Chapter 74 Reunited
Chapter 74 Reunited
Raven's POV
“Raven, answer me.” Blade pushed, grabbing my hands.
I forced a smile. This wasn't the time or place for emotions.
“I'm fine, Blade. I missed you so much.” I pulled him into a hug, and he hugged me back.
“When I heard an intruder had come in here, I was so worried.”
Blade's face instantly changed to one of guilt, and I frowned.
“Is something wrong?”
He lowered his head but said nothing.
“Did the intruder hurt you?” I asked immediately, but he shook his head.
“Then what could be wrong?”
It was unlike him to act like this.
But I didn't press him.
“I'll tell Dael to let you guys go. I am the one he wants.”
“No.” Blade snapped his head toward me. “You can't do that.”
“Don't worry, Blade. I'm fine. Dael isn't hurting me. In fact, he's going to help me find my mother.” I smiled, but he still didn't look thrilled.
“Raven, I wouldn't trust him yet. For all we know, he might be doing this to manipulate you.”
I frowned, studying Blade.
I had known him for a long time, and he didn't speak out of turn casually. Unless something was up.
“Blade, what's wrong?” I looked sternly at him, making my face completely expressionless.
Blade wouldn't look me in the eyes. His mouth opened and then closed again. His face pulled into a tight frown.
“You should ask Dael,” Rhea interrupted before I could press Blade any further for information. “Only he can answer your questions.”
I let out a deep breath, stood up, and barged out of the room.
“Fine, then. Since no one will tell me, I'll just have to get the information directly from Dael himself,” I muttered to myself.
Adrian's POV
“Yours,” I growled dangerously, struggling against my restraints. “Raven was never yours.”
Dael scoffed.
“Of course you would say that, you pompous coward! You always envied our love for each other!” he shouted, veins protruding from his forehead.
I forced myself to remain quiet as I inspected Dael.
The way his eyes darted from one place to another.
The way he breathed heavily.
I finally came to a realization.
Dael was mentally unstable.
Something must have gone terribly wrong with him. Maybe they found him after Raven's father tried to save him.
Could it be that they had continued experimenting on him?
“What happened to you?” I asked calmly, effectively stopping his pacing.
Dael turned toward me, glaring intensely.
For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer, but after some time, he turned away.
“You don't want to know.” He sneered angrily. “I don't even know why I'm entertaining you.”
He pointed his gun at me, his eyes filled with hatred but also... hesitation.
“Dael,” I called calmly, keeping my voice steady. “Make me understand why you think Raven belongs to you.”
For all I knew, Aster could have screwed him up badly. I wanted to find out how far the damage had gone.
Dael gave me a mocking look.
“Why I think?” he scoffed. “I don't think, you asshole. I know Raven belongs to me. Since we were kids, we've been inseparable. We promised to get married when we grew older. Until you and those stupid Aster dumbasses connived and took what belonged to me. Raven.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my temper.
“Dael, you need to put the gun down,” I said calmly, but Dael wasn't having it.
If anything, it only seemed to anger him even more.
“Don't tell me what I need to do, Adrian. I'm not a child!” he hissed at me. “I see you haven't changed a bit. You're still as controlling and annoying as you always were.”
He laughed bitterly.
“What do you mean?” I pried.
“Oh, I forgot. You don't remember.” He snorted. “You were also lucky like that. Always the one fortunate enough to forget all the bad things while I had to carry the weight.”
He paused, his expression hardening.
“Since we were kids, you were always their favorite. Mom, Dad, Uncle. Everyone loved you. But me...” His voice cracked slightly. “I always got cast aside. Treated like I didn't even matter.”
“Dael, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that—”
“Shut your mouth!” he yelled.
He breathed heavily.
“You don't remember, so you have no right to give me fake apologies!”
His hands tightened around the gun.
“After Aster, Mom and Dad never even tried to find me because they had you. Their perfect son. They just accepted that I was dead, just like that.”
He had an extremely pained look on his face, like he was about to cry.
He cocked and uncocked his gun several times as he glared at me.
I knew he was fighting with himself over whether to shoot me or let me go.
Raven's POV
I stalked out of the room angrily, searching for Dael.
He had to be here somewhere, probably attending to the intruder.
I searched every room I could find, but to no avail.
Just as I was about to give up and return to Blade, I heard a scream followed by two gunshots.
“Was that Dael?” I whispered to no one in particular.
It was definitely his voice.
I immediately began running in the direction of the noise, but this place was like a maze. I couldn't even find my way there properly.
“Excuse me, Miss Raven. Are you looking for something?”
A guard blocked my way.
“What?” I frowned, panting heavily. “Didn't you hear the gunshots?”
“That is none of your concern, Miss. Please return to your room.”
What was wrong with these people?
My gaze hardened.
“No,” I stated firmly.
The guard's face also hardened.
“Then I would just have to make you.”
He cracked his neck as he reached for me.
Big mistake.
I allowed him to grab me before pressing my neck against his dirty skin and biting down hard on it, drawing blood.
He screamed loudly, pulling away from me to grab the spot.
“Fucking bitch!” he shrieked like a banshee.
I smirked, wiping the blood from my lips.
“Get out of my way,” I warned, but he chuckled mockingly.
“You would have to do a whole lot more than that to get me out of your way.”
He gave me a sinister smile, which I returned wholeheartedly.
He was asking for it, and I sure as hell was going to give it to him.
This was long overdue anyway.
Dael's men had been underestimating me since the very first day I arrived here, and now I was out to prove them so fucking wrong.
The man came at me again, and this time, I kneed him right in the spot where the sun didn't shine.
“Argh!” he cried loudly, holding his manhood as he fell to the ground.
I used the opportunity to pick up a piece of wood and smash it against his head, successfully knocking him unconscious.
By the time I was done, I was completely exhausted, but I had a mission.
For all I knew, Dael might have been attacked, and these godforsaken men of his might just be in on it too.
Just as I got to the door of the room, Dael stepped out.
“Dael!” I rushed to him, pulling him into a hug. “Thank goodness you're okay. I thought something bad might have happened to you.”
“I'm fine.”
He gave me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
“Did something happen?” I asked immediately.
I might not know Dael well enough, but I knew Adrian, and this was exactly how he acted when something was bothering him.
He snorted.
“No. I'm perfectly fine.”
“But I heard gunshots, and you screamed. Was it the intruder?”
I tried to move past Dael, but he blocked me again.
“Raven, it's nothing, really. It's nothing I can't handle.”
I sighed.
“Who is the intruder, anyway?”
I tried to sidestep him again, but he wouldn't let me.
“It's no one important. Why don't you go pack up? Once I'm done here, we can be on our way.”
He smiled softly at me.
I nodded, returning the smile as I turned to leave, and he moved to enter the room.
I took two steps forward, but something kept telling me to go back and see who that intruder was.
Call it instinct, I don't know, but I felt completely uneasy.
I waited for Dael to walk into the room, then, as if pretending that I had forgotten to tell him something, I pushed the door open.
“Um, Dael?”
“Raven!” His eyes widened as he tried to block my view of the room, but I stubbornly pushed my way inside.
The moment I entered the room, I froze.
What I saw definitely wasn't what I had expected.
Tied up on the floor in front of me was...
Adrian.
His eyes were wide with shock, mirroring my own.
“A-Adrian.”