Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.

Leilani.

First, I was stunned, then pissed only for a couple of seconds before regret began to slip in.

I do not know when or how but one minute, I was sandwiched between Maya and Caelum, and the next minute, I was on my feet, rushing to the door like some bizarre animal.

"Jay?!" I cried out, my voice sounding way more hoarse than I had intended for it to. But no matter how many times I called his name, or how desperate I sounded, he never turned back even once to regard me. Hell, it felt as though I was whispering into the wind.

I also didn’t let go and rushed after him, running like the ground beneath my feet was too hot to keep my bare feet on them for a second too long.

My heart raced as I watched him get into his car and slam the door shut, but just as he tried to drive away, I jumped fast in front of the moving vehicle, forcing him to halt with a loud screech.

"Go away!" He snarled, sounding so raw and so scary that his voice made goosebumps spread across my skin.

But I didn’t turn away. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut only for a second then peeled them slowly open just to find him glaring at me through the windshield. The daggers on his eyes made my breath hitch.

I hissed; "I said I am sorry, Jarek."

At the sound of my voice, he stopped, lifted his head to meet my gaze, and I do not know what made him glance away from my face to look at whatever it was that was behind me, but as soon as he saw it, he frowned again and hissed; "You should go back to them."

Them... meaning the triplets.

I shook my head. "It’s not what it looks like."

"It is exactly what it looks like, Leilani" He sneered back, making it a point to glare at my neck where their mark was, then back at my face. "You’ve made your choice. You have for a very long time now, Leilani. I always knew that. But because I was too selfish to let you go, I tried to turn a blind eye to it."

"But—"

"But despite claiming that you hate them. Despite making me believe that we were exclusive, and all the times you made me talk you out of your hate for them... you still chose them." He added, interrupting me, and for a moment, I could only gulp.

Gulp because... goddess how?

How could I respond to that? What do I say to that?

If I didn’t know better, after listening to his words, I would’ve thought that I had cheated on him in some way. But I knew better and I knew the kind of relationship I shared with the triplets. I also knew the kind of relationship I had with him, so—

He tried to swerve in a different direction but I was very fast and I jumped in front of his car before he could go anywhere.

The speed this time, however, made the car hit me in the process, and the impact made me crash to the floor, a loud wince tearing from my mouth as my back hit the gravel.

"Ouch!"

"Fuck, Leilani, are you okay?!"

"Argghhh!"

I tried to rise to my feet but all my bones hurt. My entire nervous system was haywire and the cut on my back was bleeding profusely for some reason.

I vaguely heard the sound of Jarek’s car door slamming shut before I felt his arms wrap around me. He pulled me up despite his ongoing angst towards me and leaned down, his eyes soft as he whispered; "Do you have a death wish?"

"Sometimes I think I do," I whispered back, wanting to sound light, or perhaps, to make him laugh. But he didn’t.

Instead, he shocked me by pulling me into a hug, his string large arms wrapping around my shoulders so tightly, I feared I would break into two equal parts.

"Oh goddess, I missed you."

I knew he never meant to say those words because as soon as they slipped out of his lips, he froze only for a second before I pushed my face into his chest, squeezing him with just enough force to make him groan.

"I’m so sorry, I hit you with my car."

From behind him, I saw the triplets and they didn’t look so good. Their eyebrows were furrowed in that way I’ve only ever seen them look at other people and their postures were so stiff, you would’ve thought they were statues if you had seen them too.

When Jay and I finally pulled away from each other after a couple of minutes, I didn’t waste any time and blurted out;

"I came here because I felt that it was unsafe with you." I rushed out, and as soon as I did, he froze.

"Huh?"

"Keisha was responsible for that fire that claimed my house. She killed my friend, Agnes and kidnapped me a few days later from the hotel where I had been hiding out until the whole fire buzz died down."

I was speaking so fast, one would think I had a deadline, and with Jarek, sometimes I feel like I did.

His brows furrowed as he came to regard me with open curiosity, and for a moment, I suspected that he was checking to see if I was lying or not. I shook my head.

"I swear, I am not lying."

"Leilani, I know that you never lie, but—"

But what? But he doesn’t believe me?

The thought made me want to pull out the strands of my hair. It made me immediately mad and perplexed. But just as I tried to rise to my feet, he grabbed my wrist, halting my movement and muttered in a tone that washed over me like honey;

"Tell me everything that happened, please."

I stilled for a couple of seconds then sighed. "Yes, yes I will. But just so you know, she injected me with a whole lot of moonlight draught, and says that the reason she’s after me is because she blames me for the death of her kid, Grace."

Mentioning that name vaguely reminded me of the real Grace. The girl who had been Jarek’s sister, and as soon as I remembered that, I lowered my head.

I saw the shock register on his face before he quickly masked it with a scowl. He sneered;

"She’s dead?"

"Her daughter..."

"Yeah, I know. And that’s exactly what I am asking you."

Something about the coldness in his voice made me flinch and I found myself leaning backward slowly just as his eyes flashed with annoyance.

"But how does her death have anything to do with you?" He almost yelled, forcing me to shake my head as I rushed out the words;

"I don’t know."

"Or you do?" He drawled in a cold detached tone— one that had goosebumps spreading across my skin.

Goddess, this was not the Jarek I knew. Something about him felt... altered. Like he had shifted suddenly and Hades, even though I didn’t want to suspect him of not being better after so long and after so many treatments, I could not help it.

So I said softly; "I don’t know, for real. Trust me."

His fingers dug deep into my skin as soon as I said that, so much so that it drew blood. He leaned close— so close that I could smell the cigar on his breath and the starch on his shirt— and then he hissed;

"How can I trust you?"

"Huh?" I scoffed, frowning.

"How can I trust you, Leilani, when you’ve broken all of your promises?"