"He doesn't love you, either, sweetie." She pauses for reaction, letting her sickly sweet smile spread even wider, making her look like the Joker in drag. "Aw, don't look so surprised. It's not in his nature. You can't change him, Gabriella."
"I said enough, Aurora! Shut the fuck up and sit down or I swear I will rip you to shreds!" Dorian commands, his voice taking on its ancient, guttural timbre.
Aurora shrugs and goes to sit on the couch, crossing her legs with an air of satisfaction. Dorian looks back to me with apologetic eyes.
"What is she talking about, Dorian? What is she saying?"
Dorian opens his mouth as if he is trying desperately to relay something, anguish plaguing his beautiful face. An internal battle brews behind his crystal blue eyes.
Aurora sighs from behind him. "His curse," she calls out.
I walk past him and stalk towards her. "What curse?"
Aurora admires her ring, her eyes never meeting mine. "He was spelled to love you. His father wanted him to know what it felt like to have to kill the woman he loves. Loving you is merely a facet of his punishment," she giggles. "I mean, really. Why else would he want someone like you? You can't be that dim."
I whip back around to Dorian, hoping, praying, for him to dismiss her claims. He just stands there, tortured and defeated.
"I am so sorry, Gabriella. I do love you. I know I do. Don't listen to her. It isn't true," he mutters in a low voice.
"You were spelled to love me? All this," I wave around the room, "is a lie? A fucking joke?"
Dorian shakes his head, walking towards me and cupping my face. I want to pull away from him so damn bad but his touch feels so good. I crave his contact.
"I don't believe it; I never have. I know what I feel. No one can tell me differently." His glossy eyes burn into mine, eagerly trying to make me understand. "I love you. I want only you. And I know that is real."
"So this is it. You're getting married." I break his hold on my face and spin around to jab a finger just inches from Aurora's perfectly pink pout. "To her!"
"Oh, gag. Get over it," she says with a wave of her hand. "It's not like you two could've stayed together anyway. He would have never married you even if I didn't suggest the arrangement. Besides, you could never give him an heir."
Fury explodes in my veins, my chest heaving out pure wrath with every breath. My hands ball into tight, hot fists while trembles wrack my frame with a vengeance. Icy cold prickles assault the rims of my eyes before spilling into my irises. The vibrations evolve into a full on quake, every light in the suite flickering violently. Everything not nailed down rattles and shakes causing glasses and knick knacks to fall to the ground.
"Get up! Get the fuck up so I can knock you on your ass! Now! Get up!" I scream taking a step back to give myself more space. She's right; I could never give Dorian an heir, but it's none of her damn business.
She giggles again and stands, swinging her dark locks over shoulder. "Is that so? I'd love to see that." Her hands are suddenly engulfed with a dark red haze at her sides, though her stupid grin doesn't falter.
"Aurora, step away," Dorian commands, standing between us. He places his hands on my shoulders in an attempt to soothe me but instantly cringes and recoils as if he's been shocked with an unseen current. "Gabriella, calm down. Please calm down, little girl," he coos.
"Get out of my way, Dorian," I mutter through clenched teeth. The violent shudders coursing through my body make it an almost impossible feat.
"Oh, please! What did you expect?" Aurora chortles from behind him. "Dorian is a prince. He could never truly be with you. And you … you are an abomination. An inbreed. Your own father wasn't even a pure blood royal. You aren't worthy of him!"
Glass and mirrors shatter as bright auburn flames ignite from my fingertips, engulfing my hands and forearms. And though my eyes are locked tight on Aurora, looking past Dorian's blinding beauty, I know they are there. I can feel them. I can feel the power blazing bright and hot surrounding me. And it feels amazing.
"Come closer and say that shit again. I dare you," I growl. Hell yes, I growled.
Aurora laughs again, her sing-song voice piercing my eardrums like nails on a chalkboard. "Aw, how cute! You really are like your mother. She was just as naive and hopeful as you! Not to mention stupid. Aw, poor, poor pathetic Gabriella."
That's it! I. Am. Done.
I push Dorian aside, somehow launching his hard, muscular body across the room with ease. He goes flying several feet towards the dining room, skidding to a stop before smashing into the grand table. As I take the few quick steps towards Aurora's shocked expression, he reappears beside me, calling my name repeatedly yet avoiding contact. I don't hear him; I can't. My frenzied temper won't let me.
Pulling my fist back, I conjure every ounce of strength, anger and revulsion at Aurora's words and thrust it directly into her face, propelling her into a mahogany hutch standing yards away against the wall. She flies into it, breaking the glass doors and splintering the wood with a loud crash. Before I know it, she's on her feet again and in my face, though her clothing has been ripped to shreds and her hair is all over her face, chunks of broken wood and glass sprinkled in her dark waves.
"You bitch! I will enjoy watching you die! Just like your whore of a mother!" she screeches, spewing strings of saliva. Her delicate features begin to morph into something monstrous, her eyes ablaze with white flames. Her tan skin melts into a gruesome pale, almost skeletal form and I instantly recognize my parking lot phantom. Aurora's darkness.
"Enough!" Dorian shouts, the authoritative tone of his voice demanding both our attention. I hadn't even noticed that his own darkness had overcome him, transforming him into something almost unrecognizable and even more frightening than Aurora. I suck in a breath and give him my attention though my fists are still ready to strike.
Dorian shouts an order in their shared secret language, telling her to leave. Reluctantly, the Dark seductress pulls her shoulders back after taking a long, menacing glare at my violent expression before stalking out of the suite. I've won this round but I highly doubt it will be our last standoff.
Slowly, Dorian's beauty falls back into place, confining his demon. Piece by piece he returns to me and I will myself to release the teeth-clenching anger that binds my own body. Only then do I become aware of throwing him several feet into the air and causing him to narrowly miss the dining room table. I can't even begin to explain how I was even capable of that, let alone almost launching Aurora through the wall. Had they been regular humans, I would have surely severely injured, if not killed, them. And the thought of that, realizing just how powerful I will be, doesn't repulse me. I can't help but feel somewhat strengthened by it.
Finally the tremors begin to cease and the lights return to normal as we both cage our inner monsters. Dorian looks to me warily, the tiny lines around his eyes indicating how much this ordeal has aged him. He reaches his hands towards me but still doesn't touch me.
"Gabriella, I … " he begins, unsure of how to begin and maybe a little nervous. "I'm sorry. This isn't what I wanted."
"Isn't it?" I gasp, the tightness of my chest constricting my labored breaths. I try to swallow but my mouth feels like sandpaper. "Isn't this what all of you wanted from the beginning?"
He shakes his head, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "No. Not me. But I had no other choice."
"You had a choice, Dorian. I'm the one who wasn't given one. You took it upon yourself to choose for me."
Again, Dorian reaches towards me, finally resting a hand on my shoulder. The contact instantly soothes me but I hold on to my steely expression. He tries to meet my gaze with his ice blue eyes, desperately trying to extinguish my rage but I refuse him access.
"I know you're upset, but-"
"Upset? You think I'm upset?" I shriek, shrugging out of his touch. I won't let him distract me with head games this time. "Dorian, you are getting fucking married! I have completely put my life in your hands. I am linked to you. Hell, I let you mark me for Christ's sake!"
"I know," he murmurs, dropping his gaze to the floor. He runs his hand through his tousled black locks. "And I am grateful. But you have to know that Aurora means nothing to me. And we can still-"
"We can still, what? Mess around? Hook up whenever you need a fix? Hell no! I am not like that! And how dare you think I'd be cool with something like that!" I take in a sharp breath of air and close my eyes trying to reel in my temper.
"How can you stand there and act like I did this for any other reason but to protect you?" Dorian scoffs. "I don't want her, Gabriella! I don't want any of this! But I can't- I won't- be without you. It is physically impossible for me. And don't you pretend like you don't feel the same."
"You don't mean that, Dorian. You only think you do, remember? You. Don't. Love. Me." Just saying the words nearly brings me to my knees and I fight to keep the hurt, angry tears at bay. No. I won't let him hurt me. Not again. "I've ignored a lot of shit- you not telling me who you were, you breathing and nearly fucking Aurora right in front of me- because I thought that what we had was destiny. I thought we'd get through it all together. But this- you marrying Aurora- I can't ignore. I can't be your fool anymore. I won't let love make me weak."