Chapter 407: The night.
Kael.
It felt like the last supper— I mean the kiss that Leilani pressed against mine and my brothers’ cheeks before stepping out of the room looking all gloomy like she had the weight of the whole world resting against her small frail shoulders, and as I watched her ascend the stairs, looking about a half size smaller than her actual size due to her sunken shoulders, I couldn’t help but feel defeated.
Sad and mad.
I couldn’t help but feel like there was more I could do for her. To her. To lift the very heavy burdens off her shoulder.
In the moment, this seemed like one of those times when you knew that the person you loved the most was about to walk right into danger. It felt like when you knew that you should keep them protected; but at the same time, there was nothing you could do about it and there was no way you could change their very gloomy fate.
Only that there’s something I can do. I can make that very gloomy fate mine!
My hands shot out before I could stop it and I waved wildly, screaming out her name: "Leilani?!"
At the sound of my voice, she turned to look at me, her eyes holding confusion as she shrugged; "Huh?"
Her eyes held expectation and impatience and for a minute, she looked like she wanted to say something to me, but deciding against it, shook her head and turned away.
"If you want to go back to asking me to stay behind just like before, then no. My answer is still no."
The sharpness in her voice took me by surprise, but clamping down on my initial surprise, I shook my head and muttered;
"No. All I want to say is that I am proud of you. I always have been."
The surprise on her face when I said that was palpable. Her eyes widened only briefly and she flashed me a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes before she turned to leave, her dainty feet echoing up the stairs as she went.
It wasn’t until she was gone that I finally allowed myself to turn to my brothers who were equally watching her leave with sad expressions on their faces.
They appeared to be just as lost in thoughts as I was and I sighed.
"No matter what happens there tonight, we protect her first." Caelum was the first to speak, breaking the ice that had now descended upon us like some sort of shield.
His stance was protective and fierce but it was the look in his eyes that I was most drawn to.
He seemed... haunted. Worried. Mad and had a tinge of frustration creating crease lines along his forehead.
I nodded once. "Yes. We’ll protect her first."
"She’s our major priority. Frostclaw comes second." Zevran hissed, his eyes and voice cold; And with that, he stepped out of the room too, leaving just I and Caelum behind.
Right then, I needed no soothsayer to know that he had just left to get prepared for whatever battle we may face soon. And while that thought filled me with a little bit of apprehension, I turned away, that is after casting a knowing look at Caelum, and then I headed for my room too with the intent of changing into darker colored clothes.
It took me a maximum of five minutes to be ready and by the time I stepped out of my chamber, my brothers were already downstairs, waiting for Leilani and me.
The atmosphere was tense and while they were dressed in dark colored clothes just like me, the foul expressions on their faces were a lot darker— extremely darker if you asked me.
Tonight will be a long night. I could already feel it.
—
Leilani.
I let my eyes rake over my black tank top and the tight fitting leather pants that Caelum had gotten me a couple of days ago— before our fight— for ’being less unapproachable’, and boy, nothing in my appearance looked like me!
Nothing felt like me too.
I looked and felt... defeated. Like the entire light I had had somehow been snuffed right out of my eyes and cast out into some cold dark canyon. My body felt crushed and goddess, I hadn’t even left the house yet, talk less face the devil that has been right behind my tails for quite a while now.
The pants hugged my body tightly— a little too tightly, accentuating my slender yet not-thin figure. It made my hips look fuller, or maybe it was just me, and as if to complete the already daunting look, my heart raced like a fucking bitch in my chest, hiccup with so much speed, you’d think it was about to fall off.
Every breath I took felt like a sport— hot and forced. It forced its way from the very depths of me to my nostrils, and burned like lava as it went.
I closed my eyes briefly and took in a deep breath, only to snap the eyes right open when a small voice suddenly said to me:
"You know you don’t have to, right?"
I froze. A shudder ran through my body when I spun around slowly to meet... Caelum’s gaze.
He stared at me for a moment too long— even though it was only for about a second— and turned away to scratch the back of his neck.
"My brothers and I have been waiting for a couple of minutes. I came to see if you’ve developed cold feet and decided not to come with us." He said softly.
Something in his voice made me lift my head to meet his gaze. My eyes travelled from the top of his very messy, very thick dark hair to his shiny black shoes which were so shiny, I could see my reflection in them if I looked closer.
I tried to shrug non committantly but it only ended up coming out as a shudder. I drawled; "I’ll come."
"You don’t have to if you don’t want to."
"Jarek would never not want to go if I were the one in this situation," I answered without missing a beat, and when he nodded, I added; "...moreover I think I am the reason why he’s been kidnapped." I said, and as soon as I did, he lifted his head to meet my gaze, his eyes stormy as he shook his head.
"None of this is your fault."
The way his voice dropped when he said these words and the softness in his eyes vaguely reminded me of the things he’d said to me that night.
That night that had made us both so awkward around each other now...
That night that I still couldn’t get out of my head.
The memory made my face heat up and sting, but clamping down on those feelings, I smiled and said: "I know. Thank you. We should go now."
Caelum looked at me like he couldn’t quite believe me and like someone who had loads to say to me. He cocked his eyebrows at me, but probably deciding against it, he snapped his lips shut and turned around to walk away, his toned back flexing underneath his clothes with each step that he took.
And now... ladies and gentlemen, is probably not the time to appreciate his manliness, but I couldn’t help it.
I couldn’t help but ogle at how handsome he looked. How majestic he carried himself... and how utterly devastating he looked under the dim lights. His dark shirt hugged his body like a second skin and his pants, slightly freer, made his already well defined buttocks appear even more perky.
At the sight, my traitorous throat immediately went dry almost and I subconsciously licked my chapped lips before realizing what I had done.
"Oh bloody goddess," I hissed under my breath, turning away to hide the blush creeping up my face. "What the hell is happening to me?"
I was however snapped out of my trance when I felt him looking at me. I cocked my eyebrows. "Huh?"
"You said something..." snorted and I turned away.
"I said oh bloody goddess !" I snapped, "I was not talking to you."
Again, he looked like he didn’t believe me but he let it go and as we arrived downstairs to join the rest of his brothers, I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking on eggshells... like I was being shielded.
The atmosphere had taken a total 180° turn, and it scared me shitless just how fierce these handsome monsters could be when they wanted to... and just how drawn to them I was despite all my attempts to feel otherwise.
As Kael opened the car’s door for me to step in, I stopped and turned to them, my voice hard as I muttered;
"None of you should die on me."
And I meant it... with every fiber of my being.
