222- The Sweetness of Betrayal
POV Elowen Grimwald:
Freed from the cage, but still trapped within the walls of that house.
The anger burning inside me ignited.
The desire for revenge, slightly numbed, rekindled. I threw the jar Nerin had left me into the trash and walked to the knife drawer. I didn’t need to rummage through it—my eyes caught the silver one the moment I opened it. I hid it beside my chest, inside my clothes, and tossed my hair forward, disguising the bulge.
The simple contact with my skin made it burn.
With trembling hands and a racing heart, I slipped from the kitchen into the hallway and toward the stairs. Only one of the guards was in the living room, and he didn’t even bother to turn around to look at me.
The bastard scented me—I saw his dark nostrils flare. Burning! Burning! Burning!
Before going after the other part of my plan, I ran past my captivity and hid the knife under the mattress pad.
Now or never. Today or never again.
I blew air into the valley between my breasts, trying to disperse the heat. It was useless.
Forgive me, Nerin.
With traitorous steps, I headed to Nerin’s bedroom. Last door on the right.
Forgive me, my friend…
“Nerin?” I whispered her name to the wood, one hand on the round metal doorknob.
If she were awake, she would answer… She didn’t.
I turned it slowly until it opened.
Through the crack, I saw her hugging a pillow and covered up to her waist, sleeping like an angel. I kept the door half-open to partially light the room and, on tiptoe, entered the dark bedroom.
The first television I saw in the mansion was there. I hadn’t found one anywhere else. I scanned the partial darkness, searching for clues.
Where could her sleeping medication be?
I thought quickly, and someone who takes medicine daily usually keeps it within easy reach. Controlling my breathing, I approached the double bed, trying to see what was on the nightstand.
A pair of glasses, an empty cup, a diary, and a notebook.
My entire stomach felt like it was freezing over. If Nerin woke up and saw me there, it could be the end of the line for me.
I bent down, touching the circular handle of the first drawer and pulling it slowly. It yielded silently to my touch, revealing, among a photo album and personal items, three small dropper bottles. It had to be her sleeping medication—it had to be.
I picked one up, trying to test its weight, but for some reason the bottle slipped from my fingers, clashing against the wooden drawer. Every muscle in my body went on alert, and my breathing spiraled out of control along with my heart.
I bit my lips and forced myself to look to the side, afraid of finding her with her eyes open.
No, no, no…
I held my breath in relief when I saw that she was still asleep, her eyes closed.
Without being able to waste any more time, I grabbed the other one, which weighed a little more than the previous one, closing my fingers around it. All I had to do was restrain my own breathing, close the drawer slowly, and slip out. The moment I shut the door again, I just ran. Once I had put a safe distance between myself and that room, I exhaled, letting the relief escape through my nostrils.
I had no idea how I was going to get those drops into the damned alpha, but I prayed that the gods would help me come up with a plan.
I hid the small vial alongside the knife, and anxiety threatened to suffocate me. I wanted to be free of that prison, of the tears, of the pain.
Aldren humiliated me. He thought he could use me and discard me however he pleased. He restricted my freedom, and I still had to thank him for it, just to inflate his enormous ego.
No. Absolutely not.
I doubted that Aldren knew anything about my sister. He had thrown out the bait, and I had bitten.
I had been so stupid. I should have realized that if he truly had control over her life, he would have used that against me in a cruel way. He would never have missed the chance.
I had bowed my head, fearing that something might happen to Lunara, when in fact it was nothing more than a game, and the most useless piece on the board was me.
I paced back and forth in the room lit by a single lamp until I decided to open the window. The wind was fierce. I leaned my forearms on the sill and closed my eyes, letting it blow violently against my face.
I needed to get close to Aldren. Seduce him. But how? How?
I got myself ready as best I could, expecting to go to the damned party, but apparently Elowen Grimwald wasn’t even good for that.
Oh no…
I trembled from head to toe as the scent of eucalyptus filled the room.
Could Aldren have seen what I did? Maybe I was so nervous that I hadn’t noticed him before?
My legs definitely threatened to give out the moment I felt his large hands on my waist and his heavy breathing around my neck.
“Aldren…?” I whispered his name, wrapped in fear and in the energy that the bastard trapped me in every time he touched me.
“That’s me.” His deep, yet velvety voice sent such a violent shiver down my spine that I let out a soft gasp.
“How was the party?” I asked, trying to sound pleasant so I could get closer to him, while a sharp stab of resentment edged my voice.
“Satisfactory,” he replied curtly.
His answer carried a subtext I didn’t want to explore, one that made my stomach churn all on its own. “Satisfactory” could mean anything, and I feared what that might include.
I had dressed in the best I had, expecting to be taken to the damned party, only to be ignored. Now, faced with the chance to be alone with him, my heart pounded with a dangerous mix of desire and hatred.
“That’s good…” I dissembled.