CHAPTER 14

Edmund

The journey back to town was uneventful. The best thing that could have happened. Despite the fact that we went there during the day, there seemed to be no one around there for miles. Bianca led us through a torn wire fence, which was once electric, but not any more. Then, she showed us the way through the dilapidated building, all the way to the cellar.

"Is there only one entrance?" I ask, as we descend down dark stairs.

"I think there should be another one," she informs me, following closely behind.

"That's good," I murmur to myself, thinking that we can't stay here if there is only one entrance.

One entrance means that there is only one exit, and one exit means that we can be trapped in there by the shifters, if something unplanned happens.

"I need you to show it to me," I tell her. She nods.

We keep walking through the damp cellar, armed with flashlights that provide enough light so we can see where we are going. This is the last place where I would want to stay. Moldy, smelly. Even a minute down here feels like a whole hour, but this is the best option we've got.

Finally, we reach a clearing, and to our luck, it seems as if someone before us already had a similar idea. There are several makeshift beds, tables, and chairs.

"I see a generator there," Kano points out.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I shake my head. "It might turn on lights upstairs, which might bring on unwelcome visitors. We'll stay with our flashlights for the time being. Hopefully, we won't need to stay here very long."

I stand, looking around. I can tell the guys aren't too thrilled to be here. I know. Neither am I, but this is the best thing we've got. The guys start unpacking our stuff without even being told to, so I turn to Bianca.

Her face is illuminated by the flashlights around, and her features have somehow softened. She looks exactly like she looked that first night when I saw her, when I defended her. She resembles a frightened child. Her eyes are big and wide, as if they don't trust the world, but she is still here, still willing to keep going, even though she doesn't know where she will end up.

"Can you show me where that other exit is?" I ask.

She nods, then starts going in the direction where we were already heading. Our footsteps are echoing in the darkness around us. She slows down a little, so we can walk alongside each other.

"You know, I've been thinking about that well," she says unexpectedly.

"What about it?" My voice echoes all around us.

"I've heard many stories about it," she continues, and our footsteps fill the gaps between her words. "I never thought it was even real."

I sigh. "I know."

"But then… I remembered something," she suddenly says, stopping immediately. I do the same. She turns to me. "It came to me in a dream."

"What did?" I ask again, wondering what it is she could be referring to.

"I only went to the Elder's home a handful of times, and always accompanied by someone," she explains. "Still, I noticed that he had a special little cupboard with glass doors, and inside it, there were many papers. I never thought much about them. I always figured they were some old scrolls, rules, whatever. But last night, I dreamt about being there, and something told me to walk over to them and take a closer look."

I'm listening to her story, still wondering if this will be just a dream or a memory. But I haven't asked anything yet. I allow her to finish.

"When I approach the cupboard, I notice that one of the papers is a map," she says, sounding victorious.

"A map?" I repeat her last words.

"Now, I know this is just a dream," she tells me, all hopeful, "but if the map really does exist, that is the place where it might be."

"In the Elder's home?" I echo, my mind working a million miles an hour.

"Yes," she confirms.

"That does make sense," I nod, raking my fingers through my hair. "Only… how the heck am I supposed to find a way into the shifter Elder's home?"

I try to come up with a single plan where this is possible. Maybe if I allow them to catch me, they might not even take me there, to his home, but rather somewhere else. Even if they do take me there, I might not be able to check the cupboard and see if there is a map in there. I mean, the odds of me making it are too far fetched.

No, there is no way I can find my way into his home unnoticed and then manage to leave in the same way.

"I could go there," Bianca suddenly says, interrupting my frantic train of thought.

"Go where?" I ask, not connecting the dots for some reason.

She frowns. "To the Elder's home."

I feel like someone just punched me in the stomach.

"No way," I shake my head. "That is out of the question."

"But why?" she asks. "You said you needed my help. If you think about it, that is the only way I can help you, by actually checking out a lead and not just sitting here, trying to remember if I know where the well could be or not."

"Absolutely not," I keep shaking my head at her words.

She starts to walk, but I grab her by the elbow and pull her back. She almost stumbles and falls but manages to regain her balance by pressing her hands to my chest. Unconsciously, my hands fly around her waist.

"I promised to keep you safe," I reminded her. "And now instead of staying by my side where I can actually keep my promise, you're suggesting going back to the hornet's nest and putting yourself in danger. Seriously?"

"I'll be careful," she tells me, her voice quivering.

Why does she have to be so fucking irresistible? Why does her hair have the brightest shade of a sun's ray? Why do her lips have to be so kissable? Why is everything about this so fucking difficult?

"No," I snapped. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

I feel like grabbing her by the shoulders instead and shaking some sense into her. Maybe kissing some sense into her, as well. But this is neither the time nor the place.

"It is you who is the stubborn one," she refutes even more stubbornly.

Her lips remain parted, so close to mine. I could just lean in a bit closer and–

"You expect to find the well, but how do you plan on going about it?" She interrupts my thinking again. "Just roaming the woods until you get a stroke of luck and stumble onto it by accident. Is that your plan?"

Her words cut me off instantly. The truth is that this was my plan. But I would rather die than admit it aloud and show her that she's right. I thought we would've found it by now, although if I think about it properly, I can see how wrong that way of thinking should have been.

Suddenly, I let go of her. Being so close to her is bad for my thinking. My head is filled with images of her naked and moaning my name, instead of focusing on the matter at hand, which is somehow sneaking into the shifter Elder's home and seeing if there is a map at all.

"I don't know what my plan is, OK?" I burst, turning away from her, and burying my face into my hands.

A moment later, I feel her hand on my shoulder. Gentle, soft, reassuring.

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't need to. With that one touch, she managed to soothe me, to make my heart beat a little faster, and my mind slowly come down from the tumultuous cloud it's been riding on for the past couple of days.

I turn around to face her once again. I expect her to give me the usual it's-going-to-be-fine speech, but she doesn't.

Instead, she takes a step closer to me and silently, wraps her arms around my waist. She rests her cheek on my chest and squeezes me tightly.

Without even thinking, I reciprocate the hug. I lower my head to hers, closing my eyes. I never thought a simple hug had such power to pacify such emotional storms. Seconds pass by, and I expect her to let go, but she doesn't. She just keeps me in her embrace, breathing and existing in this place, forgetting about everything else that is happening outside the confines of these four walls.

When she finally does let go, I notice that she is smiling.

"You know this still doesn't mean that I will let you go," I tell her.

She bursts into a chuckle. A few loose strands of sunshine blonde hair fall over her eyes. I resist the temptation to push them behind her ears, to use that excuse to touch her again with the tips of my fingers.

"So, we'll just roam the woods until we find what it is we are looking for?" She asks this in a way that makes me feel like she's referring to something else other than the well.

"That depends on what it is you are looking for," I can't resist replying in the same way, suggesting that there is more to what I am saying.

She picks up on it immediately. Of course, she does. Not that I expected any less of her.

"I wish I knew that to be honest," she admits, sounding a little melancholic and in need of reassurance. While I'm usually not the one to hand out reassurance, I can't help but be whatever it is she needs me to be, at least while she is under my protection. I want her to feel not only safe and secure, but also… alright. For a lack of a better word.

"Don't sweat it," I tell her. "Usually, when you're looking for something, it keeps hiding away from you. But when you turn your attention elsewhere, you will notice what's been under your nose the whole time."

"Do you really think so?" she asks, her voice sounds a little more optimistic and I have myself to thank for that.

I smile. "Yes, I'm positive."

I immediately think of our separation. It's inevitable. Whether or not we find the well, Bianca won't stay here. Neither will we. And I doubt that we will go along the same path, unless…

I can't think in that way. A human and a vampire king can't mix. It's unheard of. My clan will never accept her as one of their own. They are protecting her now only because I've ordered them to. And I can't have my clan not feel any respect towards their queen.

I inhale deeply. "How about that exit then?"

I remind her of our initial reason for this walk. Our conversation has taken us in a whole different direction of thought. Then again, whatever I think about or focus on, my mind always finds its way back to her somehow. She has permeated my being in a way no one else has, with her gentleness, with her desire to show herself as a tough girl, but in fact, she is in desperate need of belonging and being loved.

"This way," she says, continuing forward, because that is the only way we can look.

The past is the past, and that is where we should leave it. If we think too much about it, we will allow it to poison our present, as well as our future.