Chapter 44 Chapter Forty -Four
CRYSTAL
I woke to darkness.
Not the complete darkness of night, but the grey, uncertain darkness that came before dawn broke. That in-between time when the world was caught between sleeping and waking. And I was stuck in it as my eyes opened slowly, like they didn't want to face whatever waited on the other side of consciousness.
But what was even more troubling was the thick fog over my mind that wouldn't go away.
So, I just lay there in the semi-darkness. The ceiling above me suddenly became a subject of my scrutiny. Yes, I was in my room, or rather, a room. This wasn't mine, it couldn't be. But here I lay, my legs heavy with guilt I didn't know why.
I recounted my evening, I had dinner alone, then went to bed. That was it. I had dinner, then went to bed. Nothing else, but why did it feel like something was missing from my consciousness?
I sat up carefully, pushing the quilt aside and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. My head felt...heavy. Like I was thinking through layers of cotton and nothing was becoming clear.
What had I done last night before I went to bed?
I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to chase down the memory that felt like it was hovering just out of reach. Something had happened. Something important.
But what?
"Damn it, Crystal." I let out an exhausted sigh. The harder I tried to remember, the more it slipped away from me.
It's probably not something important, but if it weren't, how come it was bothering me so much? It was as if my body wanted me to remember something important, but for the life of me, I just couldn't.
"Hmm..." I hummed again, before padding my bare feet against the cool tiled floors towards the window. I stared out into the horizon where the sky touched the earth.
Had I just come back to my room after dinner? It made sense that I'd just returned here and gone to sleep.
But something about that felt incomplete.
What was it?
I asked myself, but nothing came as my eyes drifted past the gardens below, toward the front of the estate where the main gates stood tall and intimidating.
My brows drew together because I saw something move down there. Multiple things that looked like they crawled out of a fairytale.
Werewolves.
Five massive beasts. Each one was easily the size of a small horse, moving with a predatory grace that made my breath catch. Their fur was various shades of grey and brown, catching what little light there was and making them look almost ethereal. I've never seen so many in one spot like this before.
Well, given that I was in their territory, it shouldn't have been a surprise. But what were they doing down there?
I stepped closer to the window and pressed my hand against it. I then noticed there were others too. There were two figures on horseback.
Even in the dim pre-dawn light, I could make out the bright red hair of the first rider that stood out like a flame against the muted greys of morning.
Aquila.
He sat astride a dark horse with an easy confidence, as he turned his head left, then right. His posture was relaxed despite the massive wolves flanking him.
And the second rider?
Taller than Aquila. Broader. Sitting on a grey horse that looked almost silver in the strange light. Radiating a dangerous presence that made a shudder crawl up my spine.
It was Asher.
My hand that was pressed against the cool glass of the window curled into a fist, my breath fogging it slightly as I leaned closer without meaning to.
What were they doing down there?
And why did looking at them make something tighten in my chest—something that felt dangerously close to longing?
I watched as they moved closer to the gates, the wolves spreading out slightly as they crossed the grounds. One of them—a massive creature with copper-brown fur streaked with grey—moved ahead of the others, its head high and alert.
Asher said something to Aquila and he nodded before moving ahead of the pack, leading them out through the gates.
But he didn't follow, at least not immediately. Something screamed at me to duck back into the room and pretend I saw nothing, but I stayed glued to that spot. My eyes fixed on the man just outside my window and as if sensing something, Asher's head suddenly turned and my breath hitched.
He couldn't have possibly seen me, right?
Wrong.
Asher didn't look at some random spot around the estate, his heated gaze met mine head-on and he held it.
Our eyes met across the distance and everything else fell away.
Those amber eyes...they locked onto mine with an intensity that made my breath so loud I was almost certain he could hear it from this distance.
He couldn't possibly see me from down there, could he?
But he was looking directly at me like he knew exactly where I was. Like he could sense me watching him the same way I'd been drawn to watch in the first place.
Time seemed to stretch and my hand tightened on the curtain before I jerked back from the window, and I finally got the courage to draw the curtains shut and pretend nothing happened. But my heart was still beating like a drum.
Why did I hide?
Why did seeing him look at me like that make me want to run and hide like a child caught doing something forbidden?
I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling my heart racing beneath my palm.
This was ridiculous. I didn't do anything wrong. I was just looking out a window. That was allowed, right? Unless, it was something I wasn't meant to see...
That thought was
enough to keep me wide awake. Counting the minutes until someone would come to take me away.