Chapter 31: Mona
Rhys was gone by the time I entered our apartment and he didn’t return until later that evening. I was about to step in the shower when he returned. I stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around me, as soon as the front door opened.
“Well?” he asked.
“Nothing still,” I sighed, leaning against the doorway.
“What was it that caused you to have fresh suspicions of the Novalics?”
“Oh, I remembered noticing Helina sneak behind the cave after the ritual. I thought I’d just go and check those boulders and caves near the beach to see if she might have hidden the immune there. But there was nothing.”
“Well, it’s good that you were alert enough to check.”
He pulled off his cloak and started removing his boots.
I walked over to the balcony, looking out, trying to calm my rapid breathing.
He walked up behind me, sliding his hands beneath my towel and placing both hands over my bare stomach. He pulled me back against him, kissing my neck.
He paused. “Why do you smell of Julisse’s perfume?”
His words bewildered me. I knew now that Kiev was making Anna use perfume to mask the smell of her blood. But why the hell would it be Julisse’s perfume?
“D-do I? I have no idea,” was the only response I could think of.
“Hm.”
“I’ve been thinking about last night,” I said before he started thinking more about it.
He ran his fingers through my loose hair, pulling my head back and pressing his lips against my forehead. I felt his Adam’s apple move against the back of my head as he spoke. “Tell me,” he said softly.
“I want to complete us, Rhys,” I whispered seductively. “I want to have your children.”
His heart beat faster against me.
I turned around to face him. His lips were parted slightly as he stared down at me. And then, to my horror, a tear glistened in one of his eyes.
I hadn’t seen Rhys cry since he was a child.
I’d lost count of how many years I’d spent craving to see any kind of sign of humanity in Rhys. Any glimmer of emotion.
But now, I wished to God that he wouldn’t show it. I wanted to think of him as dead to feelings. Dead to love. I wanted his heart to be made of stone, because then it wouldn’t be broken when I left him.
He scooped me up in his arms and twirled me round the room, burying his head against my neck.
His smile. It was boyish and uninhibited. It was the smile of my best friend, whom at one time I would have done anything for.
My throat tightened as he bent down and tenderly kissed my lips.
He reached for the heavy ring on the dressing table and slid it onto my finger. It weighed down my shaking hand, but it weighed down my aching heart more.
Throughout all of it, he thought I was crying tears of happiness. When really, I was shedding tears of guilt as I imagined him waking up alone in bed the morning after the love of his life had finally agreed to marry him, with no idea where she’d gone. I imagined him passing the rest of his years alone in his darkness, never understanding why she’d deserted him on what should have been the happiest night of her life.
But I didn’t belong with Rhys.
No matter how much he loved me, I never could return his love. He’d fallen too far and I didn’t know how to save him.
He thought I was crying tears of joy as he wiped my face with his thumbs, showering me with kisses.
When really, I was crying tears of goodbye.
* * *
Rhys even excused us from the ritual that evening. He didn’t want to interrupt our time together.
It was just as well. As it was, I was afraid that he might not be asleep in time for me to sneak out at two am. I came to regret telling him I’d marry him. I should have expected that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off me.
But at about half past one, to my surprise, there was a knock on the door.
Rhys pulled on his robe and opened the front door.
Efren’s voice came from the corridor.
“Rhys, I’m sorry to bother you at this late hour. But there’s something I need to show you urgently in the spell room.”
Rhys returned to the bedroom, looking at me apologetically.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He kissed my forehead and disappeared from the room.
I didn’t think I’d ever feel as grateful to Efren as I did then. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
This is it.
This is my chance to leave now. Forever.
I reached for a piece of parchment by the desk and scribbled down a short note.
“Gone for a walk. Needed some fresh air.”
I left the note on my pillow. I was about to vanish, but then something occurred to me. I opened the drawer of my dressing table and rummaged around until I found the old leather binder I’d retrieved from the Ageless’ palace back in The Sanctuary. I still didn’t know exactly what these maps were, but they seemed important. Pulling on my cloak and tucking the binder safely beneath it, I vanished.