CHAPTER 286: _YOU DON’T NEED TO QUESTION ANYTHING

Odessa’s POV

*****

"There is no running from bloodlines. And there are enemies hidden in places you might least expect." Kaelos muttered with squinted eyes after I revealed everything Caroline told me she saw in Elder Davina’s letter.

I was sitting on the desk, still butt naked and still trying to catch my breath a bit after what Kaelos did to me down there. My gaze fell on his little soldier, still rock hard underneath his pants.

But his eyes were slowly becoming distant and he seemed to be deep in thought.

’Look what you’ve caused.’ Sirena grunted in my mind just then, taking me by surprise.

’What I caused? What did I do?’ I asked her, blinking with confusion. ’I mean, yes, it was bad timing that I remembered the letter right in the middle of sex. But... I climaxed.’

There was a second of pause before Sirena snorted. ’So?’

’So my brain was relaxed and open. Duh.’

Sirena did a mental eye roll at the same moment that Kaelos finally spoke up, placing his hands firmly on my legs.

"Why the hell did Caroline sit on this? And how’d she even get her hands on it?" he asked with confusion and anger. "Heck, she shouldn’t have taken it from elder Davina’s body—"

"Hey, hey..." I quickly placed my right hand on his face, causing his shoulders to relax with a heavy sigh. "Deep breaths. We can think of what to do without yelling."

His silver eyes glinted with an unreadable light before he sighed, nodding. "You’re right. But you know what this letter means, right?"

I felt a lump in my throat when I tried to think more about it. Kaelos placed his hand on my shoulder and continued.

"With everything said in that letter, it’s clear Davina was aware of a lot of things."

"Except her own death," I whispered, genuinely disturbed now.

Kaelos’ eyes lingered on me for a bit before he continued with a firm voice. "What if whoever killed her is still out there, using all the chaos he’s caused to hide?"

"What if there’s indeed something more with your bloodline that we aren’t aware of? Something that connects with those dark sigils inside you?" He dropped bomb after bomb, sending my anxiety spiking with each question.

"And then the letter talked about something dark and chaotic," I muttered, staring into his eyes. "The Vein, Kaelos. All this ultimately connects back to the Vein."

His jaw was clenched while I balled my hands into fists.

"And then the maid who killed herself in this very office. That writing she made on the wall..." Kaelos echoed, drawing out each word.

I frowned, slowly swerving my head back when I saw his eyes focused on something on the wall behind me. A maid had killed herself in this office after writing something cryptic with her own blood on the wall.

We called it out as possession from Lord Ryker... But never would I have imagined something as twisted as what I was about to see.

"I–Impossible..." I muttered under my breath, hopping off the desk and backing away along with Kaelos whose jaw was clenched.

And what was on the wall?

Yep... That same fucking writing again, the blood this time thicker and darker looking with flies lingering around them! I couldn’t believe my eyes.

This... This was cleaned up last night. Right?

"Did you get the maids to clean up your office—"

"Of course, I did!" Kaelos barked with frustration, brushing his right hand through his black hair while never removing his gaze from the wall.

It was as if he was afraid something or someone would jump out of it.

I swallowed hard, my body shivering with dread as I used my arms to cover my exposed chest. The office seemed like it was caving now and I was forced to close my eyes when I heard subtle whispers in my mind.

’You think you can hide from me by stopping the use of your magic?’ The voice echoed with mockery, sounding like it was booming inside me and around me all at once. ’Your magic has tapped too deep into the Vein already.’

When?!

When the fuck did I tap into the Vein when I only got to know about it yesterday?

"Hey..." Kaelos placed his hand on my shoulder, startling me at first until I saw the concerned expression on his face. "You’re sweating bullets. Get dressed, go to your room and have a nice cold bath, okay? I’ll... I’ll handle this."

I blinked, my lips parting. I felt like arguing that I wanted to stay back here.

But each time I glanced at the wall and the blood writing on it, I felt like I was being shown a warning in real time.

The True King shall ascend the throne when the sky is painted red...

.

.

When I finally got to my room, I sighed, closing the door behind me.

The afternoon sun trickled through the curtains, painting the room with its golden light. The room was peaceful and so was the rest of the mansion... Unlike the chaos that was unravelling in my mind.

’You don’t need to question anything, Odessa.’ Ryker’s voice grew louder in my head, forcing me to rub my head with frustration as I walked deeper into the room.

"Listen, you maniac! If what you were offering was anything worth it, you wouldn’t be relying on underhanded means and breaching my mind to speak." I snarled, standing in front of my mirror.

I stared at my reflection, noticing how exhausted I looked. My right hand subconsciously rested on my stomach, my heart dropping when I thought about my unborn child and what they’d have to face.

"I’m speaking to you this way because it’s the only way to reach you. To show you what you truly are." This time, the voice seemed to be coming from the mirror, causing my breathing to cease.

There was a light chuckle before he continued.

"I am a true hybrid. Yes, I am. But you? You’re beyond even that." He echoed as my mind reeled, trying to process the fact that his voice was coming from the mirror. "You’re a descendant of the witch who tapped into the Vein and controlled death itself."

Suddenly, the dark sigils underneath my arms came to life, pulsing with dark energy. I pulled up the sleeves of my black shirt, staring at them solemnly.