Chapter 437: Chapter 437

"Why are you crying so?" The soothing masculine ethereal voice asked again, making Shelby shiver. She did not want to turn to verify what her mind was trying to tell her. The first one had been a mirage, so what of this time? Did she dare to hope?

Shelby did not want to. She was even worried that her turbulent emotions would affect her pregnancy as it would be in its early stages.

However, she couldn’t help it because the voice was too similar and she could definitely imagine a tap on her back, could she?

Her eyes shot wide open. ’Impossible. Impossible.’

Shelby could not deny it, and her heart raced, but something was still different, and she soon mustered the courage to confirm.

"I didn’t mean to make you so sad, little one...."

Shelby shifted and turned, knowing perfectly well that it was not the person that she longed for. ... and she was right.

"I don’t place..." She whispered, when she turned to look at the source.

A young man who looked barely thirty years was crouched beside her.

He chuckled when he heard Shelby say that,

"That makes two of us...."

Shelby’s body felt heavy, weighed down by exhaustion and grief, but the sudden extra warmth on her back from him still made her flinch. A gentle but deliberate tap—once, then twice. He never stopped that comforting slow taps, even as their eyes met.

She sucked in a breath.

Slowly, her tear-filled eyes locked onto the face of a stranger.

A dim light barely illuminated his features. Shelby was unsure where that light source came from, but she could see enough to make her heart stutter. He was still crouched beside her, his molten-gray eyes watching her with an intensity that sent a shiver through her already trembling frame. It was his eyes and mannerisms that struck Shelby the most.

Familiar. Unfamiliar. She was not sure, but the more and closer she looked, the more someone else came to her mind.

Shelby gasped, her throat tightening. Every line of his face, the slope of his nose, the sharp angle of his jaw mirrored the one she longed for. Yet... he wasn’t him. There was something different, something softer in the way he looked at her, as if he carried a sorrow that was not his own... and he was smaller....

Her lips parted, her voice barely a whisper. "You are...? Is it...." Shelby was sure and unsure at the same time.

He tilted his head, unreadable, before his voice, low and steady like distant thunder, filled the air.

"Not who you were expecting, Little one."

Shelby shrunk back as her heart hammered so hard that she felt faint.

"Breath... Little one, breath...."

"I am deeply sorry for causing you to-"

Shelby demanded, after she got a bit of her composure back,

"You’re Roman... aren’t you?" Shelby could not believe her eyes. That was what was striking about this man. He was petite in a cute way, but the strength in his muscles were none to be trifled with.

To add to this, Shelby could feel raw pulsing power through him. It was scary but familiar too. This was because she had felt such power from Ian before. Even though this man was as different as day from the night with Ian, it went to say that if he ever appeared with Ian in the same space, no one would doubt their relation.

This time, it was his turn to be shocked.

He let himself go and sat on the ground with her, smiling widely.

"Yes, I am Roman... and I am happy to make your acquaintance."

However, Roman never expected the smallish, beautiful woman to strike back instead. She shuffled away from him as if he was plague,

"Stay away from me! You – w-hy did you do that?"

Roman raised his eyebrow as if asking what was going on, because he did not know.

He raised his palms up, as if to say that he was harmless.... But he understood it with her next words,

"I detest men who abandon their families... no matter the reason!" At the back of her mind, Shelby was thinking of how he could do that to Geneva and Ian. Would they have stayed in the dark forever, if she had not mistakenly come to the Fae-land?

It was then that it dawned on him....

"I didn’t abandon them... I-"

"Then why are you here... alive, while they think you dead!?"

Roman smiled. It was a sad uplift of his lips that made Shelby pause.

"I am not in the land of the living.... If that is what your concern is...."

"What? But you just touched me... and-"

Roman smiled again and pointed to her necklace this time.

"I don’t know who you are, but I can make a guess.... Because you have the necklace that I gave to Geneva years ago...."

Shelby had all but forgotten about that necklace. She looked down and held the simple trinket. She frowned,

"Stop trying to divert the conversation. What has this necklace got to -"

Shelby reached out and yanked it off. All of the sudden, the whole place became totally dark, and she could not make anything out. The man beside her had also disappeared. It was as if her was never there.

"WTH!!!!" Shelby screamed as a chill run down her spine. It was both because the floor and the whole place as cold as could be and she became suddenly scared. The warmth that she had taken for granted had also disappeared as well and her teeth started cluttering

"W-here are you?" She turned frantically but she still could see nothing. She was scared out of her wits.

It took her just a brief moment to remember his last reference to the necklace. Shelby fumbled with the necklace in the suffocating darkness, her fingers shaking as she tried to grasp it. But in her haste, it slipped, clinking softly against the cold, unforgiving stone. The sound was slightly muffled because of the moss.

That was when she realized that the necklace was the only thing in this wretched place that held even the slightest warmth, and now it was lost in the void around her.

Her heart lurched into her throat. Panic clawed at her chest, but she bit down on her lip, forcing herself to stay still.

’Stay calm. Shelby... stay calm.’

She took in a shaky breath. With trembling hands, she reached out, tapping the ground in front of her, feeling nothing but grit and stone. The darkness pressed in, thick and endless, threatening to swallow her whole. Despair lingered just a breath away.

Then, her fingers brushed against something familiar. Smooth, cool metal warmed by her touch.

Relief crashed into her as she closed her fingers around it, pulling it close to her chest as if it were her lifeline. She wasted no time slipping it back on, her breath shuddering. Only then did she realize that she wasn’t shaking from the cold anymore.

She screamed as she saw the calm Roman crouching by her side, his smile still in place.

Roman nodded, his smile turning sorrowful.

"I don’t understand."

Shelby couldn’t help but ask, rubbing her arms around herself as the full warmth came back.

"Are you comfortable now?"

"It’s a piece of me, left in there. You can think of it as part of my spirit or power."

"Before that, was that him?" Roman interrupted and asked Shelby gesturing to where the Ian image had been...

Roman nodded, but that was when Shelby frowned.

"You were the one who did that?"

"I’m sorry, Little one. I didn’t mean to cause you any distress."

Shelby was a little uncomfortable to be called that, but she tried to shake it off. Roman reached out and touched the necklace. It shone brightly, and a light flickered at the far end. The ’image’ of Ian was back. It was as if he was there with them. He stood at the far end and just looked on at them. A small smile on his face, but he never moved.

"Is that his name? That’s a lovely name."

"I still don’t understand any of this...."

"It’s complicated to explain, but if you have it, and you carry a bit of my essence in you, it means that you are my son’s wife?"

Shelby nodded, and then Roman picked up her hand gently. Seeing the pulsing ring, he smiled. The large smile brightened his face.

"I see that he is even better than I envisioned! Goood! Good!" He was like a proud father, seeing his son’s accomplishments.

"How may I call you, little one?"

"Lovely name for a lovely woman. He chose wisely."

Roman sat by Shelby and then asked,

"How is Geneva doing? Did she- ?"

Even though his question did not end, Shelby understood.

Shelby sighed, and they spent the next few hours talking about the lives of Ian and Geneva, as well their new family. Roman would laugh, curse and make comments here and ther. In short, even Shelby, the narrator, loved the conversation.

"I am happy that she is doing well." The sad smile was back. However, Shelby could see how he loved Geneva.

"With this necklace, you will be safe here till they come for you." Roman suddenly said and that was when Shelby understood most things.

’Was my coming here also linked to this?’ This was because Roman had let her know that he was able to communicate with her because of where she was and also because she had the necklace.

"The power left in the necklace is strongest here." He had said, and Shelby nodded in understanding. Shelby did not regret asking because it did not make sense if Roman had a way to reach Geneva but did not. The place became quiet after a while. Shelby had no idea how much time had passed but she was in no hurry.

"What happened to you?"

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