Chapter 123 ALICIA’S OFFER

Chapter 123 ALICIA’S OFFER
\- MELISSA -
I turned my gaze to her and heaved a sigh.
“That shit doesn’t work on me anymore.”
Alicia scoffed, her face twisting. She looked angry, which I thought was ridiculous because she had no right to be pissed.
“You can be very frustrating, you know. I’m doing everything I can to make this trip good for you. To make you feel at ease. To help out in your predicament. But you are being so ungrateful.”
I looked at her with wide eyes. I tried to laugh, but it was too ridiculous to even laugh at.
“Are you joking right now? Do you actually believe you are doing me a favor? What is wrong with all of you acting like I should be all spazzed out because you are handing me candy after breaking all my bones? Gosh, fuck all of you. Turn this fucking ride back. I want to return to my room where no one is acting like they’re doing me a great good by driving nails into my eyes.”
Alicia huffed. She yelled at the driver to stop, then got out of the car to scream.
I felt the urge to roll my eyes twice. There was nothing stupider than what she was doing now.
After a few moments, she got back into the car.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot. This ride is supposed to help you, and it’s not. I wanted to slowly drag things out a bit before I broached the topic that led to this ride, but I see that was a bad idea. So I’ll just get to the point.”
She stopped, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
My gaze stayed fixed on the street. I couldn’t care less what she had to say.
“I know about the spell. Mutheran uses it to make you loyal to him. And I know the spell is fake.”
My heart sank. I glanced at her.
“Oh, great. Now I have your attention.”
She smiled, doing a great job at creeping me out.
“I come from a pack that uses spells. I know a real one when I see it. Mutheran is so insanely in love with you, he is willing to believe anything. I don’t know why you are playing along though. It seems like quite a sickening thing to do. But I do know you won’t be able to for long. There’s something strange about Mutheran.”

She clicked her tongue. “A darkness that roams about him. Many times I’ve caught him having a full-blown conversation with no one. Whatever it is that roams about him… that’s what he speaks to. It’s cajoling him to force you to give them the beast. It’s pressuring you too much, and Mutheran is succumbing little by little. One day he won’t be able to hold it in. They’ll kill you.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to admit it, but you’ve got to know. Mutheran is planning to have sex with you. He has bought the bonds and everything. It would be nice and all if you were really under that spell, at least it would wipe your memory when you wake up. What you aren’t, so it’s going to be really hard to fake it then. I doubt you will hold your own when he is grinding on you. If you snap, you’ll know the spell isn’t working. He’ll do something drastic then.”
“Why are you telling me all of this? He’s your father. Why are you ratting him out?”
She pulled a weak smile from the corner of her lips, then sighed.
“I’ve changed. I don’t do bad things anymore. I feel guilty for the harm I’ve caused, and so I want to make things up to you. I know it’s impossible. I killed your child. There’s no way I can make up for that. I know that. I do want to help you. I do want to save you. It won’t really be easy to keep you from all of this, but it’s worth the try if you can let me.”
After that, the car fell into silence.
We sailed through the city with tight lips and heavy feelings. Finally, Alicia asked the driver to stop for ice cream and waffles. She shared some with me.
I didn’t take it.
All through the ride, I kept thinking, should I take her offer? Everyone has lied to me every single time. Every act and every promise I had ever heard had been fake. How do I know this isn’t another trap?
Maybe she’d get a new plan to break me at my lowest and give me hope only to crush it later.
And then there was Mutheran too.
If Alicia didn’t help me… then I was Mutheran’s to eat..
Do I want that?
I heaved a sigh.
Maybe I should wait for Davenport. Maybe I should keep waiting for him.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I blinked them back.
There’s no good option. Not one. Everything is wrong. There is no lesser evil.
“Need a tissue?”
Alicia shook a box in my face.
“Fuck off.”
I muttered.
She dropped the box on my lap.
“I’m not deceiving you. I want to get out of here. Believe me.”

I didn’t say anything to her.

She heaved a sigh.

“Do you want to go back to the palace now? That’s not a trick question. I think you can answer this at least.”

“I don’t.”

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the smile on her face.

“At least… all right.”

She tapped the driver and instructed him to keep driving.

“When do you think we’ll try a new one?”

She glanced at me. I had been quiet again for about three hours. I ate the waffles, but the ice cream was taken away because it melted.

“Tomorrow, I think. Okay, I’m not sure, but it’s definitely this week. I reached out to Ethan and asked him for ten more minutes, if there was a spell at all. Ethan told him, but he warned him that the spell is going to ruin whatever good feelings have been established between the two of you. He didn’t seem to care. Apparently, he thinks sex will change all the things that are wrong between the two of you.”

She paused.

“…It’s used to.”

“I see.”

Silence passed over us.

Then Alicia broke it.

“It was never that way with Lancaster. Before and after the fire. He liked you more. He liked the opposition you gave him. He liked the way you called him out when he misbehaved, but still crawled back to him every time. Compared to you, I was nothing more than a Luna with a name. Not to mention you were more beautiful, so—”

Her head lowered. She fondled her fingers like they were the perfect cure for her sadness.

“You are beautiful too. Lancaster doesn’t like what comes easy. He enjoys what he gets… scandalously. That’s why you were never in the picture.”

“That has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with your looks or mine.”

“If you are the rejected one, it’s hard to think so.”

I chuckled.

“You gave that to me so fast, you might think you wrung her neck in the process.”

“Did you just laugh?” she asked, as if it was unbelievable.

“Don’t ask me that.”

“Anyways, I think you’re funny to think Lancaster was in love with me, so I didn’t have a place in his heart. You should be happy Lancaster didn’t love you. His love is demanding, erotic, toxic, mindless, careless, and selfish. There’s never a good day when he’s around. You dodged a bullet not being his preference. It’s a pity you didn’t realize that back then, and you turned me into your regular stress doll.”

“Sorry about that. I really thought—”

Her voice trailed off, drowned by the sound of people yelling.

“There they are! Over there! Come on!”

Johan and the guards bared their teeth and growled.

Alicia rushed to the window, suddenly alert.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Keep your head down, Melissa. There are a lot of enemies out there.

“Soldiers…”

She shook her head.

“No… wolves, citizens, and all. Mutheran's rule isn’t favorable to a lot of people. They formed a resistance movement.”

“Oh.”

That explained why we had been taking lonely roads.

“We should turn around.”

“We will.”

Alicia signaled the driver.

There was something between us and the driver, some kind of barrier that made our side of the car soundproof. The driver received the message and the car began to turn.

Johan and the guards were distanced away from us, warding off the resistance.

The car made a full reverse and tried to drive off—

Something came out of nowhere.

It shattered the window and slammed into the car with force.

I saw it coming in slow motion.

My body refused to move.

I shut my eyes, bracing for impact.

The object collided with something.

A loud crack rang out, but I didn’t feel anything.

It hadn’t hit me.

I opened my eyes.

Alicia was in front of me.

She had blocked it.

Blood dripped onto the seat.

The driver was already speeding down the road.

Alicia shifted slowly back into her seat, her hand still clenched around a rock.

There was blood on it too.

“It’s just a little rock, relax,” she said lightly, tossing it aside.

She hissed, grabbing tissues from the box and pressing them against the wound in her arm. It was healing fast, but it still looked painful.

“Why did you do that?” I asked.

Her lips curled, but the smile was gone as quickly as it came.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered.

“I guess I just did. Reflex and all.”

“Thank you.”

She returned to wiping her blood and packing away the soaked tissues.

Alicia turned her head slightly.

“Do you really want to help me?”

She nodded.

“If you lie to me, I’ll give myself to the beast and kill all of you.”

“I know… I know.”