CHAPTER 488: AT THE LAKEHOUSE

"You’ve had chances before but now it’s too late. I am no longer taking your word for it,"

His eyes reopened, casting her own reflection back to her, so small... Just as small as the feeling haunting her.

"I swear I was going to tell you!" she cried, her heart threatening to spill out her mouth.

The silence that followed from him gnawed at her guts, but the look he gave her the next second made her regret wishing for a reaction from him.

"I am sorry," he spoke calmly after a sigh.

"Wha...," Arabella was not allowed the courtesy of finishing her question.

Indeed, Silas swept her off her feet so fast, the air was nearly completely sucked out of her lungs. Even gasping or screaming wasn’t an option.

The vampire did not stop cutting the distance between them and the destination only he knew.

With the speed at which he went, oxygen became scarce, syphoning every ounce of energy left in her.

So much so that the once curled fingers around the fabric of his vest loosened their clutch as her head turned too heavy to hold up with the sole power that lived in her neck.

As her eyelids grew naturally heavy, the need to squeeze them shut was no longer there.

Arabella allowed the darkness to consume her, earning her a taste of all that sleep she had skipped for nearly two entire days.

But just when she was about to embrace that new found comfort, the warmth that had kept on cradling her that whole time split away, landing her weight on a cold though soft surface.

That acted as the perfect kick to snap the young woman out of that daze, allowing her lungs to huff all the air they craved, the air they had been deprived of for several seconds.

When she came to, Silas was towering over her reclined figure, glaring down at her. In a swift motion, Arabella lifted her upper body into a sitting position while clutching her heart as she took the biggest inhale yet.

But rising in such a quick matter was hardly the wise decision. One she regretted almost instantly seeing how the world around her spun out of control.

"Remain reclined," he ordered.

But she cared very little for her own comfort at that moment. Holding her head as though it’d help stabilize the whirling space around, Arabella first tried to identify their location through the many hints surrounding them.

"We are at the lake house," she half asked in a murmur.

"You left me no other choice," he spoke dryly.

"No other choice for what?" she attempted to throw her feet on the ground but the rising nausea consuming her guts and chest stopped her right there.

"I can no longer trust your judgement,"

"You’ve already said that before but why are we here?" her eyes flickered from the yellow walls to the worn furniture in the room.

"There is water in the cellar and as for food, I believe you will be able to survive without any for a few hours," without another word, Silas turned around and made his way to the door.

"Wait!" she squeaked, finding the strength to leap off the bed but immediately staggering.

Silas caught her with ease before her body reached the floor, "I told you to stay reclined. You are not used or meant to travel at such speed without protection,"

Arabella took that opportunity and clung to him with all the might left in her, "Please, where are you going? What are you going to do?" the young woman pleaded.

"I am going to do what needed to be done all along," without a hassle, he made her release her grasp.

"What does that mean? Please don’t do anything brash!" the tears resumed spilling.

"I wish you hadn’t been brash with your decision," he straightened back to his feet.

"But I haven’t made any decision yet, I was hoping to find a solution that would yield the least severe of consequences!" the urgency in her voice increased with every word uttered.

"Really?" he glared down at her, "What kind of solution? Surrendering yourself?"

"No! I’ve told you already, I was never going to do that! I just didn’t want you to get in more trouble because of me again. That is why I didn’t tell you about Arthur immediately,"

"Just like you were worried about the reaction I would have with Edna and then Allegra...," he sighed, "Well, then if it is always going to be this way, just let me give you a real reason to worry,"

"Please don’t go! Don’t leave me here!" Arabella cried harder, clutching his leg.

"You will be safe here. I will return in an hour or two and then we can discuss all of this calmly," his hand gripped the knob.

By then, the sun had completely sunken behind the hills, requiring the ignition of the candles decorating every chandelier around them. Their hue turned her opaque tears into a brilliant, fiery orange.

Her eyes squeezed shut as her guts heaved then dropped as though the floor had been robbed from beneath her bums.

"Silas, what will you do?" her fingernails dug and scratched at the wood panels below.

"You were right. This needs to end," the vampire opened the door.

"You are going to kill him, aren’t you? How is that going to end things! Please consider that before you do anything! My brother is still rotting in a jail cell back in Lustris. The king won’t let it slide if anything happens to his son!"

"I promise you," the soft tone he spoke those words with made her finally look up at him, "I won’t let anything happen to your brother. I will bring him back,"

There was a radiant smile on him. One that, under different circumstances would have filled Arabella’s chest with warmth, and yet, in that moment... It filled her with dread instead.

Why did it feel like that was the last smile she’d ever see of him?