Sunlight streamed in from the windows, casting brightly over my eyes. A soft murmur escaped my throat before I moved my head over Elijah's chest and opened my eyes. My fingers, inches away from my face, rested over his chest and I drew a few circles while trying to make sense of everything.

It wasn't like I had forgotten anything but the enchanted flowers had suppressed that part of my mind where I remained constantly anxious.

I was bare beneath the sheets, a little sore even, but that didn't matter. Did it?

My head rose and I glanced at Elijah who was soundlessly asleep, without a single care in the world. At the same time, I processed all the ink over his body, from his neck to his lower.

It was a lot.

I slowly slipped out of the bed, being careful not to wake Elijah, and grabbed my robe before heading to the bathroom. As I washed my face over the old, gold sink, memories of last night flooded my mind. The enchanted flowers, the laughter, the magic and finally, the intimacy.

It was all so surreal. I didn't want to believe that I had actually slept with him.

With Elijah.

It made me frustrated, not disappointed.

After denying myself for so long, I easily gave into him at the first opportunity I got. Part of me wanted to blame Elijah for being so tempting, but I knew deep down that it was my own weakness that had led me to the bed with him.

Stepping out, I picked my clothes off the ground and began wearing them before nearing Elijah. Picking up a pillow, I slammed it against him, forcing him to wake up and join my confusion.

He grumbled and opened his eyes, blinking several times before focusing on me. "What's wrong?"

"I—" A thousand things. How could I possibly explain the mix of pleasure, confusion and fear that was running through me? "We're getting late. It's late. Get up. Dion's probably going to be on his way over to your house, and I don't want him to know that I got high and then got fucked."

"You let me." He turned around, and closed his eyes after murmuring three little words.

I panicked even more. "Get up, get up, get up." I screamed, pushing him off the bedding till he was on the solid cold ground.

I couldn't let him be in peace when I was feeling so conflicted inside. I wanted him to feel the same, but I doubted he would.

My head lowered to him, watching him fumble with the sheets and at the same time, I caught a glimpse of his—

"Apologies. Morning wood."

I turned away and tried to ignore the elephant in the room by looking outside from the window and taking in the beautiful scenery of the magical garden that we were still in. It took Elijah a lot of time to pick himself up from the ground and dress up.

I could hear him shuffling for the next ten minutes. Once there was silence, my brows furrowed, but I still didn't turn around. If I saw it—him again, the morning was surely going to be extended and there was no way we could leave from here.

A hand pressed against the glass window in front of me and before I turned around, another one came on the other side, trapping me.

"Struggling?" Elijah whispered, lowering his head between my neck.

I blew out a warm breath and closed my eyes. "It was a mistake."

"Are you sure about that?"

My back pressed against his body and the hair over my body rose again in response. Despite my hesitation, I couldn't deny the way he made me feel—completely and utterly out of control.

I turned to face him, and placed my hand over his bare chest. He was covered from the bottom, thankfully wearing his pants. "Of course I'm sure," I retorted. "Last night was a mistake. We were both caught up in the moment and now we need to face the consequences."

His lips twitched into a smirk. "Consequences, huh? I didn't realize I was such a bad body."

I rolled my eyes and my head leaned back to meet with his gaze. "I want to move forward without making things even more complicated. We've still a long way to go before we can get rid of each other, and with your temper, I don't want to make this mistake again and ruin the whole plan to save ourselves from your mother."

"You think I've temper?" His expression didn't change. Instead, he leaned in closer till there was barely any distance left between us.

My breaths came out short. "Yes, I do. And I don't want to give you any more reasons to get angry with me—which you will if we continue."

"I'm not angry with you—"

"You were," I stopped him there. "When I put that spell on you. You were enraged."

"So?"

"So, what if one day you decide to hand me to your mother for a sheep for slaughter because I might have done something wrong?" My arms spread in frustration and I asked with a hint of fear lacing in the back of my voice. It was true.

I was terrified of being in between of all of this. Because how could I trust Elijah? He was going against his own mother, the same woman that birthed him. How could I trust he wasn't playing two roles? Or he wasn't going to shift sides? At the end of the day, someone was going to die and if it wasn't going to be one of us, it was going to be Alexandria.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." His lips lined straight and his voice contained a bit of disappointment.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to jeopardize the plan."

He drew his hands away from the window and stepped back. "You have just disappointed me, Vivian."

I felt a pang of guilt and regret as I watched him walk away, his broad shoulders tense with frustration. Maybe I had been too harsh with my words. But the stakes were to high, I couldn't let my guard down, even if it was for a night of pleasure.

Elijah bought the greatest risk, he was going against his family, his mother, and I didn't want feelings to be caught up in all of this, especially his feelings. It was better for him if he continued to hate me than to have any kind of attachment or affection toward me.

We left the garden soon after. At daylight, there was no one lingering around, and the magical flowers that flowed brightly at night looked ordinary in the morning light.

The air was cool and crisp as we made our way back to his house, the silence between us almost suffocating. I couldn't help but steal glances at him, wondering if he was still mad at me, but he remained stone-faced, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Not a single word escaped from his mouth.

Nothing.

Not even a snarky remark that I waited for.

When we reached the house, I stepped out of the car and walked in myself, unable to take anymore of the silence. For the rest of the morning, I didn't see him.

By evening, Callan returned with Dion and I hid the details of the last night with them. It was better if they didn't know that I had left from here and went somewhere to get high.

"We'll go see your mother for a bit," Callan said, his voice low. "But we won't be able to stay for long. I could only slip out for a bit. Anymore and eyes are going turn on us."

I nodded and agreed with him. "Give me a few minutes to change and I'll come down."

As he left the bedroom, I quickly changed into something more presentable and made my way downstairs where Callan was waiting for me. While he was going to take me, Dion was going to remain here and leave with him once we returned back.

I buttoned up my coat and stood near to Callan who finished his drink and set his glass aside on the table before glancing at me. "Ready?"

"More than ready." I replied, my heart drumming hard in my chest. It had been a while since I had seen here and if there was something I missed, it would be her. I couldn't wait to go to her and spend, even a few minutes, with her.

"Where's Elijah?" Dion appeared from the corner of the living and asked, his arms spread in the air and his brows furrowed.

My smile turned lopsided as my eyes ran across the house. "I—I think he might be outside. I'm not sure." I stammered, feeling another pang of guilt striking my chest.

"Haven't seen him either," Callan's hand wrapped around my elbow before he gave me a questioning look. "Did something happen?"

I shook my head quickly, covering up whatever was surfacing on my face. "No, nothing. He must be outside, practicing magic or something. That's what he does usually, or he must've gone to get some things."

Callan gave a nod at Dion before taking me out of the house and guiding me into his car. Before sitting inside, I paused to glance around the surroundings, feeling a sense of unease at the thought of Elijah. I didn't want to hurt him. Clearly I had now.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I pushed the feeling aside and sat down. "I'm just excited to see her. It has been a while now and I'm a little scared."

Callan chuckled while reversing out of the garage. "Why is that?"

"Because she's going to kill me if she came to know what I've involved myself in and all the trouble I'm causing," My mood lit up at the sole thought of my mother yelling and snapping at me. The sides of my mouth curled into a smile and I lowered my head. "I just miss her."

"We'll be there soon." Callan leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the side of my head before driving away.

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