Arielle Immortal Resolve (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 8) (6 page)

Sebastian’s mind was now swirling wildly and his body tensed, remembering that his eagerness to kill Annabel had nearly destroyed him this time around. He couldn’t remember any other occasion in his long immortal life that’d brought him so close to what could've been the end of his life. He ran his hand through his hair as a cold shiver went up his spine. He was so weak he slid back down to lean against the wall.

“Do you want to head home?” Troy asked, watching Sebastian intently. He was sure that he would need a couple of hours to get back to his normal self. In the meantime he would need a lot of help.

“Do you want me to manifest a car?” Antonius asked Troy.

“No…no…” Sebastian interrupted. “I need to walk and think things through. I need the time to recover a bit before we get home,” he murmured anxiously.

“All right then, we’ll walk, lad,” Antonius said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Sebastian replied in a barely audible voice. He was still sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths.

“But…what happened to you?” Sebastian asked Troy. “I thought you were on your way when I went into the house.”

“I ran into unforeseen roadblocks,” Troy said, tension straining his voice.

“Like what?”

“When I arrived at the house there were three thugs at the gate preventing me from going inside. They wasted a large amount of time waiting for a fourth person to join them. They were meeting with Annabel to receive a large amount of money to carry out some kind of contract.” Troy looked at Sebastian steadily.

“What kind of contract?”

“I don’t know; they didn’t discuss any details at the gate. As it turned out we didn’t get to hear much of anything, since the meeting never took place,” Troy groaned.

“What in the hell happened in that room with Annabel?” Antonius asked gazing at Sebastian. His voice was filled with apprehension at the memory of Sebastian bound naked against the wall in that icy and dreadful room.

Sebastian closed his eyes, face twisted in torment, trying to remember but he remained silent. The silence dragged out.

Sebastian manifested a shirt to cover his aching torso. Troy and Antonius pulled him to his feet carefully and started to walk away from the house, supporting him on either side. He was still pretty sluggish and the gashes quite obvious and bloody. They wouldn’t go away for a couple more hours. They moved away from the house in short strides.

“How did you guys know that Troy and I were in trouble?” Sebastian asked quietly. “Did Troy call you?” Sebastian stopped walking and watched Antonius with a gratifying look.

“No, as a matter of fact, it was Gabrielle who called,” he said. “The girls were extremely worried about you two and they thought you might need help. I asked Gerard, Giani and Arturo if they wanted to come along and you know how much they love action,” Antonius said smiling.

“First, let me say that I’m sincerely grateful for your help,” Sebastian said, gazing between the guys. “But what happened with the thugs?”

“Oh…there was a short fight and it was all over,” Troy laughed.

“How many are we talking about?”

“Seven of them; six men and one woman against five of us. It was a great fight, trust me; sorry you missed it.” Antonius chuckled in amusement.

Sebastian smiled. “And how did I end up out here?”

“Giani carried you out here to make sure you were safe, because you were still unconscious.” Gerard replied.

“I’m sorry about that,” Sebastian said, swallowing back his grief.

“Let’s go home,” Troy insisted.

As they started to walk again, Arturo paused and, turning, looked back at the house with a puzzled look on his face.

“What is it?” Antonius asked. There was an unusual stillness in the air.

“Well…I was thinking that since we're here, why don’t I stay back and wait, in case Annabel comes back. If she does, I can finish this for Sebastian,” he said. His smile was sinister.

“Oh…I think I like your idea,” said Antonius, with pleasure.

“I’ll stay with him,” Gerard offered.

“All right then. You guys stay here and we’ll take Sebastian home,” Antonius said. “He’s still pretty weak.”

“Are you going to Troy’s or Sebastian’s?” Gerard asked.

“We’re going to my house,” Troy replied. “Arielle went home with Gabrielle. They’re at my house together.”

Antonius, Sebastian, Giani, and Troy disappeared in the dark. Sebastian’s body tensed at the sound of Arielle’s name. His need for her was intensified and he let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he would be with her in a very short time. He suddenly stopped walking again, looking extremely troubled.

“What is it, Sebastian?” Troy asked.

“There's something that really bothers me,” he said, watching his friends carefully. They remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

They were standing in front of poorly-lit café, which was empty except for a man sitting behind the counter reading a book, and he never looked up.

“Can we sit for a minute out here?” Sebastian requested.

“Do you want me to manifest a car?” Troy asked.

“No, like I said before, I want to walk, I need the time,” Sebastian, replied.

Troy nodded and they sat around a small outside table. The table was located at the very far corner of the establishment. The poor lighting from the inside didn’t reach that table. They didn’t want anyone to be able to see Sebastian’s bloody mess.

“I have to clear some things before we get home,” Sebastian murmured. “I’m starting to remember things and I’m not feeling very good about it. I’ve this horrible impression that something happened with Annabel while I was going in and out of consciousness. I have now a vivid picture in my mind of Annabel shredding her clothes off and I do remember feeling her hands touching me in a wild way making my skin crawl.” The dark shadows that crossed his friend’s eyes didn’t escape Sebastian. He noticed Antonius and Giani’s jaw muscles tense but they remained quiet.

“All right, what is it? I had a bad feeling before, but now I’m convinced looking at your faces that something is terribly wrong.” Sebastian drew a deep breath as he waited for an answer.

“You're right, Sebastian, it seemed that a lot more than torture went down in that room.” Troy murmured, avoiding Sebastian’s gaze.

“Well…go on, what are you trying to say?” Sebastian was looking at Troy closely. Troy started to say something, but stopped. The young man had left the counter inside the café and was approaching the group with a smile.

“Good evening or good morning,” he said. “Can I take your orders please?” The guys knew they had to order something while occupying the table so they ordered a round of beers and the man walked back into the cafe.

“Well?” Sebastian was still watching Troy like a hawk.

“When we came into the room, you were unconscious and completely naked,” Troy said.

“What are you saying?” Sebastian asked.

“We’re pretty sure that Annabel did a lot more with you than slice your chest and arms. There was plenty of evidence for us to make that assumption,” Troy replied, his face serious.

Sebastian recoiled and his body stiffened, as Annabel’s words flashed in front of his mind.
“
I
’ll have you one way or another,”
that was the last thing he remembered just before he lost consciousness.

Sebastian looked into his friend’s eyes but they remained quiet. Sebastian felt bile climbing up his throat and cursed aloud with clear fury.

“You can’t be serious,” Sebastian’s eyes now narrowed to slits.

“I am afraid it’s true,” Troy said watching Sebastian’s face attentively.

Sebastian stood still, pale with disbelief. He was having a hard time breathing. He pinched the tip of his nose and took several deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. He cursed aloud with extreme resentment, making his friends quite concerned.

He started mumbling with fury, “It’s my fault…it’s my fault…my big mistake was prolonging the punishment to enjoy seeing Annabel suffer before she died. I should’ve finished her when I had the chance. Why didn’t I do that? When am I ever going to learn? What in the world am I going to do now?” He stopped talking and sat.

He finally looked across the table at his friends and said through clenched teeth, distraught, “What am I going to do now?”

“There's nothing
to
do,” Antonius said thoughtfully. “You must forget about it and move on with your life until we meet Annabel again.”

He stood, walked around the table to Sebastian, and patted his back genially. “You must go on and wipe this from your mind,” he added.

“I’ve decided to begin remembering Annabel as a lifeless object. That’ll make it easier for me to think or talk about her without using her name,” Sebastian said, teeth clenched.

“Sebastian, there’s a girl at home waiting for you. She’s madly in love with you. She's looking forward to your wedding. You’ve got to forget about tonight—as if it never happened,” Antonius said emphatically. His voice was firm and he continued watching Sebastian, who was looking bewildered. He made a sudden move for his pocket and a deep frown creased his forehead.

“Bloody hell! She has my mobile,” Sebastian said, obviously annoyed.

“No Sebastian, I have your mobile,” Giani said. “I picked it up off the floor.” Giani reached in his pocket, pulled out Sebastian’s mobile, and handed it to him.

“Thanks Giani,” Sebastian said, relief in his voice. He leaned closer and setting his hands on the table, held his mobile tightly. He stared at the black screen for a moment and then pressed the start button.

His screensaver came on and a pair of beautiful sapphire eyes brightened the screen. A smile tagged the corners of his mouth and sheer warmth surged through his body like a tidal wave at the sight of Arielle’s face.

He saw two text messages. The first was from Arielle. He’d received that while standing in the middle of the bedroom facing the girl just before he killed her.

He clicked on the second text and a strong jolt made him quiver. He stared at the screen silently, expression overwhelmed with contempt and revulsion. He finally swallowed hard and his head slumped on the table. The phone dropped from his hands with a crackling noise, sliding across the surface and stopping at the edge, just before crashing to the ground. Sebastian was growling in utter despair.

Troy picked up the phone and looked at the screen. His face twisted with anger and hatred flickered in his eyes.

“What?” Antonius and Giani asked at the same time. Troy handed them the phone and they gazed at the screen in complete shock. It was a text message from Annabel.

Hello, my love. I thought you might want to know that our marriage is now consummated. We're bonded together forever. You belong to me.

Sebastian raised his head and gazed into his friends’ worried eyes. He knew intuitively the meaning of Annabel’s text message. He was feeling hollow and his eyes were full of hate. Annabel had devastated his life in a matter of minutes.

“I can’t face Arielle,” he said. Face submersed with despair. “She wouldn’t want me after—“

“You’re dead wrong,” Antonius interrupted.

“You don’t understand, Antonius,” Sebastian said, gazing at the screensaver. “I made a promise to Arielle that she would be the only one for eternity. My love is still pure, however my body's been tainted. In good consciousness, I couldn’t touch Arielle because she's wholesome, loving, sensual, and good. Annabel has put her dirty mark on me and I’ve no rights to be with someone like Arielle. I feel nauseated,” Sebastian muttered. What made it worse was the fact that he didn’t believe that he could exist without her.

“Sebastian!” Troy said, clearly frustrated. “You’re the same good man Arielle fell in love with, the same man who loves her, with every fiber in your body. This doesn’t change a thing.” He emphasized his last words.

“Why then do I feel so different? Why do I feel that I just can’t lay in the same bed with Arielle any longer?” Sebastian’s voice was filled with anxiety.

Troy got to his feet. “Don’t be ridiculous!” he yelled, staring down at Sebastian, unable to hold back. “You must stop this, I beg of you as a friend. You can’t do that to Arielle.”

“Troy, I’ve never been scared of anything, but I’m scared to death to face Arielle,” he murmured. He looked on the brink of a breakdown.

“Sebastian, can I ask you a question?” Giani chimed in. Sebastian turned, his gaze rested on Giani’s face without replying. Giani ignored the silence and continued. “What if Arielle was raped?” he asked softly.

Sebastian recoiled; a horrified sigh escaped his lip. He stared out in the distance, transfixed by his tense thoughts. He was startled again by Giani’s firm voice.

“Would you leave her? Would you refuse to touch her again for something she had no control over?”

Sebastian remained silent. He pressed the button on his mobile and Arielle’s picture filled the screen. He stood still, engulfed by the irresistible appeal of her face. He thought he smelled freesia and smiled.

“Well? Would you?” Giani insisted.

“No—no I wouldn’t, I love her too much,” Sebastian whispered.

“So what’s the difference here? Annabel took something from you without your knowledge; you had no part in it, so how can you say that you're dirty? Do you understand where I’m going with this?” Giani asked, but this time he waited for a reply.

Troy and Antonius nodded their agreement.

Sebastian looked panicked. “But why do I feel so bad?” he murmured.

“Because you were violated,” Troy said. “You had nothing to say about Annabel’s actions and that’s why you feel bad. Don’t let Arielle get involved in this mess. Let it go…let it go…” he repeated.

“I’ll try,” Sebastian promised. His face was lined with wretched sadness. “Maybe we should head home now,” he said, standing.

“Maybe we should wait a little while longer. You need to get over the unpleasant letdown, and face your up-coming wedding and future with Arielle.”

Sebastian agreed and sat back down. Troy moved to sit next to him.

“Remember, Sebastian, Arielle's a very sensitive girl and she’ll notice changes in you, so make sure you don’t dwell on this. Don’t let the best thing in your life slip away. Don’t let Annabel succeeded in destroying your relationship. I’m not going to say anything more except that you must let the past remain in the past.” Troy watched him attentively.