CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36

Rhea remained standing at the door, still in a trance of what she had seen.

The room’s silence was deafening, and her heart pounding became the only sound she could hear.

That was real...

Her mind trailed off.

So does this mean everything he had been saying is real?

Her have fallen to her feet.

But...but...

She couldn’t find a good excuse not to believe Zeenare.

Her mind flashed to her encounter in the alley and the fairy clouds.

Does this mean these things are connected?

What is it I should remember that Sisi was talking about?

She turned to her bed, sliding under its cover.

What should I do now? I’m more at a loss than ever.

At the same time, in the near distance, Zeenare leaned against a wall.

His hands clenched around his torso as his fingers dug into his skin, biting down on his lips, jaw tight, his veins popping along his head, loud, painful growl and groan coming from him.

For different centuries, I have longed for you, Rhea, so why does this one feel harder and longer?

I want you to take me back to the time we first met.

I can’t bear this longing anymore, just a little of your genuine affection is enough for me.

He slid down the wall, his complexion gradually growing paler.

Othimise get the pool prepared. Zeenare telepathically instructed.

He slowly managed to rise from the floor and made his way to a chamber deep within the mansion. It was pitch dark with a glowing blue water-like potion within it.

As Zeenare stepped inside, his body violently shook. Othimise immediately assisted him into the pool.

A breath choking groan left his lips as his skin touched the water, followed by a long agonizing heart wrenching screnching scream.

His body began to fall apart, his skin fell off, and it methodically grew back.

The screams reduced to a growl as the process repeated and the water turned deep red.

Then everything stopped, Zeenare’s breath hitched, his chest heaving, and he lay weak and worn out in the water.

Then Othimise and Aluna, pulled him out of the water, his arms slung on each of their necks.

His feet brushed the floor as they moved into his room after leaving the chamber.

"Lay him here." Vaelithra Ravira instructed, pouring the contents of a bottle into his mouth.

Zeenare stopped groaning after swallowing.

"Hope no one was in the hallway while he was in this state?" Ravira asked, looking at both Othimise and Aluna.

"No. They were instructed to leave their post, while the master was with the madam." Aluna respond coolly.

Ravira hummed nodding. "That’s good since we don’t need extra blood on our hands now."

She turned to the men, "The Master needs his rest, so you two leave." After lighting an incense, she and the visibly worried men walked out.

*

Rhea suddenly sprang up, her eyes wide. "Does this mean that night at my apartment... he flew?" She chuckled bewilderedly.

And here I was thinking he was trying to commit suicide.

She lay back down, eyes closing.

"Ah!" She sat up again, "That explains why his voice was like that that day Luke accomplished me to his office. And everything he told me about soulmates makes a little sense now." She muttered, lying down again.

Within the early morning, Rhea woke up several times, completing the puzzle pieces clicking in her head.

As dawn smitten the sky with its beauty and the cold wind from the forest and the ocean breeze its way into the mansion, Rhea was seated at her bedframe, eyes halfway open and lifeless, still pondering her life.

Zeenare, on the other hand, slept soundly even as the mansion bustled to life.

Rhea turned to the bedside and pulled the bell rope.

I’ve to see him. Then I can make better plans and leave this place.

Rhea glided through the hallway and stopped before a gigantic door.

She hesitated for a beat, took a deep breath, then pushed the door open.

Stepping inside, she was first greeted by the fresh smell of books and fresh ink. There were shelves lined on the right-hand side of the room, and a huge coffee table faced the door, cluttered with notes, scrolls, and other things on it.

Rhea trailed further into the room, and she noticed different unique paintings on each wall.

Deep inside the study, she stood directly before another door.

What am I going to say when I get inside?

Her mind wandered as she stared intently at the door.

Immediately upon entering, the first thing she noticed was the deep blue colour of the entire room, as if you are deep within the waters. It smelled clean and fresh, not the kind from an air freshener, but a distinct natural scent.

The room smells like him.

Rhea’s gaze shifted from a table toward the large bed at the far end of the other side of the room.

Her eyes trailed over Zeenare’s sleeping form.

She walked towards him her steps deliberate.

I didn’t know he slept this long into the morning.

She thought, standing inches from the bed.

Rhea gawked at Zeenare’s devastatingly gorgeous face, from his long lashes to his medium-sized pointy nose to his beautiful, smooth, red lips.

Her eyes fanned down his fitted body beneath the light transparent white shirt, to his waist.

With each second Rhea spent looking, her ears and cheeks heated.

Her hand subconsciously reached for his face, brushing some hair away from his face. A lump formed in her throat.

Zeenare stirred in his sleep as his eyes fluttered open, his sight adjusting to the person before him.

"Like what you see, Pumpkin?" He asked sitting up.

Rhea stepped two feet back, glancing away towards the other side of the room before turning her back to him, tucking a chunk of her hair behind her ears.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, "he wasn’t sleeping.

Straightening her shoulders, she stepped forward to Zeenare, who was now sitting at the edge of the bed directly facing her.

"Concerning yesterday." Rhea began her chin high, "I’d like to know more about how we can break...this curse."

Even though I don’t understand much, from what I saw yesterday and pieced together, what he told me appears to hold a lot of meaning.

Zeenare sat on the bed, his legs crossed, leaning on one arm. His hair falling on his face casting shadows on it.

"And do you think you are ready for that?" His voice vibrated in the room in a soft, deep, soothing sound.

"Yes. As you know, I don’t want to die, and the same goes for you, too, and since that’s obviously the reason you kidnapped me. Let’s get it over with and be done with it." She said.

"And do you know what it entails?" Zeenare questioned, tracing his fingers on the bed.

"The concoction you’ve been giving me, since I arrived here of course." Rhea confidently answered.

While he had been talking to her last night, she hadn’t listened fully, her mind had chosen what it wanted to hear and discarded the rest.

"I guess you weren’t listening when I spoke," Zeenare muttered looking at Rhea.

"Then I’ll say it again," He stood up, his steps measured and graceful. "To jolt your memory."

With each step forward, Rhea backed away. His gaze devoured her, slow and deliberate, as though he meant to memorise every inch of her.

"When we spoke, I believe I said something about sharing our body fluid... and if possible, falling in love."

I know but I don’t want that.

"But the medicine is working well, as you can see I’m fine." Rhea hurriedly said, her body hitting the table behind her. "...Why don’t we use that instead?" Her voice came out less audible than she expected.

Rhea’s heart vanished into a small imperceptible gasp. Her arms pressed on the table as she leaned deep into the table, two muscular hands planted on either side of her, boxing her in between a wall of flesh, with eyes staring down at her like a hungry beast.

Zeenare’s voice dropped low, "And you think that is changing something?" He slightly leaned in on her, one leg barely stretched out.

Please please move back. I can’t breathe here.

"That was just to breathe life into your body back and wake you from sleep, nothing more."

"So if the medicine doesn’t work that much... how would... what you’re suggesting be different?" Rhea asked, her body trembling, barely.

"When you went for another test were the results the same?" Zeenare’s words hit their mark.

So the HCM condition I was first diagnosed with wasn’t a fluke?

"So, we’ll have to..."

"I’d have to claim you." Zeenare finished for her.

He snaked his hands around her waist, picking her up onto the table.

A sharp gasp erupted from Rhea’s lips as her skin tingled from his touch. " Let’s make a deal then."

"A deal?" His voice is going lower.

"Yes, I want to do this... but on my terms."