After Solitude

Chapter 56

Zoey's POV

Brina is supposed to come by today.

The guys are excited for me to be myself again. I don't know if that's possible. I don't have the same people around me, the same circumstance, or the same job. Everything is new now, nothing is the same as it was before I found out that I'm a murderer.

My days are a little more boring without Poppy. It's been about three weeks since she's past and it still hasn't gotten any better. My soul still feels like someone is stripping it from my body, violently yanking it out while all I can do is let it.

I can tell the guys miss her around too. They try not to talk about her because they know I get sad, but I notice they sometimes still set a place at the table for her when we sit down for a meal, her bed remains unmade as if she will come back and lay in it. They must've told the maids to not even step into the room.

The snow has stopped falling although the blankets of snow have turned into slippery ice. I almost busted my butt whenever I went for a short walk. I just needed to get out of the house, the memories here haunt me.

It's still hard to sleep, but now that Nik has marked me, I have something to be happy and excited about!

The mark has fully come in and I am so in love with it. Nik's mark has perfectly rounded edges with an intricate lace pattern inside of it. Almost like a delicate vintage tablecloth, the patterns are so thinly painted on my skin. A jeweled crown in the center of the letters NA on the bottom of the crest. It's royal and beautiful.

A knock at the door pulls me out of my thoughts. Must be Brina. But part of me hopes it's Desmond.

I've fantasized about what I'd do to him. I'd think about the tortuous pain I would cause him if I could just get my hands on him. It's gotten to the point where sometimes, the black mist dances around my body.

Brina stands by the front door, removing her wet, snow covered shoes as Nik and Wyatt wait for her to finish.

"Hey, Zoey. How're you?" Brina asks, meeting my eyes.

I give her a small forced smile, "I'm alright, and you?" I ask to be polite.

"I'm good, happy to be helping you." She responds.

Her eyes scan my body, the fine line between her eyebrows deepen, "something is different, your skin is glowing and you give off this different aura."

My spine stiffens. Maybe it's because I've imagined Desmond's death too much. It's making my soul rotten.

"Oh my goodness!" she shrieks, "he marked you! Congratulations."

My fingers graze against Nik's mark on my neck. I can't help but feel my lips curl into a smile, "he did." I state.

Sometimes, I can't even believe it.

All four of us go into the sunroom, where Jett sits with Poppy's urn.

She wasn't alone. I say to myself, feeling love pump through my veins.

They all begin talking about what to do about the beast inside me. I drown it out, not being able to care about how it gets out, as long as it's gone.

"In her room?" Wyatt's bothered voice cuts back in.

What?

"I didn't know Poppy's room was the closest to Zoey's. I apologize." Brina shows us both her palms in defense.

"She can't stay in Poppy's room." I state quietly, obviously withdrawn.