Dancing With The Devil

Chapter 32

A week came and past as well as to be expected. The weather was starting to warm up ever so slightly which meant that we were able to spend more of our time outside, though it wasn't enough to make the outdoors all that enticing. The cold sapped my energy quite effectively so I usually ended up falling asleep before supper and waking up late in the day. And being on such a lazy schedule was exhausting in itself, though it seemed counter intuitive.

I also knew that part of this stemmed from the fact that I no longer had an intense regime in terms of my daily life. I wasn't waking up every morning to go to the gym or dragging myself out of bed so I could go to work. I was just lazing around, waiting for the days to pass.

Once I had progressed through the majority of the anxiety surrounding my current situation I had appreciated the freedom. I could do whatever I wanted at any time I chose. After working so hard to start and maintain my business it was a blessing. Unfortunately, it was getting a little boring. I felt like I had no real purpose, but that was the least of my problems.

I ended up spending one of my days cooped up inside. It was snowing heavily- by European standards- that day and though Alistair was more than pleased with the burden of getting groceries I didn't want to be bothered with going outside. While he was gone I did something I knew I shouldn't have, but my curiosity was getting the better of me.

I tuned into the Canadian news channel that Alistair avoided religiously.

My heart thudded with apprehension when I flicked to the channel. I knew that my face could be all over the news. I was a fugitive now, a criminal that had fled the country with a man who had committed treason via murder. The whole country would be looking for me. They had to be. And it would be an amazingly delicious story that viewers would gobble up. I had been a deeply successful business owner. My company supported hundreds of people directly and thousands indirectly. Then, I absolutely abandoned my work- the beautiful creation I had taken years to make- and that was only the beginning. Now a man was dead and Alistair and I were in a different continent in hiding. There were thousands of rumors that could've filled the air by now and none of them could ever fully validate the disaster that actually was my life. It seemed impossible that my story would not be broadcasted nationally.

But I watched the news for two hours and my face never appeared. I never heard my name or anything about my company. I didn't see footage of Smith's car being pulled out of the slew or a Sophie's mugshot. And there wasn't the slightest indication that any form of treason had occurred on foreign soil. I was in such disbelief that there was no information on my case that I continued to stare blankly at the screen for an excessive period of time, not even glancing away when I heard the front door open.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Alistair asked softly, his arms loaded with groceries.

His words broke the spell of my shock.

"Nothing." I blurted, instantly fumbling with the remote. I ended up on a kid's channel in seconds and let out a small sigh.

"I wish you were always this bad at lying." He said with a sigh as he moved beyond my eyesight, into the kitchen. "You would've been so much easier to catch."

"I just wanted to know..."

"Know what? They aren't going to advertise this on the news, you know. There might've been a little bit about your company a couple months ago, but not anymore. Once they found out it was tied to governmental work everything would've been kept very quiet. The government doesn't like admitting that it made a mistake until it's cleaned up very nicely with no loose ends. It keeps the public from panicking. And a story like ours is certainly more than enough to trigger nationwide unrest."

"Do you know what happened to my company?" I asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer he would give me.

I carefully unfolded myself off the couch and followed him into the kitchen. As much as it hurt my heart to think about what could've happened to my wonderful creation not knowing was eating at me. At least if I knew what state it was in I could strategize a way to rebuild it when I was able to return home.

"No, Camila." He replied, stopping to look at me, "It doesn't matter anyway. When this is all over we will go back home and you will have your company and your condo back. Everything will be fine. Thinking about what has happened between then and now will only stress you out." His green eyes studied my face steadily before he retrieved a book from one of the bags, "Here." He pushed it towards me, "You pick which place we are going to tomorrow. I think you're getting a little stir crazy and it's getting to your head."

I made a soft noise of annoyance but took his dismissal. I didn't particularly appreciate my concerns being brushed aside, but I was in no mood to start a real argument. With the book in my hand I huffed off to my bedroom.

I flipped through the hardcover, looking at all the pictures of the castles in Slovakia. I had no idea if Alistair was just trying to get rid of me or if he genuinely wanted me to pick a place to go on an excursion to, but I did as he asked anyway. It took me about an hour, but I finally found one that I thought was close enough and worth the time it would take on a train. It looked lovely, was extremely old- even by castle standards- and was one of the largest in Europe.

Alistair eventually hailed me for supper and though I had put myself in a rather bad mood I had to admit that it smelt amazing. I pretended to be indifferent to the barbeque chicken, jalapeño sauce, and rice, but when I saw him attempting to discretely carry a small tub of ice cream to the living room my heart softened again. No, we weren't in an ideal situation, but at least I was with someone who was fighting in my corner and it wasn't fair of me to be mad at him. He was doing his best, just as I was trying my best. There was only so much we could expect from each other at a time like this.

"What's this?" I demanded with a surprised giggle when I followed him and my eyes landed on all the blankets that had been strewn across the couch.

"A nest of warmth." Alistair responded happily.

He gestured for me to sit in the mess and I complied while he put a movie on. Then he was beside me, wrapping himself up in the blankets and propping up pillows to support him. After only a couple of minutes I decided that nest was certainly an accurate term for what he had created. My body was being held up by all kinds of cushions, the only parts of my body protruding from the blankets were my hands for eating and my head, and somehow I had never been more comfortable in my life. Plus my body was pressed up against Alistair's and it made my heart flutter.

"The Little Mermaid?" I inquired, stunned.

"The prequel, the original, and the sequel." Alistair agreed, pulling me closer to him underneath the mountain of blankets. "I figured you wouldn't be opposed to continuing the princess theme from previous occasions."

For a moment I was completely astounded by this man. He had given everything up for me. He had put himself in harm's way before he had even known me. And now, he was taking care of my every need. He was soothing my restless heart and keeping my worrying mind occupied with anything he could. He was the most attentive and compassionate man I had ever been with. And I got to share this small slice of European heaven with him.I gave a little content sigh and snuggled up to him.

But as I pressed up to him my mind was plagued with the thoughts that this couldn't last forever. This process was already taking significantly longer than either of us had expected and it had to come to an end eventually. Either Alistair's parents and Sophie would find a way to wiggle us out of this mess or one of Josh's goons would successfully locate us and it would all be over. No matter how it went there was going to be one wild finale to this whole mess and neither one of us could avoid that.

Rough fingers traced the line of my jaw, breaking my train of thought and bringing my eyes to my companion. Alistair was watching me just as intently, the animated crab forgotten.

"We're going to be okay, Camila." He soothed.

Once the words were off his tongue he searched my face slowly. Then his mouth was against mine in the sweetest kiss we had ever shared.

Slow and patient. Tender and caring.

Safe.

*****Who is your favorite character now? Has it changed through the progression of the story? Next chapter comes at 12 votes!*****