I slammed the bedroom door open. For some reason, panic was seeping into my veins and making my heart race. I needed to see the crystal. The staff at home packed the crystal in shatterproof luggage. My eyes wandered over the unopened luggages. I stalked over and crouched on the floor to unzip the luggage. What I saw made my blood run cold.

The crystal was no longer in the luggage. I was furious. None of my guards or servants would do this. It had to be one of Lazarus. Could it be the person who brought up the luggages?

Fury drove me to dash out of the room. My first intention was to locate Lazarus. I found him in the dining hall with the others still. All their eyes were on me when I stalked towards Lazarus.

"Atlas..." Silas stood up from his seat while looking at me.

I grabbed Lazarus by his expensive suit and threw him across the room. He ran into another table and it shattered completely upon impact. Lazarus growled. His crimson orbs turned brighter.

I zipped up to him. Grabbed him by the collar, and pushed him up against the wall.

"Your staff took something from me. I want it back," I snarled.

Lazarus looked surprised. He shook his head immediately. He couldn't believe it but the luggage wasn't in my room. It could only mean one thing. Anything else I wouldn't care, but the crystal was unacceptable. My fangs elongated as the anger inside of me grew.

"My staff wouldn't. They are all loyal. They've been with me for centuries. I trust them with my life," Lazarus argued.

I shoved Lazarus hard into the wall again. With one hand raised, I was about to punch him in the face. Lazarus grew angry. He tried to remove my hold on him.

"What did you lose?" Silas asked and walked up to take hold of my arm. "Let's talk reasonably. I don't think Lazarus would lie. You and I have known him for a long time. He is loyal to you, Atlas."

I knew it was true, but that didn't explain where the crystal was.

"Let him go," Silas urged. "Tell us what happened."

"The crystal is gone." I shoved Lazarus away from me and took a few steps away from them.

"Isn't it in your room?" Silas looked just as confused.

"Do you think I would be down here if it was?" I answered back irritably.

Silas looked a little apologetic at his slow reaction. I turned to Lazarus. He still looked irritated that I had pushed him up against the wall, but my anger got the best of me. Silas was right. It wasn't like Lazarus to betray me.

"Which one of your staff brought the luggage to my room?" I asked. "I want to see him or her. Within five minutes, I need him or her here. No exception."

Lazarus looked behind me. A second later, another servant walked up to us. His head was completely lowered. He didn't want to look me in the eye or get close to me for fear that I would rip his head off. He was human.

"Who was assigned to bring the luggage to our King's room?" Lazarus asked.

"It was Lydia, but she has left for the day. Her mother isn't feeling well and is in the hospital."

"Get her here within the hour," I commanded.

"B-but-" the servant stuttered. He looked up and when he saw me looking at him, snapped his eyes back to the floor.

"But what?" I asked quietly.

"Spit it out, Adam," Lazarus interrupted. "He won't hurt you."

"Lydia put in leave for two weeks. She left back to Philadelphia to take care of her mother. I don't think we could get her back here within the hour."

"Then fucking call her," Atlas snarled.

"Yes, r-right away." Adam whipped out his phone and scrambled to call Lydia. A few minutes later, the phone call went to voicemail. His terrified eyes looked my way.

"M-maybe she didn't hear it the first time. Let me try again." Adam looked at his phone one more time and began tapping at the screen.

I felt my anger rising once again. Unable to control it, I began pacing with my hands fisted at my side. The phone call went to voicemail again.

"I-I can't get through to her."

I stalked over to Adam, but Lazarus blocked me. We looked at each other.

"You're not killing him."

I clenched my jaw and glared. "Get out of my way."

Without looking behind him, Lazarus spoke again. "Do whatever you can to get a hold of Lydia, Adam. Don't stop until she picks up."

"R-right away, Master." Adam stepped several steps back. Any human who values their life would do so. Even so, I could still kill him easily.

"You won't get your answer by getting angry. Let's wait on the return phone call before we do anything we might regret. I trust that our years of knowing each other would mean something. You should trust that my staff and I would never betray you."

I understood where they were coming from, but the anxiety inside of me was unexpected. Balling my hands into fist, I stepped away from them. Everything they were saying was true.

It was abnormal for me to freak out like this. I could count on my hands the number of times I've felt this before. After a hundred years, I would think I have learned to control my emotions. Silas followed behind me, but gave me enough distance.

"Are you worried about the crystal or Ophelia?" Silas asked.

I walked through the open terrace door and braced my hands on the balcony. Inhaling, I tried to calm my nerves. I'm not worried about Ophelia. She was a witch. She could take care of herself.

"No, I'm not worried about her," I muttered.

Silas leaned against the balcony. "You're lying, Atlas. You've grown attached to Ophelia."

I glared in his direction. He was unfazed.

"She's a nuisance. A pain in the ass."

"But she's your nuisance. You rarely tolerate people who behave that way towards you, but you repeatedly gave her an exception."

Frustrated, I rubbed my forehead with my hand before threading it through my hair. I don't know what to say. Ophelia was like a breath of fresh air in my dark world. Waking up and repeating every day for a hundred years could be very lonely. Ophelia was an odd woman.

"She-" my voice dropped. Exhaling, I looked up at the moon. Morning will be here soon and I don't want to wait till then. I needed an answer. If the red crystal was stolen, there would be hell to pay.

"Over the past several days, I've observed both of you. Although you two bicker non-stop, you have grown used to her presence. Who wouldn't? She's a little weird, but she's pretty damn funny," Silas replied.

An image of Ophelia and my first night together appeared in the back of my mind. She looked beautiful. When I first woke up, I thought she was some kind of angel that had fallen from the heavens. I recall her falling on her bottom when she saw I was awake.

Ever since meeting her, my life has changed. It has become more chaotic and I don't know if that was a good thing yet.

It seemed hours went by while I waited outside the terrace. Lazarus didn't appear in front of me. He was smart enough to stay away until he found an answer. In fact, none of his staff was in the room.

Silas was the only one who remained behind to watch over me. After several hours, my impatience quickly turned into anger. This was beginning to be ridiculous, and I didn't give a fuck what Lazarus felt. I emerged from the terrace to find Silas sitting at a table, sipping a glass of blood. He looked up when he saw me.

"Order our guards to check all staff quarters and rooms. Leave no space untouched. I want every fucking room searched. Lock down the mansion. No one may leave."

Silas stood from his seat and nodded his head. I walked out of the dining room and walked up the steps. When I neared my room, I searched my room once again. Thinking that I might have overlooked it and it was somewhere in the room. After tearing apart almost everything in the room. I found nothing.

This anxiety was doubling by the second, and nothing would not stop me from searching this damn place from top to bottom. I'll tear the whole damn place down if I have to.

Instantly, the mansion was busy with people running from room to room. I could hear things being tossed and turned. Lazarus said nothing. We may be friends, but at this point, I wasn't his friend. I was his king and I've put in an order.

The search started on the staff quarters and moved its way into every room of the main floors. Outside, my guards took over and ensured no one left or tried to escape.

This went on for a while. As minutes ticked by, the sun rose over the horizon. All I could think about was Ophelia. Where the hell was she? Did someone have her? Was she hurt?

I was worried that someone discovered who she was and might use her weakness as an advantage for them to gain power. My mind whirled with a ton of what if questions.

"Where is Ophelia?" Lazarus questioned, now realizing that Ophelia was nowhere in sight.

I looked his way with my arms crossed over my chest. It was the only thing preventing me from destroying everything in his place. I wanted to tear everyone's head off.

"Ophelia is a witch. She's connected to the crystal by a curse."

"What? How did... when?" Lazarus seemed stunned. "I thought there were no more witches. It has been centuries since the war. They all disappeared. How did you find her?"

"I thought so too until she appeared in my room out of nowhere. She's been in the crystal for years."

"I thought I felt something from her when I first met her. I thought it was odd for a human being to feel that powerful. Can you trust her?" Lazarus asked.

"She hasn't killed me yet." She turned me into a dog, though. As I recalled the memory, I shook my head absentmindedly. Silas was right. Ophelia was the exception.

"I understand now." Lazarus nodded his head. "I understand the urge to locate the crystal."

I snorted while monitoring the surrounding bustling. From my peripheral vision, I catch Adam walking toward us. When he caught me looking, he cast his eyes downward.

"Lydia returned the phone call. She said that there were no crystals in the luggage."

"Bullshit," I snarled and made a move to grab Adam at the throat. Lazarus stopped me in time. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Adam, did Lydia tell you anything else?"

"We are wasting time!"

"I-I'm not sure. S-she just said that she remembered taking all the King's luggages up to the bedroom. There were five-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled and shoved Lazarus away from me.

I was livid. Everyone was searching, but their searching did not give me the results I needed. I started walking. I don't care how I do it. I don't care if I tear this whole damn mansion down. I'll buy Lazarus a fucking new mansion if needed.

"Atlas-" Lazarus moved to stop me. "Let us continue to look for the crystal. You need to relax."

But he would not stop me.

Nothing will be able to stop me from finding Ophelia.