Rosette tried to breathe—reminding herself that she was still alive, that she was an immortal.
The encounter earlier made her entire body stiff and covered in redness. Rosette was wholly shamefaced and…guilty.
She had managed to choose over her own happiness than their—her and Leo’s—domestic felicity.
Rosette exhaled and inhaled; repeating it until she managed to think and speak and move properly.
‘Damn it!’ She shrieked in the walls of her mind.
At least, she had managed to see him once; at least for a second, at least for a minute.
Rosette kept on reminding herself that what she did was right; that the glamour she crafted was for the safety and prevailing of secrecy of the vampire and werewolf world.
‘Calm, Evalin!’ She only called herself by her second name when she was frustrated, furious, or probably a combination of the two.
Rosette was driving towards the condominium unit she owns when she decided to go to Rozelyn—to Rozelyn alone, in order to tell her what had happened. What she’s been feeling, and confess to her that something eerie was shrounding Leonardo. That peculiar aura she sensed seems to be rarely around on a mortal like Leonardo. Truly, Rosette was oblivious to Leo's true nature.
She recognized that presence. But, she doesn’t want to draw a conclusion in the blink of an eye. Rosette wanted to make sure first that what her guess was right.
Yet, if that guess turns out to be right, the reunion between the two made it much more impossible.
Two creatures from opposing sides—it’s more like i-love-my-enemy kind of thing.
She breathes again; to calm herself again. The rumbling thoughts in her brain were sending her to the pit of lunacy.
No. She will not treat that as a problem as of today. There are far more crucial things to think, to ponder, to solve. The Blood Mistress and her minions for example. That bitch never ceased to infiltrate the once-peaceful Shamrock and turn it into a battlefield.
Rosette glanced at herself through her car’s mirror. She looks young, fresh, and ever-beautiful.
“Relax, Rosette!” That was the last phrase she declared to herself before arriving and parking by the Zadzisai Residence.
***
Anaztasia handed the make-shift shovel to Avril. She then grabbed the white lilies from her pocket that she plucked earlier and placed it next to the handmade wooden cross they crafted, situated atop the soil that covered the fallen mortal’s body—the Death Summoner they captured—now six feet below the ground.
“May you rest in peace in the Afterworld,” Anaztasia said with her closed eyes.
“You sound like a pagan, a heathen…” Avril countered in a sardonic manner.
She opened her eyes to see him smirking. Anaztasia rolled her eyes and waved a hand to him that they’ll leave this place before anyone or something caused them trouble again.
The cold wind of the morning signifies that winter is nearing—that winter is coming. She brushed off the coolness of the breeze and treated it as a normal ‘gesture’ of nature to immortal beings like her.
They were now walking for about ten minutes when her phone rang. One look on the screen and she knew that Romaine was calling because something unpleasant happened in their family…again.
She glanced at Avril and the alpha just gave her a tight nod.
“Yes, Romaine?”
Romaine’s reply was a long narration of what recently happened to Rozelyn and Hestia Halls. Of course, Anaztasia knew who that teacher was, she had once attended her class.
It was on speaker mode so Avril had definitely heard the whole thing.
“What is it with Rozelyn that dear Mistress Trouble is constantly visiting her this time of year?” he asked, touching his jaw.
She shrugged. “Perhaps Roz is the first Thaumaturge in centuries, if not millenia…”
He couldn’t agree more. Being a Thaumaturge is a big deal. It was as if a messiah had finally been thrown into their feet after a very long time.
Anaztasia then pressed the hang-up button and the call ended for almost half an hour; with them only leaning by an aged-old tree, situated in this rocky part of this virgin forest.
“Let’s go?” Avril beckons as he himself is longing to roll in his queen-sized bed and take a goddamn eight-hour sleep.
They continued trekking, disregarding their slight wounds and tired feet. They can now see the road to where Avril parked their sea-green-colored motorcycle.
“Finally, we’ll be going home.”
Yet, Anaztasia was wrong when her android phone beeped.
It was a message from Romaine.
She read it out loud. “Thank you for accepting me, my sweet daughter. Hope to see you again soon, my dear lady-in-red.”
It was added with a sweet smiling emoji.
“What does that mean?” Avril arched her brows in query and confusion.
“I don’t know. So far, I am not fond of the color red…”
She typed and texted and replied to Romaine while uttering the words she was about to send. “Uhm Romaine, you know that I hate red, don’t you?”
They waited for a minute or two for the reply. The two lovers were staring in confusion. It was Avril who broke the silence.
“Maybe it’s a wrong send?”
Anaztasia was just quiet. “Perhaps…”
Her phone beeped again and what Avril said was right. It was also him who read what Romaine texted.
“I’m sorry, Ana. That was meant for Roz!”
But Anaztasia just frowned.
“See? Told you honey!”
“But Rozelyn had long accepted Romaine as her mother!” She said in a rising tone.
“Come on, Ana! Perhaps they’re having a within-family-feud again.”
Anaztasia stared at Avril Archer Arke.
“Fine! Let’s drive home now, shall we?”
Avril gave Ana a quick lover’s kiss and lifted her body to the motorcycle.
“I am your home, Anaztasia Amanda Arryn.”
She rolled her eyes as Avril started the vehicle. The two gave the forest one last glance before driving away and disappearing into the early autumn morning’s mist.