The Crown's Obsession

After their lovemaking, Calhoun put his hand around Madeline's waist before pulling her to him so that he could spoon her whilst he nuzzled his nose between her neck and shoulder. She smelt like a garden full of roses that had blossomed just for his sake, and the scent brought a certain calmness in his mind.

Madeline hummed in satisfaction, feeling Calhoun's nose brush against the side of her neck. She placed her hand on his. She felt him interlock his fingers with her fingers. Calhoun was a gentle lover in the bed, taking his time as both of them reached their climax. The silence that fell in the room felt comfortable and soothing. The wind strongly blew outside their room as if a blizzard was taking place, but the couple who were in each other's arms were unaware of the blizzard.

As minutes passed, Madeline wondered if it was possible to bring Raphael back. Given the Devil didn't do anything for free, she had hoped Vladimir would have brought the card reader back. But instead, the Devil had offered them a deal to find an innocent person to sacrifice, in return for Raphael's life.

"Why is it that Raphael ended up in Hell and not in Heaven? He was a good man, wasn't he?" questioned Madeline in thought.

"Heaven probably has a high standard that picks only high quality souls," she heard Calhoun speak not too far away from her ear.

"Do you think if I did something bad, the angels in Heaven would not welcome me into their place?"

"Right now, I believe even if you killed an angel, they would still take you in. They worry what might happen if you were to one day go against them," stated Calhoun, and Madeline turned her body. Calhoun's hand loosened around her waist so that she could now face him. He then continued, "They are desperate to have you."

"But I don't want to do anything with them," her eyebrows furrowed and Calhoun's lips twisted into a smile. Paschar was never around her, and it made little to no difference now with him being there or not. "How was he? When he was in the High House. Paschar I mean."

"He listened only to Helena because she was righteous compared to the other demons. He was always quiet, intelligent and resourceful when it came to helping me. He never knew I was a demon and only saw me to be a vampire, not knowing until recently that I am a demon like the rest of them," he replied to her. Madeline had grown up in the presence of the fallen angels, and in that, some of her relatives, including her grandparents, had tried to kill her. Calhoun wondered if Madeline was trying to acknowledge Paschar as her father. "You can call him your father if you want to."

Madeline shook her head, "I don't think we share a bond like that."

"What about Vlad?" They hadn't heard anything about him since he had left the forest near the abandoned town. "Did you hear anything from him?"

"Nothing yet. He must be enjoying torturing people in Hell. Did he do anything to you when you were at his castle?" questioned Calhoun with a frown.

"I am fine. Vlad gave me tea to drink and locked me in the room when he sensed you arrival at the castle," responded Madeline.

Calhoun rolled his eyes, "Crazy old bat." Seeing Madeline stare at him, he asked, "What happened?" She quickly shook her head.

"I was just thinking how similar you both are," Madeline adjusted her position so that she could look at Calhoun without her having to crane her neck too much.

"It is slightly annoying," admitted Calhoun, but Madeline could sense that both the grandfather as well as the grandson would work out things without locking their horns. Vladimir had mentioned about him being involved in their lives and she believed he would only want to stay here with them in the Hawthrone castle, and be part of the family as Calhoun was the only person he had. It was good to know that Calhoun had someone apart from her, who genuinely cared about him.

"Do you think he will stay here?" she asked Calhoun. "It would be nice, to have him here," she thought out loud.

"Why do you say that?" asked Calhoun.

"Even though he's a devil, I think he's a good person."

"You will find good even in the worst of the worst person. You possess eyes that has the ability to look past every mistake that has been committed by a person. Remember what I said before," Calhoun placed his hand below her chin, "Your heart is made of diamond. Crystal clear." Calhoun didn't care what those fucking angels said, because they hadn't spent time with Madeline like he did.

Madeline's eyes lowered, and when her eyes raised to look into his, she said, "I thought you were bad."

She had never said it out loud to him until now, but memories had come flooding since Calhoun had mentioned her and Constance being in a similar state to Vladimir. But he had slowly changed, and somewhere she had tried to understand how Calhoun had lived his life.

It had taken her some time to understand that she was his thread of hope—something he was tightly holding on to, to not to be swallowed by darkness.

The love and trust they had for each other was different because even if people didn't understand their lives, Madeline and Calhoun understood each other.

"I told you I was the bad wolf," said Calhoun, leaning forward and this time pressing his lips against her forehead. He let his lips linger there longer, and heard Madeline say,

"A warm wolf." Nuzzling below Calhoun's chin, Madeline fell asleep in his arms.

As Madeline drifted into her dreams, she found herself to be surrounded by darkness, and as her eyes adjusted, she heard an owl hoot, and she realized she was in a forest. After having a couple of dreams in the past, Madeline had come to realize that her dreams were not her subconscious making up things, but that it held some sort of knowledge in it.

She continued to walk, stepping out from the edge of the forest to end up in the abandoned town that she had visited the night before. Unlike a day ago, the place had light as lit lanterns were hanging outside the houses. Some people walked in her view, one of them passing through where she stood to continue walking in front of her.

"You're finally here," came a voice, and Madeline saw a woman who had golden-blonde locks of hair that was let down. The woman was petite in figure, a smile on her face and for a moment, Madeline wondered if the woman had spoken to her.

But then came a voice in the direction where the woman was looking at. "I was looking for you."

Madeline turned around to see a person with a hood on his head, walking towards them. Her eyes widened in surprise, when she caught the glimpse of the man, who had long silver hair.