Chapter 73 - It’s dark and twisted

HADRIAN

The bitter scent is heavier in the garden at the back of the mansion. The flower beds are littered with dark flowers. I’m already nauseous, but the scent reminds me of Gaia. My stomach roils and I think I might throw up. The fresh air is not helping.

“Are you done?” Lela asks in her signature bored tone. She has her arms crossed as she inspects her black nails. She is dressed in a black silk robe and standing on the porch watching me. She looks more like a figure straight from hell, here to torment me.

“No.” The image of my sister repeats in my mind and I shake my head to dispel them, but they are here to stay.

“You’re so dramatic sometimes,” Lela says with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t act like you didn’t do exactly the same to your human mate.”

“She’s my sister, Lela.” I never want to see my sister in any compromising position. I fill my mind with images of Emma instead.

I think of Emma’s laughter and how her hair spills on our sheets in the morning. I think of her fair soft skin and the sounds she makes when she sleeps.

I follow Lela back into the mansion and avoid their eyes. The dining table in the common room is large enough for twenty people. There is no one in the room except me, my sister and Lela.

I sit down across from my sister who seems to enjoy the torment she causes me. The only sound is coming from the tea Lela pours in porcelain cups. The scent of Darjeeling tea travels in wafts through the air and I breathe in the soothing scent.

Images of my sister overrule my attempt to forget. I press my palms in my eye sockets and try another futile attempt to remove the memories from my mind.

“You marked her,” I say, breaking the silence. I look up and see Lela freeze. She adjusts the neckline of her black robe and hides the mark.

“She’s my mate, what do you expect?” Morana bites back. Her tone is sharp and commanding.

I narrow my eyes at my sister. “Does father know about this?”

She waves a hand in the air and takes a sip of her tea. “Father doesn’t need to know about everything.” She crosses her legs and sits back in her seat.

In the end I don’t care who my sister ends up with, but she knows just like me that there are many expectations. She is not immune to them. She has not been subtle about the fact that she wants my place. She even arranged for me to choose a human mate to ensure that I wouldn’t sire an heir.

It’s all for nothing if she doesn’t choose a mate with whom she can sire an heir herself. She’ll destroy her own bloodline.

I wouldn’t mind destroying my bloodline, but the idea of Emma round with our pup in her stomach still creates this longing in my chest.

“I’m pretty sure he needs to know about this,” I grumble.

“I’m not you, Hadrian.” There’s a lock of hair out of place. It hangs over her cheek instead of being collected with the rest of the bunch. The knot is hastily tied. She didn’t bother to change into something more presentable than a silk robe.

The details are minor and to anyone else, they are disorganized habits that come with life. *Who can be perfect all the time, right?* If I didn’t know my sister then I would say no one.

“Don’t worry brother, everything will fall in my favor.” She says with a sinister smirk. She doesn’t even pretend anymore.

*Is she delusional?* Our father demoted her and sent her away. She might believe that she has everything perfectly handled, but there are cracks in her carefully structured front.

“Why are you here Hadrian?” Lela sighs in an annoyed tone. She picks at a thread on her sleeve with her knife-sharp nails.

“Why do you think?” I snap and Morana growls at me.

Lela is unfazed by my outburst. “I wouldn’t know.” She looks at me with the endless pits of her black eyes.

“Nero recognized Gaia as his mate,” I growl. The mention of Nero puts the attention back on my wolf in my mind.

“That’s impossible,” Lela says with a frown.

She gets up from her seat and walks over to me and sits down on my lap. I repel her touch and move further back in my seat. Morana sends me a look of fury as her amber eyes burn with flames.

Lela places a hand on either side of my head and I look into her pitch-black eyes. I grip the armrests of the chair and they crack beneath my palms.

Lela sighs and releases me. “There have been no changes. No connection. No strings of fate.”

I growl. “I’m telling you it was Gaia.”

“Do you feel an urge to go to Gaia at the moment?” She asks as she sits back down in her seat next to Morana. My sister places a possessive hand on her knee and she calms down. I understand that feeling.

I think about her question. Resisting the pull is manageable. “No.”

“What about the human?” Morana asks.

My chest burns with longing at the thought of Emma. “Yes.” It has less to do with any bond, but more to do with her.

Lela places an elbow on the table and rests her head in her palm. “I’m telling you nothing changed in the strings of your connections. They are still the same.”

“Have you considered that she used an enchantment?” Morana says and I frown when I think I spot true curiosity in her eyes.

“What?”

“Oh Hadrian, do I really have to chew out everything for you?” Morana sighs in a mocking manner. “Clearly the bond doesn’t hold, a true mate bond does.”

I look again at my sister. I realize that maybe she looks less restrained because she doesn’t feel the need anymore. “How long have you known?”

Morana puckers her lips and for a second I expect another sadistic remark. “Since I was eighteen. The bond never faltered, no matter how great the distance.”

I try to find the lie in her words, but can only find honesty for once. I’ve never seen my sister tell me the truth, this has to be the first time.

She knew for years that Lela was her fated mate. The amount of restraint she had must've been immense. The moment I looked into Gaia’s eyes and picked up her scent I lost any ounce of restraint.

The strange thing is that her scent wasn't even that captivating. It has a bitter edge that I never smelled on her before. I get up from my seat and walk back out into the garden. I follow the bitter scent of a plant with green leaves and purple flowers.

“You should be careful with that,” Lela calls behind me.

I snap off a branch of purple flowers. They hang in a sad way and have a yellow bud in the center. “What is it?”

“Nightshade. It can make you hallucinate.”

The scent is bitter and exactly the same as the new addition to Gaia’s scent.

“Why would you have them in your garden?” I growl at her.

Her lips turn up in a faint smile. “Because it’s dark and twisted.”

“Gaia isn’t my mate, this can’t be right.” I say as I watch the flowers of the branch in my hand.

Maybe I once believed she would, but after having spent this much time with Emma, I know Gaia would never be my fated mate.

“Then you need to reject her, but more importantly, she has to accept your rejection,” Morana says.

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The pull becomes stronger when I return to the palace. I believe my sister’s words more and more. There is something off. A true fated bond should not fade like that. The bitter scent of nightshade isn’t appealing like the scent of a fated mate should be.

I take a page out of my sister’s book and I don’t follow the connection. If she can resist a true fated connection then I can resist this sorcery.

I step through the halls with white knuckles and a locked jaw. I make my way to the kitchen. Cecile is there working on one of her many recipes. The wear is clear on her face. There are purple bags under her eyes. She didn’t have much sleep yesterday.

“How is she?”

It has been less than twenty-four hours since the gala, but it feels like I haven’t seen her for weeks.

Cecile throws her knife on the counter. “What can I tell you, she’s upset, distressed, confused.”

“I won’t command you, but I really need to talk to her.” I do respect the fact that Cecile is trying to protect her.

“Are you going to reject Parsnip?” Cecile asks.

Rejecting a fated mate is not a common practice. Your fated mate is your perfect other half. The Moon goddess creates every connection with intention and deeper meaning. Rejecting a fated mate would be stupid.

“Yes,” I tell her honestly. “You know I won’t lie to you.”

Cecile is quiet for a moment as she takes in my words with her singular insight. “I’ll bring her to the palace tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” I lean down on the counter and take a breath.

She waves a hand in my direction. “This sappy prince is kind of freaking me out. I’m considering a name change.”

I chuckle and a sting of pain shoots through my arm. I hiss as I lift my elbow from the counter.

“Are you okay?”

I check my elbow, but there is nothing. “Yeah, I just… thought I hit something,” I mutter.