Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 351: NO!

Leilani

I know that this may sound stupid to most of you, but for some reason, I trusted Zevran enough to reach out to him.

I also trusted him enough to keep in touch with him despite everything; And this same delirious trust was the reason that I decided to meet Zevran at some discreet location not so far from the hotel where I have been hiding out for the past couple of days now.

It was nighttime before I could bring myself to step out of my hotel room, and after styling my hair into the highest ponytail to ever exist and wearing the largest darkest and ugliest sunglasses to be ever created by man, I slipped out of the hotel and into my waiting uber as I couldn’t use my car for now.

The ride was excruciatingly slow and quiet, save for the quiet music playing on the radio, and because I didn’t want to engage with the driver, I busied myself with watching the city’s blurry lights as we drove past ...until we stopped.

The driver drawled; "We’re here, ma’am."

My eyes widened in surprise— because I had just been snapped out of my thoughts— as I then turned to acknowledge him for the first time tonight. I smiled at him and nodded; "Thank you," before fishing out a few dollar bills from my purse.

The middle aged man looked from my face to the wad of cash in his hands, a flicker of... was that recognition fleeting across his face before I turned away.

I quickly handed the money to him before he would be bold enough to say anything to me and then stepped out of his car, shivering slightly when the cold wind hit my hair and face.

I buried my hands deep into my coat pockets as I walked further to the darker parts of the abandoned house, the part where I was sure that the street’s CCTV camera could not easily catch, and waited.

I waited for five whole minutes... then ten.

Then fifteen.

And just as I was about to walk away, thinking that Zevran probably couldn’t make it, a shiny black mustang glided into the area and a familiar figure stepped out.

My breath caught in my chest when I saw him step out of his car looking all sharp in a plain black trouser and a gray woolen sweater that hugged his body like a second skin. His muscles flexed with each step he took and his eyes— sharp yet excruciatingly beautiful— darted around lazily in search of me.

His scent hit my nostrils even before he got any close, and as soon as his eyes met mine, I could swear that I saw the instant relief wash over his face. And that was before the worry... and the frustration that immediately clouded his features like some freaking cloud.

"Hey, I didn’t think you would make it..." I began to say but stopped when he pulled me flush against his warm body. His weight crashed into my body, knocking the air out of my lungs and I gasped in surprise before slowly wrapping my arms around him.

"Hey, hey..." I whispered soothingly into his ear, "Hey, I am fine, thank you for asking."

I tried to sound sarcastic but ended up only sounding breathless, especially since his heady scent was filling my nostrils and sending jolts of electricity zapping through my entire body.

And Zevran, he didn’t mind me. He didn’t even say a word to me as he buried his face into the crook of my neck, greedily taking in lungfuls of my scent and squeezing so tight, I would’ve easily melted into him if that was possible.

I do not know for how long we stood there holding onto each other, but by the time he finally let go of me, it had already begun to drizzle slightly.

The cold water droplets fell on my face and hair but despite this, I still felt warm all over.

Why?

Because he was still holding me so close. Because his sweet masculine warmth was still seeping into my skin despite the several layers of clothing separating us.

His eyes were soft, warm and showed all the emotions he couldn’t bring himself to voice as he drawled; "You’re indeed okay."

"Did you tell anyone about meeting me or hearing from me?" I asked softly, dismissing his concerns about my wellbeing— not like I didn’t want him to ask, I was just desperate to learn the truth and slip out of his self-induced exile.

He shook his head quickly. "No. Kael is suspicious though, especially since I’ve been asking for some documents and because I began to use the services of one of our private investigators to look into your case. He has also noticed that I am not as paranoid as he is... and Caelum too about the whole situation... so it’s been pretty difficult to leave the house without arousing suspicions."

Something about his words made my breath hitch. It made me realize just how worried the triplets were about me. And if they were this worried, then I couldn’t help but imagine the kind of pain that Jay would be in too. I couldn’t help but...

"What about Jarek?" The question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself, and to my surprise, Zevran didn’t seem mad that I had suddenly brought up Jay; If anything, he smiled softly at me.

"He’s looking for you. We all are because we all know that the corpse found at your house wasn’t you."

My heart somersaulted and I frowned. "How?"

"Because we saw the tattoo on the corpse’s wrist and we know that you do not have any tattoos. We also saw her hair..." he started to say, but suddenly stopped as if catching onto something that I haven’t.

It wasn’t until that moment that I noticed the difference in his countenance but that wasn’t the only thing that stuck out to me.

What also stuck out to me was the fact that he could no longer bring himself to look at me in the face.

He lowered his eyes and gulped, his face suddenly taking on a bright shade of red. He drawled; "Forget I said that... anyways, they know that the corpse found in your house wasn’t you so they’ve all been looking for you."

I wanted to forget but I couldn’t bring myself to. I wanted to be obedient and simply let it go but I couldn’t, especially since it was also something that has been bugging me since forever.

Slowly, I planted my hands on his arms and took another step close to him— so close that I could feel him, skin and all, brushing against me. So close that his warm breath fanned the top of my head.

My eyes were soft and pleading as I looked up to him and in a voice so small, I could barely hear myself, I whispered; "Do you know who it was?"

He froze. "Huh?"

"Do you know who the girl was? The one whose corpse was found in my house?" I asked,

And as soon as I asked that, he turned away from me and sighed loudly. When he turned again to look at me, his expression had been schooled into one of cold indifference. He shrugged;

"No."

But I knew that he was lying. I could see it in his eyes and feel it in the way his shoulders were so stiff, he could easily pass for a statue.

And then it hit me.

I knew her.

I had to know whoever it was for him to be so dismissive. So unwilling to say who it was.

My hands fisted into his sweater and I hissed through gritted teeth, my heart pounding as I spat; "Who is she, Zevran?"

He shook his head. "I just told you that I do not know!"

"You’re lying..." I cried, and in response, he lowered his head again.

"I’m not. All I know is that she had a small tattoo on her wrist and that it looked like a semi colon. Her hair also used to be auburn before it was all burnt off..." he trailed off,

But that was all I needed to know, that was all the descriptions I needed to know who it was.

My knees crashed to the floor when the realization dawned upon me... but I couldn’t cry. I didn’t.

Instead, I fainted.