Empire of Eternals (Book 1 of The Eternal Series) ✔️

Chapter 14 | Prying On Us Much?

Anderson manor

***Adriana Anderson POV***

The afternoon sunlight infiltrated the sunroom through the white coloured curtains, warming up the spacious place instantly as I settled in on the L shaped couch, the chunky knit blanket going up to my thighs as I kept my head buried in the book in my hands.

I had arrived home a couple of hours ago. Amara's men had dropped and picked me up at the airport, guarding me closely up until I was behind the shield of my home. The whole protection thing was a little too much. I couldn't even go to the bathroom alone at the airport without one of the female guards following me up until the stall.

I had told Aiden everything about Kristopher and what was happening. He was in our room right now, processing the information. Hermione on the other hand was gone. Her room had been cleared out of her clothes and items. She had told me about moving in with Jenna this week, and the emptiness of the house was starting to seep in slowly.

Dexter was holed up in his room. He had decided to quit his job at the bureau temporarily and diverted all his attention to the issue right now; the resurrection of Kristopher. Dexter's choice to come back home didn't make much of a difference.

The hallways were still quiet, the kitchen dead silent as the only sounds were the humming noise of the fridge, the pitter-patter of the water coming from the sink as the cold breeze settled in the room.

I curled up in the blanket, resting my head on the pillow as I laid on my side, burying my head in the book as I read the words on the page. I had been cross-checking Kristopher's history with the book that had been passed down to my family.

Everything The Director had said was true; there were mentions of the first vampire ever turned, but no one knew about him. How The Director managed to keep his identity a secret for 1500 years was mind-blowing. Surely there was going to be a slip up here and there, but there was nothing mentioned in the book unless The Director mind-controlled the people that found out about his secret.

"What are you reading?" A deep voice asked

I lifted my head to see Aiden standing a couple of feet away from me, leaning against the banister of the sunroom as he gazed at me. He wore a black shirt which revealed the small tattoo on his wrist, a blue pair of jeans wrapped around his legs as his brown hair was brushed back, his lips slightly parted.

"Kristopher." I answered, holding up the book for him to see

He let out a deep sigh, walking over to see before sitting on the other side of the couch. I instinctively took off the blanket from my legs, laying my head against his chest as Aiden's strong arms wrapped around me, his heart thumping as his breath hit the top of my head.

"Those guards out there, how long are they going to stay?" He asked, staring into the fireplace as I looked up at him

"I don't know. I overheard them talking to Amara. I think they're going to be here until the masquerade ball." I answered

Silence flooded the room as neither of us knew what to say. Aiden and I were both uncomfortable with the guards; strangers lurking outside the shield, keeping their eyes on us at all times. Hell, they were even vampires, so they could probably see and hear things of what was going on in the house.

"Hermione's gone." I murmured, my lips dry and parted as I rested my hand on Aiden's shirt, on his defined abs

"I thought The Director told her everything, but she still went away."

His strong hand came around my jaw, the pad of his thumb resting against it as his long fingers wrapped around the side of my neck, warming it up instantly. He brought my face to his level, his other hand sliding to the back of my head, gently pulling at my hair as his soft lips brushed against mine.