CHAPTER 328: RUNNING ON EMPTY

"What?" Uva gasped with a clearly shocked expression on her face, almost like she had been stung by a bee she didn’t see coming.

"Why?" she asked, another question even before Violet could consider answering the first one, Violet already shaking her head in response.

"I have no clue! Ravon just informed me about it! He’s standing outside!" Violet responded, even as she stared at Uva, who continued to slowly nod her head, almost like she had come to a slow but very sudden realization that she was trying to process.

"Okay!" she said when she finally spoke. "You’ll step out and meet with him! Tell him that Cain doesn’t want to speak with him!"

"He’ll know something is up!" Violet responded, aware that there was no way Cain would send her to meet Eldric unless something was wrong. It didn’t help that something had recently happened to Cain which would make him easily draw conclusions that Violet would rather he didn’t.

"The alternative is keeping him waiting outside and sending him away!" Uva pointed out, even as they both shook their heads without having to discuss it. Eldric would go mad and might even storm the room in anger if they kept him waiting.

It didn’t help that tensions were already high after Cain almost outrightly fought with Lord Grainger, Lord Harriet, Lord—and Lord Eldric.

"Go out there and speak to him!" Uva said, even as she hurried over to the wardrobe, pulling out a skimpy nightdress for Violet to wear as she tossed it to her, telling her what she needed to do without actually saying it.

Violet only hesitated for a couple of seconds before she nodded her head and instantly changed her clothes into the white nightgown, tossing a huge jacket over it to cover herself from the eyes of the guards, even as she willed herself not to tremble in fear.

"Use the coat, but when you’re talking to him, let him see the nightdress!" Uva pointed out, even as Violet nodded her head.

"Of course! I’ll lean in a way that would make it obvious!" Violet snapped, even as she glared at Uva, who stepped back from smoothing the ruffles of the coat and pinching her neck where she had been trying to create the illusion of hickeys.

"Okay! The faster you send him off, the better!" Uva said, even as Violet turned around and headed to the door faster than her usual pace, with the hope that she wouldn’t suddenly change her mind as she turned the handle and headed out the door.

Ignoring the guards who noticed her outfit and Ravon himself, who chose not to point it out, as he began walking down towards the stairs together with Violet, who followed all the way to one of the living rooms on the ground floor.

Violet had just made her way in and walked right in when she flinched the slightest bit to be met with an angry expression of Eldric, who had refused to sit and instead had clearly chosen to remain on his feet.

"What is this!" he snapped the second Ravon walked in with her behind him.

"I came here to see Cain, not his lover!" he snapped, clearly not seeing the need to be polite with Violet. It didn’t help that she was a human, and with the human mask on her face which Uva had crafted, she looked ordinary and couldn’t be remotely referred to as beautiful.

Violet didn’t hesitate to begin to speak. If he could be outright rude to her, then there’s no reason why she couldn’t be the same. Her anger outweighed her fear.

"Cain is busy right now! He won’t be able to see you!" she told him with a straight face.

Her heart was racing louder as Eldric stepped closer, but she ignored it.

"He wanted to keep you waiting, but I insisted on informing you, but it’s clear that I made the wrong decision!"

"You’re lying! Your heart is—" he began to speak, but Violet didn’t let him finish as she fixed her gaze on him, not surprised when he internally exploded at the simple fact that he was interrupted.

"My heart is racing ’cause I just finished a heart-palpitating activity!" Violet clarified by gesturing her hands to the side in the way that allowed her coat to fall and reveal the white lacy gown she wore underneath.

This only incensed Eldric even more, as his yellow eyes glazed like he would like nothing more than to devour her whole.

"Cain refuses to meet with me?" he asked through gritted teeth, even as Violet responded with a smile that in no way reached her eyes.

"If you’d like to leave a message, I’ll be happy to pass it along!" Violet told him with a mild shrug of her shoulders, as she held all the fear she felt inside for the man who was clearly much taller than her and could snap her into two.

Lord Eldric didn’t speak as he turned around and walked away without so much as turning back to spare a glance at Violet. Ravon headed out beside him, even as Violet breathed out a sigh of relief before stepping out to speak to Harry, Cain’s head of guards for the main gates.

"Lord Eldric isn’t allowed to get into this mansion unless Lord Cain says otherwise!" she instructed him.

"But Lord Cain has not—" but Violet didn’t let him finish as she focused a glare on him as she spoke again.

"Unless Lord Cain says otherwise, you’ll do as I say!" Violet snapped at him, relieved to see him instantly nod his head before she headed off—annoyed that Harry was making things difficult considering the things they had already been through.

Violet had just gotten back upstairs and entered the room, surprised to not see any traces of Uva, only to see her materialize in the air.

"I had to make sure you were alone!" Uva gasped, even as the mask she had on her face that made her look younger dissipated, so much so that Uva could no longer hide her purple eyes.

"You have no more magic!" Violet stated in a more exasperated manner than she could help, as she watched Uva shrug.

"I was already running on empty!"

For a second, Violet looked completely lost before she went ahead and let out a deep breath through her nostrils and mouth, as she took off the coat she was wearing and the dress in preparation to change back into the former clothes she was wearing, which was a shirt and pants.

"I’m going to agree to Lady June’s proposition!" she said just when she had taken her clothes off and was completely naked. Uva looked at her like she had gone completely insane.

"We don’t have a choice! I don’t have a choice! You made it clear that she’s the only one that can help him!"

"You would have to go to the coven!"

"How is that any different from the fact that he might never wake up!" Violet gasped, even as tears flooded her eyes as she realized that Cain not waking up was a different issue from him being killed while he was in such a dormant state.

For all they knew, they could get attacked the next day, and she and Uva would not even be able to protect themselves. It was at that moment that she realized the bulk of things Cain held together simply by being himself.

He was a werewolf lord with responsibilities and enemies.

A werewolf lord I’ve come to love! she admitted to herself, not sure if she could admit it to him—especially when she wasn’t even sure how long they would spend together before she had to leave.

"Are you sure? Lady June is powerful but she’s a witch! Can you even trust her?" Uva asked, with her voice hinging on panic, which bothered Violet, who turned her full gaze on her.

"You vouched for her! Now you don’t trust her?"

"We’re witches! You’ve heard the rumors about how back-stabbing we are and self-serving! I don’t even trust myself!" Uva said, to which Violet couldn’t help but chuckle at as she shook her head.

Leaning forward to grab her clothes from off the bed as she slowly began to put them on.

"If it helps! I trust you, Uva! You’ve been here through it all, and you could have left but you didn’t!" Violet pointed out, even as Uva glared at her, speaking in a completely serious tone—which Violet only found even more comical.

"Leave? Cain would have killed me!" Uva said, only to hear Violet laugh louder in response—something Uva didn’t find funny.

It was either him or Lady June! Uva thought to herself, aware that even if she could escape Cain, Lady June was a different matter altogether.

Uva had clearly run out of options to convince her that the decision she came to was a bad one, even as she stood to the side and watched Violet dress up, glancing at the bed where Cain laid, and unable to help him even if she wanted to.