Eden (Part V)

For a second, Eva wanted to part her lips open and shout that he was. But that would be too forward even for her to speak so she proceeded to keep her mouth sealed shut and kept her eyes darting from the door to Theo and then back again.

It was his business to explain, she wasn't going to help him in this one.

She could have sworn a smile tugged on Theo's lips as he went on, "No one—no one—but Gwen and I are able to teleport directly inside this house. It is warded, shielded, and then warded some more. Only those I wish—and you wish—may enter. You are safe here; and safe anywhere in this city, for that matter. Eden's walls are well protected and have not been breached in a thousand decades. No one with ill intent enters this city unless I allow it. So go where you wish, do what you wish, and see who you wish. Those two in that chamber," he added, eyes sparkling, "might not be on that list of people you should trouble knowing if they keep banging on the door like children."

"I can hear you, you freaking ass!" the male yelled, and Eva tilted her head, impressed by the way the men were behaving. It was as if she was seeing a whole new side of him, the one which he had shown people before her but that didn't matter.

He was opening himself to her. She was a complete stranger who had abruptly stumbled into his life and ended up getting caught by him. If he hadn't held her all along, she was sure she would've fallen to her doom long ago.

"I don't think I'd recommend meeting those bastards right now," he spoke, his voice a little louder as if he wanted the people outside to listen.

"Lend me a hand will you?" someone from outside the door whisper-yelled and a deep sigh was heard instead of a reply.

She wanted to meet the people who could make him smile so easily. But suddenly all the memories of the place and the atmosphere reminded her of all the times she had been so close to her family. Loneliness worked its way up her neck and for a second, she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

She was drowning in that old heaviness, clawing her way up to a surface that might not ever exist. The teleportation seemed to have exhausted her beyond anything as she placed her hand on a nearby table for support. She didn't want him to see how weak and dead she was feeling inside. How bony she had gotten, how her own reflection made her want to shrink into a corner and vomit out all the bile she constantly felt.

"I think I want to go to my room first," she spoke and the spark in his eyes dimmed a little at her words. He opened his mouth to speak but she would never know what he was going to say because of the interruption caused by the voice of a frustrated woman.

"What's the ruckus around here? And why are you bastards knocking on the door like little Fae children?" spoke the irritated voice and Eva could almost detect a powerful aura floating outside the translucent glass door.

"If you want to rest, I suggest you better do it quickly. You can meet them at dinner time, introductions can wait," said Theodore, straightening his back and nodding in her direction. He didn't accuse her of being rude or wanting to leave in a hurry, and instead gave her the space she desperately desired right now.

She could've kissed him if the door knob hadn't started rattling like crazy. "You better open this door Theodore before I break it into pieces." came the soft hiss of the same female voice and Eva looked at Theo with a question in her eyes.

"Up the stairs, your room is the third door to your right," he informed and Eva managed to spare a weak smile at him before turning around and walking up the staircase.

Just as she stepped into the long hallway, she heard Theodore twist open the door knob as a deafening thud echoed throughout the house.

"I didn't know you missed me so much that you're lying on the ground now." she shivered at his midnight voice that spoke with quiet cold that licked down her spine.

"Welcome home, you bastard." a drawling voice reached her ears as she wriggled open the door to her room. "And here I thought you might have forgotten us after all these years."

"Ok, have your little damning reunion later. There are things we need to discuss urgently Theodore, I hope you haven't forgotten that too." spoke the female voice and Eva sensed another pair of footsteps enter the room below.

"Wait, where's Eva?" she immediately recognized the voice to be Gwen's and wondered what excuse Theo would make this time on her behalf.

"Who the hell is Eva?" the man with the cocky voice spoke, his voice filled with curiosity and surprise, but Eva's energy had completely drained by now. Her feet could no longer stand straight without wobbling and she paced her hand on the wall for support.

She couldn't listen to the rest of the conversation as she shut her room's door behind her, turning around to face her new chamber. Her knees gave in at the same second and she slid down to the floor, burying her face in her knees and shutting her eyes close, welcoming the darkness that was filling her insides from within.