Violet Detours (BOOK 2) : Badly, Madly, Deeply

Into the North

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Granger exclaimed the moment Gusion entered Claude's apartment, which was now open without a wall at nearly half of it

All of them including the men were gathered at what was supposed to be the living room, but was now filled with debris from the roof above.

"We thought Guinevere got taken away!" Alucard added.

But Gusion could only rush towards the couch and quickly settled Guinevere over it.

"What happened?" Miya asked as she, Granger and Alucard followed.

"I don't know." Gusion replied and knelt beside the couch to look at Guinevere eye to eye. "Guin. Are you alright?"

She had been quiet since they left the building where Alice was, and she was trembling terribly, her shoulders rising and falling as if she was almost on the verge of breaking.

Her eyes were glassy. She was looking straight at him but he doubted if she was seeing him.

"Guinevere." He called firmly, gripping her wrist.

But her breathing got worse that she started breathing through gritted teeth.

Her hands turned into fists and her eyes...

Her eyes started glowing, green at first, but then it got stained by this dark hue that mixed with its greenness and gradually turned into this crimson shade that Gusion had seen before from their enemies.

It happened so fast that Gusion only froze.

Golden light struck her and Guinevere fell unconscious into his arms.

Gusion could only stare at nothing as his greatest fear flashed before his eyes in a split second.

Did he just almost lost Guinevere to darkness?

Was Alice's plan slowly becoming true?

It made him realize how useless he was, how powerless, how weak.

"Gusion." Rafaela cut his thoughts.

He turned to her. She was holding her staff firm and he guessed the golden light came from her.

The others were right behind her, their eyes wide with fear and worry.

"We need to go before Alice attempts something else. Then we'll talk once we get to Saber HQ."

Gusion nodded, not knowing what else to do.

It was Granger who came and said, "Snap out of it."

"What?" He asked, finally lifting Guinevere into his arms and following the others out of the place.

"You're panicking. Calm down and clear your thoughts. She needs you more than ever right now."

Gusion gritted his teeth to focus.

Granger was right.

So he tried to ignore the fear that was growing inside his chest by the minute.

He ignored the voice ringing in his head, asking if Guinevere would still have crimson eyes when she wakes up.

Maybe she would even start killing them.

If that would happen, then tonight would probably be his last.

Because he knew fully in his heart he couldn't ever lift a finger against her.

Angela offered to look after Guinevere when they arrived at the HQ, while the others brought Gusion to the lounge area.

The atmosphere was tense.