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psst! double update: please read the preceeding chapter.

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“What the fuck is that?” Jason swears, not caring that a Queen sits at our table. Theresa is close to passing out and I instinctively move closer to Reik.

Fear looks over us in form of a ferocious  beast with the head of a wolf, and canines so long that they could tear a human apart with a single bite.

But the beast looked like it had been hurriedly put together. Some parts of its body do not fit.

The chain attached to the beast jingles as it watches us all with murderous red eyes.

“Haz, I swear-” Reik rises, already annoyed. Theresa I'm sure will be passing out soon enough.

Haz does the unexpected, he marches towards Reik, or so I thought, and snatches me out of my seat.

“What are you doing?” Queen Stella is completely horrified as well as the others.

I'm on the verge of evaporating into thin air as Haz drags me towards the beast.

Reik darts forward to protect me but a single growl from the beast has him rooted to the spot.

“I uncovered something interesting about the weird experiments that were going on under our noses...” Haz speaks, putting me between him and the beast.

The beast eyes me curiously and edges closer. Startled, I step back and it follows.

“The blood used to engineer these beasts is the key to ending all of this.” Haz, swift as an eagle makes a cut on my arm with a sharp penknife.

I hiss.

“Haz, I'm going to kill you.” Reik promises.

Haz chuckles. “Just watch.” He retreats snd leaves me alone with the animal.

It sniffs the air, catching the scent of my blood and then it advances like a predator would.

“Stop this madness, immediately.”

“Don't worry, Your Majesty. No harm will come to the girl.” Haz assures but I'm not so sure.

The beast circles me. I'm already paralysed by fear streaming through my veins.

Breathe in and out. I hear my father's voice. I visualise him teaching Axel and I what to do when we encounter a  wild animal.

“Why can't I  just run away?” I ask.

Father chuckles. “You cannot run away from everything, my chocolate.”

It's time to face my fears.

The beast is already having another examination of my body and then spots the injury Haz inflicted on my skin.

I pray Reik gets him before I do.

Growling, the beast lowers it's snout  and warm air hits my skin as it takes a whiff of my injury.

Then, it does the unexpected. It starts licking up my blood. Gross, but then, the wound seals up, just like that.  Also, the red tinge in it's eyes fade until there's a soft brown colour left.

Someone gasps. “Impossible.” That's Lady Burke's voice.

She was right. I really am the key to ending all this.

I stare at the beast now curled up at my feet. “What do I have to do?”

“We re-strategise.” My question was aimed at Haz but Larry responds.

🗡️🗡️🗡️

Haz and his men had uncovered an underground location that housed all the illegal activities of my biological father and the King.

They were fortunate to escape unscathed.

Haz makes red marks on a map spread out before us. It's my mother's map. The same map Clyde had guarded with his life.

I sniffed once an image of his chubby cheeks flash in front of my eyes. I had only met the man once and his image will forever be engraved in my mind until I seek justice.

What is the reason for all this mess? Me. If I wasn't born, maybe, all these would have been averted.

My mother wouldn't have died.

Clyde wouldn't have, either.

It's all my fault.

A warm hand encases mine. I look up to see Reik's gaze bearing down on me. He's concerned.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

I shake my head and that's all he needs to excuse us both out of the room, taking me somewhere else, like my room.

After making me sit on the bed, he crouches before me and fondly strokes both of my hands.

“Do you want to talk?” His eyes are a warm shade of brown. I could stare at them forever.

Ew! I scold myself for getting too emotional.

Reik pokes at my nose, sightly amused. “Do you want to talk?” He asks again.

Instead of answering, I follow the curve of his lips, and his nose, and then his eyes that had mastered the art of mesmerising me.

I forgot all about my worries and touched his chin lightly. He's curious, having questions that required no answers.

Drawing strength, I lean in and press our lips together. Reik's lips are warm and welcoming, like nectar, inviting me for more.

His eyes are open, instead of closed like they should be. Mine are too. Weird, but it makes the moment more intense and add a delicious tinge of anticipation.

Reik pulls himself up and pushes me rather roughly. When my back touches the bed, he grins like the savage he is.

“You chose the difficult way out.”

What's that supposed to mean?

He's hovering over me now, one of his knees placed between my legs, close to my core. The other of his knees stay next to my left leg.

For want of something to do, I reach up to touch his chest, but he grabs both of my hands and pins them above my head.

“Iris, you have twenty seconds to back out of this trap you have set for yourself.”

I chuckle, our gazes once again dancing together. “I am where I ought to be.”

Reik's eyes a clouded by some emotion I will be knowing soon. “Then you should understand that there are monsters lurking.”

(close your eyes children (✷‿✷))

He moves gently so his knee brushes against my inner thigh, one of his hands slip to my waist and then his lips touch down on my neck. I gasp as a strange current of emotions shoot up my spine.

“X marks the spot.” He murmurs and smiles like a villain.

Snorting, I free myself out of his grip, grabbing his shirt and smashing our lips together once again.

Reik groans against my lips and pulls away. Annoyed, I try to reach up for him but he tsks.

“What?”

“You aren't ready.”

He leaves, taking his warmth and earthy scent along and I'm left to punch the bed in frustration.

Reik. You idiot.

🗡️🗡️🗡️

“Why do you look so upset, my child?” Lady Burke or much appropriately Baroness Burke queries me after I had rejoined them at the table.

“I'm alright, Baroness.” I reply, glaring at a certain male. He knows I'm looking at him, yet he refuses to catch my gaze.

“Men could be quite heady.” The woman beside me comments. We're standing in the doorway that leads to outside where nothing much is apart from the guards patrolling and the half moon peeping from behind a cloud.

“I'm afraid, I do not understand.”

The Baroness chuckles. “You do not understand or you choose not to understand. Which one is it?”

I choose silence, staring at my fingertips while wringing them uncomfortably.

“You're not a child anymore and you should start understanding these things so you don't make the mistakes some of us made.” She laid a heavy weight on “these things”. Although she spoke in shadows, I began to understand what she meant to say.

“Have breakfast with me tomorrow.” Baroness Burke offers and I'm inclined to accept.

If there would be tomorrow.