"Flower, come here for a second," Stella Grey-Volkov spoke to her young daughter who was a day away from her fifth birthday.
Ariella Lilac Volkov skipped happily to her mother, finding a moment to admire her beauty. Ariella always thought her mother looked like a queen...like a Reina.
Stella always told her that she was a princesa. Little Ariella managed to pick up a few words in Spanish from her mother but her father always made them speak Russian or English and nothing else.
Stella knew that her daughter was a bright girl...not even five years old and she was already bilingual. But Stella made it her mission to speak as much Spanish as she could whenever Malakai would let them outside. Oh, how she begged him for that little privilege...but asking for something could not go unpunishable in Malakai's book.
But it was worth it to see her daughter skip along the grass and bask in the sunlight for a little while. The beatings were worth it to see her daughter smile and giggle. And she would do it a thousand times again if it meant that she would get this short amount of freedom in their golden cage.
But a free bird could never be caged like a zoo animal. Death was better.
"I'm here mommy!" Ariella chirped, announcing her presence. A small smile made its way onto Stella's face as she twirled a strand of her daughter's golden hair around her finger. Her husband's hair...
No, not Malakai's toffee-brown locks...
But it was Aslan's golden-hair...
No, she had to get those thoughts out of her head. It would be no help to think about him.
She picked up her daughter and set her on her lap, cradling her body in her arms as she tickled Ariella.
"Can you keep a secret, Flower?" Stella whispered, a smile still on her face. Ariella nodded enthusiastically, getting her listening ears ready just how her mommy had taught her.
"You are a princess. Your mommy is a queen and your daddy is a king. This won't make sense now, Flower, but you have to remember what I say no matter what, so you know who to love in the future," Stella started, tears brimming her vision but a small smile still on her face.
Ariella nodded slowly, getting worried.
"You are meant to be great. You will always be Aslan and I's daughter...our princesa. You will not give up no matter what. You will be greater than the person who you call father," she whispered.
"Flower, you will escape him. You are so brave and smart and you have to always remember that you are worth a thousand wishes and dreams. You are loved and strong. You will always be great and you will always persevere to make a better dream...to love," she muttered gently.
Ariella realized that her mom wasn't lying when she said that none of this made sense. But before she could ask questions a thundering voice made Stella flinch and pinch her eyes shut while holding her daughter to her bosom, holding her tight.
"Inside. Now," the rough voice of Malakai warned lowly. Ariella shivered and clutched onto her mother.
Stella nodded to Malakai and still held her daughter in her arms as she got up and walked toward him.
His umber eyes glared at her, promising a silent threat. She bit her bottom lip to stop it from quivering as her eyes welled up and walked into the house.
Before she could step further, a rough and calloused hand held her arm in a bruising grip as he leaned down to whisper something in her ear so that Ariella couldn't hear.
"Put her down to sleep and you and I are going to have some fun," he smirked wickedly as he released her arm. She gulped and rushed to Ariella's small room.
"Go to sleep now, Flower. I'll always be here," Stella smiled through her welled-up eyes. Ariella knew better than to argue so she nodded and got under the covers.
Stella tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead, whispering how much she loved her as she closed the room door.
She never forgot to lock it.
Because she knew that Malakai heard everything she said.
Because she knew that she would not be alive much longer.
But she wished she hadn't told her daughter that one daunting lie.
The lie that she would always be there.
Little Ariella could swear she heard her mother mutter something under her breath.
Something that sounded like, "My name is Stella Volkov...I will be great. I will be strong,"
Ariella convinced herself she imagined it.
~
Her eyes snapped open as a sigh of relief came out of her.
Just a dream.
18 years passed that day and she still had no idea what her mother was talking about. But she knew that whatever she said that day...caused her death.
Because those words meant something greater than her.
In her abusive father's own words, "mommy did a bad thing."
But Ariella knew one thing.
Malakai was no King.
But her mother uttered another name that day...
"Aslan."
Every day of her life she contemplated that name...and wondered what it meant. Who that person was.
"Aslan and I's daughter."
She thought that her mother must've been sick. Sick to call Malakai a king and call herself his queen. Sick to call him her father. Sick to call her daughter great and strong. Her mother was sick to take all the beatings for Ariella. Sick to not fight him and protect her daughter. Sick to tell Ariella that everything would be okay and she would make it. Sick to think she wouldn't have the baggage that came with it. She was sick to make her believe the fairytales and make her believe that she was a princesa.
Stella Grey was sick.
And Ariella Grey was even sicker to believe the dreams her mother spun.
Ariella Grey was sick...and on her death bed.
~~~~~
She was glad she was woken up by the blinding sun.
She suddenly became very warm of the heavy arm slung over her waist and the face buried in her hair and neck.
Cameron laid on his stomach, Ariella on her back as his arm was thrown over her bare midriff as his leg tangled with her own. His face fit perfectly in the crook of her neck, her lavender hair lulling him deeper into sleep each passing minute.
Cameron must've sensed her stir as his hand began to wander underneath the shirt she wore, which was his shirt that was like a dress on her. His face automatically buried deeper into her neck as his hand skimmed the bare skin underneath the shirt she wore, teasing their way up to glide over her bare breast.
"Pervert," she muttered. A slow and sly smirk imprinted itself on her skin as his hand retreated down to her belly.
"Only for you," he smirked, pecking the side of her neck. Suddenly his phone vibrated against the nightstand, making him roll his eyes as he reluctantly let go of her.
She yawned and got up, walking towards the bathroom.
Leo was calling him.
It caught Cameron off guard because Leo never got up before noon. He constantly says that he needs his "beauty sleep."
Cameron answered it as he got up from the bed, rolling his neck.
"You need to get here. Now," Leo spoke, his tone void of any jokes or mischief.
"I'll be there," Cameron spoke, his body tensing.
~~~~~
Ariella's POV
Cameron left not too long ago, leaving me alone to be bored.
I started the day by getting ready, then editing some chapters in my book. By then, it was three hours since he left.
I was going to call Lily over before my phone started ringing before I got the chance. It had "unknown" as its caller ID. I supposed it might be one of my editors so I answered it.
"Hello," I spoke, my fingers hovering over the keyboard of the laptop as my gut churned. After a few moments of silence, I was just about the hang up when I heard something from the other line.
"You sound exactly like her," a rough and thundering voice muttered.
My stomach sank.
A stone-cold shiver, dead as the night, passed through my entire being. My throat tightened as my chest burned like someone was stealing the air from my lungs. My knees buckled from under me as I gripped onto the counter for support.
I took the phone away from my ear, my hands shaking as I tried to hang up. I tried to find the bright red symbol through my blurred vision and my head spinning, a sob threatening to rip through my throat just as I was about to hang up.
This isn't real.
This is just a dream.
A sick fucking dream.
I was going to wake up. I had to wake up.
He's not real...he didn't find me.
I'm safe.
Cameron will be here to wake me up.
Safe.
I am safe.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he spoke again as I was about to press the button to end the call.
I sucked in as much air as I could get as my chest heaved.
Not real. Not real. Not real.
I'm safe.
"Oh don't cry now. I haven't even started the fun!" his thundering voice spoke again.
I took a shaky breath as I convinced myself to hope for the best but to prepare for the worst.
I quickly covered my phone's camera and muted myself as I bit my tongue and I sprinted to the nearest room without windows. I never forgot to get the burner phone from under the kitchen sink and a knife.
That room just so happened to be Cameron's vault of weapons.
I've never been more grateful for this room more than now.
I need to call him. I need to call Cameron.
I took the burner phone and dialed his number as fast as I could, my fingers slipping occasionally as my whole body shook and I took deep breaths.
Before I could enter the last number, my phone buzzed with a message.
I hesitantly clicked on it and saw a picture of Cameron that looked like it was taken from the roof of a neighboring building, through a window. The picture was taken just now by the looks of the clothes and time at the top of the picture.
But that wasn't what made the panic surge and the tears fall.
There was a red laser dot at the side of his head.
And he was utterly unaware.
"Ready to talk now, Flower?" my father spoke, his voice daunting.
I audibly gulped but my phone was still muted.
"You got yourself a good man...would be a shame to see his own blood on him," he chuckled.
I unmuted it, composing myself.
"What do you want?" I asked him, my voice almost inaudible but unwavering.
"Ah, there she is! Always straightforward...just like Aslan," he said bitterly, an underlying tone of spite in his voice.
Aslan.
Aslan.
Aslan.
"Aslan and I's daughter."
"...our daughter."
"You will be greater than the person who you call father."
"Mommy did a bad thing."
No.
No. No. No.
Not real. Not real.
I went on my hands and knees, the world blurred as my teardrops fell onto the marble floor. My chest felt like it was on fire as I threaded my hands through the sides of my head, trying to stop the thoughts.
My name is Ariella Lilac Grey.
My name-
"Who are you?" my voice came out shakier than I would like.
"You would be asking who you are," I almost saw his malicious smirk.
Lies. He's lying. Mom was lying. They are all liars.
Virulent liars.
"I'll give you a hint. You are the heiress to the Spanish mob and Russian Bratva," he mused.
"Your mommy is a queen and your daddy is a king."
"You are a princesa."
Bratva.
I combed through my memories of the time I saw the names of all the leaders of gangs, mafias, and cartels on Cameron's desk. Trying to remember the name of the Bratva as my head began to throb. It's there...it has to be.
It's there. I just have to remember.
Remember, Ariella.
"My name is Stella Volkov...I will be great. I will be strong."
Volkov. Volkov. Volkov.
Why tell me this?
Why take me away?
Or did he even take me? Did my real father cast us away? Did he not love us?
Why pretend to be my father all my life?
Why kill my mother?
Why come back now?
"I will give away no more hints. It would be no fun telling you all my secrets now, would it?" he taunted.
I debated calling Leo but it would be no use...if a sniper was already aimed at Cameron then it would take no time to end him too. My fa-Malakai...probably had their phones bugged anyways.
"Well, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Come alone to this address and we will talk it out," he spoke, oddly sweetly. A second later my phone buzzed with a text message with the address.
Nice fucking try.
"Let me rephrase. Come alone to this address or I'll kill him," he spoke again, more sternly and unrelenting.
My eyes flickered to the message of the picture of Cameron.
"You have one hour," he warned before he hung up.
I sagged against the wall, my breath coming out uneven and my hands still shaking.
He's going to kill me.
~
(A/N): WD-2300
This book is sadly coming to an end and I wanted to just say thank you all for reading this far!
About 10 chapters left!
I love you all!