SACRED REJECT

FOURTY-THREE

He smiled at me, ''You are here, Miss carmen. I have been waiting for you for a long time.''

'He knew my name and knew what I looked like when we saw each other for the first time,' I thought, feeling that he knew me without asking.

We stared at each other for some time before Conrad blocked my line of sight.

The smiling man shifted his gaze to Conrad and said, ''You must be her second mate, the lycan king.''

Conrad winced at the word, 'second,' and it seemed the man and I noticed it, but others didn't.

He continued smiling before turning around and left, saying, ''Open the gate.''

When he said that, the thick and dense forest changed into a castle-like house before us.

The same man walked toward us from the entrance, smiling. ''It's my honor to welcome the Lycans, werewolves, and witches to the vampire territory,''

I was about to thank him and state our reason for coming here, but Conrad stood in my front and said, ''Yes, thank you for welcoming us.''

They shook hands, and I noticed they held each other's hands tightly.

'They don't like each other,' I concluded my thoughts.

'Why?' I wondered, staring at them.

The man continued, smiling regardless of the hostility that Conrad showed to him.

''Our maids will show you the way to your rooms,'' He said as maids appeared immediately without making a sound.

'It seems it's true about their assassin-like movement,' I thought.

'If not for Artemis, I don't think I would be able to hear or feel them.' I added to my thoughts.

We followed the maids into the castle-like house, leaving the smiling man at the entrance.

The vampire's castle-like house looked similar to the Lycan, but there was a difference.

The atmosphere felt cold and unfeeling here.

In Lycan's castle, I could hear the different sounds of feet or people talking. I could feel the sound of life.

But here, I can't hear any sound of people talking or the sound of feet.

The castle felt dead and deserted like the Drimos forest it's situated.

A maid guided me to my room with Conrad behind me.

Conrad denied following the maid assigned to him and insisted on following me.

The maid bowed her head and walked away after guiding us.

I opened the door, and we entered the room.

I closed the door and felt Conrad's arms around my waist.

''What's wrong?'' I asked as we remained, standing in front of the door in the room.

''Do you know him?'' He said, nuzzling his face in the crook of my neck.

I felt my heart beating fast and tried to calm down, ''No, and don't do anything here.''

He stopped, removed his face from my neck, and sighed, ''Sorry, I got jealous when you stared at each other for a while.''

His hands remained around my waist as I turned around to face him, ''It's okay. I am surprised that he knew who I was without asking.''

Although his face was blank, I could feel his happiness as he tightened his hold on my waist.

He took my hand that caught the arrow, rubbing it.

''Oh, I forgot about it,'' I mumbled, looking at it.

Conrad stopped, rubbing, and I looked to see what was wrong, but all I saw was his blank stare, and somehow, I could feel that he was not happy with what I said.

''It will heal,'' I reassured him by squeezing his hand.

He stared at me for a while and nodded before changing the topic.

He furrowed his brows and asked, ''How did you know where to go?''

I stared at him before answering, ''I don't know. I heard a voice telling me to come here.''

''Did you know who it was?'' He asked.

''No, I didn't,'' I sighed, putting my face on his chest.

'I hate this, not knowing what I am doing.' I thought.

I am relieved that it wasn't an enemy unless I would be responsible for their deaths.

'The sooner we see the oracle, the better we figure out the mysteries with me, Artemis and Typhon,' I thought.

We stayed like this for some time before he broke the silence, ''We will figure it out.''

I nodded, burying my face further.