Chapter 148

"Emília," my father called, halting my steps out of the kitchen. "We love you very much. Everything we say and do may not be what you expect from us. Your mother and I have been your age. We know that. But a parent's love is unconditional. Bigger than anything you may ever experience. Always believe in us, please. And trust. Always trust."

I wanted to be rebellious and turn my back on them, but my feet quickly turned and returned to the table, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks and whispering that I loved them.

I also had an unconditional love for my parents. They were annoying, strict, and old-fashioned, but they had never made me feel like I didn't deserve love, a life, or happiness.

They gave me much more than I could ever ask for.

But I was also aware. And I wanted to walk paths they hadn’t taught me to take. Therefore, a certain guilt settled on my shoulders when I left the house, lying that I was going to Kayleen’s to study, and instead took the opposite path to the lab.

***

As Dante used to say, windows were made to open and close, so I could enter through them.

I didn't challenge myself to knock on the lab door because I knew I would be rejected, so I pulled part of my skirt up to my knees and climbed the wall until I reached the window. With the infernal heat, I was lucky that the glass was unlocked, since the boys valued the security of that place too much, and it was rare for any window to be left open.

As soon as my feet landed on the lab floor, chills settled into my bones, and the icy air filled my lungs.

I always felt a strange and gloomy presence. The atmosphere seemed like a haunted melody, the song of the dead manifesting their pain and confessing their sins. It felt as though every limb of mine had been ripped away, and the agony completed what was missing from my body.

I noticed that the walls had new phrases.

One of them caught my attention.

April 23rd. Sic Infit.

I kept walking down the corridor, ignoring those dark texts.

However, some steps that weren't mine began to echo through the walls. I looked at the corners, finding the space empty, but my instincts told me someone else was near.

I swallowed dryly, clenching my palm, trying to control myself.

I hurried my pace, heading toward Dante's usual place, but before I reached the room, the footsteps intensified.

This time, I turned, and a shadow appeared. Its dark tones and malicious aura froze my breath, sending panic throughout my body.

As the figure started to take shape, my brain recognized it.

Vance Campbell.

His slender body, hair the color of oil, and his sea-blue eyes exuded far more than danger and evil.

I couldn't move, as my muscles had frozen. His nose sniffed me discreetly, and I shut my eyes for a second, scared.

But when I opened them again, Asher and Jaxon appeared.

"Well, well. Look who it is," Asher hummed, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Stop acting like a dog, Vance. You don’t sniff girls. You’ll never get anyone that way."

Campbell looked me over one last time, shoved Asher, and then shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked away.

"As always, rude," Hawthorn joked.

"Doesn't he talk?" I asked, still a bit shaken.

"No," Jaxon replied, getting closer to me than Asher. "Not with me, not with any of us. He probably talks to Dante. I don’t know."

"Oh."

"And what are you doing here?" It was Jaxon's turn to ask.

"Looking for Dante."

"You shouldn't be here without permission."

"Calm down, Jaxon. Emília came here to have fun, right?" Hawthorn jumped in, wrapping his arm around my side in a tight hug against his chest. "Dante's not here, but we are."

"Where is he? I need to talk to him."

Jaxon shrugged.

"Probably in some library. Or killing some pedophile."

Asher laughed, which put a question mark in my head. Was it a joke?

"What do you mean 'pedophile'?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

Cole's booming voice reverberated. His anger was evident in every movement as he approached us, where his gaze at me was anything but hidden.

"Calm down, bitch. Vance already did the job of sniffing Emília. No need to bite," Asher replied, his mouth addicted to irritating his friends.

Cole ignored him, focusing only on me.

"Dante doesn’t want to talk to you."

I detached myself from Asher and reduced the distance between Cole and me.

"Why? What did I do?"

"You live, Gray. And that interferes with our plans. He needs focus," he responded bitterly.

"You're lying."

"Of course I am. After all, in the last few weeks, he's been talking a lot with you, right?" he mocked, with no shame in being hurtful with me.

"Emília, I know you're in love with Dante, but you need to give him space right now," Jaxon informed me.

"I'm not in love with Dante!"

"And I’m the sixth member of One Direction." Asher laughed at his own joke, receiving a scowl from me. "It’s as clear as water. Maybe that’s what pushed him away from you. He doesn’t fall in love. He certainly doesn’t want anyone to love. Dante only has hatred to offer, princess."

My head shook, trying to shake off the negativity the three boys were trying to bury in my mind. I didn’t want Dante to fall in love with me. I didn’t want him to love me. I just wanted to keep what we had.

"Forget it, girl. It’s the best for you and for him. One day, you’ll thank me for the warning," Cole continued.

"You hate me for no reason. I don’t know what I did, but I don’t intend to ruin your plans."

Van Doren's eyebrows arched, his furious expression showing signs it was about to appear.

"What plans?"

"You want Dante all to yourself. You're afraid I’ll steal him from you, isn’t that it?"

The breaking of a shared laugh between Jax and Asher made Cole yank my hair, tilting my head to the level of his eyes. The pain spread down my spine. I would be easily snapped in half if he increased the angle.

"Shut up, bitch," he spat aggressively, his mouth decomposing as if poison dripped from it. "You don't know anything, damn it! One day, when you're locked away for days in the dark, smelling the scent of dead flesh and your parents' rotting bodies next to you, hearing your sister's scream as she's ruined to death and taken to be fed by demons, then you’ll have the right to raise your voice against me and guess what my plans are."

My teeth ground together, almost tasting the cold blood between them. The taste in my mouth was acidic, capable of corrupting my lips.