I'm killing her

The door went ajar and Arabella shot out of bed.

She scurried to the corner of the room and crouched.

Arabella heard the noises from outside and Francis had informed her they were under attack before he left again.

Just like Blaze and Sandro, he warned her not to leave the room. But she sensed he was genuinely concerned about her well-being, just like Blaze.

But she wondered if the attackers had come to kill her as they did to the others because she doubted Sandro and his men were strong enough to hold them off.

Francis had described the attackers as a formidable enemy.

Covering her face, she trembled as the footstep got closer.

"Please," she whispered. Then cleared her throat as she could barely hear herself.

"Please, don't hurt me."

"So, you are the Delicate Rose from the Rosette dynasty?"

Arabella's head snapped up and her blue eyes collided with Sandro's sea-green orbs.

He narrowed them at her, and he snarled. She glimpsed two canines, which looked more like fangs before they disappeared again.

"Well, you are in the devil's lair darling and I am draining your fúcking blood to create an army!" Sandro let out a wicked chuckle, which turned into a full-blown one soon after.

"W-what?" Arabella stammered, confusion written all over her face as she gazed at him.

He stared back at her and she glimpsed something else in his eyes. Something she could not explain.

It was the same dark glare he had shot her the first time he told her he was making her his séx slave.

"What do you mean?"

"Stop playing with me, Delicate Rose!" Sandro shouted.

He slapped his hand on the wall and kicked at the table in the centre.

Arabella flinched. She shrank into the corner more and swallowed down the lump developing in her throat.

She clutched her throat and wheezed before staring at him again as he strode towards her.

"Please…"

Sandro gripped her hand, yanking her up. He rammed her into the wall and hoisted both hands above her head.

"How does it feel to play with my intelligence? I hope you enjoyed it while it lasts." His mouth moved dangerously close to her ear.

She shivered as his warm minty breath fanned her face.

"I-I do not understand you!" Arabella said.

She licked her bottom lips and gazed up at him again. "I don't understand what you are talking about."

"I am not surprised. That family has always been great at concealing their thoughts. They are known to be deceptive. It's no wonder you are good at deceiving me and others."

Despite the position he made her assume, it didn't stop her from glaring at her although she knew the outcome.

"You can't come in to accuse me about what I do not know. How do you feel trying to torture me at the slightest opportunity you have got? It makes you feel good uhn?!"

Sandro let her hand fall to her side and he grabbed her neck.

Arabella gasped. She attempted to claw at his face as it got difficult for her to breathe. She bit her lower lip and shut her eyes.

Momentarily, she snapped them open and they twinkled.

Sandro groaned, he released his hold on her, then staggered backwards as pain seared through him.

"Bítch, what did you do?"

Arabella gasped out, choking on her spit. She bent and placed her hand on her still racing heart, then she shot a glance at him.

"I said, what are you doing to me?!" Sandro shouted. He moved to yank her upward but got flung backwards.

He slammed hard into the door, almost breaking it.

"A-Are you a witch?!" His eyes narrowed.

Arabella shook her head as she heard him wince.

"You are not telling me the truth." Sandro rasped.

"I am telling you the truth. I do not know what is happening." Arabella said. She sniffled and wiped the tears pouring down her cheeks.

She stared at her hand and she noticed she had multiple cuts on it. She wondered what her neck, which had suffered the most, would look like.

Sandro stayed in the awkward position he was on the floor for a while before standing. He stared at Arabella and shook his head.

A while later, he stepped out of the room, leaving her to stare after him.

Arabella frowned and stared around her, then back at the door." What just happened?" She asked herself.

But she received no answer. Instead, it confused her the more but she was glad.

At least he had let her go. She had seen the murderous glint in his eyes and wondered what would have happened if he had not been thrown backwards by the force.

Moreover, he had called her Delicate Rose. She has heard the term from somewhere but she couldn't remember from whom she had.

She sat on the bed and heaved a breath. Her neck still hurt and her breathing as well felt the same way- shallow.

But she was alive, she believed that was all that matters.

**************

Sandro stepped into Blaze's room a few minutes later.

He halted in his tracks as he noticed Thalia in the room. His eyes flickered from hers to Blaze, then back to hers again.

"What are you doing here?"

Thalia shrugged, "I have nowhere to go and who knows, the intruders might lay an ambush for me and I do not want to fall into that trap."

"They won't dare." Sandro growled."My room is large enough for you to stay in. I don't want you around…"

"Me." Blaze cut in." I know that. You are always scared your women might find me more desirable than you. Well, what can I say? I'm more of the gentleman they'll often choose over the bad boy."

Sandro scowled," No woman I set my eyes on will choose you over me."

Blaze shrugged," Perhaps, in the case of Thalia. I do not find her desirable. Rather, she irks me."

He didn't forget what she did to Arabella. She was his sister but at the same time was wrong for tricking her.

He wishes she wasn't related to him in any area. It would have been a lot easier to pull out her heart.

Thalia glared at Blaze," You should know I do not find you desirable either because being in this room and near you makes me want to puke."

She twisted her mouth and gagged for emphasis. Her eyes moved from Blaze to Sandro, to see him nodding.

"I'm not here for this bantering and I don't know why I keep having this weird feeling that there's something between the two of you. A relationship of some sort but I don't know, I might be wrong."

"You are wrong." Thalia asserted and moved towards him.

"What are you here for if not her? Blaze questioned.

"We were deceived," he said." She… "

"Is it okay to speak in front of her? I thought only the pack members should know about the welfare of the pack and for all we know, she might be a spy."

"Idiot!" Thalia exclaimed through gritted teeth. Then she removed her hand from Sandro's and walked towards the door.

"I do not even know what you are talking about, much less want to get information which I know for sure won't be necessary."

Sandro tugged her back, "Wait."

He wrapped his arms around her." She's with me and should have been part of this pack for a long time. I believe she prefers running around to staying in one community. And she won't dare rat me out. I'll kill her if that happens."

I'd never let that happen, was on the tip of Blaze's mouth but he bit his inner cheeks to stop himself from blurting out.

Yet, he wouldn't let it happen. He wouldn't watch him do that to his sister, the only person he had at the moment.

************************

"She isn't the one?" Blaze asked. He was seated near Thalia in the dining room. They were the only three present in the room.

"She isn't." Sandro affirmed." She has no special thing about her."

"Are you certain of that? Maybe she needs time to tell us about herself and you should be a lot nicer to her."

"How can I be nicer to an enemy? Someone who freaking defies me all the damn time!"

"And did I tell you something strange happened with her today? She's a fúcking witch and I need to kill her before she does."

"Arabella, a witch?"

Sandro nodded and stretched out his hands towards Blaze. "She did this."

Blaze's mouth opened agape and his eyes widened as he stared at the ugly markings on Sandro's hand.

"I'm killing her. I don't know what else she's capable of."

"I say we give her time." Blaze said. "I don't think she is ready to disclose her identity to her sufferer."

Sandro scoffed. He scowled at Blaze who shrugged. "In that case, I am giving her less than a week and if I notice nothing about her, I'm killing her without any argument."

Blaze nodded. "You are free to do anything with her."

But what was on his mind was far from what he said. If Arabella wasn't Delicate Rose, was she a witch?