Leilani.
For the longest ti, I simply sat there, frozen and literally cold, staring at him without uttering a single word because co to think of it, what could I say to him?
Do I say ’hi’?
Or
’Hey, thank you for the roses you’ve been sending to for months now?’
No, no! That sounded... weird. Stupid even.
So pushing these thoughts off, I gripped tightly on my wine glass and held my breath. My body trembled slightly as his domineering presence lood over , but what rattled even more than his size was the way his eyes never left my face even for a second.
It was the way his intense purple eyes roved along my entire body as if taking in slowly.
For a second, he looked at like I was a threat, but slowly... very slowly, his gaze began to soften and a small sure smile found its way on his lips.
Another second passed.. then two... still nothing. It looked like there was sothing he was searching for on my face— probably my fear; But deciding that I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction, I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest, whilst staring back at him as he glared openly at .
—And it wasn’t until that mont that I realized how a few people around us were bowing their heads, exposing their necks in a gesture of submission.
What the—?
The frown pulling at my face deepened when a few people’s knees began to hit the floor, their faces contorted into a look of pure agony. I turned back to this strange man and my breath hitched when I noticed that his eyes— purple, shiny and weird— were now gleaming with a strange electric light that seed eerily srising.
He whispered under his breath; "You’re unaffected."
My jaws dropped. "Huh?"
"Look at them and look at you," he continued again, ignoring the stupefied look on my face, "... you’re unaffected."
It took a mont to understand what he ant by those words, but when it finally dawned on that he was probably using one of those strange auras I’ve heard about (perhaps his Alpha aura) to force them to their knees, I froze.
Is he... is he an Alpha?
Or is he just sothing way more formidable?
My swollen tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth as our gazes t and held. And at that mont, I almost began to wonder if I’d made a mistake by coming here alone... if this was even a good idea in the first place.
I contemplated leaving, not until he slowly sat down on the chair beside mine, took my drink from my deft fingers and smiled again— a kind of smile that sent tremors running down my spine.
He hissed; "It’s not poison. We don’t sell poisoned items here."
Again, I was stunned because for so reason, he’d just easily voiced out my thoughts; And even though I naturally should be relieved now that I knew that the drink was safe, I wasn’t. If anything, I beca even more anxious.
He took a sip of the wine, as if to further calm my nerves, but I didn’t feel any better; So I blurted the first thing I could think of.
I asked; "Are you Darius?"
I knew that he possessed the few bits of features I knew ’Darius’ possessed. But looking at him now, I couldn’t help but be confused. The young man stopped to look at , his electric eyes not leaving my face even as he downed the entire contents of the glass in one gulp.
I watched him quietly, gulping down my saliva when he wiped the corners of his lips slowly with his finger— goddess, he did it so slowly, one would think he was advertising for so thirst-trap magazine— and then, he muttered; "That depends on who’s asking."
His response, vague just like everything else about him, made imdiately annoyed because truth be told, I didn’t co all the way here for so stupid riddles. I felt the tips of my ears heat up with annoyance and I frowned. "I am Leilani... and I am asking." I said in annoyance, hoping that at least my na held so sort of significance enough for him to be straightforward with my questions.
It didn’t.
Because the next thing he said was; "That doesn’t ring a bell."
And goddess, I didn’t know how I felt when I heard that. I didn’t know whether to give him a piece of my mind, or leave, abandoning everything I had co here for.
As if reading through my thoughts, he suddenly stopped and smiled at , whilst waving his hand dismissively— and I realized to my absolute surprise that everyone around us rose then, as if finally snapping out of their trance.
Sothing about that action made instantly realize that he wasn’t soone I could easily ss with, so I sighed, choosing my eyes to rid myself of the anger surging through my veins and rasped through gritted teeth;
"I ca here to et with Darius... and if you’re not him, then you should probably leave alone."
His eyes flashed then, not with anger but with admiration; And then he nodded.
"Feisty!.. I love that—"
But I didn’t like or love his teasing. I didn’t at all!
"Have a nice day—" I began to say in annoyance whilst rising to my feet. But as soon as my butt left the chair and I was about to walk out, he whispered in a voice that was so low and electric, it sent shivers running down my spine. He said;
"I am Darius."
Those words so lightly spoken, made my world nearly tilt in its axis. My feet halted on their own accord and I spun around slowly, my breath hitching in my chest when my eyes t his again.
Casting a dark look at , he added; "I am the one you’re looking for, Leilani Blackthorne. I am the stranger who has been sending you bouquets of flowers and vague notes. So tell , what do you want from ?" He said, and suddenly, it felt like I couldn’t find my voice anymore.
It felt as though I could no longer bring myself to move or speak as my body seed too heavy to do any of that.
When he rose to his feet to stand in front of , his looming figure towering over , I nearly toppled over.
He smiled. "Cat got your tongue?"
"No, it didn’t." I answered coldly. "I’m just looking for a way to tell you that I want everything. That I want to know why you’ve single-handedly fished out amongst my siblings, why you’ve been sending notes and roses— mind you, I also want to know the anings behind those letters; And I also want to know why you look like ."
At that, he threw his head back and began to laugh hysterically, the corners of his beautiful eyes crinkling when he did so.
Another smile touched his lips and I had to restrain myself from smacking his forehead— even though it’ll be the last thing I would do before he kills .
My annoyance blood in my chest, and for a mont, I feared that I would combust from it. I hissed; "Is that funny?"
It wasn’t until I asked him that that he stopped laughing. And then all of a sudden, the smile on his lips was wiped off, replaced instead with a frown so deep, I wondered how his face wasn’t cracked open at the mont.
"You don’t look like or I, you," he seethed, his voice low and gruff; And with a dismissive shrug, he added; "However, we do share so distinct features."
"Potato patata." I hissed before I could stop myself, and an embarrassed flush colored my cheeks when he turned to raise an eyebrow at , a bemused smile on his lips.
Again, the smile disappeared just as fast as it ca, and I let out a sigh of relief when he took a step back, suddenly giving enough space to breathe without his sll clogging my nose.
He said; "While all your questions can be easily answered by , I do not wish to answer them."
I frowned. "Why?"
"Why?" He repeated sarcastically. "Why...? Probably because you didn’t stick to your own end of our agreent." He said, causing to roll my eyes in confusion. But he continued; "I asked you to co alone—"
"And who did I co with?" I bit back sarcastically, "my shadow? My thoughts? Does that count as my ’plus one’?"
Darius seed to ponder over that for a mont before he rolled his eyes at and sat back down, his voice as cold as ice as he spat;
"Your mate."
I frowned.
And as if to further prove his point, two burly n walked over to us and unceremoniously dumped an unconscious Zevran right in front of .
I stilled.
—And goddess, at this mont, I wanted to smack the living daylights out of Zevran’s face. I wanted to wake him up and send him right back into a coma... and I hated him to the moon and back for ruining things for .
...not like I was surprised.
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