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She got up and gave me a peck on the cheek. “You wait here. I’ll go and get us two cups from the kitchen!”
“Alright,” I smiled even more broadly, as I watched her run back to the castle.
When she was out of sight, I closed my eyes, and melancholy enveloped me once again into its misty embrace. There was nothing I could do about it. It was as if with Cass gone from my side, all I could think about again was Adrian.
Suddenly, a thought came to mind. What if he was having an affair?
At first, it seemed ludicrous. It seemed utterly ridiculous.
But the more I thought about it, the more reasonable it became. After all, the castle was full of servants. Some of them were new. More importantly, some of them were young and beautiful women.
No. No. Absolutely not.
I kept repeating this in my mind over and over again. He would never cheat on me. He was a loyal husband. I trusted him fully.
But that worm of doubt would not let me be. It kept reminding me that everywhere I turned, there were beautiful women. Inside the castle, around it as well. We were close to a village, and I could only imagine the loveliness of the girls there.
What if he sneaks out of the castle and goes to the village when you all think he is here?
That treacherous little voice kept coming up with new, more painful scenarios and possibilities, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to defend myself against all of those. But eventually, it all boiled down to one thing: Adrian loved me and I loved him.
Whatever this was, it was merely a rough patch. All relationships went through it. Some survived these rough patches, while others did not. We would be one of the former ones. I was sure of that, because I was adamant to do everything in my power to prove to Adrian that I could be whatever he needed me to be for him right now.
With that newfound sense of hope, I saw Cass returning with a tray. There were two cups on it. She was walking slowly, looking ahead of herself, making sure she didn’t trip. She could have just had one of the servants bring it to us, but instead it was just like her to do everything herself. She was so much like her father.
My heart ached for our family. I scolded myself for even considering the fact that Adrian might be cheating on me.
Never. Never.
He was my life, my protector, my everything. He knew that just as well as I knew that. Without him, I wasn’t myself. I didn’t know how to live without him anymore.
“Here you go, mommy,” Cass smiled sweetly, setting the tray on the bench next to me.
“You are very kind, sweetie,” I beamed. “Thank you.”
I leaned in to kiss her slightly sweaty hair. After all, we’d spent the afternoon out in the garden. We both needed a good scrubbing. But most of all, we needed one another. I just hoped that I would be able to remind Adrian of this soon.
Chapter Eleven
Adrian
I found myself standing before the imposing throne, my heart pounding in my chest, like a caged bird desperate for freedom. There seemed to be even more guards now, and the grandeur of the entire chamber was suffocating, glistening and gleaming from each side.
Constantine was seated on the throne, bathed in cold, ethereal light. His eyes were two pools of endless darkness, drilling into my very soul with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. He wasn’t wearing a hood this time. Instead, he was wrapped in robes of crimson and ebony. I could only imagine how disheveled I must have looked standing next to him like this. But that was the least of my concerns.
“Don’t tell me you really thought it would be that easy to escape,” he said, without any introduction or greeting.
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of my actions press upon me like an unbearable burden. But the thought of Lilith and Cass being around something that might harm them at any moment felt even more desperate.
“Don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t try to escape at the first chance,” I scoffed, much to his displeasure. He didn’t seem as amused as before.
He rose from his throne with an unsettling grace, his movements like a shadow gliding over the earth. As he approached, I could feel his presence, an overwhelming force that threatened to crush my very spirit. I couldn’t allow him to have so much power over me. He had to know that I wasn’t one of his minions. I would not do his bidding. I was still thinking with my own head and that was what I would do for as long as there was life left in my body.
He walked over to me. We were standing face to face now, two men who did not know what to expect of the other. His crimson eyes bore into mine, their intensity aiming to strip me of the last vestiges of my resistance. But I wouldn’t allow him that.
“You are one of us, Adrian,” he hissed. “You have always been one of us. You’ve merely strayed for a while. But that is alright. Now, what I don’t understand is this reluctance of yours to accept your rightful place and be who you really are.”
“I am who I really am,” I growled back at him. “I do not need you or anyone else to tell me that! You want me to be like all these other slaves, a prisoner of my own immortality. I refuse to comply. I found a way to break free from the chains of a vampire existence, and I would rather die than go back to whatever this is you call life.”
