Page 76 of Scent of Desire
Not many people had come to my uncle’s burial. At least, not many people seemed to care about him; they were simply polite. No one shed a tear. Not even me. I had already shed a river of tears that could have filled a desert. I had none left.
I locked eyes with my bouquet, my face as hard and merciless as his tombstone. “I forgive you.”
I shut my eyes for an instant to gather my strength before opening them and lifting my chin up. “We can leave now.”
“Are you sure you want to do this now,doudou?”
My firestorm eyes met the concerned ones of Hugo and slid to his light beige suit and blue dress shirt. “I’ve noticed you didn’t wear black. Why?”
“Personal beliefs.” He shrugged before dwelling on the surroundings, frowning and curving his lips down with disapproval. “I believe we shouldn’t mourn the dead with tears and pain but instead celebrate their departure as a new journey, by wishing them peace and by carrying the love we have for them in the abyss of our hearts. Death shouldn’t be that macabre.”
My lips curved into the slightest smile. “Maybe you’re right.”
After all, my uncle, as imperfect as he was, would have wanted my happiness, not my sorrow.
“And to answer your question, yes, I’m ready,” I said from the bottom of my heart, with all its feelings and determination. “There is nothing left for me here right now.”
“Your future is here,” Hugo provoked me, knowing perfectly I was more stubborn than he and Radcliff combined. “Everything you’ve accomplished, it’s just the beginning.”
It wasn’t enough.
“My future is intertwined with Radcliff’s.” We’d been linked from the start, and life without him was dull and plain. “Even if we’re doomed together.”
My soul needed him for revenge.
My heart needed him for healing before it turned into ashes.
Without him, my obsession would decay, and my soul would wander in eternal oblivion.
Only he could resurrect the fire I was born with and help me grow into the infernal flower I chose to be.
“Do you want to change out of that wicked gothic dress first?”
“No.” I embraced that new colorless part of me, that darkness and the nickname given to me.
That’s what they made me.
Poisonous and cursed.
“Fine.” Hugo’s brows furrowed once more, a nerve in his jaw twitching. “Then I’ll let the pilot know we’re ready for departure.”
I nodded, keeping my chin high. The wind blew, causing my dress to brush over the grass toward the little plain where the nature surrounding the cemetery started. My heart hammered, my nails digging into my palm.
I sent firebolts at the man dressed in a refined silver and carmine red suit from afar. A hundred meters or more separated us, yet I could smell his scent of treachery and luxury. With his white hair, Adonis displayed a knife-sharp grin with all his confidence and provocation.
“Lily. Follow me,” instructed Hugo from afar, but I couldn’t detach my gaze from Adonis.
He wasn’t alone. Next to him was a colossal man, or more like a war machine. Significantly taller than Adonis, he was at least two meters tall. A mountain of muscles, as if he was built of unbreakable stones. His neck, trapezius, backbones, and arms were of an inhuman size. His hands could crush you with a handshake. His lips were set to such an extent that they seemed stitched up together. His appearance sent a frozen chill scouring behind my back.
I had taken root in the ground, transforming myself into a marble statue that was cracking every second. Adonis chuckled, gesturing to his guard to walk behind him as he approached me. He held a lily of the valley in his hand, which he smelled.
“Uncle, don’t pay attention to him. He’s mine to deal with. He’s mine to annihilate.” I clenched my teeth, about to burst into him like a fury.
“Lily,” Hugo warned again.
I clamped my nails deeper into my flesh and inhaled the air, my nostrils flaring. With heavy clamps, I ignored the acid burning my throat, and I decided to rejoin Hugo.
“Leaving so soon, princess!” Adonis yelled from afar, gaining my attention with a crazy laugh that echoed through the trees and blooms that had seemed to close off at his approach.
