Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 36

Hi,

I've been waiting for this part of the book to come and I'm excited to get the next chapters out! If I had more time on my hands, I'd do it now, like right now!!! Okay, so I did another round of editing for this chapter and hope you'll like it! Please let me know. Any theories on the whys and hows of Alexander's return?

Lara

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Chapter 36

Why was he here? What did he want from me? The questions were on the tip of my tongue, but refused to come out. All I could do was stare.

"I followed you to the tower Medici brought you to," he said. "When I arrived the whole building exploded. The dark witches were gone. As were you, little witch. Would you care to elaborate on what happened?"

The words were spoken softly, but the stillness in him was gone. He was breathing, breathing hard. He was so close, I could see specks of dark blue swirling, moving in his irises.

The moment might have stretched into infinity. Violence like an electric undercurrent, hidden behind a façade of cool blandness that was breaking at the seams.

Your existence is of little meaning to me. You were and always have been a tool. The words spiraled down my mind, penetrating. Changing, rearranging bits and pieces. I should have known better. He was the head vampire after all. It was in that moment that I gathered myself, geared up for whatever battle he had brought to my doorstep.

I didn't matter? I was just a tool? Good luck using this one.

"I escaped. That's what happened," I said. Answering his questions without giving him anything – I was getting better at it.

Cold fingers against my wrists moved. Another squeeze – precise, soft, almost tender. Like a caress.

"Do not tempt me, little witch." His voice was low. Hearing it did things to me I didn't want to admit, not even to myself.

It was like there was an invisible connection between our eyes, a cord, thick and strong; a sensation that burned somewhere behind my retinas. I couldn't look away, and the deeper I stared into his eyes, the less I saw. I was staring at a wall, impenetrable. Hollow, and yet not. Whatever I was looking at was not only a contradiction, it was an impossible enigma. No, it was an illusion, and there was this thought that once I pushed through it, what I found behind would be alive. And I believed that if I just pushed a little harder, I could get through. I couldn't stop looking.

It was then that it hit me. Alexander thought I was dead. Not only that I crossed an ocean and portalled to Italy, I landed within the boundaries of the Lumenis' village – a village that was surrounded by a shield of protection. And it was much more than that. Not only that it kept me underneath the radar, the shield was supposed to hide the witches and their auras.

The Lumenis. My heart stuttered and died like an engine out of fuel. No matter the Lumenis' intentions when it came to me, Alexander couldn't know about them. Never.

"I used a portal," I said slowly. It was the truth, and the only logical conclusion.

The pressure around my wrists loosened. The thick, power-saturated tension around us deflated, allowed me to breathe freely.

"Why Italy?" His stare intensified, like he wanted to get inside my head just by looking.

I wasn't going to back down and give in. He wasn't going to get a single thing from my eyes. Not a single thought. I'd do everything to protect the Lumenis' secret.