Chapter 10(Stirring pasts)

This was going to be one of the most awkward dinners she'd ever had. She didn’t know which made her more uncomfortable, the etching tension at the table or the fact that Cole was seated right across the table facing her. He ate his meal and talked to the brothers as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Eloise's hands clenched into fists as watched him.

She would love nothing more than to wipe that look on his face but that would raise questions she wasn’t ready to answer.

“Eloise, you have not touched your meal. You do not like the food?” She turned to find Wrath asking.

She looked back at her plate to find the lamb meal untouched.

“I don’t have much of an appetite tonight,” She said with a forced smile.

“Perhaps, Elric could make you something different?” He asked.

“No, it’s fine. Thank you” Eloise said politely.

“I have noticed your speech is different, my Lady. Is that how all your people speak?” Cole suddenly asked.

Eloise met his eyes with a scowl. Her blood rushed in her veins with rage. It took all she had in her not to rise from her chair and lash out at him. She prayed no one noticed the vapor gashing from her nostrils and ears, as she tried her best to cool off.

Wrath's eyes wavered for a second as he watched her.

She was burning with rage. He could feel its enormity from where he sat and surprisingly it wasn’t directed toward him.

“I noticed that too. You say words like don’t, I'm and many of such sorts. It is a smart way of speech, saves you more time” Wrath intervened and noticed her rage dial down a notch.

“They are called contractions and not many people use them. I happen to pick it up growing up” She replied. She took little notice of how her speech was different from the one in these times.

“Interesting. I hope you are settling in nicely. The weather in Valeria may not be as blissful as in Elda, but it becomes tolerable once you learn to adapt” Cole said with a smile. He spoke so gently and was polite in his words.

She probably looked like the most hostile person to be ever born, right now.

It would be very rude and ungraceful on her part if she were to just lash out and call him out in front of everyone.

But call him out on what exactly? On how he killed her in the future? How absurd would that sound?

“I'm settling quite well, thank you” She finally responded. She sipped from her glass and stared at him through the rim of her glass.

She couldn’t help but steal glances at him now and then, no matter how uncomfortable it made her.

She loved him once. Who was to say she still didn’t? It wasn’t a feeling you could just let go of that easily.

Cole suddenly looked up and their eyes met. She held his gaze through the rim of the glass and slowly averted her eyes.

Eloise turned to find, Wrath looking at her.

“Pardon me, I think I will retire now. Thank you for the meal” Eloise told them. Lucy quickly moved to her side pushed her chair and Eloise stood up.

All eyes including Cole's watched her back as she headed out of the dining hall. Corianne glanced at Cole and he met her eyes.

He gave her a small smile but his heart was void of any emotion. No one dared to speak of it but she could tell from Eloise's reaction that the rumors weren’t just rumors.

Wrath stepped into his study to find Thorne standing quietly by the window. His hands were folded to his chest as he stood in deep thought. His eyes lingered outside the window as Cole’s carriage rode out through the large Valerian gates. He'd stayed through dinner and was now leaving after a long conversation with Wrath in the garden.

"I know that look," Wrath said as he poured himself a glass of wine and moved to his desk.

"There is news from Furrfold and Oaken town," Thorne told him, still glancing outside.

"Ah, do tell" Wrath replied opening a box of fresh cigars.

He placed a stick between his lips and snapped his fingers with the cigar lighting up instantly. He took a long hard draw and slowly exhaled with smoke puffing from his nostrils.

"Fairies have begun disappearing in Furrfold. Oaken town was massacred a fortnight ago. The whole town was burnt to ash with no sign of life. Our informants discovered an incomplete sigil at the center of the town," he told him.

"The sigil of the conjured, I heard," Wrath said softly.

"An incomplete Helsen curse. It would take a very powerful and experienced which to cast such a spell. Work of the Enclave, I presume," Thorne told him.

"Mmmm, it is possible," Wrath mumbled taking another long pull from his cigar.

"What did the Dronish want?" Thorne asked him finally turning to him.

Wrath glanced at his brother and then sighed loudly.

"I have always wondered what is with you and your dislike for Cole," Wrath said with his head tilted to the side and a narrowed look on his face.

"He is crooked. You do not see it because you are worse than he is" Thorne said bluntly.

Wrath laughed. "Your words wound me, brother"

"I do not trust him, brother. He is up to something" Thorne added.

"On other days, I would say you are just being your paranoid self but there seems to be true to your words. But let us not forget, this is Cole we are talking about. He is always up to something," Wrath said.

"What him and Eloise?" Thorne asked him.

“What about them?” he asked in a nonchalant tone.

“She does not seem to remember. Nonetheless, it is advisable to keep her away from him. She seemed very uncomfortable tonight” Thorne said quietly.

Wrath dipped the last of his cigar in the crystal bowl and stood to his feet.

"You should not concern yourself so much with my wife, brother. I will take care of her” He said with a sly smile.

“That does not sound relieving at all coming from you. So far all you have done is ignore her. Not a very promising start if ask me” Throne said to him.

"You should focus more on yourself. Ease up, brother. Forget about the Dronish. Go have a drink, and get a good fuck. Release some tension. You need it" Wrath patted him on the shoulder with a chuckle.

"You have a wife now, you should put a stop to your … hobbies," Thorne told him.

Wrath waved his hand with a chuckle as he headed for the door.

"That solely depends on her, does it not?" He said over his shoulder and slowly strode outside towards the stairs.

He headed towards the stairs several minutes later after he’d had his bath. He approached the quiet hallway to his chambers, he paused for a second. A familiar whiff of rosemary and roses filled his nostrils. He headed towards the bedroom to find the doors slightly open. He slowly stepped inside to find Lucy and two maids around a half naked Eloise. They were helping her into a black silk night dress. She stood before the full-length mirror as they helped her into the dress. His eyes slowly grazed on her budded dark pink nipples. Eloise quickly grabbed the robe covering her breasts. The others turned to him wondering when he entered.

"What are you doing here?" Eloise asked with a frown. Her small mouth had on that stubborn pout whenever she was angry.

Wrath smiled with a sigh. “This is my chambers too, remember. Leave us” he ordered. The room was quickly cleared leaving the two alone.

Eloise watched as Wrath quietly moved to the large closest at the right wing of the room. His long dark blonde hair looked damp. He must have just stepped out of the bath. He pulled off his dark robe revealing his tightly packed muscles. He had a Lichtenberg scar that ran across his wide back.

“What is that scar on your back?” A curious Eloise asked. She had quickly slipped into her night dress probably when he wasn’t looking.

Wrath slowly turned to her as he slipped on his black robe.

“I was struck by lightning when I was younger,” he told her.

Eloise walked towards the bed with her eyes still on him as he headed towards the balcony.

“You are a vampire, it should have healed right?” she asked while leaning on the headboard.

Wrath stepped back into the chamber with a plate of crusted honey pie.

“I ordered this be made for you earlier since you did not eat anything at supper. You do not like it” He asked her with a furrowed brow.

“Oh, I forgot I left it there. It’s late, I will eat it tomorrow” Eloise said to him.

“No you will not,” he said with a small frown. She noticed it was the first time she'd seen him frown.

He headed towards her side of the bed and sat next to her. Eloise shifted uncomfortably as she watched him. His long lashes fluttered against his golden eyes, which were suddenly serious as he sliced the pie into small pieces with the fork. He picked up the tiniest piece with the fork and gestured it toward her with a smile.

Eloise furrowed her brows in suspicion. “What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Feeding you. Is that not obvious?” he asked while motioning the piece towards her.

“I thought I told you….” Wrath suddenly pushed the fork into her mouth, cutting her off. Eloise's eyes flared as she munched on the pie quickly.

“You do not have...” she opened her mouth to speak only to be stuffed with a piece of the sweet honey filled pie.

“I can feed myself…” He stuffed her mouth again stopping her from talking.

Wrath chuckled as she watched her chew quietly. She was pouting even as she enjoyed the pie.

Wrath handed her the plate after stuffing her mouth abruptly, two more times. She took the plate and munched the pie hungrily.

She was like a child who had been starved for hours.

“Slow down or else you are going to choke,” he said softly, placing a hand on her head. Eloise quickly pushed his hand away with a frown.

“Stop treating me like a child,” She said abruptly.

Wrath chuckled but suddenly leaned closer. He raised his hand towards and she flinched.

“Come down, I am not going to hurt you,” he told her. She looked at him to find him with a soft smile. He gently wiped a smudge of honey from her lips with his thumb. He slowly brought his thumb to his mouth and licked the honey of his thumb.

Eloise's cheeks suddenly flushed red at his gesture. He leaned closer to her with his face inches away from hers.

“You do not have to be jumpy around me, wife. I mean no harm” he whispered on her lips. His eyes lingered on hers for a second then trailed back to her small mouth. Eloise held her breath when his slightly parted lips grazed hers.

He suddenly pulled away and she almost soughed in disappointment. She quickly leaned back on the headboard awkwardly. Wrath picked up the plate, which contained only crumbs now. He stood up and headed away from the bed, then towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Eloise asked after him.

“Well, do you not sound disappointed,” he said in a tone of sarcasm.

“I’m not,” she said abruptly.

“Rest well then, we will be going out tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder right before he opened the door.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Why isn’t your scar healed?” she asked.

“I was only five when I was struck. I was not a fledgling yet, so I did not possess any vampire quirks” He explained to her.

“Five? How old are you?” Eloise blurted with a narrowed expression.

Wrath chuckled softly.

“Seven hundred and six years old, I am not so certain. I have lost count over the years…” he stopped to find her with a dumbfounded expression.

“Good night, wife,” he said with a small smile. He closed the door softly leaving a loud gap of silence behind him.

Eloise laid back into the soft pillows facing Wrath's side of the bed. Her hand absently grazed the empty spot. He probably left to give her space. A tingle of disappointment etched in the little corner of her mind. Her mind went back to the feel of his thumb on her lips. She shivered at the memory of his lips grazing on hers. And for some strange reason, she itched to run her fingers along the Lichtenberg scar on his back. Eloise tossed and turned in the bed and abruptly wrapped the heavy mahogany colored sheets around her body. She thought of his warm breath on hers and groaned loudly. He was somehow getting in her head. Who is to say he already wasn’t in her head? The tension she felt whenever he was around, lingered even though he wasn’t now. She pouted, suddenly annoyed she couldn’t get herself to sleep.

“Get over it, girl,” She grumbled right before she buried her head under the pillows.

Elvira ran down the hallway trampling on her cloak. She fell to the ground out of breath. She stopped to look over her shoulder, wondering where he was. The wound on her forehead had already healed but she had blood all over her hands. He was going to kill her. She had to escape no matter what. She could sense his presence but where was he?

"Elviiiiraaaaa" Cole’s voice resonated through the manor in a horrid sing-song voice.

Elvira gasped in horror, this was her punishment for showing up at the Valerian manor. From the minute he got back from the manor, he’d been chasing her all over the manor with the Claw dagger. It was a bonelike dagger, that was the only thing that could kill her.

"I only want to talk, sister" She heard him say from the dark.

Yes, torture the truth out of her that is?

She rushed towards the main foyer heading for the entrance. Just a little further and she was going to be free.

Cole suddenly appeared before her abruptly stabbing her in the shoulder.

Elvira groaned in pain quickly stepping away from him. She placed a hand on her wound to stop the bleeding. Unable to heal, she fell to her feet her eyes wide with horror. She was going to die again, wasn’t she? She thought to herself.

Cole slowly raised her chin to meet his eyes.

"You know I could just end this misery. Just tell me why you went there. And do not even think of lying to me, you know I would know if you try to?" he warned her.

"To what end?" Elvira whispered.

"Wrong answer, sister" He abruptly pulled the dagger from her shoulder.

Elvira groaned in pain with tears running down her face.

"Let us try this again, shall we? Why were you at the Valerian manor?" Cole grabbed her face in his palm roughly.

"I went to see her," Elvira said.

"And by her, you mean?" he inquired, digging his thumb into her wound. Elvira screamed in pain.

"Eloise!" she yelled.

The smile on his face suddenly faded.

"What did you tell her?" he asked with a frown. He remembered the beautiful redhead, Eloise Valerian. She was a Valerian now and she didn’t even remember him. He remembered the look in her eyes when she saw him. They were the eyes of terror and hate.

He was no daemon but from the shock in her eyes and the rate of her heartbeat. Anyone could tell she despised him?

Elvira’s sudden laughter disrupted his thoughts.

"What is funny?" he muttered in an annoyed tone.

"I told you she died but I never told you, she could leap. She is a traveler. A different self" Elvira taunted.

Cole's eyes turned colder than before.

Eloise was back and she refused to tell him. What was she trying to achieve by that?

“I hate it when you lie, Elvira,” he said in a lethal tone as he squeezed her face in his palm. He suddenly let go of her face and she fell to his feet. Cole crouched and placed a hand on her head.

“Maybe waking you up, a hundred years earlier was a mistake. I will put you back to sleep so you would save us all the trouble” Cole said with a cold stare as he raised the dagger.

"Illura!" Elvira suddenly placed her hand on Cole's face while she chanted. A sudden glowing light sparked from her palm and blinded Cole.

He fell to his knees groaning in pain. Elvira slowly struggled to her feet and staggered towards the door as quickly as she could.

Cole’s sudden horrid laughter made her stop in her tracks.

He slowly looked up at her, his eyes were a pale shade of grey, from the spell she just cast. He was going to be blind for a few hours before his sight was restored.

"There is nowhere you will go, I can not find, V. You can run but you can never hide! You hear me" He yelled.

Elvira rushed through the doors outside the Dronish manor. The sound of Cole's laughter echoed from behind. She was going to disappear far away from him and this time, it was for good.