Chapter 180: Any More Lies?
Lauren’s breathing hitched when Alec cupped her face with both hands, his eyes were midnight black as he stared into hers. She could see both madness and tranquility in his orbs, proof that things didn’t always need to be similar to be together... that there were different things ant to be perfectly fit for each other.
"If there is sothing I cannot do in this world, that is hurting you, Lauren, you should rember that. Always." He said it so quietly that she almost didn’t understand the words if she wasn’t reading his lips.
"I know," she whispered with conviction, telling him that there was no need for a reminder because she believed it was a truth no one could disprove. "But these shackles don’t seem to be a good idea for ..."
She couldn’t really tell what kind of ’punishnt’ he was planning to give her, but she could see it through his eyes it was sothing dark and unethical, in a way. But she didn’t feel the slightest fear. In any case, she only felt a rush of thrill and curiosity about what he was about to do. She wasn’t sure if her ntal state was beginning to decline or what.
With his tall figure towering over her much smaller body, Alec had to bend his body lower when he kissed her neck, and she gasped not only because of the warm lips on that sensitive part of her body, but also because of the shadows they cast on the wall—which looked like a grueso work of art: a deprived beast claiming his innocent prey’s soul. It was such a dark thought, immoral and provocative, yet too enticing to resist.
"It’s a sha," he humd while pressing his damp lips to her jaw, sniffing her luscious scent. "I think they are perfect for you, so you’d keep your hands to yourself."
When his skillful hands found their way to the buttons of her dress, Lauren found herself breathless. She wasn’t sure if she could ever get used to Alec’s wicked ways. Every ti he touched her; it was like the first ti. The warm heat from his palms, the way he aroused every part of her body, all of it was familiar and foreign at the sa ti.
She didn’t know if she should feel guilty for being lost in this little world she and Alec had while the rebels must be devising their next step out there, threatening the lives of their people, but she shouldn’t, right? She was doing what she could, and soon she’d find answers through Simon. Besides, she could die after three months. She should spare herself so happiness, and the aning of that word had changed when she realized Alec played a vital role in her life.
"Oh god, can’t you undress
the right way?" She complained when she heard the sound of fabric ripping. He didn’t seem to have the patience to do her buttons, which, by the way, the dress she wore had tons of, but he didn’t listen.
One more rip and she was left with her petticoat, but he suddenly stopped when sothing fell to the floor. It was from her dress, and the mont she looked down, she realized it was the barrette Simon had given her earlier that afternoon.
She swallowed a nervous gulp, thinking that Alec would surely not notice she was nervous because her heart had been beating wildly these past couple of minutes he was all over her. And fortunately, she had made sure not a faint trace of Simon’s scent was left on the barrette. She held it in her hands on the way to Vivian’s place, so it would only carry her scent. At least she was smart on that part.
"What is this?" Alec picked up the piece of hair accessory, his eyes narrowing.
"It’s a barrette, you see. I bought it in town." She figured she needed to lie. But in her mind, she promised to tell him the truth as soon as possible. As much as he hated it, she, too, didn’t like hiding things from him. "It has a very similar design to that of my mother’s. It’s an old design, from a couple of decades ago. I guess it’s the reason why most shops don’t have it anymore."
The truth was, there was never a barrette with a butterfly design like her mother’s. Lady Mildred told Lauren that the barrette’s design was drawn by her... and it had a strange shape of a butterfly. She once lived with an old woman running a small fashion accessory shop, and the old woman gave her the barrette as a gift before she passed away—and that was only a year before Lady Mildred was taken into the castle as the king’s concubine.
"Your mother’s?" Alec asked, still examining the barrette with eyes that held suspicion, which made Lauren feel anxious. She didn’t want him to know about Simon. It was too early. If he knew, he would do anything in his power to hunt Simon. She wouldn’t get the information she wanted.
"Yes."
The shackles holding up her wrist suddenly vanished, and Lauren sensed a serious discussion coming. Did he still catch Simon’s scent from the barrette? No, it couldn’t be, she thought. She was very sure that little thing was covered by her scent and nothing else. She knew Alec’s senses were hypersensitive, especially his sense of sll.
"Do you rember Lord Dauncey and Lord rriweather?"
The ntion of the nas made her brows furrow, but after a mont, it all made sense.
"They were killed months ago, but their deaths remained a mystery. Both of them were murdered in a rather grueso way, and there were marks from a branding iron left on their bodies. They had the sa mark—a butterfly mark. The sa design as this barrette has."
"I know," Lauren said a bit coldly and distantly.
The tone she used made Alec’s eyes grow more wary, but he didn’t say a word and waited for her to speak her mind.
Her voice shook a little at her first words, "I know because I did it... I lied to you. I was the one who had them killed. Lord Dauncey used to be my father’s henchman, and I happened to discover his evil doings, so I had him killed. The sa goes for Lord rriweather," she admitted. She felt bad that she had to kill the senior rriweather after her failed engagent with his son, but he had been too busy pleasing her father, and she wanted to incapacitate the late king. She didn’t kill them with her own hands, but she watched them die. It was also her idea to place a mark of a branding iron on their bodies, to scare off the other court officials doing the dirty work of her father. But she eventually stopped and used better ways—the low-profile ones.
"And that massacred family in a village before our wedding. You initially thought they were a human family killed by black mages by sucking their energy, but later you found out they weren’t humans. You were right, they were not a family of innocent people, but a group of black mages. It was
who killed them, too..."
She continued, "As I said, I can feed on different creatures’ energy. I killed them that way because I thought they should know what kind of horror their preys faced at the brink of their death. About the small coin with the sa butterfly mark, I left it there. I thought the council would find it and realize that it was done by the sa person who killed the two lords, which you did."
"And I ca to the conclusion that whoever was behind it was trying to help Evardin eradicate black mages and King Martin’s trusted n," Alec said, realizing that the puzzle in his head was slowly forming. "I was then curious if the person was trying to overthrow the king or just helping out the people. I soon got busy with our marriage and the appearance of deranged humans, so I didn’t have the ti to investigate."
"Glad you didn’t," Lauren half-smiled. "If you discovered my secrets as early as that, we would have had a problem."
Alec handed the barrette to her; his look was careful, yet she sensed that sohow, he still wasn’t satisfied with everything he heard. "So, are there any lies you have told
in the past you haven’t ntioned yet? This is the perfect ti to correct them."
Standing still, Lauren couldn’t even give herself a chance to look away from Alec’s blazing gaze. He’d notice her uneasiness if she did that, and surely, he would think it was a lie if she said there was none.
The burning wood in the fireplace crackled, and how the flas danced in his eyes made her grow more anxious. She never experienced hyperventilating before, at least not when she wasn’t attacked by the pain of her illness, but now she thought she might. For the first ti.
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