Chapter 139 - It's Your Time To Go
Elias sharply turned around. Without warning, he grabbed her and began dragging her down the hallways.
"Wait, Your Majesty, the meeting with—"
"Tell him to go screw himself," Elias shouted back.
"Let go of me!" Adeline cried out, pulling and tugging at her hands.
Elias ignored her. He pushed past the confused faces of Adeline's people. He continued pulling her, even when she began to trip over her own feet and nearly fell to the ground. She resisted, clawing and pinching at his forearm, but he didn't even blink.
Elias pulled Adeline into a secluded and empty room. He loudly slammed the doors behind him with a thundering "bang!"
Adeline jumped. She was well-acquainted with all sorts of guns, but he had put too much force against the door. She scrambled for the doorknob, not realizing it was her first mistake. When she pulled the door open a bit, a hand slammed besides her head.
Her voice was caught in her throat. Her body hummed with familiarity, as she felt an incredible heat radiating from behind her. She knew it was Elias's wrath, strong as a flame, dangerous as its embers, and painful as its burns.
Adeline heard his heavy breathing. She could practically feel the rise of his chest, as it grazed against her back. He caged her in, and she faced the doors, wishing it'd open up for her.
"Let's talk it out," Elias muttered, his voice haggard and rough, like the jagged edges of a rock. It was strange. He was trying to sooth his voice as if it was possible to turn a jaded rock into a soft pebble.
"Please," Elias added on, pressing his entire body against hers.
Adeline was squished against the door, trying her best to create as much distance between them as possible. But it was of no use. Elias's arms were on either side of her head, and he was standing so close, her skin crawled.
"There is nothing to talk about. I've made my peace, you should make yours," Adeline muttered. "It's the truth. Our relationship dynamic will always be that of a master and servant."
"Have I ever treated you like a servant?" Elias asked in a soft voice, his hands slowly dropping from beside hers. He noticed her tense shoulders loosen a bit.
"I…"
"I've given you control of anything you wish to seek in this castle. The servants are yours to command. The gardens are yours to alter. Every living thing in this palace is yours to change. Yet, you still believe I wield power over you."
Elias had never been more offended than in her presence. It was difficult to wound him, for he did not have a heart to understand pain. But strangely enough, when she had declared her hatred for him, he felt like he had been stabbed. When she indirectly asked for a divorce, he felt the rug yanked from underneath his own feet.
There had never been a time in his life that he wanted to cry, except in the moment that she asked for a separation from him. His eyes had watered, and for a split second, he thought someone was cutting onions near him.
"You don't realize it do you?" Elias scoffed, grabbing her fingertips. "The control you have over me You influence my emotions more than anything in this world ever would. You send my thoughts into shambles more than war talks ever would."
Elias leaned his head upon her shoulders. He quietly closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath of air. She was such a tiny little thing. Her neck was long and slender, so easily snapped with a flick of his wrist. Her skin was thin and she bled from a paper cut. Her voice was brittle like a dying plant. But such a small human like her had the ability to command one of the strongest vampires to ever walk this land.
Adeline truly underestimates herself.
"You possess the ability to get everything and anything you'd want from me. I can say 'no' to you a thousand times, but you'll always be able to squeeze a 'yes' from me, darling. How do you not realize such a thing?"
Elias wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her even closer to him. Her back was flushed against his chest, and he could what her startled breath and the tremble of her heartbeat.
Elias hugged her dearly and desperately. He had never felt fear. He didn't even know that was an emotion he possessed. But when she had opened her mouth, showed her hatred towards him, and tried to flee from him, he felt his heart waver and his blood chill.
His eyes had dilated, shaky as he tried to think of a reaction. Anything and everything. He'd sacrifice the world to keep her in his arms, even if it was for a split moment.
"Don't leave me, Adeline." Elias pressed his face into her neck, his lips brushing upon the faintest of pulses. "Don't walk out of my life as quickly as you came back into it."
Adeline felt her heart break into a thousand little pieces. A hundred needles pierced her chest, like vines covered in thorns. It spread across her entire body, immobilizing her heart, and sending her lips dry as the desert.
"Elias…" Adeline did not think he felt this way for her. She always thought she was easily replaced in his life. Everyone would throw themselves at him. There was not a single person in this world who did not want to be by his side.
He had so many people to choose from, and he decided to beg for her, a mere human girl with a temper and hard-head.
"I—"
"I love you Adeline."
Adeline blinked once and tears fell. She didn't realize she was on the brink of tears, until the first droplet slid out. It fell like the rain, softly as a drizzle, before breaking out into a storm. She couldn't control herself, couldn't control her tears, or the sobs that racked her body. All along, she had held it in.
At her parents' funeral, she did not cry, from the sky wept in her place. When the usurper pointed a gun at her, a young girl, she did not tear up. When her uncle lifted ah and to her, she did not cry out.
But his confession alone was enough to weaken her knees and turn her eyes into a waterfall.
"Past, present, and future, I will always want you," Adeline whispered in a small, meek voice that cracked towards the end.
Adeline spun around and enveloped him into a hug. She held onto him for dear life, her entire body shaky as she tried to force the hiccups down.
"So how could you?" she weakly said. "How could you prevent me from seeing the people that I love? How could you hurt those that try to protect me? How could you be so possessive and fearful of me leaving, when all along, I've professed my love for you."
Elias did not know. He never could. To him, people came as fast as they went. And not once did he ask for them to stay. He had grown accustomed to the fact that people were bound to leave him. He couldn't wait to predict when someone would depart from his life.
But when it came to Adeline, he counted the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years that could be spent with her.
He counted her heart beat, anticipated her laughter, and waited for her smile. He could never predict when she'd leave, for he never wanted such a thing.
"I want you to stay by my side until the end of your time. Even if it's your time to go, I will follow after you. From this life to the other, until we cross paths again, darling," he said.
Elias rested his chin upon the crown of her head. She tightly gripped his shirt, burying her face into the silk, as her body quivered.
Softly, he comforted her, his large hands stroking up and down her back. He had never wiped the tears of someone but her. He had never known what it was like to comfort a crying woman until she broke down in his arms.
"I fear my time from you slips away so quickly, that I want to cherish every second of your life. I did not want to share your precious time in this world with another, but me," Elias said.
Elias held onto her deeply. "I'm sorry," he professed. "I shouldn't have done what I had. I shouldn't have destroyed what you held so dear, but you, also should not have destroyed what little pieces of my heart had formed in your presence."
Adeline pressed her shaking lips together. She did not respond, for she did not know what to say in a moment like this. She didn't realize he had grown a heart.
The only words she could utter were, "I'm sorry."