To Seduce a Mortal |18+✔

Book 8⌇24. And Then There Was One

Chapter 24 ∣  And Then There Was One

-Maverick

"I think I'll go take a shower and then get some sleep," Eris yawned, stretching her arms behind her back as she tiptoed near the staircase. Eyeing her suspiciously, I nodded.

Something's off.

"That's probably a good idea," my father's voice came from the long hallway to the dungeon, seeing him near us with each step he took. There was so much going on, Hendrix's scent hitting me the moment we walked through the front doors. Eris arched a brow, my father coming to a brief halt beside her. I could see it in his face, the anger and frustration barely contained. Now, was that directed at my mother or toward the Alpha who had helped ruined the only good thing that had ever come into my life.

"Is there any chance of me being allowed to go for a walk...?" Eris' demeanor shifted again, trying to understand what was going on with her. She'd been acting weird since that night in my bedroom like she was bipolar. One moment she was being sarcastic and carefree and the next, almost like she was intentionally playing games.

I wanted to speak with her further, but the look in my father's eyes told me that wasn't going to happen tonight.

"Maybe another day," my thoughts went straight to the sun and if something really was off with her, she had no intention of telling me exactly what it was. We had so much trust, opening up and learning about one another...how could that all just change? If she decided to go off on her own like I already figured she would try to do, only the hunters and I would be able to watch over her.

Eris just sighed in defeat, throwing her hands up in the air before taking her leave up the staircase. My father edged closer and asked, "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," I was too quick to respond, his eyes narrowing on me. I paused before stating, "She's restless."

"She's human, what do you expect?" My father motioned toward the hallway he'd come from, following beside him.

"I don't know anymore," the words slipped right out before I could stop myself. Is that really how I felt? A part of me was slowly slipping away from her, the contact we had was really minimal and our connection fading with each day. The one part that concerned me the most, I wasn't watching close enough to see that this was downward spiraling since the moment Rook brought her back.

My father rested his hand against the dungeon door, both of us stopping for a second. His eyes held an unfamiliar emotion, especially directed toward me. He held so much concern, my own thoughts moving toward what type of future I thought I could ever have with Eris. There was a hint of pity within those depths.

Maybe having her killed wasn't enough. Maybe fate thinks it's a cruel game to play with the lives of those who were meant to be together. Maybe this was my public display of penitence, for the lives I took...having Eris ripped away from me wasn't enough. I'm slowly losing her physically standing near me and that's killing me the most.

"Whatever the two of you decide, I support your decision," my father pushed down the handle, the darker lighting in the room flooding with the brilliant hallway bulbs. The deep smell of blood making its way to my senses and quickly reminding me that I was about to come face to face with someone I thought I could trust.

My father allowed me to enter before him, the sound of the door closing behind the two of us ricocheting off the stone walls. I first glimpsed Clover and Ryker, both of them leaning their backs against the walls as though guarding the door to the dungeon. Their eyes quickly looked over the two of us once, seeing their muscles relax the tension they had been holding onto for who knows how long.