Novel-novel oleh Neutral Ink

AVA “I only came to grab a few things,” I informed my Mom as she strolled through the doorway of my room. “You should try talking to your Dad, Ava. You know he’s not an unreasonable man.”“A reasonable person wouldn’t just burn my stuff instead of talking to me. I’m done talking to him, until he provides me the money to buy my stuff back, I am not coming back to this house.” I zipped up my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. “It’s obvious you took your stubborn genes from him. You two are driving me crazy,” she laughs a little. “Where do you think you’re going?” Dad demanded, appearing at my door. I swallowed hard, my nerves kicking in. I decided to follow Mom’s suggestion and reason with him. “Dad, don’t you see it? I am good at what I do, the fact that I earn a degree should be enough proof of that. Fashion is my life, I love designing. I have only one year left of fashion school, don’t take this away from me.” I pleaded, my throat tight with emotions. “The Tuhka’s family will

AVA He laughed. Asher freaking laughed at me! I struggled out of his grasp, wrapping my arms around myself. Making my way back to our car, while ignoring him calling out to me. I couldn’t tell his car apart from the others, so I was forced to stop and wait for him to catch up with me. My thoughts drift back to those minutes in darkness, and the lights coming back on. If I had been imagining, then I wouldn’t have seen the figure in the light. Also, why will I be imagining Caden out of the blue? His death was painful, we mourned him. But I haven’t thought of him in years. Asher appears in front of me, trying to get me to look at him. I looked away, avoiding his gaze. “Come on, Ava. Okay, I’m sorry, look at me.” He pleaded, blocking my view. I stared at him. “Why would I lie or joke about something like that? I saw him, Asher, I really did.” “I’m sorry, but you have to consider my perspective here. When my girlfriend starts saying she sees the ghost of my dead cousin. How the hel

AVA It took a while, but I finally settled on something that isn’t going to freak Asher out when he sees me in it. Since we are only seeing a movie, I settled for a short dress, and an oversized jacket, in case it gets windy out there. I stood outside the gate, waiting. The air was a little chilly, making me glad I remembered to bring a jacket. I reached into my medium size bag for my phone. At the same time, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Frowning, I darted a look around, unable to shake the feeling that I was being watched. The premises were heavily guarded, meaning it could be one of the Tuhkas men. The idea of being watched became a fleeting thought as Asher's car rolled up in front of me. He stepped out of the vehicle, dressed casually as well. My face lits up at the sight of him, my eyes drifting behind him. “What are you hiding?” I asked, raising on my tip-toe to kiss him as well. “This—“ he revealed a bouquet of rose flowers, extending it toward me. “An

AVA My heart almost leaped out of my chest, seeing the blood from his cut drop onto his shirt. Guiding him to the bed, I made him sit. Then I hurried into the bathroom to grab my first aid kit. “How did this happen? Don’t you usually have men who do the dirty work?” I asked, trying to keep myself talking so I don’t get emotional. “We were attacked, the new Don is starting to become a problem. That’s two attacks in one week now.” He sighs, wincing as the spirit makes contact with his open wound. I paused. “New Don?” “Yes, there’s a new guy in town. We believe he is trying to get our attention. But my aunt is in charge of the dock he attacked. Not many people know that place exists. Dad is on the case though, I couldn’t miss our date.” He answers, brushing my hair out of my face. I blushed at the intimacy of the touch. Once I was done fixing his face, I tried to straighten up. But Asher pulled me back down, settling me between his thighs. Then he lowered his head, capturing my li

AVA Asher stopped the car outside my school gate. He came down, slid across the hood of the car to open my door. I smile faintly, meeting him halfway for the kiss he’s leaning in for. When he pulled back a hot minute later, his smile mirrored mine. Someone cleared their throat behind us, startling me. I looked over my shoulder at Avery and Fallon, waiting outside the gate. “I better let you go now, see you later?” He leaned down to kiss me again. I nodded, aware of the audience and unable to form words. I keep waving until his car disappears into the distance, leaving an air of dust behind. “What was that all about?” Fallon asked, her brows furrowed slightly. “He’s dropping you off again, does that mean everything is okay in Ash-paradise?” Avery teased, nudging me with her body. “Oh—stop!” I blush harder, looking down at the ground. When I looked back up, Fallon still had the same expression on her face. Recalling the history between her and Asher, I approached her, hesitatel

AVAI was already getting ready for bed, when a knock came through the door. I paused, darting a look at the alarm clock. I straightened up to answer it, surprised to see my Mom waiting outside. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” My heart raced, bracing for her response. “Hey, calm down alright? I’ve been wanting to talk to you for the past three days. Now seems to be the perfect time.” Her response made me visibly relaxed. I let go of the door, moving aside for her to come inside. With the family business, attacks often happen, suddenly. We both settled on my bed. She reached for my hand, squeezing it between hers and placing it on her lap. If I wasn’t worried before, I definitely am now. “Mom, you’re scaring me.” I pointed out, removing my hand from hers. “I didn’t want to get involved in whatever is going on between you and Asher. But I am not blind, you have been moping around the house. This is the fourth time in three days you’ve asked me to lie to him about you not bei

XAVIE I eased out of bed, stretching my tired limbs. I glanced at Kian’s empty side of the bed, knowing he wasn’t far off. Picking up the robe he had tossed carelessly last night, beside a discarded lingerie. I parted the curtains, taking in the view of the ocean. We have been on our honeymoon for the past two weeks, everyone at home has been calling, wondering when we are coming back.Kian disconnected the phone two days ago. According to him, he wants nothing to disrupt our peace. Not to mention I lost count of how many places we have visited, although the one thing I’m most excited to go home for is Hilda and Derek's mating ceremony that’s coming up. I laughed, settling down in front of the dressing mirror to brush my hair. Thinking about the new hobbies I have picked from travelling, while recalling I have a fishing contest with Derek back at home. Apparently, it was my punishment for stressing his ward. As for my parents house, I’m going to rent it out to any nice family that

XAVIE A few hours later, Kian fever had gone down and I decided to give him a tour of the house. One could imagine my surprise earlier when I walked into my bedroom to find it covered in flowers. Finding out from one of the maids that Kian brought them, had me blushing. My room looks like an orchid right now, not that I was complaining. When we arrived at the fish pond, I looked at him, wondering if he remembered. My heart skipped when I figured he wasn’t looking at the pond, his gaze was fixated on me. Nervously, I blurted out the first thing on my mind. “Aurora, how is she?” I asked, plastering a smile on my face. When the servant came to inform me about his arrival, I was in disbelief. I didn’t think he would come see me after we said our goodbyes. Filled with joy, I rushed into his arms. Thinking about it now, I could only hope I didn’t make a fool of myself, especially if he has decided to give Aurora a chance. “You didn’t take your things…” His thoughts creep into mine, for

KIAN It's been three days since Xavie left. The days are getting longer, making it seem like she left months ago. Her clothes were still untouched in her closet in their shared—bedroom. That should have given him hope, except that he knows her. He knew the reason she didn’t pack was because she felt like they never really belonged to her. He still hopes there’s a chance she might come back to claim them, to stay. He missed her laughter, her eyes, her smile… he fucking miss everything about her it makes him ache all over his body. People are still talking about Alec and Annika’s death, it’s something he doesn’t see anyone getting over anytime soon. The other victim's families are coming forward as well, he left things for Logan to handle, including settling her fake parents. Who had a nice time apparently to the extent that they decided to get married for real. Tint has been spending more time with that Asher boy. He could tell she was furious at him, she refused to say a word to h

XAVIE Home doesn’t feel like home anymore. It was empty, hollow and dusty. I ignored the feeling of emptiness that echoes through the walls of the house. Despite all that happened, I had great memories there from my earliest childhood, until everything changed. An unexpected sound startled me, causing me to twist around to inspect it. I was surprised to see an elderly lady walking toward me. “Hello…” I started, trying not to alarm her. “You must be Annika,” she responded, adding to my puzzlement. “How could you not have visited your mother? She wrote to you, and you showed up today?” “I’m sorry, but my name is Xavie. Not Annika.” However, that cleared some of my confusion whether or not Annika had been in contact with her mother. I had woken up this morning wondering how she would take the news. Not because I care, I wanted to gloat over her face as I determined what her fate would be. “I’m sorry, I haven’t been around for a while. I’m the owner of this house, where is she?” I

KIAN The following morning, the news spread like wildfire. Everyone was talking about it, the media houses were calling and writing, wanting one of them to grant them an interview. Looking at the paper should bring him some kind of joy… a glorious amount. Yet a dull ache settled over the region of his heart. He hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep since last night. As desperately as he wanted to be near Xavie, he couldn’t. It hurt too much, his chest tightened with each breath he took with the knowledge that she was leaving. He almost wished he could turn back the hands of the clock, to stop her from going to Keystone Pack that morning. The truth about Alec would have remained hidden, meaning he will get to hold on to her a little longer. Composing himself as a knock came through the door, he was half-expecting it to be Xavie… or Derek even. To his surprise, Aurora strode into his study with a smile on her face. Disappointed made him relaxed back on his chair, rubbing his hand over his

XAVIE I asked one of the dungeon guards for a dagger as I was being escorted to Annika’s cell. She jolted upright immediately she saw me approached, I stepped aside for the guard to open the cell bar. She fell to her knees immediately, grabbing my legs as she pleaded for me to have mercy on her. I have waited for this day for so long, not the day she will beg for mercy, because I never thought she was capable of any human emotions. But the day I’ll have her at my mercy. “Xavie… Alec made me do it!” She cried, probably realizing her begging hasn’t moved me a bit. “I never wanted to—he threatened me, I had no choice.” “It seemed to me like you’re the one suffering from animesa now, Annika. Because this wasn’t what you told me several hours ago. I didn’t come here to listen to you moan and whine about how you were a victim in your mate’s scheme, I came here so I could listen to what I have to say.” Drawing a sharp breath into my lungs, I didn’t think I would be this emotional. But s

EVIE POV “So…” I got into the front seat, clipping on the seatbelt before turning to Jordan. He didn’t bulge, his gaze still fixed outside the window. Frowning slightly, I lean over to see what he’s looking at. However, he chooses that moment to turn, our nose brushing against each other.I smile, pulling away. “What are you staring at? Finally found something fascinating enough?” I tease, since he spent the entire time turning his nose at everything. His mouth quickened up. “It's not so bad, I agree. So, where should we go? Any place you have in mind?” “Anywhere is fine, as long as you aren’t taking me back home.” My comment piqued his attention, reminding me that only Kaden is aware of the troubles my relationship with them is wrecking havoc in my family. “What? Is everything okay?” He inquired, his tone laced with worry. “Oh, just the usual parent-child disagreement. Nothing to worry about, why don’t you take me to some place where I can forget?” I wriggle my brows at him. “

EVIE POV After the whole bizarre interaction with Fiona that still has me questioning everything still, I make my way to the gym to try out for the try-out. I love social work, and especially the whole volleyball tournament issue, I want to make up for it. And to show my parents that, I’m still the old me. Nothing about me has changed yet, and maybe finally she’d trust me enough. Only a couple of people are present at the tryout and the last one is just rounding up her routine. “Hey, you showed up.” Fiona remarks, rising to her feet. “Just at the right time, it’s your turn.” “Excuse me?” She interrupts the other girl. “You can stop now.” She paused, confused. “But I’m not done with my steps yet—“ “Trust me darling, we’ve seen enough. Evie, please go ahead and show the squad your movies.” The other girl glares at me, storming out of the gym. Feeling kind of bad for her, I drop my books on the bench then pick up the pomps she left behind. While I don’t have experience with cheer

EVIE POV “Uhm…” I clear my throat as I walk into the dinning room. My hang goes up to my face, wiping off the lingering heat. Mom emerges from the kitchen with baked cookies, on seeing me, she pauses then drops the items on the table. Unlike before, the silence wasn’t tense between us, although knowing what I have been doing for the past few minutes, I felt both guilty and nervous.“First, I want to apologize. It was wrong of me to come at you like that, and the way I spoke about you? That was mean.” She pushed the plate of cookies towards me, urging me to take one. “No, no. You have every right to be mad. I shouldn’t have lied, but I want you to trust me—to know that…” “Are you still trying to get the evidence of your brother being bullied by them? Look at me Evie. You don’t have to do that anymore, it doesn’t matter. Your brother is far away from them, and you’ve started a new school. I want to put all that behind us.” I lower my eyes, fiddling with my fingers nervously. Just

EVIE POV As much as I tried to not let their words get to me, I still felt betrayed by Ethan. The fact that he didn’t talk to me first, and just went straight to Mom, knowing things have been rocky between us lately. Given the fact that everything happened because of him. My ringing tune fills the silence of the room, snapping me out of my gloomy thoughts. Sitting up, I grab my phone from inside my backpack. By the time I’m done fishing it out, it has stopped ringing. I also lost interest and didn’t bother to check. Not wanting to be cooked up in my room all day, I message Maggie, asking if I can come hang out with her. She responds back almost immediately, letting me know she’s around. Taking my jacket with me, I dash out of the house, jogging all the way to Maggie’s house. I arrived there shortly after, and she escorted me to her room, silently waiting for me to spill the beans. We were close like that, not needing to say something before the other one figured out something was

EVIE POV “Shit! Logan hissed, seeing that Kaden disappeared from our view. He glanced at Jordan, a silent communication between them before he steps out of the vehicle, going after him. “So… Do you have any questions about the competition? Logan won, in case you’re wondering.” Said Jordan, striking up a conversation. I frown at him, folding my arms across my chest. “Are you trying to distract me from what’s going on? I know you’re a street fighter, Logan is a mad scientist, what’s Kaden deal? The thing with the rogues?” “Street fighter?” He huffs, having the nerve to sound offended. “And what do you call it then?” I gave him a look. “Not when you say it in that tone. I’m sure Kaden will tell you what the deal is, when he's ready. Especially when he’s done being mad at you for not wishing him a happy birthday.” Shit! I totally forgot about that. “Is he really mad?” Then again, it’s Kaden we are talking about here. I try to think back from when they picked me up at school, nothi

EVIE POV I wanted to believe I was imagining things, but with the way everyone is staring at me, that was enough to tell me that my beautiful nightmare is indeed standing a few feet from me.Maggie pushed me forward, separating me from the crowd. I fell forward, looking over my shoulder to glare at her. It was then I realised I wasn’t the only one glaring, a few one of the girls were glaring at me.Not that I blame them, not only did I have one hot guy pinning me with a hard stare, but three hot guys. I look shyly from one face to the other, unable to determine if they were angry or—“Get in,” Jordan growls, motioning to the open door. Yep, definitely angry. They climbed back into the car, still leaving the door ajar. I look over my shoulder once more, to let Maggie know I’ll be gone a while, only to get dragged into the vehicle. I fall on top of Logan as she reaches to shut the door. I straighten up, settling between him and Jordan in the backseat. Kaden sat in the front seat with