Arnold’s POVThe day had come.The night hour had just struck, and I was about to recover all I’d lost and much more.“Are you ready?” I asked Hera who’d been seated in front of her crystal spell casting bowl and brr spell book for the past hour.“Never been more ready” She smiled at me so brightly it could’ve illuminated the underground hideout if we switched off all the other lights, her motivation was endearing to say the least.“Go ahead and cast the spell then” I flashed her a smile as well but mine was subtle and filled with anticipation.She nodded eagerly before she crossed her legs before her and held her hands out over the bowl, from where I was I could see that a visual of crescent valley had appeared in the water that filled the bowl like a reflection and I watched her mouth move as she muttered words in an unknown ancient language.I wasn't very close to her and yet I could feel the enormous amount of power radiating from her as she rolled her head from side to side and t
Layla’s POVNo, no fucking way.It was him all along? Arnold killed my foster parents? He’d watched me mourn them knowing that he’d orchestrated everything because they rejected his advances toward me?“They were all I had, and you knew that! How dare you speak of their deaths so lightly, you monster!” I screamed my lungs out in anger not caring what he’d do to me.Much to my surprise, a smile covered his face showing that he was pleased that I was in so much pain because of what he’d done, my heart was being torn into countless shreds as I recalled that there was a time when I loved him and I considered marrying him not knowing what a sick and twisted bastard he was deep down.“You watched me grieve them, you watched me turn into a shell of myself, you watched me be bitter that I’d lost the last links to learning of my heritage,” My chest heaved like bomb was ticking within it as I spoke.“You watched me almost lose myself and you promised me that you’d find the beast that killed the
Layla’s POVI’d known Joy several times in my life, but the joy I felt as I confirmed that Ethan was real and he’d returned to me was boundless, it felt like an unreal wave of happiness had been injected into my bloodstream and life finally felt worth living again.Like the war was over, and the battle line had been erased, it was surreal.“Are you going to keep staring at me like I'm a ghost?” Ethan laughed as he continued to massage my sore joints.“You might as well be” I reached out and cupped his cheek, yearning to remain in contact with him so he wouldn't disappear into thin air.“Well, I'm real and I'm here, forever this time around” He suddenly pulled me off the bed and onto his laps and I laughed as a yelp left my lips in surprise.“So you can stop staring at me with those alluring orbs of yours” He pulled my face toward him and kissed my forehead, not the quick kind that would pass as a peck, this one lingered like he was trying to touch my soul through physical touch.God,
He moved away from me I’d just pushed a dagger through his heart again, there was disbelief, confusion, and pain in his eyes but he only had those emotions because he didn't understand why I’d declined his proposal.After almost spending my life with the wrong man because of guilt, I couldn't say Yes to Ethan while guilt kept eating me up for the great of our lives. I’d be as much of a monster as Arnold was if I take advantage of his feelings for me and jump into marriage when guilt had been plaguing me like it was my second shadow since the day I watched him fall to his death.He stared at me again, long and hard before he walked toward the bed and covered himself in the duvet, an air of uncertainty hovering over him as he delved into thoughts of his own. However, it was as he covered up tag I realized that I was still naked and I slowly walked toward the floor where he’d dropped my dress and picked up. I quietly pulled it over my head and held my arms around my body tightly as thou
Layla’s POV“If you stare at that dress any longer, you’ll burn it to the ground with your gaze” Nadia nagged me as I took one last glance at my wedding dress while I stood at the bathroom door, I was obsessed with it.Beyond obsessed, It’s beauty had become an extra body part of mine.“At least we’d die watching its beautiful flames ascend to the heavens,” I smiled dreamily while still staring at it with lost eyes.“Be fucking for real?” She laughed before she grabbed a button off the dresser and threw it me, luckily I was able to dodge it and if I hadn't it’d have hit my eyes.“You’d explain to Ethan in detail why his bride is walking down the aisle with just one eye” I picked the button up and threw it at her, and it landed on her feet.“If you're not ready in the next hour, there’ll be no bride to scrutinize while she walks down the aisle, I promise you” She shot me a glare just before she took a seat on my bed, pulling her own dress in her lap to admire it.“What? An hour? Why hav
LAYLA"I've come here to take your daughter to Crescent Valley."The words made a lump form in my throat, one that choked me and made it near impossible to breathe. He wasn't talking about me, right? No one except my Aunty and Uncle knew of my real identity. I hardly even go out and everyone that knew me knew me as a boy, a male so what was he talking about?From where I was hiding behind the curtain, I saw Aunty Kayla exchange glances with her husband, Uncle Nate and I saw how her hands balled into fists. "Our daughter?" it was Uncle Nate who spoke, his voice sounding confused. “I think you've made a mistake, we have no daughter, what we have is a son, our nephew who lost his parents a long time ago so we've raised him as ours. He's indisposed so he's always indoors."The intruder's lips stretched into a smile, an amused smile that looked sinister and made the hair at the back of neck stand up as he leaned over on the chair he was sitting with his two hands on either of his legs.
LAYLA"Wake up, Layla, wake up," the words sounded far away in my subconscious but the gentle yet urgent shoving was what made my eyes open and all trace of sleep disappeared from my eyes when I saw Aunty Kayla. "Aunty, what's wrong? Why are you waking me up in the middle of the...""Shhh," she interrupted me as she pulled me to a sitting position, "this is not the time to chat, we need to leave now!"Then she was pulling me to my feet and shoving my clothes from the wardrobe into a bag with an urgency I'd never seen in her before. Maybe I was still sleeping or I was still drowsy from sleep but nothing she said made any sense. We were leaving? To where? And why in the middle of the night with no prior warning?"Aunty," I pulled at her hands so she stopped packing my clothes, "what are you talking about? Where are we going? Can you... It's the middle of the night.""Layla, there's no time to explain now, our priority now is getting out of here and once we leave Wandercoast, we'll exp
LAYLAI drifted in and out of consciousness, nothing making sense and that terrible nightmare replaying itself in my head. Aunty Kayla and Uncle Nate. And blood. Too much blood. I woke up screaming. I flew from the bed wildly, my hands clutching the sheets before I made a beline to dive out of the bed and out of the room to help Aunty Kayla and Uncle Nate, to stop the bleeding, to...Strong hands held me back, pulling me back towards the bed."You need to calm down," the masculine voice whispered close to my ears, the soothing voice doing nothing to calm the erracticness that was going on in my body."Nooo," I screamed, thrashing against the stronghold, "I need to go to them, I need to help them, they're bleeding, they're..." my words dissolved into mindless cries and screams when the reality of what happened dawned on me again. They were dead.My foster parents were dead.Just like that. The darkness took over again. Several days passed, blending into a blur as time seemed endl