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“Then one night, she just didn’t come home,” I continued, the pain clutching my heart like razor sharp needles, digging right into the very flesh.
“What happened?” Lilith gasped, pressing her hand to her lips.
My lips clenched, tightening, before releasing the sound of the explanation. “It was a hit and run. Some drunken idiot didn’t see her crossing the street and… he hit her full on. She had no chance.”
“Oh, no…” she whispered sadly.
“They said she didn’t suffer,” I added. “Silver lining. But my father was devastated. Gave himself to alcohol shortly after and drank himself to death ten years later. I don’t think you can even call those ten years living. He was actually surviving. He just couldn’t imagine his life without her, it was as simple as that. Some people are lost without their other half and are as good as dead. Now, they are resting together peacefully, I hope.”
Lilith squeezed my hand gently, her empathy palpable. “I’m so sorry, Adrian. That must have been a devastating loss for everyone involved. I think they would be proud to see the man… well, the vampire you grew up into.”
I smiled at her correction. Again, she smiled back, beaming.
“That is why I agreed to come out into the garden,” I clarified why the need for this long monologue. “Because of your mother.”
Her eyes glistened with a surge of tears. I wanted to caress her cheek, to tell her that everything would be alright. But I was afraid where that might lead. So, I pulled my hand away from hers.
“Tomorrow morning, we tell your father everything,” I repeated, just so she’d know this confession didn’t change anything. In fact, it actually fortified my desire to come clean, so we could be even more vigilant than before.
“Tomorrow morning,” she nodded. “Shall we?”
She headed back towards the castle, and I did the same, wondering what the next day would bring.
Chapter Thirteen
Lilith
“You disobeyed me?” Father thundered the moment Adrian and I came clean about what happened. “Lilith, for goodness’ sake…” He paced about his study, pressing his fingers at the bridge of his nose. “I swear you’ll be the death of me.”
“It is my fault, Your Highness,” Adrian interfered again, although I told him not to. “I should have prevented her from going on.”
“The hell you should have,” I frowned, wanting to make it perfectly clear to everyone that us being outside last night was my fault and no one else’s. “He tried to do it, but he realized that I would sneak out the moment he turned his back on me. That was why he agreed, and we went out together. It was good that he did that, because he killed both of those vampires who attacked us.”
Father listened intently until I stopped speaking. He turned his back to us and gazed out of the window. “A long time ago, this was a land of peace,” he told us. “Now, it seems that everywhere we turn, there is danger. Life itself has become dangerous.”
We didn’t say anything to that, because it seemed as if he was talking to himself. Then, he turned around to face us once more. “You are not to leave each other’s side,” he ordered. “Is that understood?”
I nodded, realizing that there would be no arguing with him. I had no idea how we would navigate breathing down each other’s backs, but obviously, we would have to make it work. Adrian nodded silently as well, and then with one wave of my father’s hand, we were dismissed.
We closed the door to his study, then without another word exchanged, I headed to Luke’s room. Adrian of course followed. When we stopped in front of it, I turned to him.
“Do you think it would be OK if I went in there alone?” I asked, pausing for a moment. “There is something I wanted to talk to Luke about.”
Adrian looked at me. I expected him to question this, to remind me of what my father had just said, but instead he nodded.
“I will be in front of the door,” he told me.
“Thank you,” I patted his shoulder, unable to prevent myself from doing it.
Then, I entered Luke’s room. He was lying on the bed, with the window closed. The room felt stuffy, suffocating somehow, just like our entire relationship, whatever we wanted to call it.
“Lilith!” he beamed upon seeing me, propping himself up in the bed, so that he was now seated.
I smiled at him, walking over to open the window, then returned to his side and sat next to him on the bed. My mind started to swirl with conflicting thoughts. The recent events—the poisoning and the attacks—had cast a dark shadow over everything. I knew that this was the right moment to discuss something that bore heavily on my mind.
I took a deep breath, my voice slightly trembling. “Luke, I’ve been thinking, maybe it would be better to consider canceling the wedding. With everything that has happened around here, I worry about everyone’s safety and the potential risks that might arise if we continue with this.”
There was an expression of shock on Luke’s face. He obviously wasn’t expecting it, but a moment later, a determined glint flickered in his eyes. “Lil, I understand your concerns. I really do. And I also appreciate your worry for everyone’s well-being. After all, it’s just one of the things that makes you… well,you.” He smiled upon those words, and I had to smile back. “But we can’t let them win. And that is what we will be doing if we cancel the wedding. Maybe that is exactly what they want.”
