Word Count: 2010

~Vaela

Hale's bedroom door being slightly ajar is enough of an invitation for me to enter, seeking the Immortal out.

He rests against his wooden headboard, flicking through a book.

He doesn't even glance up. "For someone who is so concerned about seeing me naked again, you have a proclivity for walking rather confidently into my private space."

"You should have told me Larsen was coming," I snap.

Exhaling softly, he closes his book, dragging his attention to me. There is something painfully intimate about standing in his room. The large bed swallows have the space, making it impossible to be aware of anything else.

"How could I, when even I didn't know?" He kicks his legs out so he's sitting on the edge of the bed, resting the book on his bedside table.

I fold my arms over my chest, fingers drumming against my ribs. "Who is he?"

"A Noble, from a far away land. I wouldn't worry yourself, he will not be here for very long," Hale muses dismissively. My eyes narrow.

"Can he kill me?" I ask.

His eyes glisten, a dimple creasing in his cheek as he smiles. "Conceivably, anyone can."

My eyes roll. "You know what I mean."

"Yes."

It's not as if it's obvious. His touch alone can kill, which means I will be keeping to the furthest reaches of the cave.

"Great..." I start pacing.

"So don't become charmed with him. His touch will bring you a vicious, swift death," he muses.

Narrowing my eyes on him, I see the look in his eyes, challenging me to disobey that simple order. I have no interest in the dangerous Noble and his poisonous touch. I'm not a fool.

I pause, a thought dawning on me. "If he touched you, would you die?"

He tilts his head. "Are you plotting something?"

"And kill the only person who is keeping me alive right now?" I say breathlessly. It's frightening to think about how true that statement is. No one else has the power to keep me from death.

Hale exhales. "Yes, he can kill me, and other purebloods. That is why my siblings cannot learn of his presence here."

His tone and eyes darken together, making me shudder. They have all been virtually unkillable for most of their existence, and yet there is a powerful man who could wipe them from the realm with just his touch.

"Don't look at me like I would tell them." What I know of his siblings is limited to what I've read in decades old textbooks.

He sighs through his nose. "Is there a reason you came into my room, Vaela?"

Fidgeting with the hem of my shirt, I glance through the crack in the door. In Hale's room, I feel safe from Larsen, although it seems as though I've stepped into a room with an entirely different threat.

"I'm scared...Of him," I mumble.

Hale smirks. "A particularly strong breeze could likely kill you, mortal, so I wouldn't be fussed."

"I'm still scared of you, sometimes," I admit sheepishly. I murmur. Who wouldn't be? He's a Sin, generally untrustworthy and unpredictable. And I rely on him. A lot.

His eyes burn, drifting down me. "Are you worried my magic could kill you, or that I'll tire of you, and discard of you into the snowy labyrinth for you to die?" He asks softly. I stiffen, stripped to my barest vulnerabilities.

My heart stumbles over a beat.

"So what, you can read minds?" I mutter deadpan. I ask flatly, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

All the power is in his hands. Doesn't he have enough? If he adheres to the nature of his sin for a single moment, I'll be meaningless to him. Whether I like him or not, his protection is imperative to my survival.

"Not quite." He half shrugs. I ignore his smile. "I won't tire of you, Vaela. You are welcome to stay here for as long as your mortal life permits."

And that won't be very long, I imagine.

My eyes drift downward. "What's around your neck?"

Usually he keeps the vial full of glowing blue liquid tucked under his shirt so I rarely notice it. But now, it sits in my view, clearly magical to some extent, and endlessly fascinating.

Hale exhales, long a slow. "Why did you and Will end your relationship?"

"Nice distraction tactic. Not going to work," I growl. Him being sensitive about revealing the nature of that vial to me tells me a lot. Purebloods have endless secrets, and I have a feeling one of Hale's is embedded in that.

Hale tilts his head. "Was it his stubbornness, or perhaps his inability to perceive anything around him that isn't directly attributed to himself? Maybe he's just bad in bed..."

"He wasn't my mate. I fell out of love with him." My admission makes my stomach fall. Although, what Hale mentioned definitely contributed to it. Including the latter.

Hale is silent for a moment, frowning as he looks down toward the floor.

"He still loves you," he murmurs.

"Maybe. I've made it clear I will never be with him again, and yet he won't give up." It's frustrating, especially since my life has been turned upside down. Him trying to be there for me hasn't meant as much to me as I thought it would.

The flicker of amusement in Hale's eyes isn't lost on me. He truly despises Will. "Admirable as that is, perhaps you being up here is a good thing, to deter him."

I swallow thickly. "The blue stuff...What is it?"

Hale's fingers instinctively come up to touch the necklace, the neon liquid spilling around the glass. It looks similiar to the pool I fell into, but blue in colour.

"A spell." He's decided I'm not going to relent until he tells me.

I roll my hand around. "That does..."

"Knowledge is not always power," he mutters darkly. I know the ramifications of magic intimately, but that only makes me more curious. If it's as dangerous as the spell bond, then I want to avoid it at all costs.

My eyes narrow. "You don't trust me."

"I don't want to burden you with my reality," he grumbles. A shiver rattles through me. Now I'm back to being scared.

"What is it?" I press.

"Here..." he stands, ruffling my hair with his hand, rumpling my clothes around until I step back, bewildered by him trying to make a mess of me.

"Hey...What are you doing?" I growl, trying to fix my hair, but he shakes his head.

"If you walk out of here looking flustered, Larsen will think we had sex." I grit my teeth at his smirk. He looks as though he would pinch my cheeks if he could get away with it. I feel like swatting him.

"And that's a good thing?"

He shrugs loosely. "Sure. It might stop him from flirting with you."

He's smiling, in that soft, subtle way that he does, but his eyes are cooler. He may be making light of Larsen potentially taking interest in me, but I suspect there is a more serious note. Perhaps even a morning.

I roll my eyes. "You're the worst, Hale."

"I know," he murmurs.

Deciding I'm not going to accomplish anything more, I breeze out of Hale's room, hoping to head straight to mine without a single detour.

I make it into the hallway and out to the main entrance area, before a husky voice sounds from behind me.

"This is rare, you know."

Flinching, I twist, seeing Larsen leaning against the far wall by the fireplace, watching me beneath a fringe of black hair. My heart plummets straight into my stomach, my confidence stance wavering as I regard him.

"Fuck," I mutter breathlessly, resting my hand on my chest, feeling my heart racing beneath. "You scared me."

"Hale doesn't like many people," he murmurs.

I stay rooted in my spot, terrified. There is a healthy amount of distance between us, but my gaze still wanders down to his hands. His magic is a horrifying curse, and although he wears gloves, I do not feel self in his presence.

"He converses easily considering his preference for solitude," I find myself saying. "And he likes you, apparently."

I'm not sure why, although Hale is known for being unpredictable.

Larsen grins, flashing his perfect white teeth. "Because we are both tortured souls. How about you?"

"Doesn't matter. I need sleep," I sigh.

Tonight, I don't want to be entertaining a powerful Noble. I start toward my bedroom, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and bundle up away from all these overwhelming men.

"Death is a strange concept for me, as an outsider. Mortals die, they serve a sentence in another Realm ran by a tyrant immortal pureblood, and then emerge here, in the immortal realm where they can live out a long existence until their eventual death."

Larsen's words stop me short. Slowly, I turn back to him, to see him regarding me with curiosity now.

"How does it work where you're from?" I ask gently.

I shouldn't indulge him, but I can't help myself. He's from an unfamiliar land, how could I not want to know more?

"Who really knows. I don't think there's a second chance," he admits. So those he touches are gone forever. I can't imagine living with that burden, although Larsen doesn't look like the kind of man to dwell on those lesser to him.

"I don't think it's a second chance here..." More like a continuation of what already was.

Larsen tilts his head. "Why not? You died young, apparently. What's the story?"

My breath hitches. I haven't been asked that in a long time. Recalling the memories of my death isn't exactly preferred, and now Larsen stands before me, stripping me bare with those emerald eyes, wanting me to reveal something I would rather keep close to my chest.

"It's far too tragic for me look back on," I mumble. Don't press me on it, please.

"I'm curious."

"Is it because you know tragedy? Because you can't touch anyone, and are doomed for a mateless life with no physical intimacy?" I ask sardonically, my faux smile slipping away shortly after I plastered it on.

I'm not even sure where that came from, but it felt nice to say. Maybe it's too far, too real. But anything to defend against his probing will do.

"Ouch." His nose scrunches up as he shakes his head slowly. "Good to know I can return here for a cold reminder of the nature of my existence by some overconfident mortal."

I sigh irritably. "I'm going to bed."

As I turn, deciding I don't want to look at the man any longer, I don't even notice how fast he seems to move. He grabs my wrist, which I try to yank away violently, yelping in fright, but his grip is too tight.

He pulls me close until my entire body is almost pressed against him. "My touch can kill anyone, regardless of their power. You should be on your knees thanking me for not destroying the very world you live in."

The way he seethes those words make me shudder. He's right, his magic is beyond this realm, but I'm not going to back down to him now.

"Don't count on me ever being on my knees for you," I growl.

"Save that for the silver-eyed pureblood, huh?" If it wouldn't kill me, I would slap him across the face.

I stumble away from him, rubbing where he was touching me with those harsh leather gloves. "You don't know me."

"I like you. Vaela," he murmurs.

Shaking my head, I back away, saying no more as I rush into my room, slamming the door closed behind me.

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~Midika 💜🐼