Chapter 9
It took me a moment to realize that the iron bands around me are arms, and I was being held tightly against a muscular chest and not floating. I should have been trampled by the crowd, but instead this stranger saved me. Another moment passed before my face heated, and I realized I’m being held in what was almost an embrace by a stranger.
“I’m sorry but thank you.” I mumble as I push out of his grasp and stood, straightening my sundress. “I can be such a klutz sometimes.” My face heated more with my admission.
“You’re welcome, but I’m not going to let you apologize for your klutziness. I rather enjoyed saving you.” The admission carried by his soothing voice made my eyes snap to his.
I managed to keep my mouth closed as my gaze moved over him. He was tall, at least a few inches over six feet. His skin was fair and pale, making his amber colored eyes and black hair stand out against his paleness. His features were sharp, but handsome. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen him. It wasn’t like me to forget a face.
He smiled at me briefly before dropping his gaze and bending to picked up something from the ground. The sun reflected off the golden item in his hand, making me realize he’d grabbed the broach I’d been chasing. He cleared his throat as he studied the jewelry in his hand.
“I believe this belongs to you.” His voice sounded strained compared to before.
“Yes, thank you. It fell and then I tried to get it, but kicked it instead and I-“
“No explanation needed.” He smiled softening his scolding tone. “Let me help you put it back on.”
I held my breath as he leaned closer. A knowing smile graced his beautiful features, telling me he’d noticed my nervousness. Yet he didn’t step back.
His fingers felt cool on my own flushed skin. Almost too cold, as the back of his fingers brush against my chest, just barely above my breast. The moment his skin touched mine a shock pulsed between us, like a shock of electricity passed from him to me.
A gasp pulls from my lips as he pulls away, his eyes never leaving the swell of my breast where the pin was now secure.
“It was like it was made for you. It’s only a few shades off from your eyes.” He smiles, still looking at the broach.
Something about this man made me conflicted. One part of me was screaming that he was dangerous, that I should be running away. Anything to put more distance between the two of us. This man will hurt me like no one else ever could.
While the other part wants me to curl up in his arms and never leave. A now familiar heat blossoms low in my stomach. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. No man has ever made me feel this way, except the man that visits my dream.
——
Vasile
I couldn’t draw my gaze from the broach I’d just pinned to her. My thoughts were racing so hard I barely recognized that our skin touching forced something deeper inside me to wake up. A feeling I’d had once before, but it ended in pain and anger. I pushed that feeling away, focusing back on the broach that sat just above the swell of her breast.
I’d told her the broach was perfect for her, and the electricity that pulsed between our touching skin confirmed my statement as the truth. The broach still felt like Sophia, like a piece of her was in it and that piece had chosen Cadella. I just had to figure out why.
The broach rose and fell with her breathing. Over a lifetime had passed since I’d seen this piece, yet I recognized it instantly. How could I forget it? It had been a gift.
My memories transport me back to that day. I’m no longer standing in the crowded museum with Cadella, instead I’m in my home with Sophia. A part of me wants to run from this memory. To stuff it down deep inside me and forget about it. The other side wars against that feeling, making its desire to remember this happy moment known. I can’t make myself push it away.
Instead, I’m in that damned room with the person I had loved with my whole being. The person who had destroyed me faster than I ever thought possible.
“It’s beautiful, Vas. Help me put it on?” Sophia turned to face me as she stepped closer, handing me the box with the broach still in it.
I can’t help my sharp inhale. It’d been so long since I’d thought of her in anyway besides the enemy. Her beauty took my breath away.
Her light blonde hair was pulled back in an extravagant updo. Her gown was deep blue almost matching her eyes, making the soft yellow of her standout more. The golden broach would stand out against the sea of blue, the same blue of the sapphires I’d had placed in the broach.
I’d seen the stones in the window of the jewel shop when I’d been passing through. I don’t even remember walking into the store. I just remember thinking that the blue in them matched Sophia’s eyes perfectly, and no other woman should wear that shade of blue on their person. It was made for my lover only.
The jeweler had been more than happy to make a custom piece for me. Even when I’d demanded a shorter than usual turn around time. I’d wanted it made for tonight, for this ball. The ball where I’d ask her to be mine forever.
In the same fashion I’d just placed the broach on Cadella, my hand reached just inside of Sophia’s dress. A manner that only a lover should. The back of my hand brushed against her warm skin. The simple touch making me want more of her.
This broach had been one of the first things I’d asked about when I’d first been released from the curse. No one had known where it was. They had thought that it had disappeared, destroyed when Sophia died. I had assumed the same.
Except seeing this broach again made me realize that Sophia hadn’t been wearing the broach that day. In fact, she’d stopped wearing a few days before she betrayed me and my clan. The thought that she’d known she was going to hurt me, hurt my clan made the anger burn through me again.
Clenching my jaw, I studied the broach that was on Cadella’s dress. Had Sophia stopped wearing it because it reminded her of me? Because it made her more aware of the betrayal she was about to commit? Or had it been a part of her betrayal? Is that how it got into Cadella’s hands?
I shook my head. It’s a broach. It can’t do anything, especially find a soul. Sophia probably felt guilty wearing a gift from me on the day she’d destroy me. A part of me wanted that to be the case.
The same part of me that made me wish she had worn it. Knowing she would have suffered as she betrayed me made me happy. I hope that as she made the decision to betray me, she would have felt the same conflicting that I had in me now. A war inside me that made me want to destroy the broach as much as I wanted to keep seeing it on Cadella. A bitter chuckle escaped my throat.
“Is something funny?” Cadella growled at me.
“No, sorry. It was a memory. This broach is like one a loved one of mine owned before her death. I’m not laughing at you.” I smiled down at the little woman who had her hands on her hip, like a scolding mother.
She hummed but stayed quiet.
I held out my hand realizing that I hadn’t introduced myself.
“I’m Anton Ardelean, one of the history professors at the university. I’m guessing that if you’re here you’re a student?” I asked, already knowing who she was.
“Yes, Cadella Evander. Were you the one who sent me the ticket?” She asked as she griped my hand.
“Yes. Sorry for the confusion. The list was sent out before your scholarship was approved. I’m glad to see you received the ticket. Shall we find seats?” I asked, holding my hand out infront of me as I gestured to the auditorium.
“Of course. Thank you.” She smiled and stepped in front of me.
My eyes drifted down over her back. She was more beautiful in person than she was in her dreams. Getting close to her to lure into my revenge plan was going to be more fun that I had expected. I shook my head, clearing it of thoughts of us in her dream. I had to stay focused, Cadella was just a pawn in my game.