AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. Baldur insists,” my father added.
Startled, I dropped my fork.
“Mr. Baldur?” I exclaimed louder than I meant to. Dad and my brothers stared at me skeptically.
“Yes, Myrina, Mr. Tanael Baldur, to be exact. Strange name, isn’t it? Doesn’t sound British at all,” my father wondered briefly. “Do you know him, my dear?” he asked me with his eyebrows pushed together.
“No … No, I’ve never heard of it,” I lied hastily and quickly stuffed a potato into my mouth.
“Hm,” he said with thin lips. Apparently, he didn’t believe me but didn’t elaborate.
“So, we will all travel together to the Hamptons on Saturday," he continued instead. "Only Stephan and one of the maids will accompany us. Make sure you pack something casual for walks on the beach and other activities, in addition to appropriate clothing for the reception."
I would have loved to laugh out loud at this instruction because my choices were limited to nothing but long-sleeved,floor-length dresses with high collars anyway. However, the laughter stuck in my throat at the thought of meeting the real Mr. Baldur this weekend. How could it be that I had just learned his real first name in a dream? Perhaps I had already picked it up somewhere unconsciously?
However, I would stay out of his way during our visit. Only the men would be taking part at the reception, and at all other moments, I would make sure that one of my brothers was present.
And then there was Stephan, who always watched over me with eagle eyes anyway, just as he was watching me now from the corner of the room.
I would never meet Mr. Baldur alone, anywhere, I tried to reassure myself. And if I did, fortunately, he knew nothing about my dreams and hallucinations concerning him. Only the thing with the two waiters could he bring up, which led me back to Dad’s theory of an ally of the Brotherhood.
Why would someone first free a woman from the clutches of the Order, only to serve her to them on a silver platter afterward?
That didn't make any sense at all. However, my dreams made just as little sense as this theory. And yet they were there, influencing my life more than they were allowed to, causing me to question many things that were already certain.
Annoyed with myself, I cut through the meat with a sharp knife.
"Sis, be careful with that knife, or you'll not only split the chop but also the plate," Rick warned, grinning mischievously at me.
Jordy looked up absently. Had he heard anything at all about the conversation?
“Myrina, tonight you go to confession with Chris,” my father ordered. “Stephan will take you to the Cathedral together. Untilthe weekend, you will be expected there every evening by your brother.”
"It's fine, Dad." There was a busy couple of days ahead, but after that, I would retire at the Hamptons early after dinner to compensate for my lack of sleep. Although I couldn't imagine my nights in the same house with Tanael Baldur would be any better than here, away from him.
Stephan dropped Chris and me off a short time later in front of St. John the Divine. Hastily, we ran through the deserted church to the tunnel behind the confessional. When we finally reached the training room, out of breath, Alex and Edward were already there.
"Hello, you two. Are Rina and I still going to train while you two get the books?" Alex wanted to know and looked questioningly at the two men. At the same time, he came up to me, took me in his arms, and gently kissed my temple. Uncertainly, I gave him a smile. Since that strange encounter with Mr. Baldur, I didn't know how to act around Alex anymore.
"Yes, of course," Chris confirmed and swung an empty bag over his shoulder. He wanted to use it to transport the books through the tunnels. Shortly after, the two left, and silence fell over the room.
Grinning, Alex hugged me even tighter.
“Finally, just the two of us again. Alone,” he breathed, kissing me directly on the mouth this time. “I miss you and our nights together, Rina.” Groaning, he stole another kiss, pouring all his passion into it.
So many times, we had already kissed; after all, we had been a couple for almost ten years, but today, it felt utterly foreign to me. Before Alex could push his tongue into my mouth, I deftly peeled myself out of his embrace and detached myself from him.
He looked at me in amazement.
"What's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?" Concerned, he led me to one of the chairs. His caring almost killed me. Why on earth did he have to be so damn sweet? I didn't deserve this at all.
“Alex?” I stammered in a daze. “I have something to tell you.”
Expectantly, he observed me with his brown eyes, which had made my heart overflow many times.
Hastily, I looked at my hands, which I had placed in my lap. What was I supposed to tell him? That I had kissed another man in my dream? That during my hallucination, I had danced on the roof terrace with that very man? Would that be fair? Or would it be the right thing to do?
Alex deserved absolute honesty, but what would I break if I told him about these vague situations? Shouldn’t I first find out what they meant?
