Under the vampire Lord's protection
Chapter 233: Just strange

Chapter 233: Just strange

Quiet reigned supreme in the library. Aside from the swooshing and whooshing of the books that zoomed according to an unknown order.

Arabella had made a mental note to inquire about their system and mechanics but never found the opportunity to ever voice it as there was always something that came in the way.

From time to time, Ada would lift her gaze from the poem anthology she held, just to check on the focused looking young woman.

Indeed, Arabella had buried her head so deep in those books, she’d even skipped the fact that lunch time came and went without waiting.

The maid never found the courage in her to disrupt her flow and when Silas walked through those doors, she concluded it was time for her to take her leave anyway.

"I thought I’d find you in the gardens today," those were his first words after Ada had made her exit.

"Ada suggested we go by the gardens but I wanted to come straight here after breakfast," the young woman smiled, never maintaining eye contact for more than a second.

Silas’ diamonds first landed on the ancient scripture tome between her hands then back on her, "Let me see your eyes," he ordered calmly.

Still a little flushed around the cheeks, she obeyed.

Like the many times they’d done so before, the two of them stared into each other’s souls without a hint of fatigue or boredom, both barely blinking in the process.

The green of her gemstones dimmed significantly since the previous day but she had none of the attitude to reflect it.

"I also thought you’d be back in my room by dawn," he added, not once breaking the connection between their irises.

"I wanted to come back too," she blurted before thinking.

"Why didn’t you?"

"I didn’t want to be a bother," once again, the words escaped her.

"You are back to thinking that way,"

"I am afraid I never stopped, but that is neither here nor there," she finally turned around and moved away from him.

"Well, then what is here and there?" he stood in place, simply watching her move.

The young woman seemed a little awkward on her feet, unsure as what to do next with herself, "I understand it is simply the Mirari doing this to me, imbuing me with this urge to...," she trailed off, hand on her chest.

"The urge to what?" he pushed.

"The urge to come see you," she whispered, face beet red.

"Is that all you want to do to me?"

Those words made her eyes snap onto him, "I... This isn’t natural and...," she trailed off once anew, but that time around, found her words, "It scares me,"

"If you ask me, I’ll make it stop right now," he said, "Although I do want to carry on with this experiment for a little longer than two days if you agree to it,"

That was a lie... Partially.

Silas wished to, just for once, find her at his door after one of his early morning walks.

He wanted to see how far he could push it until she finally cracked, no longer able to hold back.

"Yes," that was all she said.

He cleared his throat before speaking again, "There is something else I wanted to inform you about. It concerns Katherine,"

"I was made aware of what happened," Arabella looked his way, but her gemstones only went as high as his chest, "Was it why you left the room in a hurry yesterday?"

"It was," he nodded once.

"What will happen to Katherine? Will she receive a harsher punishment?" it was that question that granted her the courage to look him in the eyes again.

"It is a bit hard to conclude," he stepped closer to the table carrying the books she’d been studying, "With her illness what she needs is a proper diagnosis. For now, my priority is in preventing graver results from having her roam freely,"

Silence weaved its webs, only tingled by the floating books that knew their path with a scary amount of precision.

"Speaking of results," Silas’ sharp tone cleaned those webs with great ease, "Have you made any progress with the scriptures?"

He glared down at the open pages she may or may not have perused.

"I focused my research on older editions transcribing character systems and abjads," she inhaled deeply, "So far I haven’t had any luck, but I’ve encountered some fragments and pieces that resemble the letters in the caverns,"

The pink around her cheeks had subsided, her demeanor adopting a more serene yet attentive outlook.

Silas internally prayed to never be denied such a sight.

"I would also like to write to Remus if that is alright," she added after a short moment of quietude.

His fists clenched very momentarily before relaxing, "To check on him," he half asked.

"You said you didn’t trust Alpha Cynric to keep his word therefore, I do not trust him either," she bit the inner walls of her mouth, earning her a little grimace, "Also, I’d like to know if the permission you’ve granted the boy to come on the property still stands," she half asked, stuttering a few times throughout her sentence.

"You’d like to invite him already, I see," he kept his eyes on the inked lines and sighed before speaking, "Yes, it still stands,"

"Thank you," she muttered, a shy beam creeping across her features.

"Give me your hand,"

That demand caused her eyes to widen as the rest of her body stood entirely still.

Although, eventually she relented, very reluctantly but her hand ended in his regardless.

Silas did not squeeze or tug at it. Instead, he merely felt it with his own palm and fingers which rubbed softly against her skin.

"How does this make you feel?" he looked her dead in the eyes.

"Strange," she murmured, withstanding his gaze.

"Do you hate it?"

"Definitely not," she shook her head just as tamely as her tone was.

"And what if I asked you to come closer?" a new question from him.

"I would do it and I wouldn’t hate it but...," she never finished her sentence.

"But you’d still be scared," it was him who finished it for her.