Don't touch her

Chapter 13

Vivian's POV

Both Lucien and Jacob had been angry when they saw me, but none of it could compare to the look that their brother was giving to me right now. It was something that was so saturated in pure hatred that logic had no place within it. There was no way I could reason with him. I had been in the battlefield long enough through the bloodshed that I could recognize it from a mile away, and it was painted across his eyes so familiarly. I would have to be a fool to miss it or be completely blind.

"Didn't you hear me?" he roared at the guard behind him, who had begun to tremble with his fingers nervously.

"Prince Gabriel, I can't give you the keys."

I could see all of the veins popping from the side of his head as he turned. "What do you mean you can't give me the keys? That is an order!"

"But Prince Lucien said that…"

He marched over to the guard. "You know I don't like to repeat myself, so it's either you find the keys for me or face the consequences when I'll have to do it myself."

The guard cowered humbly, and with his feet shaking, he ran out. Gabriel's attention was back to me. "I don't know what you are planning, but I'm going to make sure that you don't linger long enough to execute that plan of yours."

"Even if it means turning the tides of war in your favor? Isn't that what you should be after right now? Killing me is hardly going to do anything for you," I said.

"It will give me relief," he responded quickly. "You're not supposed to be here, but now that you are, now that you made this fool decision to deliver yourself to us on a golden platter, then who are we to refuse?" He said it with a mocking edge in his voice. "You might have thought you would be able to deceive us again, but no more."

"Jacob would be dead without me," I told him, my voice beginning to rise. "If you just wait for him to wake up, he will be able to confirm everything that I am telling you right now, and then you'll know that I'm telling the truth."

I was beginning to back away from the bars as I spoke and he was coming even closer.

"I don't have the patience to wait for him to wake up, and if by any chance you did help him, I'm sure it's all part of your plan anyways, so it makes no difference. Somehow you have been able to talk circles around both of my brothers, but I won't let you get into my head like that. Whatever trickery you have planned, I'm going to nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem for us down the line."

My shoulders became heavier, like invisible weights had been pressed on them. My throat began to close in on itself and I dug my fingers through my hair, trying to calm myself and feeling terribly. This was my third life. It was extraordinary enough that I have been able to be reborn two times, but there was no guarantee that it would happen a fourth time. And if by some slim chance I actually managed to be reborn a fourth time, what then? 

Was I going to return back to Draven? Moving around so freely in a time of heated war was not something I could do, which meant that I had to be allied to the werewolves if the Lycans would not take me... Does that mean that it is simply inevitable for me to be locked behind bars and meet my eventual demise? I had been reborn and I thought I could finally turn the tables, but have I just been deluding myself?

"Don't bother pretending. I'm not going to fall for your act. I can see just what you want. I know your type. They pretend to be weak and fragile but they are capable of horrible things. I don't allow myself to be swayed like that, so you might as well put your head up and die with your dignity."

I collapsed my fingers over my head, my body feeling so heavy, sweat beginning to drip from my forehead despite the cold. And then I heard it, the jingle of keys, a light casual sound when it was actually coming up like a drum announcing my end. Without even turning back, Gabriel stretched his hands to take the keys, and as he got it, he gripped them tight. The jingles continued as I stood on the other side, carefully backing away until there was nothing more to go further to than the wall that was as cold as ice and penetrated through my light clothes with ease.

But nothing could really match the ice in his eyes, the coldness that seemed to sweep over my skin and produce goosebumps. I swallowed a huge lump as the cell was opened, not for me to come out, but for him to make his entrance inside and he started marching towards me. There were no more words to be exchanged. His lips were set in a thin and determined line. I tried to speak but all of the words were lost in my throat, unable to make it past my mouth, and maybe it was because I knew that nothing I said could really change his mind right now.

I closed my eyes and, just as I could feel him closer to me, I said, "Can I make a final wish?"

I asked him. He finally paused and it seemed to go on for a lifetime before he said, "What do you want?"

And then I replied, "Just make it quick."

"That's it?" He seemed annoyed and surprised.

I laughed even though it wasn't sincere. "It's not like you're going to agree to spare my life if I tell you to," I said, squeezing my eyes tighter. That was the only thing I wanted, because in my previous life I had been killed in such a horrible way and in the first one I had pushed a silver dagger through my heart. If I was going to go for what might just be my final time, at least I wanted it to have as little pain as possible.

I started feeling his hand on my neck, a flaring heat compared to the cold surrounding me, and then I heard a shout.

"Gab, no! Don't touch her!"

I blinked my eyes open. I couldn't believe who stood there.