Erica's POV
I frowned as Hendrix entered the room, keeping my gaze on the article as I raised a teacup to my lips.
"I see you have taken an addiction to tea, "he mocked freely.
I hadn't. I despised the sweetness that stuck on your tongue when you took a sip. I'm only drinking it because Kiara likes it. And Adriel likes Kiara. Nauseating, I know. But I'm shameless, and I will do anything it takes to get my goal. Even if that meant changing my entire identity, Judge if you must.
Hendrix's hands massaged my shoulders in a futile effort to ease my sour mood.He pressed a kiss against my cheek.
"Good morning" he breathed against my ear.
I shook him off and turned to the next page. By the looks of it, Adriel assaulted Gregg and got "tamed" by his fiance before things got worse…They specifically used the word 'Tamed'.As if my Adriel was a raging mad lion without restraint.
I remembered the Adriel from once before, he won't allowed anyone to touch him if he was angry.He could kill you too in a fit of rage.But she did and she lived.
My frown grew deeper; they were bonding.
An unhappy feeling churned in my stomach, I was losing him to her.
"What's wrong this time?" Hendrix asked behind me.
"You are an idiot." I spat mercilessly.Lashing out my anger on him.
He did a scoffed laugh and strode away from me. He circled around the room and returned to my side.
"I have told you time and time again that I won't tolerate your insults." He retorted, his anger breaking the control he had over his voice.
"Likewise, I have told you several times not to make any hasty movements. I warned you about your impulsions. Did you listen to me?"
The question was rhetorical but I expected an answer anyway.It didn't come.
"What impulsive actions have I taken now?"he groaned.
I was too angry to speak, so I ignored him and returned my focus to the article. I needed to know what the article had to say about Zalem.
I heard Hendrix sigh helplessly as he crouched by my side.
"What are you talking about Erica?"
"The goddamn hybrid!" I barked out of control.
"Yes, I meant to ask you about her." Hendrix said, straightening up, still clearly oblivious to the fact that I could slice his throat in anger at any given moment.
"Why didn't anything happen? You said you would deal with her at the ball, but there she took off, happy as a bird, and went hand in hand with my brother. Nothing happened."
I set the article aside when I could take it no longer. "What exactly happened between you and her?"
There was a dreadful silence as I waited for his response.
"I choked her,he said blankly. "I figured if she wouldn't die by poison, she could die by suffocation."
My eyes widened at his response.How could a brother of Adriel be so not him.
"It would have been a perfect plan if the bitch didn't dig her claws into my skin."
I laughed cynically.It had no mirth.
"So she was the bear that dug its nails into your skin."I frowned as my laughter disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Serves you right, Hendrix. Perhaps that would teach you to not be hasty."
"I did it for you, so you can stop your obsession with getting rid of her."he said, kneeling at my feet.
"It's not an obsession!" I yelled and rolled my eyes at my own attitude . I was getting too angry lately. I needed to calm down. I sat back on my seat, taking careful breaths.
He took cautious steps towards me.
"Is everything okay?"
I looked into his eyes and found worry and a bit of pity too.Poor child.
"Just because she doesn't realize her power yet doesn't mean she is a weakling. You could have gotten hurt badly by tempering with her. Now that's a problem too; it's not only because we run the risk of losing our desired positions since Adriel adores her. She could be a serious threat to our very lives if she knew we were against her.I couldn't do anything but her suspicions raging in the air, her senses were tingling as fuck at that ball."
Hendrix sat on the table, absently patting his arm where her claws had been. He had healed now, but it took two days and proper treatment for that to happen. It was safe to say he was beginning to comprehend the danger.
"So instead of openly confronting her, we have to put on a facade of friendship." I said this last words as my eyes raised my eyes to meet his."There is no deadlier attack than a carefully planned betrayal."
"What do you suggest, then?"he asked, distracting himself on my lips.
I smiled genuinely for the first time since this morning. "Like I said, a carefully planned betrayal. A kidnapping perhaps, we will never be heard from again."
"No, that's too risky. Gregg barely survived Adriel's wrath. "
"Are you scared of your brother?"
"I'm scared for you, Erica; Gregg is still recovering from last night, and the idiot was just dancing with the lady. If you kidnap her, he is going to go after her,sniff you down, and only the heavens know what he will do.Adriel has no friends."
"I considered that; that is why we need to make sure he doesn't come after her. We will control the narrative given to him."
"And how, pray tell, are you going to manage that?"
"Easy—the same thing that almost destroyed me. Rumours."
"So this master plan is based on a lie?"
"No, a rumor; rumors are not particularly lies. There is no smoke without fire."
"I don't like this idea, Erica, not one bit."
I crossed my long legs, revealing a little of my skin under my dress.I had always felt sexy when I was a maniac.
"Leave it up to me, Hendrix; everything is going to go fine."
Hendrix didn't pay attention to my legs as I expected.It was firmly on mine.
"And what of the kidnapping? How will we manage that?"
"Let's just say I will have help from the other side."
"Who?"
'More like what' I thought to myself.
"It's a secret."I whispered.
Hendrix scowled at that.He wanted transparency, something tangible that could ensure my safety.I couldn't give him that.
After about two hours of giving Hendrix empty assurance, my bored self made up a foul excuse so he could leave. He complained a bit, but then listened and he left.
I smiled to myself as I closed the door behind him. My plan was bulletproof. I was finally going to take her down.Send her to a corner in hell where she could never crawl out from.
I crumbled the discarded article and headed for the basement. My black mirror was safely tucked away behind a stash of scrolls.I had avoided this for a while, it was time.
I carried it up to my room and carefully took out the thin fabric cover on it. I almost gasped at the sight.
A hideous looking beast stared at me, it's dark skin crawled in specific areas.Like it was melting away.I held back my vomit.
"Zalem." I mumbled.
I would regret this
"That was fast red hair, Have you come to a decision?"
I knew I would regret this.I could feel it.
"It would be an honor to be your host; let's join forces and take her down."I said quickly before my mind changed.
"This is a serious matter, redhead."it said, it had the voice of a thousand men in pain.
"I thought of it and I accept.You may use my body as long as necessary."
A melancholic laugh echoed around me, causing a cold shiver to run down my spine. I straightened up to show bravery, but the sweat trickling down my face gave me away.
A dark fog rose from under me, and I stared at it suspiciously. As it reached my feet, I felt an excutriating burn. I jerked away with a scream and stared back at the mirror.
"What's going on?"
"You have offered your soul to hell."the voices said.
"No," I corrected. "There was a confusion,Not forever,Only until we take down Kiara."
The figure evaporated from the mirror.
"Zalem.." I looked at the void in the glass.
The fog had reached my knees now.The stringing pain scorched my skin.I bit my tongue to control the pain.
"Zalem!" I yelled again, and this time panic carried the lead in my voice.A hot tear trickled down my cheek.
I wasn't going to agree to be hell's puppet for life. I ran to the door and tried to open it. I screamed as soon as my hand touched the door knob. It was flaming hot. My eyes darted at the window, and the fog followed me. If I jumped on the bed and opened the window, we would be out of this room and out of this fog.
Out of this deal.
The red fog has reached to my waist now.The pain was anguishing, but I refused to scream again. I needed to get out of here.
"Fuck." I screamed as I sniffed a bit of the dog.It burned my insides, I felt a jolting pain I have never felt.
I fell to the ground and cried, my sobbing turned to a loud wail and the last thing that I heard was myself cry.
Or was it me?