Dostov's reflexes were better than I expected. He managed to hold onto my wrists, which were close to gripping his neck, but the impact of my tackle caused us to both tumble onto the grass.Despite being underneath me, Dostov smiled at me. His hands held onto my wrists. "Eleanor... Nicholas will kill me if he saw us like this.""Oh, really?" I growled, grinning angrily. "Then I'll kill you before Nick. How dare you suggest Rosie as bait!"But of course, his strength was greater than mine. Dostov managed to hold my weight and roll away from me, getting up quickly onto his feet. Some grass and leaves clung to his maroon red hoodie, and his dark blonde hair was disheveled.He reached out to me, but I brushed him off, still furious."You! Stay away from my daughter!" I shouted as I got up, storming into the house through the side door.Lana called out from the balcony above, momentarily diverting our attention. "What are you two doing?!"I covered my face as the real estate agent appeared
Greg and Nick turned simultaneously towards Lana."Who did you say?" Greg repeated, setting down the bowl of sauce he was holding.Nick, who had been standing near Elliot, slowly turned his gaze towards me. I couldn't hide my guilty expression from him, and Nick's face darkened immediately."Dostov," Lana replied, before looking up at Greg. Slowly, her smile faded and was replaced with a confused expression. "What's wrong, Greg?""Dostov has met with you..." Greg growled angrily. His blue eyes dramatically darkened.Lana looked towards me, surprised. "Are we not allowed to meet with him?""We?!" Greg turned sharply towards me. "Ella, you let Lana meet with Dostov?"I was really in trouble."Dostov didn't do anything," I protested, lying a little. "We just had lunch together.""Eleanor, you didn't say anything to me all afternoon." This time, it was Nick who spoke. My guilt returned, stronger than before."I'm sorry, Nick."Nick looked disappointed with me."What did he say to you?" Gr
As Nick and I had suspected, Lana was furious when Greg told her about the plan to lure Carleon to Manhattan. But Lana also believed that it was all her fault.Her face grew even paler when she learned who Dostov really was. Her lips quivered, while her gray eyes welled up as she tried to hold back her tears.I did not blame her and I myself would feel the same guilt if I were in her position right now.Meanwhile, Greg was not any better than Lana. The grim and dark expression on his face looked even more tortured when he saw Lana's response."I know you need time to process it, but we need to move quickly before Carleon and Vlad take the first step," Nick said before taking a seat at one of the counter chairs."Nick's right, even Dostov knows about the problem between Carleon, Lana, and Greg," I added with a similarly grim tone.Greg looked up, gritting his teeth. "What did Dostov actually say earlier?"I explained everything in more detail, including our conversation next to the gla
Chapter 78Nick refused to talk to me after Greg and Lana left. But at night, when we went to sleep, his hands reached for my waist and pulled me into his embrace. He didn't let go until he woke up in the morning.I tried to make peace with him a few times this morning, but his pouting face still didn't fade.I thought of reassuring him again, but seeing him hugging Rosie and patting her back after breakfast made me realize... Maybe Nick is just worried, I can't force him to lessen his anxiety and worry every time he thinks about Rosie.It's not Nick who should understand my way of thinking, but it's me who should understand his feelings and what he's worried about.I hope Rosie will understand it too when she grows up that Nick's protective attitude is not to confine her, but because Nick loves her so much. But I doubt Rosie will have a boyfriend for the rest of her life... Ah, let's leave that problem for later.I smiled to myself while waiting for Elliot to finish his bottle of blo
Before we could answer Alice's question, Lana and Nick came down to the kitchen."Oh, you're here already?" greeted Nick before plopping himself down on one of the sofas. It seemed like he just had to deal with Elliot's tantrum. Even Lana looked tired."Let's have dinner now, then," I invited everyone."Did you cook?" asked Luke from beside Alice, who immediately got a sharp glance from Nick."No...I ordered it," I replied, taking a seat next to Nick. Today, we had a variety of Thai dishes, and for a while, everyone was busy with their own plates.Luke observed us one by one while eating his Pad Thai.I didn't have much of an appetite because I had just drank blood about an hour ago. Among the six of us, only Alice needed to consume food regularly, like a normal human."Should I wait longer?" Alice, who was impatient, interjected again."Yes. Is there another problem now? Alice and I almost bet on it during the commute here," Luke replied with a thin smile.I immediately looked at Gre
Everyone stared at Alice as the threat escaped her lips. Only Luke smiled as he watched her reaction.To me, it wasn't just her menacing tone that sounded scary, but her beautiful and innocent face when she spoke those words looked so contrasting that it made me shiver.Nick, who was used to Alice's behavior, listened to her words and shrugged it off. He seemed to still be processing my words earlier."Let's assume that the issue of luring Carleon out is settled," he said, redirecting our attention from Alice. "We still need to prepare to face Vlad. No one knows how he will react when he finds out Carleon has been trapped.""Why don't we just report his hidden activities to Vlad? Isn't that an easier way to get rid of Carleon?" Lana asked."Lana, if Vlad kills Carleon, as his Leeche, you will die too," I explained to her."Oh...I forgot about that," she replied, a bit embarrassed."Our current goal is not to get rid of Carleon, but to save you," I added, smiling at her."Alice, you've
"Nick reluctantly agreed to accept Dostov as Elliot and Rosie's guardian, and you were the one who convinced him," I added as Alice remained silent in response to my words.Alice's steadfast gray-blue eyes never wavered as she looked up at the dark sky above us. It seemed like rain was about to pour any minute now.I nodded and also gazed up at the sky. "Nick told me about it before.""The Valkyrie that Dostov killed and took her power from was Skuld. She was a tribute to Dostov, who was destined to become Vlad's successor...and one of Skuld's unique abilities was her enhanced vision."I turned to Alice, who was still looking up. "So that's why Dostov has enhanced vision?""Yes," she replied shortly. Alice then smiled at me as she glanced my way. "But when Dostov took Skuld's power, he didn't do it perfectly. So only part of Skuld's enhanced vision was transferred to Dostov. Sometimes his visions are true, but often they are incorrect.""So what did Dostov see that made him decide to
I don't remember when was the last time Elliot and Rosie left this house... Maybe never?It seems like it has never happened.Even they were born in this house. When I mentioned it to Nick, he just raised one eyebrow and went back to feeding Rosie her red bean porridge.It seems like lately Nick has monopolized the task of feeding Rosie. I always end up with Elliot and his never-ending bottle that he always throws to the floor after finishing it. Elliot has already destroyed twelve bottles so far, of course it's because Elliot is not an ordinary baby. The more days went by, his strength became more and more uncontrollable. Nick says that Elliot's behavior is still within normal limits in the Volder world."Will Greg and Lana come again today?" I asked while picking up the bottle from the floor, the more Elliot throws his bottles farther away."I think Greg has work today," Nick replied. He was wiping off Rosie's drool that's dripping. Rosie raised both of her hands and giggled with del