Chapter 33

I kept on glaring at him as realization dawned on his face.

"I c-can't believe it..." he said in almost whisper. "You are the Purple-Eyed Werewolf?"

"Yes, I am," I said. "So you better behave or I'll slit your throat, Darren. I don't want to hear anything from our past anymore, nor anything about how you feel about me. Things have changed. I'm no longer the weak and passive Milena that you knew. And if by chance I ever found out that you are actually involved in this mess, I'm not going to hesitate. I will kill you."

Darren nodded helplessly. It looked like the revelation of my secret identity was too much for him that it left him speechless. I then walked towards the door and stopped in front of it, thinking of ways on how to get through the hallway outside without inhaling the sleeping gas scattered there. If only Marcus was here, he could easily think of a way for us to escape from here. But he wasn't and I had to accept that and think on my own.

"Maybe we could run as fast as we can," Darren suggested from behind me. "We could dash through the hallway while holding our breath, but that would be difficult. For starters, I don't know where the gas is coming from so we might still inhale it all over the place."

He had a point. The gas could be everywhere in this place. We had to think this through before we opened the door again. "If you're right, then does that mean that those rogues living at this place wear some kind of gas masks or something?"

"I think so. I assume Nightshade has gas masks ready for her people for this kind of situation."

"Who is this Nightshade and why do you know so much about her?" I asked curiously because I had never heard of a female rogue boss. "And how is she able to produce this sleeping gas?"

"She's one of the seven rogue bosses here in the south, also known as the Blackholes. I heard she was a chemist before becoming what she is now. She's also the most elusive among the seven of them and the only one I have never met in person."

"Blackholes..." I repeated. "I have heard of that name before. Tyrone, that other rogue boss mentioned it to us before we finished him off."

"Yeah, he was one of them too. Tyrone was tough to beat and gave me these scars," he said pointing at the scar on his face and showed me another on his arm. His alias was Fabled Fang and I did get the news that it was the Purple-Eyed Werewolf that killed him. I can't believe that was you, Milena."

I hesitated, then proceeded to say what was on my mind at this very moment. "I had always wondered about this... Then this means that you didn't see the color of my eyes back then... Five years ago, when we... we found out we were mates..."

"I think I did... But I didn't know what it meant by then. I wasn't even sure if I saw it as purple... Maybe I thought it was normal blue."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Of course you wouldn't know, Darren. Maybe it even convinced you more that I was a freak and that Valerie was right. And look where it got you."

He smiled sadly. "I thought we were not allowed to speak about our past anymore? I was okay with that since it would mean a fresh start for the two of us."

"I only meant you, Darren. I didn't say that I won't talk about my past, but I would like you to shut up about it. And what fresh start are you talking about? I have no plans in reacquainting with you."

"I know. But let's get along at least for now, while we are here. Let's be friends, Milena. It won't hurt if we act civil to each other right?"

"I guess you're right. I can be friendly to you, but I'm not your friend anymore."

"Got it," he said, smiling weakly trying to hide the hurt in his face but his eyes still didn't know how to lie. His smile didn't reach his eyes, just like before when we were younger. And because of the awkward air between us now, we just went back to discussing how to escape from this room when an idea came to me.

"Why didn't I think of this earlier?" I said to myself in frustration.

"What do you mean? Have you thought of something?"

"Yes! And I can't believe it's this simple!"

"Really? What is your plan, Milena?"

"I think I can blow the sleeping gas away by summoning a strong gust of wind," I told him excitedly, forgetting for a moment that I was not on good terms with him. "I couldn't believe I forgot that I'm a full-fledged witch! Of course I can create wind!"

“You can do that now?”

“Yeah. I now practice witchcraft. Any problem with that?”

“N-No…” he said nervously.

“Good, but even if you did find it wrong I wouldn’t care,” I said as I prepared to cast the spell. Darren was speechless, and then I proceeded to tell him what he needed to do. All we had to do was to hold our breath for a minute while I cast the spell that I needed. And hopefully once I summoned the strong gust of wind we'd finally be able to escape from here. After counting to ten, Darren opened the door and we held our breath while I mentally casted the wind-summoning spell. The spell was a little bit complicated as the hand gestures it needed were a bit over the top, but other than that it was good.

After just a second, a cold gust of wind started blowing from my body in every direction. It was strong enough to blow the sleeping gas away in the hallway. "The spell lasts for ten minutes. We have to run fast and find an exit before it stops!" I told Darren as we dashed into the hallway. We did manage to run faster than normal and after five minutes of running we reached what looked like the entrance hall of this huge stone mansion. Darren wasn't lying about this property being big and extravagant, as I saw golden chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling.

There was a commotion happening when we arrived, and as I looked around I saw that it was Marcus fighting a man in the corner. I called him out of joy and relief that he was safe, and he saw me and his whole face lit up. But then several men came at us. A fight ensued between me and Darren versus these rogues, and for the first time I saw how good Darren was as a fighter. He snapped his opponent's neck in one fluid motion before going for the next.

I was impressed, but I returned my attention to Marcus whom I noticed was already wounded. His clothes were red from blood and it also looked like the man he was fighting was no ordinary rogue. "That's Malcolm the Madman," said Darren beside me. He'd already defeated his opponents and even helped me finish mine. "I fought him before and I could say he's the best hand-to-hand fighter among the Blackholes. Your husband might get in trouble."

"Don't underestimate him," I snapped. "He's also strong." We watched as Marcus and the rogue boss called Malcolm fought. It was a tough fight and I already wanted to help Marcus but I also felt like if I helped him now his honor would be compromised, especially with Darren watching. Marcus was able to kick Malcolm full in the face that caused the latter to crash into the floor.

Our eyes met and I ran towards my husband when his opponent didn't move anymore. "Marcus!" I called and hugged him. He hugged me back, but we heard Darren shout at us and before we knew it, Malcolm turned into his wolf form and attacked us. He was about to slash me with his sharp steel claws but Marcus shielded me from harm so he was the one who got hurt instead.

I screamed when he fell to the ground, bleeding badly.