Attempted Assassination
Adams’ POV
Dinner was a mess.
As I walked to the dining table at first, I caught sight of Ben, talking to a man I had never seen before. He had a star-shaped scar on the side of his face and he looked really mean.
They were a distance away, shielded by numerous pillars, and they spoke in extremely hushed tones.
I would have ignored them due to the crumbling state of mind that I was in, but my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to know what it was they were talking about.
Fortunately, Ronan wasn’t with me, so it was easy to hide myself. I closed my eyes and activated my werewolf’s super hearing abilities.
“Did you do what I asked you to do?”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
“Yes, my lord, I did.”
“Good, you have outdone yourself on this one. They wouldn’t expect the outcome.”
After that, they stopped talking.
I raised my head up to look at where they stood but didn’t find them there any longer. It came as a shock because I didn’t hear them step out, so how come they disappeared into thin air?
I ran toward the spot they were and spun around abruptly, running from one pillar to the other, trying to trace their steps, but there were just no traces of them.
It made me wonder if I hadn’t imagined them being there in the first place.
Getting to the dining table, I couldn’t unwrap my head around what just happened. I was certain my brain wasn’t playing tricks on me and decided to look into the matter.
Knowing who Ben was, there was every possibility that he was scheming something terrible. Who was the man he was speaking with? Who were they referring to? He mentioned something about some people when he used the word “they.”
These thoughts and more swirled around my head till the dining table came into sight.
My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened in surprise as I found Ben, seated behind the table alongside Raoul and Bartholomew, watching the maids dish out our dinner.
They must have noticed my presence as they all looked up at me. They shut me with hard glares, one that expressed a suppressed anger and hatred towards me. Ben replaced his however, with a smug while the other two concentrated on the food before them.
“My king.” I felt a hand on my shoulder as a voice came from behind me.
I turned around to find Ronan standing with a straight face. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I patted him on the back before walking to my seat.
I had hoped to see Lilith, but she didn’t show up. I whispered to a maid to get Cara for me, and she did it in less than a second.
“My king.” Cara knelt the moment she got to my side.
I motioned for her to get closer and whispered into her ears, “Get the queen down for dinner.”
She stood up immediately and raced up the stairs, moving like her life depended on it.
I waited a while for Lilith to show up and my eyes brightened up when I saw Cara come down the stairs, but it dimmed back when I realized she was coming alone.
“I’m sorry your highness, she wouldn’t listen to me and even ordered me out of her room.” My heart twisted in pain as she whispered those words into my ears.
“Make sure she eats tonight, take the food up to her room if needs be.” I dismissed her with the wave of my hand and started to eat.
The food tasted sour in my mouth like it had been cooked for days without proper preservation. I spat it out to the amazement of everyone and rinsed my mouth with a cup of water beside me.
“Who cooked this food?”
The maids all trembled on the spot as they looked at me with terrified faces. My brothers stopped eating and concentrated their attention on me.
“What is the problem, my King?” Ronan asked, his hands on my shoulders as he stood before me.
I was about to answer him when a voice interrupted.
“What is all the fuss about, brother?”
I followed the sound of the voice and came face to face with Raoul. The look on his face showed that he was dissatisfied with my actions and could take out his anger on me any minute.
My mouth remained open as I stared at him in surprise. From the corner of my eyes, I caught sight of Ben, a weird smirk settled on his face.
Bartholomew seemed indifferent and continued eating his food.
Immediately, the chief maid walked in, sweating all over. “My lord, you called for me.”
“You cooked this food, didn’t you?”
“Y… yes my lord, I did.” Her lips trembled beyond control, same with every part of her body, I could literally feel the floor vibrate under her.
“And did you taste it after cooking it?”
“Yes my lord, I tasted the fo…”
I banged my fist on the table and stood up with rage, cutting her short. “Then for what reason does my food taste like it had been cooked three days ago!”
Whimpers could be heard all around the room as everyone looked from me to the food, then to the maid.
“That is not possible…” Raoul stood up angrily. “We are all eating the same food, served from the same pot, stop being overly dramatic. If you don’t like the food, you can just say so. Stop blaming the cook or anyone over your bad mood, claiming that the food is spoiled.”
His words slapped so hard on my cheeks. I was angry at myself because all I did was stare like a puppet.
Ben suddenly burst into laughter, to the amazement of everyone. He stopped laughing and smiled at me through his eyes before continuing to eat.
Ronan walked towards the table and picked up the plate. “I’ll taste the food to know if …” he stopped talking and looked at me with the food in his hand.
“If what, Ronan? To know if I am lying? Damn! You too!”
“I didn’t m…”
“Just stop!” I raised my hands up, my palms directly before his lips before storming out of the dining room.
Walking back to my room, I tried to know what exactly was wrong. Why did my food taste odd and others’ didn’t? Why did Ben suddenly begin to laugh, when the situation at hand was not in any way funny? What exactly happened back there?
By now I had gotten to the entrance of Lilith’s room. I felt a strong urge to open it, but I remembered we weren’t on speaking terms.
So I stood by the door, staring at the hand knob as it stared back at me. “Phew! Be confident, Adam,” I whispered. I stretched my hand to open the door and turned the knob halfway.
All that remained was that final click which would be followed by a short creaking sound, one that signified the door was open and I could go in.
But I stopped and turned back.
As I moved along the dark passage to my room, my wolf stirred inside me like it was uncomfortable. I stopped walking and listened for any movement. All I heard was the howling of the wind outside and the movement of feet all around the mansion.
A long sigh escaped my lips as I continued to walk to my room, but that strange feeling never left.
A gentle push opened the door to my room and I strolled in. The feeling of being watched was no longer there, and I attributed it to the stress of the day.
I stripped and got into the shower. The water felt so refreshing, I could have stayed in it all night.
After taking my bath, I got into a pair of shorts and a flowing dark robe before crashing on my side to sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted off to dreamland.
“Bang!” A sound came from the window.
I opened my eyes but remained on my bed, not moving a bit. Rain had begun to fall, and the wind was blowing mightily outside.
A glance at the clock from where I was revealed that it was half past midnight. I wanted to stand up, to shut the window as it jammed into its frame, making loud noises, but I just lay there because I sensed something else-there was someone in the room with me.
I closed my eyes, and activated my hearing abilities. That was when I heard him walk up to me. He moved so gently, one would think he hadn’t been stepping on the floor.
I could hear his breathing, his heartbeat. His scent-a mixture of ginger and alcohol hit my nose hard. I twisted it in disgust.
As he came closer, his steps became clearer and his scent became stronger. I suddenly noticed a slight increase in his heartbeat as he neared my bed and I opened my eyes, coming face to face with the pointed tip of a knife.
It was so close to my face, it would have gone right into my skull if I had not rolled away, dodging the blade. He stood on the other side of the bed while I stood up quickly.
He was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see his face, but his eyes looked familiar. Suddenly, he charged forward towards me and I dodged his attack. Little did I know that he was trying to escape.
In a split second, he was gone from the window where he had come in through. I tried to catch him, but he was too fast for me, and I was on the floor. My hands caught his mask instead and tore it off his face and I gasped in shock at what I saw.
There was a star-shaped scar, just like the one I saw earlier, on the face of the man talking to Ben.