Chapter 199
~ NYSSA
Allister was gone as quickly as he appeared and the rest of us just stood there in the empty parking lot staring at the spot where he stood.
I heard noise and movement around me but I could not concentrate enough to make out any of the words. Instead, I played the conversation over again in my head, trying to decipher if I heard correctly or if I was just imagining things.
A hand rested on my shoulder, snapping me back to reality and I turned to find Rowan staring down at me, his face expressionless. "We should leave."
I opened my mouth but shut it promptly when I realized that there was not much else to say. I nodded slowly, letting him lead me back into the car. He didn’t say a word and neither did Aria, they tried to act like they were not looking but I could feel their watchful hazes when they thought that I wasn’t paying any attention.
The car ride back was silent and tense. The air seemed thick with unsaid words and unease and I could hear my heart pounding violently inside of my chest. It wouldn’t calm no matter how hard I tried.
"Are we all just going to pretend that we didn’t hear what he said?" Aria snapped after a long silence.
I said nothing, merely glanced at her through the rearview mirror before turning my attention back to the world outside.
"She’s a fucking—"
"Aria," Rowan snapped, cutting her off firmly. "Don’t."
Aria rolled her eyes before huffing and settling back into her seat, her arms crossed over her chest.
I glanced at my mate, trying to get a gleam into where his head was at but his face was like marble and his eyes were distant. My wall was down so I could not feel him, not in the way I should have, and I did not dare put my wall back up for fear of what I would fine.
Rowan stopped in front of Aria’s house a few minutes later. "It’s late, you need rest."
"We’re really not going to talk about this?" she asked incredulously. "Maybe I’m the only one who heard the shit he said about her father—the vampire king. I don’t know about you two but I don’t want a fucking vampire army at my doorstep. We need to figure out where to go from here."
Rowan’s eyes glossed over, his lips pressed into a firm line. A few seconds later, Aria scoffed and stormed out of the car, letting the door slam loudly behind her. I knew a silent conversation passed between the siblings but I did not dare ask what.
I felt Rowan’s eyes on me after she left but I could not bear to look at him. I pressed myself up against the door, trying to put as much distance between us. I pulled my legs up onto the chair, wrapped my arms around them as I curled into myself.
"A vampire, can you believe it?" I asked my wolf. "Did you know?"
"No," she said softly. "I knew there was something else, I felt it sometimes but... I didn’t... this is insane."
I exhaled deeply. "Yes, it is. How does this even work? How do I have two identities inside of me? Is that part of me going to speak like you do?"
"I don’t know, Nyssa. I’ve never met a vampire before." There was an edge to her voice.
"Sorry," I murmured but she ignored me.
"There are more things to worry about that whether or not it’s going to speak to you," she chided. "You’re fucking Queen. You’re the Luna of a pack and I don’t think they’ll take too kindly to being ruled by a vampire."
I frowned. "I’m a werewolf."
"You think they’ll care? For fucks sake, see how Aria reacted? Rowan hasn’t even said a damn word to you the entire time. These are people who actually know and like you. Think about the rest of the world."
A part of me wanted to scream in her face and call her a liar but I couldn’t. Somewhere deep inside of me, I knew she was right.
No one would take that news well, and no one would be willing to have a vampire Queen ruling over the wolves.
I’d never met a vampire but I’d heard so much about them and most of it was not good. I could only imagine that the others in the pack were the same. How could I ask them to trust me when all I knew about vampires was their uncontrollable blood lust.
"Nyssa, we’re home," Rowan’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I blinked out of my haze and turned to my mate. He was right next to me in the car and yet he felt so distant, like he was a thousand miles away.
He stepped out of the car without a word and I could have sworn that something inside of my chest snapped. It was very much a dismissal and I couldn’t even blame him for it.
I got out quietly, keeping my hands folded neatly in front of me as I dragged my feet into the house and up the stairs. I headed for the shower first, hoping that the warm water would give me some time to think but it didn’t.
I stepped out feeling more confused and exhausted than I was before.
Thankfully, I got to think about something else a few moments later because when I stepped out, Rowan was heading out the room, a pillow in one hand and the other on the door knob.
"Where are you going?" I asked softly.
He froze in his tracks. "The office."
I frowned at his hand. "With a pillow?"
"I might be there a while," he said curtly. "Did you need something?"
It hit me then what was going on.
He did not wish to share a bed with me, not after what he had learned.
Something inside of me shattered.
A band wrapped tightly around my chest, squeezing until I thought I would black out. I struggled to get air into my lungs and for a moment, my vision blurred.
"You don’t have to leave, you know?" I said softly. "I could go—"
"We can talk about this tomorrow, Nyssa," he said firmly. "I have work to do tonight."
Without another word, he slammed the door shut behind him, leaving me all alone in our bedroom.