Chapter 35: Back to the Water Sect!

I found myself reacting back to his kiss as my heart beats started thundering. I kissed him back desperately. My mind was having conflicts of its own as I remembered Stephanno betraying me, then me making the oath with Stella….Oh my god! Stella. What I am doing is despicable. How can I do this to her when she is laying in the infirmary liking a vegetable?

I stopped abruptly, shoving him back, then bit my lip uncertainly as I tried to squirm out of his arms. He let go of me reluctantly and sighed as he tilted up my chin, forcing me to look into the baby blue eyes. But I couldn’t get the image of Stella, all teary faced and touched when I made her that promise. It was obvious that he was reading my mind because he shrugged off my rejection and walked forward sighing.

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Dominic insisted on going back to the water sect much to my dismay. I didn’t know how to deal with Stephano. I had filled up Justin on what had happened with Amos and even he agreed that it was a bad idea to tell Dominic. Besides Justin assured me that Amos was back in the Sky Sect, making arrangements for leading an attack towards the Blood Sect . So I wouldn’t come across him, but I still didn’t want to face Stephanno after what he did.

My legs were moving at a slow pace, trying to delay this reunion as slow as possible. I gulped as I saw the familiar flag of the Water Sect waving at us. We were at the borders. Dominic was watching me with narrowed eyes so I tried to stop fidgeting nervously with a visible effort. My feet stood firmly fixed onto the ground, while Dominic looked back and patiently waited for me to cross the border.

I saw a whirlwind of blonde running towards us at break neck speed and I saw a grin etching onto my face, despite my best efforts when I saw who it was.

“Stella” I shrieked in delight. I patiently waited for my turn because I assumed she was headed for Dominic first. But she ran past Dominic and launched herself straight into my arms. I hugged her tightly as I felt relief rolling off my body. Thank god she was alright now. I missed her terribly.

“I missed you” I murmured, unwilling to let go of her.
She let go of me and grinned, “ I missed you too, Jess”
Dominic cleared his throat and we both looked at each other and shrugged. Stella hugged Dominic tightly as he nervously patted her back. She turned to Justin with a high voltage smile and said, “ Thank you for ensuring that I safely reached the Water Sect.”
Justin smiled in reply, looking nervous like little school boy.

I completely forgot about my worries about Stephanno and I wrapped an arm around her merrily as we all crossed the border and went in.
I looked like a happy bunny. I couldn’t stop grinning to myself.
“ So how did you get out of the coma? Doctors said there was nothing much they could do….It was all on you” Dominic asked her, questioningly.

“ Yes, that bitch had put me in a fear inducing coma. I had spent several weeks relaying my worst nightmare in my head” Stella answered stiffly.
“What is your worst nightmare?” I asked her, my gut telling me that I already knew the answer to the question.
“ Seeing the man I love together with my best friend” She said, avoiding my eyes and I immediately felt a sickening tug in my stomach.
“She put images of you and him in my head” she continued .

I looked at Dominic and found that he looked clearly uncomfortable. He was pretending to scan the surroundings but I saw that his ears were perked up.
“So the thought of me and Dominic together made you go into a coma?” I asked, my voice coming strained.
“ I know….So silly, right….That’s never going to happen. I don’t know why I was so worried….I mean you hate him…and then there is Stephanno…who is right here” she finished with a shriek of surprise.

I immediately yelped, and my panicked eyes found the mountain of a man, with the broad shoulders and that damn ponytail and I whimpered under the intensity of his stare. I peered closely at him and found that he looked worst for the wear.. Was he sick or something? He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked fatigued and beat. I found myself frowning at his disheveled appearance then mentally scolded myself. Why should I still be worried for the man who betrayed me? I tore my eyes from him and fixed them on the kids playing around the ground, as if it was the first time I was seeing kids play soccer.

He was looking at me with that conflicted, guilty look again. I hated that expression of his. He was always conflicted between me and his stupid oath. His shoulders slouched in relief as he scanned my body and found that I was perfectly all right. What right did he have to be worried about me when he was the one who put me in harm's way? My blood was boiling just by looking at him. I never trusted anyone but I had trusted him. I had told myself repeatedly that there was one person in this world who would never hurt me come what may….and that person ended up destroying my whole world.

I could still feel his gaze on him, so I fidgeted nervously and moved behind Stella to block his path of vision. Stella simply raised an eyebrow at my move but didn’t try to move away. She instead squared out her shoulders, hiding me completely behind her. God! I loved her….She had gotten out of a coma and didn’t even know what the fuck was happening and still here she was like a mama bear protecting her cub.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Dominic extending his hand to Stephanno who shook it solemnly then made his way into the mansion without another word. Both Stella and Dominic looked perplexed by Stephanno’s action while Justin was looking at me with a concerned expression on his face.

Stella and me was back to sharing a room together and I had filled her up about what all had happened when she was out cold. I filled her up on everything that happened with Stephanno and Amos and her eyebrows almost shot out of her forehead when I finally came clean and told her that I was actually from the blood sect.

I bit my lip as I waited nervously. I don’t want her to lose her as a friend, but I already trusted her and felt guilty that I hadn’t come clean any sooner. She deserved the truth.
She opened her mouth, clearly struggling to make words come out of it, then closed it firmly shut as tears started rolling down her pretty, chubby cheeks and she hugged me tightly without a word. For me that was enough…..

“ I thought that you would treat me differently when you found that I was actually from the Blood Sect” I murmured against her blonde hair.
“ Well, you are evil….but you are good evil, Sweetie……You are fixated on your Father’s bloodline that you forgot about your mother……You have good inside you too. It’s up to you, which one you want to pursue. Personally, I like a Jess with a little bit of both” She said as she released me, her eyes fixed on the chain around my neck.

I gently removed Dominic’s chain from my neck and firmly placed it on Stella’s hand. Her eyes widened when she saw the chain and looked at me confused.
“ I think this belongs to you” I said and shrugged.
She fondled the chain fondly, her mind elsewhere.

I was about to ask her if she was alright when I was interrupted by a knock on the door. I got up from the bed and was walking towards the door , when Stella blinked out of her daze then asked in a small voice, “ He gave this to you…to you….”
“Stella, it doesn’t mean anything. He was just promising that he would come back safely. And now that you are awake, me holding on to it any longer doesn't make any sense.”

Stella’s eyes widened and she clutched her chest with one hand while the other hand’s grip tightened on the chain. I frowned at her. I thought she would be happy with having Dominic’s chain. Did she misunderstand something?

Her eyes started welling up as she got up from the bed, her knees weak and said, “It was you…..always you……He wasn’t lying, was he? It was indeed you”
What the hell was she going on about? If I had known this would upset her, I would have given it back to Dominic but I was sure that he wouldn’t take it back that’s why I gave it to her. Dominic wasn’t lying? What was she going on about?

I searched her face, panicking at the dazed expression on her face.
The frequency of the knocks increased and I grimaced as I opened it. The man I had avoided all afternoon was standing in front of me grimly, looking like a mess. Even his ponytail was a mess.
Stella perked up when she saw who was at the door, then immediately walked past me , showing herself out, still in a daze as I stared incredulously at the guy at my door.

“Stephanno” I said in a small voice, my knees giving over as I clutched the mantle hard to regain my composure.