Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
Scarlet's eyes glittered with an ominous amusement and I could practically see how she connected the dots in her head.
"A boy? Is he the reason?"
"No!" I answered and frantically shook my head. She couldn't find out, couldn't know. The coven just couldn't know about Felix. They would use him, hurt him if necessary, to control me. Just like my father.
"Open up!" Felix yelled from the other side of the door.
"Mate?" Scarlet whispered. An emotion that seemed to be sorrow flashed in her eyes before a wicked gleam entered.
"Just... Just a minute!" I yelled back at Felix to calm him while I tried to deal with Scarlet.
"He is your mate, isn't he?" she pressed on and she seemed to become more and more menacing for each passing second.
"No!" I denied, but the desperation in my voice was evidence of the opposite.
"You have to introduce me," she smiled.
"No!" I said again.
"I won't leave unless you do, sister," she winked and gave me a bright smile and sent another wave of pain through my body that had me gasping for air.
I knew there was no point in fighting her. But I knew nothing good would come from letting Scarlet meet Felix, I just prayed to the Goddess that Scarlet wouldn't do anything right then and there. That I would manage to get an opportunity to protect him somehow.
In one last, desperate attempt, however, I started pleading with her. "Please, Scarlet. Please. Don't..."
"Hurt your mate?" she snorted. "You have no right making such requests. Now. Open the door."
Her voice carried the tone of an order and waiting any longer would just worsen the situation. It felt as though I had left my body as I plastered a smile on my face and went to open the door.
Felix's face was full of worry and fear and I saw that intensify as he took me in.
"Are you okay?" he asked and took a step towards me.
"I'm fine. A... A colleague just came by," I answered and cringed at how fearful my voice sounded.
Felix looked over my shoulder, apprehension in his eyes, and I turned. Scarlet had followed me from the main room of the hotel room to the hallway. She stood there with one of her warm and loving smiles that still couldn't hide the hate in her eyes.
"Hi! I accidentally knocked over a vase before. I'm sorry if that scared you," she said and took a step forward.
By pure reflex, I took a step to the side and faced Scarlet so I blocked Felix from her. She had eyed Felix from top to bottom like he was a prey she would have fun playing with.
"Did you need anything else?" I asked, and the fear I had felt was gone. The instinct to protect had taken over. She could hurt me as much as she wanted, but I would never let her get to Felix.
"Always in a hurry," she laughed.
"You know me," I answered, and then did the only thing I could do to threaten her.
With my right hand, I removed the glove from my left and then pretended to use the hand to get rid of some dirt by my eye. Throughout my action, I kept my eyes on her face and saw how it froze and her smile faded.
That really was an effective threat. The whole coven used me without any regard, but they were also terrified that I would rebel one day. And they knew they wouldn't stand a chance if I did. Honestly, if I was just a bit braver, I would have killed the whole lot of them a long time ago.
"Well, I won't keep you any longer," she said and tried to smile again.
She walked past me and Felix, but stopped right outside the door and turned around.
"I'm Scarlet, by the way," she said to Felix. "Scarlet Moore."
In my mind, I cursed everything. Cursed the Goddess and everything she might hold dear because Felix gave the polite answer, just like any normal person would, obvious of the weapon he gave her. For a name was a powerful thing in magic. A lot of magic, especially the darker and harmful type, needed a person's name for it to be able to be directed at them.
"Felix Jackson."
"It was nice to meet you, Felix Jackson. I hope to meet you again."
Her eyes left Felix and wandered over to me. I could see her mouthing something silently and in a second my eyes clouded over and I found myself in darkness. I turned my head around, looked everywhere and only saw the darkness, until I lowered my gaze and spotted the body lying in front of me.
Felix had a similarly empty look in his eyes that I had seen far too many times. Emptiness, which meant that all life had been sucked out of him. He had a frozen smile on his lips as well, as if he had died happy. And I knew that smile all too well. It was the same type of smile that the man and the daughter had had after I had killed them.
My body shook as I held my hand out before me and noticed that I didn't seem to be wearing my gloves nor my usual dress. My skin was bare.
It's just an illusion, I tried to tell myself. Scarlet is just making an illusion based on my fears. This isn't real. Felix won't die.
"Aren't you naïve," I heard Scarlet's voice in my head. It was filled with a poisonous loathing. "You are a murderer, and this is what the future has in store for him if you stay."
The scene dissolved and Scarlet in the door entered my view instead again. Her fear from earlier seemed gone and an evil confidence had returned to her.
"Remember what I said," she smirked. "Remember my warning." And then she turned and left.
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