Flowers and Darkness

Chapter 23

I was pressed up against my bedroom door, with my leg hiked up onto a muscular thigh and my fingers roughly raking through raven waves. Dean moved away from my lips and kissed down my neck, playing around the buttons of my shirt. He popped the first, kissing his way down. He popped the second, kissing down even further. He made a move to popped the third when I stopped him.

"We can't do this here and now." I looked down the empty corridor we were stood in. I didn't trust it would be empty for long. "You were meant to be in a meeting 10 minutes ago."

He sighed and leaned his forward against mine. I smiled when I saw his lips were slightly swollen. "They can wait."

I leaned in an softly kissed him, circling my hips slightly against him, when I heard footsteps approaching. I quickly pulled back to see Alyanna.

"My liege you have meeting."

"Later." He grunted out, keeping his hands possessively on my hips.

"They're waiting for you in your study."

He growled and pushed off the wall to make his way down to study. "Fuck sake." His footsteps heavy and loud, there was no way any one in his path wouldn't be able to sense his annoyance.

Alyanna and I remained in the corridor together. She cocked her head to the side as she watched me hastily button up my shirt. My cheeks burned red.

I cleared my throat in awkwardness and turned around to leave when she walked up behind me.

"He's always been good with his hands."

I squeezed my eyes and exhaled. Now thinking about how many times he'd kissed and been intimate with other girls.

"What are you still doing here?" I turned around to glare at her. My good mood was ruined.

"I can ask you the same thing." She paused and leaned into my ear when a guard neared us. "Don't you remember our talk?"

She feigned an innocent expression on her face. I rolled my eyes.

I leaned away and opened the bedroom door, gesturing her inside. She smirked as she walked in. I offered the guard a polite smile as I shut the door.

"What do you want?" I asked as I eyed her settling into the beige small couch at the foot of the bed.

"You don't know?" She cocked her head to the side in faux disbelief.

"Hey, you're the one that's been avoiding me. Why are you suddenly so keen to talk now?" Her little act was getting old.

She pursed her lips and stood up. "You can't marry him." Her eyes met mine.

"And why the hell not?" I wasn't surprised by her words but I was slowly losing my temper.

"Because," she sighed, "that's not how it works." She moved around me to play with a hairbrush left on the dressing table counter. "You don't belong here."

"If I want to stay here then I will." I folded my arms.

She twirled the hairbrush in her hands and smiled sadly. "It's not just about you and your choice."

"Then what the hell is it about?" I raised my voice and she turned to looked at me, slightly startled.

"You know." She stopped fiddling with the hairbrush and stood in front of me. "I'm struggling to figure you out. You sometimes act all coy and innocent. Sweet. And then you sometimes have these outbursts where you're trying to be heard but you're not quite there."

I gritted my teeth at her words.

"Grit your teeth, scream all you want. But if you want to be heard, you need to act on it." She smirked. "Or are you that infatuated with him that you're willing to let him control your life?"

I stayed silent. I felt like I was cemented in place and couldn't move. Her words hitting a little too hard.

"Do you know who you are? What you're capable of? Do you even know him?"

I dropped my head. Do I?

She lifted my chin with her pointer finger. "Do you really know him? Or do you just know the side he showed you?"

I thought back to the Dean I knew and grew up with. Confident, relaxed and charismatic. My brother's best friend. The guy I grew up with that would stick up for me, tease me and always be there. The guy I crushed on since before I could remember. The guy my parents adored. The guy that everyone at school liked. The all rounder. A good guy.

Dean is a good guy. That's the only side I need to know.

I took a step back.

"And you do?" My voice held a snarky edge, sensing her moment of weakness.

Her eyes turned glassy but within a second they hardened back up.

She hesitated, before slowly speaking. "What is that supposed to mean?" Her shoulders were tensed.

"We've all heard the rumours." I smirk, slowly getting confidence with every word. "About how you got kicked out of Olympus and had to beg Hades to let you stay here."

She remained silent, her face void of expression.

"So tell me now. Do you belong here?" My voice became louder and all my pent up frustration was released. "He just pitied you."

She cocked her head to the side, a small smile brewing on her lips. I furrowed my eyebrow.

Her hands landed on my neck in an iron tight grip and I was shoved down to the floor.

Her eyes were black and deadly. I'd cracked her, but not in the right way.

I tried pushing her off, my nails biting into her hands and probably drawing blood. She wouldn't move. Her hands around my necks like a python, squeezing deeper and deeper. Choking me.

I slowed my movements, now seeing black spots in my vision and slowly giving up the fight. I blinked rapidly, trying to keep my eyes open. I saw green mixed through the haze of my foggy vision.

If only...

I heard loud crash of glass.

I gasped heavily when I felt a release on my neck. Hunched down on the floor, I heavily breathed in and out. Savouring the sweet oxygen that was now filling my lungs. My eyes watered and I hastily wiped them clean.

I looked up to a tree branch in the room, with shattered glass sprinkled all over.

I slowly stood up in shock to see that the end of the branch had curled up to wrap around Alyanna's neck.

Her legs had wrapped up around the branch and her hands were hastily working to free her neck from its hold.

The tree itself was situated 50 metres outside my bedroom window and the branch had somehow extended straight inside.

Did I do that?

I watched her struggle against the branch's hold. A part of me wanted to leave her there.

This isn't me.

I closed my eyes and willed the tree to unwrap from her neck and return back to the tree. Concentrating and remembering my techniques from my earlier training.

Without opening my eyes, I sensed its movement and energy. I could feel it. A smile crept on my lips.

I heard a thud and then a loud bang.

My eyes flew open to see Alyanna had fallen onto the floor and the door was now wide open.

Dean stood at the entrance and watched as the branch slowly returned back from the window. An unreadable expression plastered on his face that somehow made me anxious.

"What did you do?"

At his words my mouth fell dry. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? At this point I didn't even know. But something was pointing me towards 'it's bad'.