CHAPTER 232: CHAPTER 232 THE WITCHES’ REALM (8)

We passed a few more booths. A baker handed us warm honey bread, and Damon took two and offered me one without looking at me. I accepted it quietly.

’If anyone should be mad, that should be me. Why the hell is he so gloomy?... he doesn’t have sunshine inside him or what?’

"Thanks," I muttered.

He gave a short nod, chewing on his own.

I stole glances at him, his side profile was spectacular, one that makes ladies swoon unconsciously.

I bit my lower lip, there is no way I’m falling for him. I shook my head.

"You like what you see?" He asked with a smug.

Before I could answer him... ’You like what you see?’ A mocking voice echoed through my head, and for a moment I saw myself standing in what looked like a castle. A naked man stood in front of me, but his face was blurry.

I held my head groaning in pain, Damon rushed to my side, and an unknown emotion of fear and panic rushed through me.

Damon supported me to my feet. "Are you alright? Aeris, can you hear me?" His voice was muffled like he was trying to speak from underwater.

My fingers tug into his arms, as I try to make sense of what the image was, and why the voice sounded like Damon’s.

"I’m fine." I gasped for air. Pain tore through my head down to my spine.

"Are you really alright?" His voice held a tinge of worry.

"Yes, I’m alright," I reassured him.

His eyes met mine, and they looked like he had a lot to say. Even when it felt like I was staring into an abyss, there were emotions in them. Something I believe was rare in them.

"We should stroll a little more. We still have time." I walked past him, heading towards a crowd.

The square opened up ahead of us, filled with dancers and flickering lights. Floating lanterns floated above the crowd, their soft orange and blue light glowed like fireflies. It should’ve felt beautiful.

But all I could focus on was the pressure building in my chest that didn’t even belong to me.

"It’s like carrying someone else’s burden," I muttered, touching my chest.

Damon looked at me with an inexplicable expression. "Maybe it is."

"You’re not good at this," I said, not bothering to sugarcoat it.

"Neither are you."

The charm pulsed harder around our wrist.

We both fell quiet.

I didn’t like how open I felt. I didn’t like that he could sense my frustration, or how easily I picked up on his tension. We didn’t understand each other... if anything, we misunderstood everything.

"Do you want to take it off?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

He stared down at the bracelet. "We can’t." He clicked his tongue, his eyes sweeping over me before returning to his front.

"Right. Because apparently we’re both emotionally challenged... but I am quite open, unlike someone who has thousands of emotions running through him." I pursed my lips.

He huffed a breath that might’ve been a laugh. "Says the person, who is having a crush on the said person."

My eyes widened in horror, ’Did he just say that to me? Like he really said that?! He could feel it too?’

What is worse than telling a girl you know she had feelings for you?

"What about you? I can feel your feelings for me too?" I said bluntly. "But it seems you are too guilty to even admit it."

This made him stop midway, he turned, his eyes darkened, narrowing on me like I just touched a lion’s tail. "What did you say?"

"It’s not like I’m lying, I’m just wondering what level of atrocities you have committed to carry this heavy guilt in you."

’Don’t blame me for getting back at you. You started it first. How can you say I have a crush on you when I haven’t even decided what I have for you yet?’

He walked to my front, his sharp cold gaze, staring daggers at me. He was so close, I could feel the warmth radiating from him.

I tilted my head up to meet his condescending gaze. ’Why is he so hostile?’

"Fine I know I made mistakes, but what about you? If you didn’t lie to me about your identity... if you didn’t hide it from me, I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did. And right now I am the one carrying the burden... I’m the one who is getting tormented every single fucking day!" He snapped at me, his eyes held glints of anger, frustration, guilt, pain, and... love.

"What are you talking about Damon? When did I lie to you or hide anything from you? It’s not like we are very close that I have to tell my secrets to you." I snapped back at him.

His throat bobbed up and down. He looked away, the emotions disappearing from his gaze. "Forget about it, you won’t understand," he muttered under his breath.

I scoffed, folding my hand across my chest. The crazy part of it all is, I could tell he was telling the truth. I could feel how his heart clenched in pain, like it had been pricked by hot needles.

My face scrunched up in pain, I wonder how he could keep an expressionless face, even when he is hurting.

’What happened to him to make him hurt this much?’ My gaze softened. ’What have you been through?’

"Don’t pity me. I don’t need it." His voice was so cold and sharp that it sent shivers down my spine.

My fingers clenched around my dress. "It is not pity, it is empathy." I swallowed, looking away from him.

"I don’t care whichever it is..." He turned to me. "I don’t deserve it."

"Why?" I turned, and our eyes met. There was so much that needed to be said, I could feel it. But I don’t understand why he is trying to hold it back.

"Because I’m a coward who doesn’t deserve your empathy." His jaw clenches. "You’ll regret it if you knew," he muttered so low that I could not hear the last part.