The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga) (66 page)

Would have died for…

Draven’s v
oice.

Chapter 58

Shattered Hearts and Chasing Storms

I felt the first of my tears fall just as the first of the storm
’s rain fell from the sky. It was as if it knew my pain and shared in my devastation. I had to be wrong in what I heard. That couldn’t be my Draven asking his ex-girlfriend into his bed…it just couldn’t be…it was…impossible.

But I had to be sure.

So I gathered up the last of my strength and I did the unthinkable, only to catch the unthinkable.

I took those very last steps in my quest to find the only man I
’d ever loved and faced my window of truth. So now here I stood, directly in front of my dead boyfriend, watching as his ex-lover started to straddle her radiant body over his bare one, which was lay waiting. He raised his arms above his head and held them against a rock wall that acted as a massive headboard to an oversized bed.

Aurora was wearing a shimmering nightgown that was not only see-th
rough but also split up both her legs which she now had bent on either side of Draven. I felt like a wide-eyed doe caught watching the truck coming closer and the longer I waited the more I knew it would end me…but like that innocent doe, I couldn’t look away from the killing blow.

“Are you ready
, My Lord?” She asked sweetly, making it even more difficult for me to breathe. Then, when it finally got too much to bear I closed my eyes to try and clear my vision through the tears that just wouldn’t stop flowing. When I opened them again, I looked at Draven’s face and saw his determination set in hard lines of this woman’s master. He closed his own eyes for a moment and then said through gritted teeth as though he was trying to hold something back,

“Do it
!”
I saw the smile from Aurora that Draven didn’t and then felt sick as I let the pain start to drown me. I was hypnotized to watch as Aurora lent further over him and whisper some sweet endearment I couldn’t hear just over his closed lips. She then reached out to grip onto his arms and started to stretch out on the length of his body before pulling his arms up and holding them securely to the rock. I continued to torture myself as I watched as the energy started to build up under her hands, causing Draven’s own skin to start to glow with power.

That’s when it all hit me. That conversation we
’d had so long ago about Draven having to hold back when being intimate with me. Was this what this was? Was this Draven getting what he obviously needed, something he could never get with me? I sucked back a sob as I finally got it. Draven wasn’t dead, he…he…

He was just dead to me!

I watched the last I could before breaking beyond a point of not being able to get my shattered heart out of there. It was just as Draven’s back arched in a deep moan as Aurora raked her nails down his forearms that lit up under his veins. It looked like pure carnal pleasure and this caused more than just my heart to crack further but it also completely destroyed my mental barriers.

This happened at the same time the lightning forked the sky, the rain battered down at my body and the thunder echoed my cry, screaming into the night. The glass doors blew inwards with the force of the gale behind me and shattered, mirroring my own soul that Draven had ripped out of me.  

Aurora’s head whipped round and I saw her whisper my name as she stared right at me. That’s when the Draven storm really hit as his head snapped up and now I had his purple eyes burning into mine. Then he roared, bellowing out like I had never heard Draven’s demon erupt before. Aurora fell backwards with the force of it and landed on the floor by the foot of the bed.

I thought he would jump up but he seemed to be trapped by his arms that I could now see fused to the rock. He snarled at me and I took a step back which finally released me from this nightmare. I took another making him snarl louder this time.

“Don’t you dare run!”
His Demon warned in a frightening growl that made me shake in a fear I had never felt once before from Draven. So I did the only thing I could do…

I ran.

I turned and jumped the edge, grabbing the ivy letting it scrape down my hands as I tried to drop down from the balcony as quickly as I could. I heard Draven going crazy with rage and my feet hit the grass followed by my knees as I fell upon hearing Draven’s demand,

“RELEASE ME… NOW!” I knew from this I had one chance to get out of here and I was going to take it if it was the last thing I was still able to do! I forced myself up and ran while Draven was obviously still trying to free himself. I didn’t know what kind of sex games they had been about to play
, but right now I was just thankful Draven couldn’t get his hands on me!

I ran down the bank
, getting closer to the lake and turned when I got to the path that would lead me to where I needed to be. I heard masses of glass smashing all at once from behind me. I heard screams and didn’t release they were mine until the roaring stopped.

“KEIRA!” Draven thundered
out my name, making the storm mirror his rage with light and sound…but still I ran. The rain poured down soaking my hair, slapping it to my face as I looked behind me to see Draven emerge onto the balcony. He was looking for me and I quickly threw up a mental force so strong I knew no-one would ever be able to break it down, not even Draven.

“KEIR
A! COME BACK!” He screamed again making part of the balcony around him crumble as though from an earthquake…but I kept running. Even when I saw his wings erupt as his full Demon side burst forth, drowning the man I once loved in Hell’s power.

Tears had now mixed with rain and tr
avelled down my face in a never ending current, all fuelled by the greatest hurt one could ever imagine. But it was this raw pain I used to make myself go on…I forced myself to move, to get as far away from this loathsome place which had brought me nothing but the truth I unearthed…

The truth of Draven’s deceit.

“GET THEM NOW!” This was the last order I heard being followed by the thunder as the night now truly took on a murderous element. I tried not to look back just before I jumped down to the next level, but when I saw Draven drop down from the destroyed balcony, I knew my time had run out. I landed, thankfully this time on my feet and ignored the pain that shot up through my legs from the impact.

I saw the place I was trying to find and ran to the side of the wall. From here I couldn’t see much
, but just as that thought entered my mind, something unbelievable happened. I first saw it being reflected back at me from the water’s surface. It wavered with the movement of the water and I bit down on my lip to hold in the growing need to cry out. The last Quarter Moon had come out from behind the clouds, beaming through the raging storm that couldn’t seem to touch it.

I looked up and nodded
, knowing that this was the very last time it would help me, but just not in the way I would have thought or hoped…It no longer lit the way on my journey in getting to Draven but now in my only means of getting away from him.

So
, with that heart wrenching help, I looked down at the rocks behind the wall that led into the lapping water. I dropped my bag over the side so it landed without getting wet and then I pulled myself up and did the same. I let myself fall just as I heard the search party coming my way. I didn’t know if Draven had seen me, so I needed to move and get my ass in the water. I picked up my bag and scrambled over the rocks until I came to the area I had seen that would be perfect for hiding. I threw my bag into the bushes and then lowered myself into the water sucking in a sharp breath as the cold penetrated my clothes through to my skin.

I started treading water but all the while holding onto the jagged rocks that kept me from view. At this point I could just see the shadows of people on the water
, thanks to the freaky glow of moonlight and with the added wingspan it was easy to spot which one Draven was. They weren’t that far away as I could still hear them, so I remained as still as I could so as not to disturb the water, giving away my whereabouts.

“You’re sure you saw her come this way?” I felt my body shudder as I could now add a
nother to my list of people who had betrayed me. Vincent’s voice was easy to detect as he asked his brother this question and soon Sophia’s could be heard, making me want to bite my fist from crying out.

“She must have turned back when she realised there was no escape for her here
.” Draven’s hard voice cut through me deeper than the cold water that felt as if it was seeping past my skin and into my bones.

“Can you feel her?” Sophia asked and for a moment there was silence but it was hard to ignore th
at strong pull of power that was Draven trying to find me. I closed my eyes and gripped onto the rock in a painful hold that kept me grounded enough to keep him from my mind.

“No and she is nowhere near powerful enough to evade my reach
.”

“Are you sure, she could be in the water or what if she fell?” Vincent was clearly worried and out of them all thinking closer to the truth
, but his idea was thankfully cut off by Draven’s arrogance.

“NO
...!” He snapped.

“…I would have felt her
.”

“But you know after this time the bond has…” Vincent was silenced by first the growl and then the warning,

“I suggest you don’t say another word, Brother!” Draven’s demon warned, sounding too far on the edge that no wonder nothing more was said.

“
My Lord, there has been no signs of her yet, but a guard at the gate remembered seeing a girl late this afternoon, just before you arrived back.” This time it sounded like Zagan speaking, but again Draven shouted him down just as he did with his brother.

“It wasn’t her
.”

“But
My Lord, he described her as…”

“IT WASN’T HER!” He roared and in doing so I heard a big splash which sounded like one of the statues had just crumbled off its plinth and into the water.

“Now go and FIND HER!” Draven commanded which then just left two shadows remaining.

“It wasn’t her
, Vincent… I still would have felt her nearby, I know this.” Draven sounded determined to believe this and I shook my head at how little the great and mighty King really knew!

“I hope you
’re right brother…I really do.” I watched as one shadow left and knew Draven still remained when I heard a breaking voice speak to himself,

“As do I
, Brother…
where are you Keira?”

The trek back up the rocks and into the woods took so much longer than I thought it would, even when I stupidly, stupidly, stupidly imagined I might have an injured Draven in tow. I can definitely say the hardest part was getting out of the water. After I watched Draven’s shadow walk away from me
, I bawled so hard I actually went under the water a few times. It was only when I was snorting out lake water that I knew I needed to pull myself together.

So
, by using the last of my strength, I managed to get my soggy ass out of the water, collect my bag and drag myself over the rocks until I found the small gap of wooded area that would take me to the empty Villa. By the time I got there it felt as though I had aged by another ten years. I was a shivering mess in wet clothes and a broken heart. I tried not to think about what was actually happening to my life or I don’t think I would have made it two steps. So, I took things one priority at a time which was ‘Getting the Hell out of there!’

When I saw the car
, I couldn’t help the sob of relief and the closer I got the weaker I felt. The driver must have seen me coming and opened both his door, got out and opened mine in the blink of an eye. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was of the supernatural variety, as what did I really expect, working for Lucius? Well, in this case, I could be nothing but grateful if it got me in the car quicker. I just got to him and that’s when my legs decided to give out. My nameless driver who had barely said two words to me, caught me before I crashed to the floor and picked me up.

At this point I didn’t even realise I was crying as hard as I was
, until I found myself curled up on the back seat of the luxury car, with a blanket around me. I don’t know how long I remained like this obviously in such a state of shock that I could only just find enough energy to keep breathing.

I could vaguely hear the driver speaking with someone and I gathered it would have been his boss. This was enough to get me to sit upright and take note of where we were. It lo
oked as if he had been instructed to take me back to the hotel in Milan, which was just fine with me. Given the way I felt right now, I didn’t know if once in a bed I would ever make my way out of it again.

I felt stripped bare and left out in the wilderness
, cut wide open and bleeding ready for the wolves to finish me off. Draven had filled my life with deceit and spun a lie so great, that I had believed it enough to go to Hell and back just to save him. But as the dark world passed us by and with it more time for realisation to set in, I was starting to understand the very depth that I had been played…

By everyone.