Page 58 of Scent Of Obsession
“You’re cut,” he interrupted me, staring at the dry blood on my thumb. “Are you hurt?”
“Why do you care? You don’t bleed, right?” I shouted in a high-pitched voice. “Because to bleed you need a fucking heart! And like you said, you don’t have any feelings!”
“Don’t talk to me like that. Swearing is not pretty on you.”
“And what are you gonna do about it?” I shrieked. “You can take everything from me—it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve nothing left! So screw you! Screw everything!”
Radcliff turned a cold eye on me, studying me with a critical squint. I couldn’t stay in front of him anymore. I averted my gaze, a vortex of pain swirling inside of me. I stormed in the direction of the cliff, tears begging to spring to life. I was a mess—a temperamental, capricious mess.
“Lily!” he screamed after me, his voice hardening ruthlessly.
Go away.
I ran. I ran to escape Radcliff. My feelings. My demons. The trees surrounding me were laughing at me through their scary faces. The forest was alive. But it wasn’t magical anymore. It was a reflection of what was inside my soul. Horror and that wet grass smell.
I passed through a small tunnel, hidden by the rocks on top of the cliff. It led me to a hole. I stood at the edge and gazed down the cliff. One more step and I would plummet into the dark abyss of the forbidding stygian water.
I didn’t bother to turn back to feel the chilliness of Radcliff’s breath behind me and smell his dark fairy-tale and black-magic scent. He had caught up to me.
It was just us, in the middle of a chaotic scenery.
“Everyone leaves me,” I whispered. “You know it’s my mother’s birthday today? Of course not. She died when I was seven. I was supposed to live with my uncle, but he didn’t love me enough to keep me. He sent me to the sisters.”
I turned around and swiveled my eyes toward him. Radcliff’s aloof mask was decomposing with his eyebrows slanting inward and lips pressing together into a thin line. The veins in his neck stood out in livid ridges while he remained as silent as a gravestone.
“My mother was a genius. A talented perfumer. She was supposed to have the greatest career, but she had a dark side. She died from using illicit substances. That’s why I swore all my life I’d never touch something destructive.” I snorted. “That’s how sweet Lily was born. I don’t have her talent. Maybe I should just try to be like—”
“You’re perfect.”
“Perfect.” I shook my head. I wasn’t perfect—they all wanted me to be.
“Perfect to me.” He ground out the words between clenched teeth.
That must have cost him a lot to say that.
“I don’t believe you.” I edged backward until the point my heel was halfway in the void.
The angry wind swayed through my hair, and I had to cling to the rock to not fall into the depths of the water.
“Lily. Come back here.” His voice dripped with all the supremacy of a man who was not to be crossed.
Prove it to me, Radcliff.
“Oh, that’s right—you’re afraid of the cliff. It’s cursed, right?” I concealed my pain with a playful smile. I wanted to push him the furthest I could. If Radcliff felt anything for me at all, he’d act upon it.
“Lily. I won’t save you again. That’s not something I can do. Come back here.” He took a careful step toward me, spasms of irritation crossing his face.
Only one person truly saved me. My guardian angel. And he abandoned me too.
After all, I wasn’t the princess type meant to be rescued.
I let out a wicked laugh. Perhaps I truly was the crazy witch. “I’m not asking you to save me, Radcliff. Go back to play the Devil, and find someone else to do your fucking aphrodisiac.”
He cursed, his muscles stiffening. For the first time, Radcliff was hopeless.
“Lily, don’t do this to me. Please. I won’t save you,” he repeated.
Rage gripped me once more. My heart raced like a trapped bird. “Why would you save me, Radcliff? It’s not like you care about me—”
