Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 52

Hi,

What to say? I just finished editing and I'm still excited about this chapter. Things are gonna blow in this one!

Lara

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Chapter 52

I stared at him. Why? Why wasn't he letting me go?

The planes of his face were unmoving and cold, but they called to me with a force I could not measure or describe in words. The blue in his eyes was intense, stirred by an emotion I couldn't pin-point. If I could have looked away, I would have, if only to escape his penetrating gaze.

He came after me, if even for reasons that weren't noble. But he did come. Was that enough for me to trust him? Just this once? Just a little.

"How far are you willing to go to? Whatever your plans are, focus and think before you act, little witch."

My eyes searched his. How much did he really see when he was in my head?

"How much?" He laughed. "How much will you risk for people you do not belong to?" He said softly.

I stilled. He just drank my blood, could probably read my thoughts with ease. He knew. He knew or had at least seen enough to guess about the Lumenis.

People you do not belong to. The words echoed in my head. Did I belong to them? Did it really matter?

Memories. I saw the faces of my parents, imagined the happiness they once shared among the Lumenis, if even short-lived. I had seen Giuliana's face when she spoke about my mother and I knew she loved her as if she was her own sister. I knew. Being able to talk to someone about my parents, knowing they were cherished and loved by other people gave me back something I'd been missing for a long time, hadn't ever had to begin with.

I allowed myself to feel what I hadn't dared allow myself ever since my parents died. Stared at him with the knowledge that Giuliana loved my parents ... and that she truly cared about me. I was willing to trust in that, if nothing else. No. I was not going to let anyone hurt Giuliana or the Lumenis, no matter what.

They are the only family I have left.

"Why them? You owe them nothing."

The emotion faded, sank back into that place deep inside of me. I shook my head, cleared my face of something I shouldn't have shown in front of Alexander.

"You haven't seen enough to-"

"I do not need to see all your past to understand your present. I know you, little witch."

"-to understand. In your world all that counts is the accumulation of power and wealth, of shaping just another master plan to widen your sphere of control. How could someone like you begin to grasp why this is what I have to do?"

He smiled faintly. "Because I am not human?"

"Because you're not human and you're okay with it." I said, not looking away.

"So the human is raised to the ideal in your world, something everybody should strive to be. Human. Like your witch friend Andy. I am pretty sure you would have no objections to being leashed by him," he said in a cool rush.

"Leave Andy out of this." Why was he dragging Andy into this. Why now? "And he wouldn't leash me," I added.

"You would follow him to the end of the world, if he asked for the favor," he said. "Because he is human."