Fifty-five

“That animal has been linked to my family for many, many years. It was Doctor Scott who told us about your connection with him.

"Scott...no...but...what do you mean?"

"Your blood tests!"

"You...were you spying on me?"

“We always thought it was strange the way your signal disappeared from the map, stranger still was the way you came back, always burning with fever. Then without even imagining it, the doctor found something strange in his blood, when in fact we just wanted to understand the cause of his bleeding and fainting.

I wasn't eating properly.

“That's when the results gave us much more than we imagined.

The GPS, my location, all the spying and scanning, none of it he did himself. Benjamin was behind it all this time. Which leads me to think that just like Piter, he could also have used me just to get to Falkor.

- What do you want? - I ask worried about the answer. -What do you two want with Falkor?

— You have no idea of the power of that animal. He p -

- FOR! I stress at him, activating my red eyes.

My action causes my security guard to back away from me, fearful of what I might do, or what might come out of the cave behind me.

— I know, I know very well what that dragon is capable of... - I say tiredly. -Say, say once and for all what you want with him...

"We just need him dead!"

His response causes a flutter inside my stomach, causing my hands to resort to my lips.

— If you help us... -he gets excited. -With your help we can put an end to the stories in the book, put an end to this nightmare.

"He's kidding, isn't he?"

— Benjamin can't get close to him, but if you hold him with your power everything will be easier!

- Piter... - I murmur his name, loosening my hands.

"We just do-"

"SHUT UP, BITCH!" I yell when he stops me from speaking.

“Why are you acting like this?

"Look at everything you're telling me...

I'm praying this is a dream, where I wake up inside the cave alone with Falkor.

"Why do you think I would help you two kill Falkor?" -question. - Where did you get this madness?

— Falkor is the only thing in this world that is capable of killing Benjamin! -revealed. -Every time my uncle approached that demon, he was seriously injured. Nothing on this planet can hurt you, only that -

I raise my hand to him with an open palm, begging for his silence.

"What did I do wrong, God?"

When I was inside I swore that the problem outside was Piter. Only Peter. Now I see that it's not just him, but an entire rebellion.

"Why didn't you tell me?" - I ask. -Why didn't they tell me that they already knew about us and that he could hurt Benjamin?

- Time! -it's short. -There was too much going on three months ago. Your illness, the murder of Thomas, his return and then the grandfather who reappeared, and then Benjamin was exiled from the palace and forced to leave you. We didn't find the right time to tell you -

"But they found a way to find me!" - I remember. -Now tell me, tell me how did you find me here?

"Dumb!"

Dumb, or very, very innocent. He started staring at the pendant around my neck with a strange expression that easily gave away the answer.

“How did you do it? - I'm gross in the question. -Only Benjamin can hear me when I use the pendant's magic!

And I never, ever used him inside the cave for fear he might discover the place.

"I haven't worn the pendant, haven't worn it for a long time!"

“Hector! - he told.

“H-hector?” - I get confused. -Wait... -I think better. -Are you talking about the witch, the same witch who wrote that book, the book that mentions all the horrible experiments he did with dragons?

- Exactly!

"No, no, no!"

My head was working a thousand ways to kill Piter and a thousand more ways to escape.

- What it was? - he complained seeing me in denial. -Hector is not a bad person!

- Reserved! - I quote. -Benjamin once told me that Hector was a very secretive wizard, which is one of the reasons why he didn't publish that book and also one of the reasons why he would never have a CELL PHONE! -scream on the last word. -HOW DID YOU GET THE WIZARD'S HELP, PITER?

I teased him seriously, eyes sunk in a sea of red.

— BENJAMIN! -took on. -IT WAS BENJAMIN!

"Did he get through to him?"

- THE COLLAR! I put my hands on his chest making his body move backwards. -THE FALKOR! -I give you another push. -THE WIZARD! -I'll give you one more. -The SCOTT! -another push. -YOU! -hit him one more time. -AND NOW BENJAMIN!

I finish making him fall on his ass to the ground, noticing that his rebellious and abused look does not change.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU UP TO?"

— Do you really want to know the truth, Mila? -Your question comes with utter disgust.

"If you really appreciate your life, Piter, I suggest you don't miss any important points!"

- Okay! - he said getting to his feet. -Benjamin didn't want to leave, he never wanted to leave you -

"But you did!" - I say feeling a lump in my throat, that same knot that makes us hold back tears in the strength of hate.

"Just to protect you, to look after you until he could get the help he needed!" she explained. - It wasn't easy to find Hector. As you said, he is a very secretive wizard. Benjamin spent those three months looking for him, until he found him on the other side of the world. It doesn't surprise me that he agreed to help, Benjamin knew that if he mentioned the appearance of the dragon, he would definitely agree. Then he activated a sort of fixed location on your necklace, making it trackable even if you didn't activate it. Then when you ran off like that, I thought you'd turn to the dragon, the creature whose blood bond you have.

“It's not a call. Not a call or a fucking connection. I don't control it like you think. What Falkor and I have none of you can understand!

"Did you happen to see what you did in there?" - he scoffs. -Don't tell me you don't control him when I saw with my own eyes what you did!

"That's not control, that's affection!"

"Asshole!"

Falkor would never have trusted me if I had shown up with the intention of controlling him, using him as a slave.

"Affection, or not you're still the only one who can contain that demon!" -is insensitive.

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" - I scold.

"HE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND, UNDERSTAND THAT!"

"He is so much more than you ever were!"

“You're saying that because you don't have control over your actions and feelings. Thomas and Lucian think it's Benjamin's blood, but we know very well that what's making you so cruel and murderous is Falkor's blood. You've read the book, you know what the blood did to the warlock's daughter, how she grew into a fierce, evil being that even Hector couldn't control.

— I'm not like her, I'm not homicidal!

'Martina wouldn't agree with you!' -It's ironic.

"If I were that pit of evil, you'd be just like Martina right now!"

“See? - she pointed. -That's not you talking, that's that demon -

Immediately, I launch myself into his physical frame, circling my left hand around his fragile, human neck. Trapped by my claws, two of his arms grab my wrist trying to get me to let go of his breathing system.

—Mi...Mi...la... -he said my name, suffocated.

"If you call him a demon again, I'll break your windpipe!" -Notice.

— S-sorry —

"I want you and your entire circus away from me and my dragon!"

At that moment, as if sensing a fatality, the sound of a vibrator sounds inside my security guard's pocket, interrupting the expansion of my fury. I slide my free hand into the opening of his pants and grab the phone, freeing his neck from my fingers.

PHONE VIBRATING

- Who will be? - I ask Piter, looking at his annoyed face.

UNKNOWN

I accept the call by pressing the green key, but I never take the initiative to reveal my voice.

"Benjamin: Why don't you answer the fucking messages, Piter?"

No, it's not him. It couldn't be him.

"Benjamin: Do you know how many times I've called you?"

The lump in my throat can't be enough to hold the naive, sensitive side inside me. The house with rigid walls that I built in my consciousness is hit by the breath of destiny, causing its entire base to shudder. The strong walls I thought I had built show me that everything I've done and gone through still wasn't enough to keep my walls up when that man got close.

He was still stronger than me, stronger than my weapons cutting through the hail of ammunition I'd put between us.

"Benjamin: Aren't you listening to me boy?"-he questioned. "Say something, fuck!"

I was silent too long. Silence, the one that made Piter understand who was on the other end of the call.

— BENJAMIN! - she shouted for her uncle to hear. -SHE HAS MY PHONE! - he said away from me.

"Benjamin: Peter?"

— IT'S MILA! - he shouted. -I FOUND HER!

Yelling at him telling him to shut up was the same as giving me away, I wasn't going to give the sound of my voice like that, when I lived in torment for three months begging for that man's attention.

"Benjamin: ..." -a breath.

On the other end of the call all I hear is the breath of the Greek God, displaying the shock he had just received from fate.

"Benjamin: Mila..."

Hearing him say my name was the perfect fucking antidote. I already had that voice memorized on a disc in my head with several folders that carried the way he moaned, smiled, fought and even kissed me. But the folder with the pronunciation of those four letters was the only document I couldn't save.

In the end it didn't matter how many times he called my name, because every time he called it was different, it was like I had never heard it before.

"Benjamin: I know you hear me, I know you're there!"-he spoke. "I feel you, I feel you breathing in my ears even when you're not here. I hear, hear your voice flood my dreams every time I close my eyes."

"God, please..."

"Benjamin: I miss you so much..."

Make him stop sir. Makes him swallow those damn words like I'm trying to hold back my tears right now.

"Benjamin: That night, the night you last wore the pendant. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I wish I had gone, I wish I was there."

"Enough!"

I brutally bring my hand to my neck, pulling the necklace from my skin until it breaks the clasp. The promise to never take him away had died the day he'd broken his word by promising to never leave me alone. The months I kept it with me were the months in which I swore that pendant would bring it back, I had no reason to remain with that heart hanging on me when all its purpose no longer made sense.

If Daya's heart was a symbol of protection and connection, then it was no longer of any use to either of us.

"Benjamin: Mila!"

- Handle! - I throw the cell phone to my security guard and he is agile catching it in the air.

"Piter: Benjamin!"- he said, putting the device to his ear, while watching me.

"Benjamin: Piter, what's going on?"

♡♡♡♡