"What have you done with my sister, Monster?" A deep commanding voice, that familiar sexy voice that resonated with every fibre of my thirsty body, was a song that melted my nostalgic eardrums( curse my betraying heart), my thoughts were racing back to the kissing we'd do every night under the moon in the royal greenhouse. This was an indication that the balm worked and Hellion was now recovering. Seeing him alive and well even under horrible circumstances made my heart ache with longing, so much that my eyes began to blur from the unshed tears I was trying hard to hold back.
"No Hellion, he helped chase away the demons while you were unconscious" Helen was quick to intervene as she grabbed his other arm, tagging at him with all her strength and I was thankful when I felt the pressure on my back vanish.
If only the pressure had taken my aches and longings that assaulted me but I was forcefully yanked up to stand and all the rush made me dizzy enough to stumble backwards right into those big strong arms, (Are you kidding me?!) But the pressure on my heart grew heavier than ever.
"Easy there,” still I hadn't looked him in his eyes since I knew he was sober now,
“sorry I was too hard on you" Hellion apologised on seeing that my eyes had grew a thin film of water but I just brushed it off still looking away while we were still close with his hands holding me by the arms. I was trying to free myself from him due to the awkward position we'd entangled ourselves in, with our bodies facing eachother, my head looking down and avoiding his gaze while his warm body so close to mine that our skins would've touched if not for the garments we'd adorned, well maybe me but no so much for Hellion.
He was definitely in his loose boxers so I could feel his bulge( it was huge) prick at my skin through my flimsy pajamas, it poked me causing air to escape my lungs at an alarming rate. I wondered why I'd even noticed that. ( It was time to let go).
"Umm ..it's okay" I stammered as Hellion finally let go and I put some noticeable distance between us and if he noticed, he didn't show. I needed space.
" What really happened to the king and queen?" I asked trying to erase the awkwardness at bay.
Just then Helen began to weep again and it was Hellion who spoke up. Finally some answers.
He said that they were killed by the very person they trusted the most, their Arch mage who apparently was one of the last people to have attained Slayer magic, so he used an ancient spell to control demons as a means to take over but the sacrifice was the royal blood must be spilled to the last drop, luckily they escaped before that could happen but Hellion was injured during the fight and the rest happened when they'd arrived. It seemed like my other uncle finally came through with his plan to take over the magical kingdom. This was bad, it meant that my aunt was either dead or imprisoned. I fought hard not to show that I was panicking from within so I decided to change the topic immediately.
"Wait, how did you find me Helen?" I asked remembering the turn away charm I'd placed on the house five years ago as I woke up and found instructions on the only thing that I had connection too, a piece of paper with specific instructions.
" I swear I had put a powerful charm on this house and concealed my location!" I thought out loud,
" I heard a voice, no a dream of being in this very place so I had no other way to go" she explained in a rather dazed way, she'd grown a year or two in a short while looking at her as the light from the bulbs shone on her face, bags under those puffy eyes, wrinkles and miniscule scars scattered about on her face. She needed to rest and forget all this but I knew better than to hope.
" I see" it came out as a sigh seeing this was more complicated than I'd thought it'd be. Where was my uncle when you needed him?
" now that you mention it, this place does look familiar, and you look familiar too! Do I know you?" Hellion said, more like questioned and I was reluctant to reveal the secret my aunt entrusted to me so I decided to reveal only my name.
" Well I guess it's time I told you my name, Morgan Nebulae" I smiled sadly because they all knew the tragedy that befell the Nebulaes five years ago. It was when they took their Slayer secrets to the grave except me, my uncle, maybe my aunt and cousin, and the arch mage who was now imprisoning and killing other folks.
"Oh! You were never mentioned in history books or anywhere." Exclaimed Hellion but little did he know what truly happened five years ago. I knew that he was incharge of the junior soldiers of the royal army so he was bound to know about the Nebulaes and his intelligence was something to really watch out for.
" Well I was not that important, was still young anyway" with a wave of my hand in a lazy motion, I tried to brush it off and hope he wouldn't ask more,
" you must be tired, how about some food and rest then we'll talk tomorrow 'kay?" I added trying to change the subject, but Hellion eyed me suspiciously although he finally yielded when Helen yawned.
"You are probably right" but he didn't sound convinced and I definitely knew that he was agreeing for the sake of Helen.
After a good meal of tea and sandwiches, I gave Helen my old room which was spacious enough and I gave Hellion the spare room since I was using my uncle's room which was more spacious and I'd always wanted it since my uncle never used it.
"Just checked on Helen and she's fast asleep, are you okay?" I walked in on Hellion to see how he was doing only to find him naked with only a towel around his waist and wet hair. The brown strands had turned black with water, clung on his forehead with little droplets of water sliding down his perfect princely jaw. The Terry cloth hung loose around his hips, only giving me a view of his well formed V, a few tufts of brown hair peeked from underneath the towel lining connecting to a trail of more hair that shot upwards to a few scattered ones in between his well formed pectorals. Years training with a sword had really buffed him up since I last saw him. My gulp was loud enough to have Hellion clear his throat and yank me out of my sightseeing, I quickly looked away while avoiding his gaze.
" Yes, I am fine at the moment but I have something to ask of you" he said as he immediately reached out to the door behind me and shut it right behind me. This worried me, he walked past me and turned his back against the bed and facing me with that stern look.
"Just being cautious, I don't t want Helen to hear this" he quickly added on sensing my worry and I nodded, I knew he was up to something but I played along.
"So, tell me the truth about who you really are?" He commanded instead of asking nicely and I found hard not to roll my eyes at him. I just told him that I was a nobody just as I crossed my arms on my chest and tried to look casual. I really couldn't risk them knowing the whole truth.
"Really? I may be less favoured in magic but I do have keen intellect, so I'm going to ask you once, WHO ARE YOU REALLY?" his arrogance was something I never missed so I stood my ground. By now he was up close that I could feel his warmth, my insides began melting and the frequent body contacts we'd shared in these past few hours didn't help either. He smelled like soap and flowers,and his towering bare figure, over me just made it hard to concentrate on anything right now.
So I dropped my hands on either side of my body, closed my eyes and thought of sitting on the bed behind him, I prayed hard that my magic was still intact after a long time so I felt my body starting to melt into space till I found my butt connecting with the soft body of the mattress, I was sitting on the bed looking at a confused Hellion from the back and my! did I miss that arse. It was firm from under the towel and it was hard to look away. I was saved when he turned back phased and definitely angry at my trick.
" Don't do that, just answer me" he cried out and I tried to teleport again by closing my eyes and trying to concentrate. It would take lots of practice to reach the finger snapping stage I'd been at five years ago.
He was quick to notice that I was going to do it again so he hurriedly pounced on me and pinned me down, my eyes met his in shock. Those wine red irises that would light up whenever we kissed found mine and time seemed to have frozen for a while until I gathered enough strength to look away.
"Let go Hellion, I've told you what I can," I tried to reason with him but he was determined, he leaned forward that our eyes were so near, his tepid breath was caressing my lips and I couldn't hold it back anymore so I locked my lips with his own purple ones, I could see the shock in his eyes as his pupils dilated and the memory lock was being lifted off of him. I'm so sorry auntie, I've broken the promise. I thought to myself in a silent apology to my aunt, wherever she was.
The kiss opened up another memory of my own I thought was lost.
I missed his touch, the feeling of his rough hands on my skin, our first kiss we shared every night under the stars at the palace greenhouse, it all came back to him as did my half of the locked magic came crushing within like water flowing through a destroyed beaver dam.
"Mor? Is that you?" Hellion whispered after we parted our lips, I missed that nickname, the way his purple lips formed that O, the love I felt everytime he'd call out my name but what I saw was nowhere near that love; confusion, shock, betrayal, hurt and so forth swirled around in his eyes, he was an open book at that moment so he jumped off me like I'd burnt his very existence and I quickly missed his warmth.
"Why? " That was all he said to me and I guess now that I'd broken the promise and the lock was lifted, he deserved to know what happened that night. I pushed myself to sit on the bed while Hellion decided to keep his distance from me, which stung more than a thousand bee stings, standing a few feet from me with his arms across his chest. His biceps flexed when he was angry and I rubbed my left arm as I began telling him what had happened.
"And that's was what happened" I finished my story and decided to look at him as he had remained silent all through my narration. His face had become stoic and emotionless.
"I'm sorry, your aunt was among those who died that day and Ivan was never found,” his voice had a tone to it, something i couldn't quite pick, I bit my tongue to stop my heart from squeezing itself, my aunt had died and i wasn't there for her burial, she was my only family after my parents had died, I had to find Ivan after helping Hellion and Helen. This was not the time and place for grieving.
“but that was so selfish of you" he dropped that huge bomb on me and with a straight face, I did not know whether he was angry or sympathetic or simply being an arse, but my own anger just boiled again. I was going to raise my voice and I remembered not wake up Helen so I switched to telepathy, good thing I still used it in my day to day which saved me from many enemies,
“SELFISH?? You dare call me selfish after everything I sacrificed for our love” I shouted in his head and he was taken back while clutching his head with both hands blocking both his ear canals as though I'd screamed physically.
“ If only, if only you knew what I've been through” I ended as I got up, he had began to apologise but I walked past him, I grabbed the door handle, opening the door and shutting it behind me. He did not stop me and that's because he realised that he was the selfish one at the moment. I went down stairs to the kitchen to do some stress baking, a chicken pie would do at the moment.
My mind was racing with thoughts, ‘how could he?’ I thought,
‘ after all I did to save him and everyone,’ I was practically in tears. I had held them so that he couldn't see me crying.
I’d thought he would just hug me or share one of our kisses by the crystal pond when he promised to take my virginity If I'd reached eighteen and ready. He was two years older than me by then and I couldn't agree more. Maybe he would take me in his arms after the memory lock was off and let me lay my head on his broad shoulders, I know it had been rough for him during these past five years but so have I! Loss and pain.
I tried moving on and finding other guys but that never worked out, I couldn't go through with hookups that I gave it all up for four years, and now when my luck suddenly turns around, it just snacks me in the face like pie. (Life was really funny)
Sigh! I had so many thoughts running through my worn out head that I didn't notice someone behind me whose arms slowly wrapped around my waist as he pulled closer so that I could feel his warmth again, there was a lot of nostalgia. He had decided to wear some clothes I'd laid out for him before comin down.
" I'm sorry you feel that way, I'm sorry I reacted like that, I'm sorry for everything you've been through" he whispered in my ear, 'oh crap, I had forgotten to turn it off' and I immediately switched the telepathy off as tears flowed down on there own while I stood there with flour soaked hands, he had rested his head between my neck and shoulder blade. I began to shake with uncontrollable emotions as drops turned into tiny rivers from my eyes. Saltness coated the corners of my mouth as every inch of the iceberg of sadness I'd been with began melting from my frigid heart. Hellion turned me around and cupped my wet face in his hands,
" I'm here now, you will never go through it all alone again, I will be with you and you with me, I promise you " he assured me as he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips, it was heaven on Earth and at that moment my heart was lit anew. The kiss deepened as his lips settled on mine with love, our lips then gave way for our tongues to greet eachother after a longtime, we literally forgot to breathe and we parted our lips to gasp for air.
Smiling at each other, we spent the night cooking pies and talking about the old days.
To be continued…
