Avalyn
A chill spread around me and I let out a little shiver. It was weird because we usually cuddled the whole night. He must’ve rolled over or something, which was very unlike him. “Cold. Cuddle.” I mumbled sleepily to Nik. He was my personal heater. I swear that man was never cold.
I waited for a second before whining, “Nik!” I flailed my arm over to his side but it was cold too.
My eyes snapped open and my heart dropped when I remembered.
Nik’s not here. He hasn’t been here since a while now. It’s been a whole month since he is gone but it feels like an eternity. This was even worse than the last time he wasn’t here for a month. Because we haven’t communicated at all. We had talked once when he had called me two days after he left. I picked up his call because I missed him terribly but didn’t say anything because I wanted to give him the silent treatment. He apologised for his behaviour before told me that they had found Adrik and that he needed to go. He said that he’d be back in two days at the most and he wasn’t sure if the place that they were going to would have network. When I didn’t say anything, he just sighed, apologised for his behaviour again, told me that he loved me and then cut the call. During those two days of radio silence, my longing for him surpassed my anger and I waited for his call. When I didn’t hear for him for a whole week, my anger surpassed my longing for him.
He knew I didn’t have much time. But apparently, his hatred for his father and his will to kill him was greater than his love for me. I didn’t see any other reason why he couldn’t just let Adrik go and spend as much as he could with me. He had the rest of his life to hunt his father down. Why now?
Why now when he knows that time is the one thing I don’t have?
It made me so mad, so furious that I refused to talk to him until he came back and grovelled for my forgiveness. I knew that he called Eli every day and asked him about me and our family. Apparently they had followed Adrik to a different location that had network. He called me too but I let the call ring itself out. If he wanted to talk, he needed to show up and do it face to face.
I pulled the comforter over my head and curled up. I missed him so much.
I placed my hand over my belly. They were due any day now.
The fact that I was going to die hadn’t really set it. I mean I could see the effect it had on me, it was very visible every time I looked in the mirror. Which is why I avoided it.
And even after everything, I had no regrets. It was two lives for one. I knew I was doing the right thing.
Mama loves you, babies.
And I don’t care what Dadda says, I know that deep down, he loves you too.
The thought of him brought tears to my eyes. I missed him. I just wanted him to come back home to me at this point. I wanted to kiss him, hold him, hear his heartbeat, hear his voice.
Oh Goddess, I missed him.
Unable to resist myself, my hand reached for my phone. A second later, I was calling Nikolai.
The phone kept ringing and he picked up just when I thought he wasn’t going to.
“Avalyn.” He breathed.
My throat closed up upon hearing his voice. I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear slid down my cheek. I missed him. So much.
“Nikolai.” A sob raised up my throat.
“Aw, Love. Don’t cry.” His voice was was filled with pain. It increased my hopes. Maybe, it wasn’t all bad. Maybe he would come back.
My tongue felt thick and I couldn’t speak. I didn’t want to cry in front of him.
“I love you, Ava.” He whispered. “I love you more than life itself. I hope you know that.”
Why aren’t you here then? I wanted to scream at him.
“Everything is going to be okay.” He said, his tone weird. Something was up. Or he was up to something. “We’re on our way to Adrik’s safe house. Everything is set up. We’re going to kill him tonight.”
When he brought up his father, my anger resurfaced. He was so obsessed with his hatred for his father that he refused to see past it!
The moment I opened my mouth to reply, the door creak open softly.
I stiffened. No one comes into my room without my permission. Or without my explicit demand.
Her scent wafted to my nose.
It was Althea.
What was she doing here?
I could here her soft footsteps coming closer to the bed.
And for some reason, it didn’t feel right. My gut was saying that something was going to go terribly wrong tonight.
I turned over and she stilled. I cracked open my eyes and saw a knife in her hands.
I wasn’t scared of her but what the hell?
I decided to give her a chance to explain herself.
I sat up straight and she quickly hid the knife behind herself. “What are you doing here?”
She jumped, quickly hiding the knife behind herself. I could have smelled her fear from a mile away, that’s how scared she was. Her heart was racing and she was sweating. I knew she was nervous. But the fact that she was here with a knife also meant that she was determined.
Things could go pretty bad pretty quick. But for the sake of Dimitri, I decided to take the high road and give her a chance to change her mind.
I could hear the low voice of Nikolai frantically calling out my name in the phone. I quickly cut the call, confident that Althea hadn’t heard it, because my phone lay between the sheets and I barely heard it. I also wanted to punish Nikolai for still choosing his hatred for his father over his love for me. He should be here for me. But he’s not, so a small, cruel part of me wanted to make him suffer just like he was making me suffer.
“I -I ….” Althea stuttered, her chest heaving up and down because of the deep breaths that she was taking.
“Do you want to go out to the balcony and talk? Fresh air might help.” I suggested. I was offering her an olive branch. I could only hope that she took it.
She worked hard to swallow before nodding.