this ploy were me, Zen, and Endora. Even the Royal Guards were there under Zen’s incensed orders because I had “left in anger” and he wanted to “keep an eye on” me.
According to any outsiders, Zen and I were fighting, and I had stormed off to be on my own. It was the perfect opportunity for Agnan to sneak in and find me.
But he hadn’t come.
Was he afraid of the guards?
That was entirely possible. He had been defeated so many times by the Royal Guards already that he didn’t want to go toe-to-toe with Zen’s army again.
I had to get out of there if I wanted him to approach me. But if I did that, I ran the risk of losing Zen’s guards.
It was a risky game to play. I could call Zen and let him know my plans, but if someone was spying on me, watching from the outside, they might know.
Scrubbing the dishes harder, I peered out the window into the night and willed my former guardian to appear.
Former guardian. Was that what Agnan been? Jailor? Captor? Abuser?
But by the time I’d finished the dishes, he had not materialized, my silent pleas doing nothing to bring him closer. He was keeping his distance and driving me crazy.
I retreated to the small loveseat that served as my only seating in the studio apartment, pulling a knitted blanket around my legs as I flicked on the television. A black and white movie immediately showed on the screen, the sight of it forming a lump in my throat. The worst part of the past three days had been the separation from Zen. I longed to be in his arms every night, the smell of his skin overtaking me and lulling me to sleep. I wanted my mate in my arms, our heartbeats meshing to a rhythm of one.
Here, in this non-descript place, I couldn’t sleep. The cars backfiring and babies crying, along with barking dogs and couples arguing, kept me awake well into the wee hours of the morning. I longed for the quiet of the castle where I recognized all the noises, particularly the even sound of Zen’s calming breaths.
It’s hard to believe I ever lived like this,I mused, thinking of my time in the orphanage and then my life in the dank, moldy houses under Agnan’s “care.”
This apartment was clean and functional, nowhere near as dingy and dirty as some of the places where Agnan had kept us, but it reminded me of so many lonely nights.
I flicked off the television and stood, unable to focus on the screen. I wanted to call Zen but didn’t dare.
Pacing the floor, I counted the steps from one end of the room to the other until I was sure I was going to drive myself completely crazy.
I went to the bathroom and started the shower, turning the hot water as warm as I could stand it.
For a few minutes, the heat sufficed, but the old pipes in the building soon gave out, and my shower ran cold, ending my plan for the next few minutes.
