DECLAN The sun blinding my barely open eyes was what woke me up. That and the terrific headache that assaulted my brain. I groaned softly, trying to ease myself off of the bed. The soft cushioning beneath my ass felt oddly alien. I opened my eyes fully and tried to observe my surroundings. It appeared that I was in someone's bedroom. I couldn't remember who though. After taking note of the dark blue comforter covering me and the plush pillows around me, it dawned on me that I had woken up in the arms of another man. Literally. The plush pillows were his arms. Clay Carter's arms. I lifted the comforter and took a peek because if I was in his house and his bed, that would only mean something had transpired. I was butt naked. I looked at him. His eyes were still closed. A smile played across his lips as if he was dreaming about something pleasant. His hair was disheveled, but it suited him rather well. But most intriguingly, his skin was pale yet tanned. I found myself staring as I r
ELOISEA gentle kiss on the forehead woke me up from a fitful sleep. I rolled over and opened my eyes, blinking slowly at the figure in front of me. Matthan stood there, holding a mug filled to the brim with coffee, smiling warmly.“Morning!” he said cheerfully. “I made you breakfast, but if you don't want it now we can eat later. You look like hell, but I think you need this more than anyone else around here right now.” He held the mug out for me so I could take a sip. I smiled, taking it. I looked around me and noticed I wasn't in the guest room anymore. This was Matthan's room."You used the Teleportation rune?" I asked."Yes. You were pretty much unconscious then so I thought I didn't need to wake you up."“Thank you.” I took another sip. It felt nice. I had been terrified prior if I was being honest. The post orgasm clarity was something I didn't want to come but at the moment I couldn't feel anything except a dull ache behind my temples and the peace of mind that comes after ha
ELOISE The ride back to Ashlake was quiet. There was no one to talk to since I was the only one in the car and the butler was much too focused on the road before him to pay me any mind. The radio played softly in the background while I listened and looked outside the window at the scenery. We were about 30 minutes into our trip, so I could tell that we would have plenty of time to stop to do something fun like go shopping or eat out.After what seemed like hours in silence, my phone finally rang. I looked at the caller ID this time and I couldn't help but smile when I realized it was my mother. I answered and said hi to her. “Mom!”“Eloise, dear, you sound happy. Where are you now? Did you have fun at the retreat? You are close right? Met any boys?” My mom bombarded me with questions. I missed them and how they used to get on my nerves. Now, they are just part of the soundtrack of life that made my heart feel good.“I didn't meet any boys there, Mom, although I did reconnect with an o
ELOISEI don't think I was able to cry. The numbness overpowered all my other senses. It was like an out-of-body experience where you could see it all happening but there wasn't much you could do about it. I dreaded what was to come. I dreaded passing by the sign welcome to Ashlake and eventually getting home. By the time we arrived, I could already hear the wails of sirens and the chatters of passersby. No miracle was happening. I looked outside the car window and that was when the numb feeling exploded into something I knew like the back of my hand. Men dressed like paramedics carried a big black bag from the house as they loaded the body inside the ambulance."It's not real," I told myself, and how I wished that were true. What I would have done to let that be my truth."Miss, there is–" I didn't even let the butler finish before I opened the car door and stepped outside."Tell Orla that I am grateful for everything she has done for me." I managed to say while holding my tears. Tha
ELOISELike clockwork, the door unlocked and out of it appeared Matthan. It was a strange thing to admit but seeing him made things a bit easier."Your place or my place?" He asked."No one will be barging your place anytime soon," I replied. At least, that wasn't a lie.True." Matthan took my hand and led me towards the door. I looked back at my room one last time. There was a possibility this was the last time I was going to see it. I had been afraid of telling myself that since I had made the Carter home my home but now that it was happening, I wasn't so scared anymore. I looked forward, trying not to think about what could go wrong. We both walked through the door and I shut it. Now wasn't the time to think. I needed to act. I knew Matt would ask questions. Many I wouldn't want to answer and the last thing I wanted was to recruit him to die along with me so before those questions could leave his pretty mouth, I grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him hard on the lips.He was taken
ELOISE I walked through the streets of Marblefay with nothing but questions in my head. I wondered if Judas would even be there considering I might now have the upper hand with the help of teleportation. I could also be wrong. Maybe Judas wasn't working alone. Maybe he had people on his side who were just as sick as him. A man like him couldn't have survived all by himself, right? When I left Matthan's house, the sun was out. When I reached the house I was born in, the house my father burned to the ground, the sun had become a pretty orange hue, and the birds sang. I could smell flowers blooming in the gardens of the home I grew up at, hear cars passing by on the highway, and feel the wind that brushed against me. This was not how it happened. The house I stood in front of looked exactly the same, though. That renovator kept to her word. The house looked nothing like it should be. It looked beautiful. I stayed outside, wondering if people had already moved in. A quick g****e search to
ELOISEMy body hurt all over. He had broken something. The sting surging to my brain like a radio signal was a dead giveaway. I also could barely move. I wanted to run. I just couldn't do it. No matter what I did, I couldn't move a single muscle. It felt as if someone had stuck needles into all my muscles with a blunt object and twisted them around until they were stretched tightly and painful beyond description."Let's go back to your mother's room," Judas said, seizing me by the hair and dragging me up the stairs. I cried out in pain but it didn't make him stop. As we ascended the steps, I screamed at him, and tried kicking him but nothing worked. I couldn't fight him because every movement sent pain shooting across my body. "Do not be difficult Eloise. I do not want to hurt you now." He didn't stop until I was back in the room. I obeyed him. I stopped being difficult. Not because he had asked and it definitely wasn't because of the pain that assaulted my body with every movement tha
ELOISE Judas seemed to become smaller in my eyes. My bones cracked and twisted. I expected pain. True undiluted pain but there was nothing. Only rage. There was something else too. The shock in his eyes was almost liberating. As if on instinct, I grabbed him by the throat and threw him against the wall. He dropped like a broken toy. The air felt strangely stale around us. I felt different. The air I was taking in didn't feel like fire anymore. The choking had stopped and even though the fire that now engulfed the room singed my body, I was strangely unaffected. My attention wasn't focused on the burning wood that collapsed here and there or the exploding window frames. I had my eyes only on the cowering man."You will never hurt anyone again," I told him. "Tonight will be the last day you terrorize my life and all those innocent people."Judas must have seen an opportunity because the color of his eyes shifted into gold and claws grew from his hands and feet. His skin became grey, cov