CHAPTER FOURTEEN

AVYANNA'S POV

"Here , he is." I declare as I point towards Professor Madrich's name in the record book. Finally, we found his name. After we received the book we spent another two hours searching for his name. The book was a big, thick book, with a dark burgundy cover and a title ontop written The Elderly Population Records.

Aedion grabs the book and looks at the name.

"Thomas Madrich;age 95;eye colour:gray; blah,blah,blah,blah. oh yes, he lives in Green Leaf Street , Number 9007, downtown of the elf kingdom. Lets go." he says as he clasps the book shut and rush out the room.

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"Thank you for the help, we truly appreciate it." Aedion thanks the royal couple as we approach our car to go seek the professor.

"No problem, we are happy to help." the Queen replies.

She then turns to me and says "I hope to see you soon, maybe then we could get to know each other better."She warmly smiles at me.

I return the smile and nod.

"Okay, goodbye then."Aedion ends the conversation and we head into our car.

I sigh as I sit on the passenger seat and buckle my seat belt.

"Is there something wrong?" Aedion asks as he revives the car to life and head out.

I look at him and shake my head at him.

Aedion just firmly nods and we sit in a comfortable silence the rest of ride.

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Aedion growls for the tenth time now and i dont blsme him. it is very frustrating to keep knocking on a door, where no one answers. We reached Professor Madrich's house thirty mintues ago and have been knocking on his door for a long time now. I on the other hand , am just leaning against the car with both my arms and legs crossed, watching Aedion throw tantrums. I am wearing a bored expression because Aedion just wont give up, he is determined to meet this man today, even if it means breaking down his door. I mean we could always try tomorrow, I see no rush in this.

A pparently, Professor Madrich lives in an abandoned street. Okay, not abandoned street, it has residents but however, the part he lives in the street is abandoned. His little house, no , his little shack looks run down , its a bit crooked, has a dark green colour , the roof is a bit slanted looking like its about to fall and last but not least the walls have a lot of cracks making it very dangerous to leave in this old shack , it looks like it can fall on you anytime soon. Judging by the lighter brown on the walls, this shows that when it was new the walls were either painted white or a creamish colour. Around it, the yard was boreded by a short little fence and a double gate that reached my waist. The whole yard had plants which were dead and beaten down. The scenery was just horrific especially considering that he is an elf , since elves are known for being nature loving creatures. No wonder why this man is assumed to be crazy and a loner by his society. I wonder what made him be this way.

Aedion sighs beside me. I hadnt realised that he had come beside me and is now frustratingly running his fingers, through his thick messy hair.

"I guess he is not there." he states.

"Oh really, I hadnt noticed." I reply with sacarsm dripping from my tone.

He glares at me and I innocently smile at him,

He then rolls his eyes and suggests"Lets get in the car and chill for him in there or at least someone to show up at this place."

I simply shrug and get into the vehicle.

This has been a long day , I woke up too early at dawn , travelled for two to four hours and we spent half of the day at the castle and now its sunset and we are here in the car waiting for a man who might or might not show up.

"So what if he doesnt show up?"I ask

Aedion sighs as he says "He will."

I just nod and let him live his fantasy because I have a feeling that this man is either non existant, dead or is in there and trying to ignore us until we give up and leave.

My phone rings and I check the caller ID to find Hunter's name there. I slightly smile and answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Avy." speaks Hunter from the other side of the call. "I just called to see how you are doing? where are you guys now, I hope that insufferable King is not bothering you."

I hear a low growl from Aedion, which is an indication to me that he was using his super hearing ability to listen in on my conversation. IDIOT!!!!

I snicker a bit "I am doing well just a bit tired and we are now infront of the Professor's house waiting for him apparently, he is not at home."

"Okay good. Please call me once every now and then to know how you are doing. Rhysand here does not even let me breathe for even a second. Let me give him the phone."

Aedion growls a bit louder now, Im guessing he doesnt like the fact that I talk to Rhysand.

"Avy? how are you? where are you? are you okay?why did you not call when you reached Isinyos? why-

"Woah Rhysand, calm down. I am okay. I just got occupied by the events that I forgot to call you and Hunter. Everything is fine, I assure you." I say trying to calm him down.

I hear him realse a breathe of relief."okay, but do not do that again. I dont know what I would have done if something happened to you." he inaudibly whispers the last part but I heard it.

I clear my throat and reassure him again "I am fine and i can take care of myself. You know for you to calm down from now on I promise to call you and Hunter whenever I can to update about my well being and the progress of this journey."

"Okay, but please be safe Avy>"

"I will."

"Good." he says as he ends the call.

I sigh and putr my phone away as I get comfy in my seat.

"I dont think you are safe with that guy around you." Aedion eventually breaks the silence.

I look at him as I ask him "Who?"

"You know who im talking about , please do not play dumb, it doesnt suit you." he responds.

"Rhysand?" i question.

I roll my eyes and sigh "Firstly I have known him for a longer time than I have known you, I f I am to be asked , I should say its safer to be with him than you. Secondly, even if he was the devil himself, you have no right to tell me who to be close to, we are nothing to each other, Remember why we are on this trip."

Aedion stays stoic looking at nothing showing how tight his grip on the starring wheel is since his knuckles are turning white.

He finally looks at me and say "I am not asking you to distrust your friends nut I am asking you to be careful the amount of trust you put in someone." He then looks staright into my eyes as he holds my chin "My sweet little naive mate, Trust is for children. You , my dear are not that child annymore. So be careful."

I slightli glare at his brutal honesty and slap his hand away.

"Whatever, Anyway , why are we even talking about him?" I ask

"Its nothing forget about it."

We stay slient for sometime. The atmosphere was arkward until Aedion finally decides to break the silence.

"So... this

"What?" I ask him

He clear his throat "So , this whole thing does not affect you in anyway?"

"What thing?"

He rolls his eyes "You know exactly what I am referring to. You are not bothered or hurt about the fact that I want to be detached from you for good."

I simply smile and shake my head at his curiosity.

"You really thought you could hurt me or control me by doing that, didnt you?"

He remains quiet, probably awaiting my response.

I shake my head again as I choose my next words wisely"You know , Alpha King, your first mistake was thinking that im one of your sheep."

He snaps his head at me with a cold glare"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exact;y what it says."

"Why? Why do you this to me? I really dont want to be with you especially because you are everything that goes against my laws and beliefs. Why couldnt you just be any other creature besides a half vampire, I mean at this moment, I would rather have a weak pathetic human as a mate than a half vampire." He rants as he harshly breathes letting all his anger out. At this very moment as I listen to what he is saying, all I can see is a scared and confused man. His heart is saying one thing and his mind is saying another. His only problem is that he does not let himself be loved.

I sigh "Look Aedion" I say as I adjust myself in my seat and face him, looking him dead straight in the eyes. "I did not ask to be like this, but I just am." My eyes start getting glossy with unshed tears. "Also I most certainly did not ask to be mated to you or become a disappointment to your expectationns but here I am. Looking at you right now, I see a man on the outside but a scared little boy in the inside who is afraid of loving and also being loved, I dont know your life but probably you had a bad childhood and that can be a good excuse for why you are so broken but what about me? I am also broken or even more broken than you and guess what?" i question as my tears finally fall "I AM THE RESULT OF A GOOD CHILDHOOD, so can you explain who is hurting more than the other. You are just making it worse for me."

I see his eyes soften a bit as I continue letting out my true , inner feelings to him "Truth be told, I am truly hurt that , this is the path you decided to take , instead of giving this a chance, however, the only reason I am here with you right now, is not by my own free will and choice but to accept reality and also I will never force someone to love me."

He just stares at me with a soft expression on his face.

"I have learnt to accept my fate with you and live my life alone. I wasnt born to be soft and quiet. I was born to make the world shatter and shake at my fingertips and I cant change that."

"Since this is a moment of truth and vulnerability I must confess."he says as he sighs and brush his hand against his face as he turns back to me.

"Ever since I learnt or knew about you , all I wanted was to kill you right there on the spot and end your bloodline for good. I could have easily murdered you without hesitation and even now I can still do it , but those dark angelic eyes made me all dizzy and weak, of which I do not like that. I mean come on, in the whole of the Kova realm, I am the most reasonable and strongest. I cannot have a weakness and most certainly not a woman." he carries on.

"But why are you like this? How caan you say your own mate is a weakness and even a curse. To some people a mate-

"Some people survive chaos and that is how they grow. And some people thrive on chaos because chaos is all they know. You can put me in the latter group."

"Then I guess that makes you a sociopath." I say as I fold my arms across my chest, look outside the window as I pout.

A dark chuckle came from his lips, yet the butterflies in my stomach went crazy and I wonder why. I guess its because for the first time ever, I am eventually having a heart to heart conversation with this man beside me without any threats, insults or fighting.

"I like being a sociopath." he answers as he grabs my one of my arms and makes me look at him. His other hand holds my right side of the face as his thumb caresses my cheek looking deep in my eyes. At that moment, it was just me and him. All our problems, fights and differences aside. At this moment, I just want to concentrate on him and nothing else.

As he slowly leans in he whispers "I like being a sociopath because I am not burdened by things like guilt or love."

The warmth of his breathe fanning my face sends shivers down my spin , making me weak in the knees. The feel of his hand on my cheek intensifies the mate bond with the feel of the tingles in my body. These feelings I am feeling when he is close to me and his touch just paralyzes my logic side of thinking leaving me with just the need and craving of wanting to be close to him. A ll I want right now is to feel hips lips on mine and forget everything and judging by his current actions I know he wants the same.

I feel his lips brush against mine as he teases me. He can see that I am weak and he has full control of my mind and actions. The idiot is taking advantage of the stupid mate bond, but something deep within me at this moment does not care. I actually like how dominant he is with me right now. All I want is him.

When I let go and just be in the present, as we were about to kiss, there was a harsh knock on the car window of Aedion's seat.

Aedion growls and looks at who it was.There was an old man standing there. He had obviously white short hair and white beard. He had gray looking eyes and as I look closer one of his eyes look blind and looks like it is surround my claw markings. He had a scar on his right eye, which gave me the vibes that this man was not someone to rile up or get onhis bad side. He was wearing a dark green loose shirt with a burgundy cotton scarf across his chest.

Aedion pulls down the window half way and asks "Who the hell are you?"

The old man looks between me and Aedion as he has a ghost of a smile and says to Aedion "I think its only fair to be at least a bit polite considering that you are parked infront of my house and literally making out."

Aedion rolls his eyes as my cheeks turn pink and hot.

"Anyway, I am Thomas Madrich and who are you?"

Aedion and I look at each other skeptically as we finally have a sense of relief knowing we have finally found the man.

I guess its time to find answers.

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