Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14






WHEN JANETTE woke up in three am, she noticed something peculiar. Mikael didn't sleep beside her the whole night. Her eyes squinted at the door. There was no warmth circulating inside the room. Janette didn't dare sleep anymore but she stayed motionless on the bed. She waited patiently.

The door didn't creak. Mikael never came.

'Where...'

Janette shook her head and decided go eat breakfast. The last twenty-five years of her life was used to the sight of Jeffrey eating his toast and sipping a warm cup of milk. Mikael helping himself to a large breakfast special and she, herself, read the newspaper while drinking her share of fresh blood in the morning.

It started to change when Jeffrey asked to help in the coven. The jackass, named Maximilian, gave way for her son to gain a seat at the office. They're a pair of sticky socks.

"Where's Mikael?" she asked on the way to the living room. A servant closed the door as she entered. He uttered, "Sir Mikael wasn't home last night, madam."

Janette didn't react. She continued taking dainty sips on her large cup. The blood this morning tastes particularly bland. She patted her maroon skirt with ease. "Oh."

'Where... could he possibly go the whole night?'

She's not used to this. Mikael's inconvenient disappearance makes her feel disappointment... and something else. Janette was convinced that he's a responsible man. After twenty-eight years of living together, she thought he's already used to their ways. "Notify me when he gets home."

"No need, Gaspar." A deep voice resounded in the hall. He sound youthful... and happy. The door opened and Mikael's face greeted Janette's cold expression. "Hi! I'm home, dear."

Janette smacked her lips and lowered the newspaper to the table. "Don't forget to let the servants know where are you going to spend the night next time. I hate worrying over nothing. It wastes my time."

Mikael sighed. Janette noticed the redness of his face and his neck. She doesn't need to see up close in order to know that his chest has reddened in the same hue. Janette knew everything about his body. Intimately. "If you hate wasting your precious time on me, you should bite me. Here." He motioned the side of his neck. "Here. Just here. One bite. And you don't need to worry about me anymore."

Janette choked over the blood. She coughed uncontrollably. The small splash of red in front makes her embarrassed of her unladylike reaction. "You... did you do this on purpose so you can manipulate me over marking you?"

"I guess." Mikael blinked. He didn't bother masking his pretences. As if he knew that she won't do anything to him. She couldn't help but breathe heavily. Janette finally noticed the stink of booze in the air. Her eyes reddened involuntarily. "You see, I spent the whole night in a bar... with lots of women. Heh."

Janette felt her chest thumped madly.

'It hurt.'

She smiled because of the unusual feeling in her heart. "I'm glad you enjoyed your night."

He was not like this before. 'What happened?' Maybe he met an interesting woman in that... bar?

Mikael pursed his lips and pointed at the cup in her hand. "Are you sure about enduring that? I've recovered. You can feed on me."

Janette feel her gums itch but she stood instead. She has no time for his games. "Overfeeding will kill you, you know that."

Mikael laughed. "I'll end up dead within 30 more years anyway. What can I do? You always refuse marking me."

He's now 40 years old. The wrinkles in his eyes becomes more pronounced. Janette noticed white strands in his hair sometimes... when he's asleep.

Whenever he's taking a nap and Janette obsessively stare at his face, she knew... she become aware of the time ticking by. Warning her about Mikael getting old while she... will be left alone once he's gone.

Jeffrey will have a family of his own one day. She can't cage him inside this house.

Janette fixed her dress. "I don't mind you playing around, Kael. I won't forbid you doing anything that you like. The next moment you have the aspiration to do something like this, stop faking everything. You lost sleep out of nothing."

Mikael's mirth echoed in the living room. He sounds so happy but his eyes shows the pain he didn't bother hiding from her. "I guess I should splash a lot of booze on my clothes. You didn't even buy it. I guess I suck at lying, right?"

"…maybe I just couldn't bring myself to lie to you."

She stared at his face with constricted emotions. When Max spoke about Mikael the other day, for the first time in her life, she felt scared. Janette is scared of him leaving her behind.

The white strands in his hair... and the wrinkles on his face. Sometimes she often hear him grumble about his knees.

Janette paled. A sense of unprecedented fear made the corner of her eyes twitch.

"Your point has been brought home, Kael," she started, "We'll talk about that this evening."

Mikael's false smile stiffened. Even his breathing paused. He swallowed hard before whispering, "What do you..."

"Stop your schemes. It's been a month of you trying to make me feel jealous." Janette rolled her eyes. "We've been together for twenty-eight years now. If you really wanted to date another women, it would have happened before."

"What can I do? You're making me wait for so long..."

"And I'm sorry about it." Janette momentarily bowed. "Marking you... seems unfair. You can't do that to me—"
"Hah." Mikael frowned. "I already did. You married me, didn't you? That's the least I can do as a human."

Janette stepped closer to him. "When I leave you a permanent mark, you will no longer be a human."

"Ah... that's scary," he said with his voice solemn. Janette watch as his eyes glittered with relief and affection.

Her brows knitted. "Are you making fun of this?"

"No, I... know how much you take this seriously. It took me several ploys and trap before you openly talk about us." Mikael swallowed. "I'm excited, Janette."

Janette allowed herself to give in. Mikael has always been the showing type. He never hesitated showering her with the reassurances that she needed. But Janette couldn't give him what she wanted in turn.

She laid her head on his chest and said, "Me too, Kael."

He sighed deeply before encircling his arms around her. "Finally, finally..."

She couldn't help but smile. He's still the Kael that she inevitably fell in love with. Janette doesn't have any complains about him. 'Maybe the only flaw he have is that... he's friends with Max.'