Chapter 121 CHAPTER 21
The sword clattered to the ground and I turned around and fled.
I'm not sure if I heard my name or if it was the wind.
But I pushed my feet to run, ignoring the tears that filled my eyes.
I thought I was beyond the heartbreak that comes with this but while Jake had broken my heart, Florian just destroyed me from the inside out.
My mind didn't compute that I had been about to break him, my heart didn't care that we never gave him a proper chance.
I just felt pain, visceral, bone-crushing pain as the image burned itself into my head.
Florian has moved on and I have to do the same.
I mean, I should be happy; he was scared of being alone, and now I know he won't be.
But it hurt, goddamnit it hurts!
The second I pushed the door to our house open, Zade turned to look at me with excitement in his gaze.
He didn't even look at me for more than a second, already gushing about the portal.
“I have it ready baby, it's perfect. I can't believe I did this!”
“Thank goodness,” I whispered, trying to regain control of my emotions.
“Once the sun sets, we'll step into our new lives. It's exciting right?”
“Absolutely.”
My voice was filled with sadness no matter how excited I tried to sound.
“Sunshine are you alright?” He finally noticed but I was already rushing towards the stairs.
“Yes, I want to shower, I fell.”
“Oh dear, sorry. You're still adjusting to the terrain. Do you want me to come with you? I mean we should be saying farewell to this planet in different ways,” he said, winking at me.
That used to make me smile so I forced a smile on my face but shook my head.
But on a second thought, maybe this is what I needed.
Principal Draco rejected me and Florian couldn't even wait a few minutes before running into the arms of another woman.
But Zade is here, like he always is, taking care of me and our future.
Sex with him will reset everything.
“I changed my mind,” I called out as I stepped into the room, “we have some spots in the house that need our special touch.”
His footsteps rushing up the stairs genuinely made me smile.
Yes, I need a distraction from my heart shattering into pieces and who better to help with that than the man who healed me?
Sex didn't wipe out the pain or the overwhelming feelings but it cleared my head enough for me to be honest with myself.
Regardless of what these three lines on my neck say, I'm going to be satisfied with Zade. He's perfect and that's it.
“What's been on your mind baby?” He asked, his fingers trailing from my neck to my back again and again.
We were lying down in the living room with the portal alive and breathing behind us.
We'd been scared someone would break in or something so we pulled down blankets and continued fucking in front of an imaginary audience.
“I'm not going to take ‘nothing' for an answer again. Tell me or I'll tickle you till you cry.”
“Ugh, fine. You drive a hard bargain,” I feigned annoyance, “but you'll be upset.”
“You know how to calm me down so don't pretend that worries you. Talk. Now.”
“I asked Erin about my family.”
He flew up.
“You did what?”
“Relax, I didn't tell her I'm related to them. Although you could have avoided this by simply telling me the truth. I'm an offspring of a family of betrayers and greedy people who wanted to take the throne from its rightful king.”
“Yeah, that's what they said,” he sighed and lay back down.
“That's what they said?”
“It all happened so fast. One minute Lord Zhar Chang is the King's favourite advisor and the next, he's accused of treason. He doesn't go through the council, the courts, or a public trial. Just one night in the dungeons and then he's slaughtered like a wild beast for all to see. I support squashing out rebellion but for someone who had served the throne for three hundred years plus, he deserved better than that. And then the King went an extra mile and ransacked the Zhar village by the seas and everyone who had his power, which is every member of the Zhar lineage by the way, his soldiers killed them.”
“But they defied his rule, right? He must have had a justification for doing that, for killing every living member of the family.”
“The power you possibly possess in your veins Alira, is the actual reason I stole this book and built that portal. If the King eventually discovers who you are, he will either kill you or hand over the throne to you.”
“You're being ridiculous,” I rolled my eyes.
“Let's not find out then. Come, I need to check the suns and see if it's time.”
I followed him to the window and we both gasped at the same time.
Principal Draco on Styx's back, riding with a fury that turned me on and scared me at the same time.
“I think he suspects,” I whispered.
“No, he definitely knows I took the book. We have to leave. Now.”
“But the suns aren't set right!”
“Not as much as I would like baby but if we wait for that angry wild animal to get in here, he'll ruin everything and throw me in the dungeons and fling the keys in the Carabino Ocean. Let's go.”
A part of me desperately wanted to stay, to make him see what we've done.
I wanted to be wrecked by the consequences of his anger.
‘Get your shit together, Alira,’ I cautioned myself as I rushed back with Zade towards the portal.
A fist slammed on the door.
“Zade! I know you're in there, open this door right now!”
“Come, get in,” he pulled me towards the green and blue orb swelling over and over.
“Are you coming after me?” I asked, fear finally catching up to me.
“I'm not letting your hand go baby, step in.”
It was a few inches above the ground, the two mirrors he'd placed against each other projecting the portal.
The second I stepped one foot in, I heard the door being lifted off its hinges.
Quickly, I jumped in, holding tightly to Zade's hand.
He jumped in after me, and the sound of Principal Draco's scream trailed us as we fell into nothing.