Deciding to do what it takes

Leah's POV

An hour was allowed to pass, and Cristine was just opening her eyes, yawning loudly like she had just returned from a trip.

"Have I been sleeping?" She sat upright, looking at Kate and I.

Her face had brightened up, not as red as it was an hour ago. Her eyes had come back to their normal situation. She was back to health, maybe temporary relief, but she seemed strong.

"Are you alright?" Kate came to her side, holding her hands. "I was scared."

She stood up. "I'm fine. It's getting late, Leah, we should start going."

I would have asked her to rest for a while, but she was eager to go out. What else could I do to stop her?

She smiled like she hadn't been crying a while ago, showcasing her usual demeanor. She breathed a long sigh, spreading her hands apart as though she was embracing the air. That moment, she was like a study piece to me.

"We should start going," she said. "However, this is the best time to meet the mages, especially when it's already dark. You would love every moment of it, trust me."

We got to the door, about to go out, but she stopped.

"I would have to eat. We should eat before going."

I didn't object to that.

The sitting room was used as the dining room as there was no extra space for that. The house was just a bedroom, sitting room, restroom, and kitchen. We had our plates in our hands as the center table was too far from the sofas.

"The mages can see through most people. Some of them can foretell events, but those are rare."

She was eating fast, in a hurry to leave, and I barely chewed the food in my mouth in order to meet up with her. She was smiling, and that was creepy to me.

"Cristine? Something happened? Are you going to meet one of your lovers?"

She was done eating, and she stood up to stand right in front of me to make a demonstration.

"None of the mages are my lover, but I wouldn't pretend that I haven't had anything to do with any of them." Her smile grew broader as she pressed her hands tightly to herself, going over a happy experience in her mind. "Okay, I have dated one of them, to be absolutely sincere with you."

That explained it all.

She came back to sit beside me, watching while she ate, and to make me hurry up.

"The mage I'm going to take you to can tell you all you need to know about Gerald," she said so close to my ears.

"What if I don't go?"

Her face twitched, becoming too serious for me. "You're joking right? What are you saying?"

I was starting to have doubts about everything. If Gerald had secrets he was hiding from me, and if he wasn't going to harm me, why not let him be? He was going to be the father of the child I was carrying instead of Amon, why go through the stress of meeting a mage?

She got closer to my ears, the breath from her nose touching my neck. "You really want to uncover Gerald's secret, don't you?"

Her concern was becoming suffocating, like she had something to gain from it. I was getting the feeling of being pushed around each time I remembered what Gerald had told me, "Cristine has a strong hold on you".

"But what if there's no secret? What if there's nothing he is hiding?"

She moved a small distance from me. "Well, it's such a shame."

Her fists were clenched, and slowly, she stood up from the sofa, not sparing me a glance as she walked into the room. Kate went with her. Her mood had fallen, and the smile she had on her face had gone on vacation like she had become sick again.

I was left alone in the sitting room.

Her actions always affected me, and I couldn't help but think through my actions. There was nothing to lose if I went with her, but why was I getting the feeling that I was committing a crime?

The house had turned quiet. Cristine's and Kate's voices were not heard, just like they went into the room to sleep.

"Cristine!" I knocked at the room door.

She didn't answer at first, and I had to knock a second time. She opened the door, and we stared at each other for a moment.

"I don't understand you," she started. "Are you scared that the mage might ask for sex? Is that the reason you don't want to go? Make me understand."

Maybe that was, but I hadn't admitted it to myself.

She got to the centre of the sitting room, beside the centre table, and spread her hands above her.

"My friend has fallen so deeply in love that she can't bear to do what is necessary! She wouldn't consider the greater good!"

Her voice was loud, and I was trying to stop her. She laughed, making her action look like a comedy that she was acting. Who does that crazy act of announcing to an invisible audience?

"I have seen ladies who have been marked, have given birth to children, have sex with these mages for a good purpose, and guess what… They don't feel bad about it! Everyone does it."

Everyone does it.

"I could give them money if that's what they want… I wouldn't spare the cash. You can talk to him about that!"

She sighed. "Gerald is already messing with you."

"He's my mate!" I retorted.

She folded her arms looking at me as though trying to read through me, but finding it difficult to, like some codes were written on my face that was too hard to decipher.

"You've changed," she said.

I was breathing loudly. I had just let out a load from my chest, but I felt I wasn't myself. Had I really said that?

"I haven't… Gerald isn't messing with me, I think it is the mate bond. It's taking over my mind."

My breathing was picking up pace, and soon I didn't know when I rested my head against her chest, wetting the part of her dress that covered her boobs.

"I don't know what has come on with me… Each time I look at him, the bond between us keeps judging me… I doubt if I can lie about my pregnancy… I might have to tell him everything."

I hadn't told her about my meeting with Amon, about how I almost let him have me. That was part of the unrest I was feeling.

"It's okay. Do you still want to meet the mage?"

"I will, and I will bear the feeling it gives me."