Chapter 23: Chapter 23

[Lucien’s POV]

I gulped down the remaining glass of Martell and proceeded to open the next bottle, when Celeste reached out her hand to stop me from drinking.

“Enough already. What’s this? Your fourth bottle?” she inquired, with an element of distaste in her voice.

I snapped her hand off mine and proceeded to open the bottle. “Fifth, and no, I am not stopping when I haven’t gotten drunk yet. I need to get drunk till I can barely keep my eyes open, fall asleep and forget about the ache in my heart for a little while,” I said, drinking it directly from the bottle, already feeling too weak in my hands to pour the alcohol into a glass.

“Lucien, drinking won’t change anything. You’re going to wake up in the morning and feel the pain all over again, so what’s the use?” she asked.

“I should be asking you that question, Celeste. What’s the use of you telling me to stop drinking when it’s not affecting you or me in any way? It’s not like my livers would get all damaged from drinking. We both know that I’m not dying unless my heart is ripped out, and maybe it will soon,” I said, sighing heavily.

“Why would you say something like that?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I’ve wasted my time on earth. There’s no more reason for me to live,” I replied.

“But Nivera…”

“Nivera hates me and thinks I’m some sort of psychotic killer,” I cut in.

“That’s untrue and you should explain the truth to her. There’s no life you’ve taken without a reason. You don’t kill innocent people,” Celeste said.

“You might be right, but it doesn’t make me innocent of killing thousands of people or going on a killing spree whenever I feel like it. They might have been terrible people, but it doesn’t justify my actions, at least, to Nivera. She was always too pure and too good for my kind of person;” I said, trying to act tough.

A knock sounded on the door, stopping Celeste from saying whatever she had in mind to say.

“Get in the closet,” I said to Celeste in a lower tone and she immediately did.

“Come in,” I said, setting down the bottle of Martell on the table.

Nivera walked into my bedroom, still clad in her satin nightgown, fiddling with her fingers nervously with twitching eyes like she was lost.

“It’s the first time I’m stepping into your bedroom. It’s beautiful; befitting of a king,” she said, not even looking up at me.

“Thank you,” I said, also avoiding eye contact with her.

Several seconds of empty silence passed and neither of us said another word to each other. She just stood several feet away from me while I sat quietly, eyeing the bottle of Martell on the table, knowing why she had come and waiting for her to get on with it already.

Heaving a sigh, she fell to her knees much to my surprise and clasped her hands tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks in torrents. “Please, please, Lucien. Please, let me go. The Alpha is doing much better and I am begging that you let both of us leave together. I know you are capable of ending both of us within a matter of seconds, but I also do know that you have some good in you. We will never bother you ever again, and we will leave and never come back. Please, Lucien, just this once. Just let us go, I beg of you,” she said, sobbing hard and struggling to sniff back in catarrh.

I drummed my fingers on the table, biting my lower lip to stop the tears from flowing. “Is that truly what you want?” I asked.

She nodded in the affirmative. “Yes, Lucien. That’s all I want. I will never ask you for anything else ever again, I promise,” she said.

I swallowed hard, then after doing some calculations, I stood up and walked over to where she knelt. I crouched to be on the same level with her, then lifting her chin up, I gazed deeply into her eyes and she held eye contact with me.

I couldn’t suppress it any longer and I broke down, sobbing really hard. “I can see it from your eyes that you truly wish to leave this place,” I said.

“I do,” she muttered softly, appearing to feel sorry for me.

“Is there nothing I can do to make you stay? Fine, I’ll let the Alpha go, but just stay by my side, please,” I said.

She shook her head painfully.

“I can’t let you go with that bastard. He came all the way here to kill you just to be free from you. You shouldn’t trust a word he says. He didn’t miss you, he wanted to end your life,” I said, and anyone could hear the desperation in my voice.

She shook her head pitifully, then lifted a hand which she held to my cheek. “Oh, Lucien. I don’t think that’s true. No one will come all the way here to kill me, and even if that were true, I have to leave with him because I do not feel safe around you anymore. I am sorry,” she said.

I held her hand which was on my cheek and kept looking in her eyes. “Sorry won’t fix my broken heart, Nivera. How can you say you feel safer around that demon than me?” I inquired, feeling betrayed.

“He might be a demon, but at least, he doesn’t hide it. You, on the other hand, are a master of deception and you might act like a good guy but you aren’t. Your type scares me, Lucien, and I’m afraid of what you’ll do to me when you grow bored of me and realise I have no connection with your first love,” she explained.

“I don’t get it. So, you’d rather be by his side and have him treat you like garbage rather than mine?” I asked.

“Yes. It is better to be hurt by someone you never expected anything from, than to be hurt by the one you trusted the most. That kind of heartbreak; no one can ever fix it,” she said.

Even through the tears, a small laughter found its way to my lips and I half-laughed and half-cried for no more than one minute. “Do you know what you just admitted?” I asked.

“What?”

“You admitted that you trusted me and the only reason you’re hurt and leaving is because I broke your trust. However, it doesn’t change the fact that even with that broken trust, you still have more faith in me than in your so-called fated mate, Alpha Tyler. That’s why you’d rather by his side; because whatever he does won’t surprise or hurt you,” I reasoned.

She swallowed and didn’t say a word, so I could confirm that I was indeed right.

I stood up from my crouched position, then extended a hand to her which she took and with its aid, she stood up to her feet and looked up eager to know what my pronouncement would be.

“You can go,” I said.

“What?” she seemed shocked, like she hadn’t been expecting me to just let them go like that.

“You heard me. Leave with the Alpha before I change my mind,” I told her in a firm tone.

“Words could never express how…”

“Go! Now!” I yelled, and she immediately just muttered ‘thanks’ and hurried to leave.

Knowing that I would regret it if I didn’t say goodbye to her, I quickly made a swift movement and appeared directly in front of her much to her surprise.

“Have you… have you changed your mind already?” she asked, as a crestfallen look took over her face.

I didn’t give her an answer and just pulled her into my arms like I was never going to let her go ever again. To my surprise, she didn’t protest and embraced me even more tightly, shedding tears of pain.

“I’m sorry for leaving you like this, and I’m truly grateful for all you’ve done for me,” she whispered.

I stroked her hair lovingly. “It’s okay, I understand. Nivera, I’ll always do anything for you and that’s why I’m letting you go since it’s what you want, but I can’t promise that I won’t come and take you back if that Alpha lays a finger on your hair, even if it’s against your will,” I said to her.

“Oh, Lucien, thank you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for being the best thing that has ever happened to me,” she said.

I smiled, then let her out of my embrace and just stared at her. “In four hundred years, Nivera Hayes, you’re also the best thing that has ever happened to me. Go now. You know what to do if you ever need me,” I said.

She nodded, showing that she understood, and the next minute, she was out of the bedroom, hurrying to get Tyler whom she had nursed back to health in the last four hours in the basement so they could both leave together.

“I’m surprised you let her go,” Celeste said, coming out of the closet.

“I’m also surprised at myself,” I said, walking towards her.

“I guess you couldn’t say no to those puppy eyes and that pretty face. She might hate you forever, but why don’t you kill Tyler before they both leave?” she asked.

“There will be other opportunities to do that, Celeste,” I replied, taking her hands in mine and squeezing them in a reassuring manner.

Celeste heaved a sigh, then slowly shook her head. “There won’t be, at least, not for me,” she said sadly.

“Don’t be so negative. How about we go on a killing spree right now? It will be good for both of us. I hear there’s an illegal elf trade going on somewhere in Manhattan,” I said.

She paused and seemed to think about it.

“Come on, it will be fun. It’s been ages since we last hunted side-by-side,” I said.

“Fine, let’s do it. Once again, it’s just us alone together; might as well break some necks,” she said in high spirits.

I chuckled. “I have a feeling we were meant to always be together. Just look at us, Celeste… till death do us part,” I said, pouring the Martell into two glasses and handing her one of the glasses.

She gave a small smile as she clinked glasses with me. “Yes, Lucien. Till death do us part,” she said, and together, we gulped down the alcohol at once, preparing to raid the city of Manhattan.