Chapter 86 Spilling Tea

Spilling Tea

Avalyn

My eyes lost sight of Papa and Nik. Why did he run away? Did he not like me? Did he think of me as a bad person? It doesn't make sense. It hurt. Seeing him run away from me hurt. Why did he do it? I can't think of a single reason why he would be upset with me.

Maybe that day...when we were attacked...if I hadn't been there, and he didn't have to defend himself and me, he wouldn't have been kept as a captive in the dungeon. He could have been living as an Alpha with Mama. And then it clicked, he resents me because I killed Mama. My heart dropped. Yes, that was it.

And then my vision was obstructed by a chest. I looked up and saw Dimitri.

"Avalyn, your nose is bleeding." Deep concern is etched on his face.

My hand immediately came up to touch my nostril and surely, it was bloody. I wiped it all away. "It's probably nothing," I muttered. The last thing on my mind was me. I didn't care about myself. I wanted to talk to Papa and beg for his forgiveness.

"Or maybe it is something. Let's show it to the pack doctor." He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to me. Why is he being so insistent? Doesn't he see I'm a horrible person? So much so that the one person who is wired to love me from birth is disgusted by me? If Papa doesn't care about me, how is it possible for someone who isn't even related to me to care about me?

Grabbing it, I wiped my finger on it before I dabbed it above my lip again. "I'm fine."

"I don't thin—"

"I said I'm fine," I said harshly. "I'm sorry." I caught his arm once I realized I was rude to him when he was only looking out for me. We might not be related by blood but we were family by choice. Dimitri was like a little brother. And after looking at his worried face, not even my self-deprecating thoughts could convince me that he didn't care about me.

"It's okay." His smile was crooked.

I'm being a bitch to everybody. And maybe Papa knows it. And that's why he doesn't want to be near me. That's why he couldn't bear to look at me and he ran away.

"Let's go back to the cottage, yeah? We have been outside all night and I heard Mary is making breakfast," Dimitri suggested. I nodded and we both made our way to the cottage. I just couldn't get Papa out of my head.

Will he ever like me? Will we go back to the way we were? And more importantly, how was he alive and why did anybody not know about this?

Dimitri opened the door for me when we reached the cottage we were all staying at temporarily.

"Good morning!" Everyone greeted, trying to be cheerful.

But I just wasn't having it. I walked to the table and took a seat beside Nat.

"You okay?" She whispered, putting an arm around me.

"I will know in some time," I rested my head on her shoulder. She didn't even know what had happened with Papa. Heck, no one even knew that he was alive! She just knew what happened with Nikolai. She was the one who stayed with me when I came back when Nik told me he wanted to be alone.

I was still upset about it but right now, Papa consumed my thoughts.

"Don't worry child, here, have some tea." Mary came in and placed a tray full of teacups on the table.

'Where are you?' Nik asked me.

'In the huge cottage by the training field, the one to the west of where the packhouse used to be.' I told him. 'Mary has made breakfast for all, I'll save you a cup of tea.' And one for Papa just in case he is with you. But I didn't say that, I didn't want to be disappointed if he didn't come back.

'Avalyn.' Nikolai said in a tight voice. 'Do not trust Mary. Don't eat anything she gives you. And especially, do not drink the tea.' Alarms started ringing in my mind upon hearing his words and his tone. And then my mind started running through the worst of the scenarios.

I looked around me, everyone started getting up to get their teacups from the table. Shit.

I instantly stood up and the chair jerked, falling over because of my sudden move. "Sorry," I uprighted it. "I'll serve the tea to everyone," I said and picked up the tray and moved around the table, and then I dropped the entire tray on the wooden floor and simultaneously fell on my hands and knees. I saw that all the cups were successfully shattered and the tea was spilled.

"Goddess!" Nat stood up immediately and helped me up.

"Sorry, I tripped." I looked at Mary and gave her a guilty smile.

She was looking at me with concern but I caught her eyes flash with irritation before she masked it with worry. "Are you okay, dearie?" Something is wrong with her.

"Yes. I'm sorry I spilled all the tea." I looked down at the mess and swiped my hand over it, the tea disappeared and the cups and saucers were mended and they sat on the tray as they did before. I picked up the tray again and placed it over the table. "Please sit, I'll make the tea again." I grabbed her and settled her in my seat.

"No it's fine, I love cooking, I don't mind making the tea again. I heard you were out all night putting out a fire?" She got up.

"Yes, didn't you know? The fire broke out in the dungeon and the entire packhouse." I looked at her quizzically. It was surprising because the entire dungeon was made out of stone. How did the fire even start in there? And even if it did, how did it spread up to the packhouse too?

"I heard." She nodded. "But I was tired from the traveling so I took my sleeping pills early and slept throughout the night. It's a shame that the entire packhouse burned down, I had such nice memories with Jerome in it." A tear flickered in her eye. "I'm just happy that no one got hurt. Well except the people who were trapped in the dungeon."

"No grandma the—" Max started but I raised my hand, shutting him up.

"How did you know that there were people in the dungeon? Or that there was a fire inside the dungeon too?" I narrowed my eyes.

She looked around helplessly before focusing on me again. "Well, the entire house burned down. It-It only makes sense the dungeon burned down too."

"It doesn't make sense." I took a step towards her and she took a step back. "The dungeon was made of stone. The entire dungeon. If the house would have caught on fire, the dungeon shouldn't have burned down, and if the dungeon had somehow caught fire, the packhouse wouldn't have burned down. But funnily, both burned down." I took another step and she took another step back.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She then narrowed my eyes. "Are you accusing me of something, young lady? I have lived in that house for more years than you have walked on this earth."

"Grandma has nothing to do with, Avalyn." Max protested. "Back off."

"Do you know that no one died, Mary?" I kept my gaze on Mary. "Nik was in that dungeon when it caught fire." Her eyes widened. "I saved him along with everyone that was trapped in there."

A gasp left her mouth before she covered her mouth with her hand. It confirmed my theory. I knew she hated Papa but I did not know the extent of it. She had downplayed the entire thing when Nik and I had gone to visit her at her house that day.

"And you know who I also found in there?" I felt energy charge inside me and I knew my hair had turned silver and my eyes blue.

"Me." The door slammed open and Papa walked in.

Mary stared at him in horror. Immediately her hands came up and she opened her mouth, most probably to utter a spell.

"Don't you dare?" I hissed before I froze her tongue and hands.

"You were the one who planned the attack, weren't you?" The tears flowing down her cheeks confirmed it. "You were the one who put Papa in the dungeon."

The entire room was stunned into silence before they turned to look at the vampire who had entered with Nik. A look of realization crossed across their faces. Yes, he is my father.

My eyes teared again as I looked at him but I made no move to go near him. He looked exactly like he did when I was a little girl. He extended his arms towards me and a sob rose my throat before I ran towards him and jumped, throwing my arms around his neck. I cried in his neck and smelled his familiar watery scent.

"My little firefly." The nickname made me cry harder. He caressed my hair like he always did.

After I released him, I turned to glare at Mary. She is the reason Papa suffered so much, both of us suffered so much. I should have known. Emmanuel and Emilio were too dumb to plan something elaborate like this. Mary was the mastermind. And she will pay for it. "What do you want me to do to her?"

"Nothing. Not yet. First I need answers." Papa replied.

Nik came to stand on my other side and put his arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head. I mouthed him a 'thank you for bringing Papa back and he only smiled at me.

"Why did you hate me? So much so that you had your pack attacked?" Papa asked and I unfroze her tongue.

"You bloodsucker killed Val—"

"Don't you fucking say her name." Papa hissed with venom. "Keeping Avalyn was both our decision and we did not regret it one bit."

"Then you being a bloodsucker is enough." She spat. "You are an abomination of nature. No one should walk on earth after they are dead."

"What about me?" Max looked in pain.

Mary let out a harsh laugh. "You were an innocent kid when you came to me, yes. But then he turned you into the monster you are today." She glared at Nik. "I taught you to only drink the blood of animals. He taught you to kill humans."

Max shook his head like he couldn't comprehend what his grandma was saying.

"What did Ava do to you, huh?" Papa hissed. "How could you do this to your granddaughter? She isn't even a vampire!"

Her eyes teared up when her eyes fell on me. "That's where I failed. I never meant for this to happen. Believe me." She cried. "Emmanuel told me that Avalyn died. It was a mistake made by the wolves he hired. One that wasn't supposed to happen. It was all a part of his plan, not mine. Just like keeping you alive was. I only wanted you dead. Along with all the vampires you had given a place in my pack."

"And when you found out that he was alive and in the dungeon, you decided to set it on fire before I find out." Nik looked at her. "You knew a trial was going to happen of all the people in the cell. And you feared that your secret will be revealed if Javier comes out. And that's why you shut Emmanuel's mouth yesterday, so he wouldn't snitch on you."

She nodded shamefully.

"And your infamous tea," Papa said, looking at the tray that laid on the table. "Tell me, who did you want all these people here to kill?"

"What?" Nat asked.

"The tea," Papa nodded, "has some powder that she makes. Whoever drinks it will want to kill the person Mary wants you to kill. You all would have become her assassinators till its effects would have worn off."

I shuddered at the thought of how Papa came to know that.

"That means...," Nat's eyes snapped to Max, "the devil... the bloodlust...it wasn't you?"

Both Max and Nat's heads snapped to Mary and she faced the full effect of their glare.

"Took you long enough to realize." Mary gave Max a cruel smile.

"Six years of my life." He let out a breath. "You almost destroyed what I had with Talia." He lunged at Mary but Dimitri and Nat held him back. This meant that when he cheated on Nat, he was under the influence of Mary's tea. Shit.

It was getting hotter in the cottage by the second. I could feel Nik getting angrier by the minute.

"Whom did you want to kill right now?" Nik growled at her.

"You." She spoke. "So you don't kill Avalyn by getting her pregnant like this bloodsucker killed my daughter."

Nikolai let out a loud growl and the house shook. I placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

There was a knock on the door and a man stepped in, looking a little terrified at the tension among us, "forgive me for disturbing, Alpha, Luna, but it is nine am and everyone has gathered in a training ground a little away from the cottage."

I turned to look at him. "Thank you. We will be out shortly."

Giving a short bow he left, closing the door after him.

When I turned back and realized that Mary pick up a knife and she said a quick spell and the entire house caught on fire, all at once. "You were all going to kill me and I know my time is close. But that does not mean I will die alone. All of you will die with me." She grinned like a madwoman. "Have fun trying to get out of this house." And then, before I could do anything, she slit her throat and collapsed on the floor.

The flames of the fire were too high and every inch of all the walls of the house was on fire.

"Fuck!" Nat snarled. "That fucking pyro bitch."

"Can't you do something?" Dimitri asked me. I've never been good with dealing with fires.

"Turn it to dust again," Nikolai growled.

I swiped my hands around and turned the house into dust but then the fire still burned high along the land that marked the borders of the cottage. I could make out the pack members freaking out as they saw all of us.

And the fire was still burning and spreading inside, towards us. I started freaking out. Nik and I were immune to fire but our family wasn't! I can't let them die! I can't let Papa die, not when I just got him back.

"What do we do?" I asked Nik.

He whirled around, looking all around us. "The fire is too high and too thick for us to jump over it."

"How about I flick everyone out of here?" I was desperate here.

"I think that might just work." Nik nodded. "Everyone huddle up," Nik announced loudly. And then everyone who was moving around to get away from the fast-spreading fire hurried to get to us.

"Ava will throw you out of here. Be sure to land on your fours if you don't want your bones to break. Javier will go first." Nik said before he looked at me. "Are you ready?"

I gave him a shaky nod, rattled that everyone's life now rests on me.

"Ava?"

I don't want to mess this up. I'll forever hate myself if anyone gets hurt. And then when the weight of responsibility fell on my shoulders, I started hyperventilating. I couldn't breathe.

"Love?"

All I could feel was the heat of the fire, the smell of things burning, and see the gold of the fire.

"Avalyn?"

We're all going to die, aren't we? It's going to be my fault, I'm going to kill everyone. Tears rose in my eyes. How will I ever be able to do this?

"Avalyn!" Master snapped.

And just like it affected me when I was having a nightmare, it affected me right now too— he had all my attention.

The gold of the fire reflected on his face, giving it a glow. His calm grey eyes hypnotized me. He came closer and captured my lips with his own then and placed his hands on my shoulders and his forehead against mine. He crowded my space till all I could think about was him, all I could smell was him, all I could see was him.

My Master, my Nikolai.

"Close your eyes, take a deep breath and calm down." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Good girl. Now focus on Javier. You have to throw him about a hundred meters in the air at seventy degrees to the north with as much strength as you can." He backed up a little and took hold of my hands. "You can do it. Now, Avalyn."

I squeezed his hands and threw Papa just as Master said and then my eyes opened, just in time to see him fly through the air.

'I'm good, Firefly,' Papa's voice pushed in my head in some time.

"He's alive." I released a breath.

"Good job. Natalia is next." Similarly, I threw Nat out of the burning fire as well.

"Good girl. But I need you to be quick, Love." That's when I realized that the fire would engulf us all in a couple of minutes maximum.

Nodding quickly, I threw Max out next. And then Dimitri.

"We're done here, let's go." Nik caught me and we were about to step through the fire to walk out when I heard a scream.

I immediately whirled around and saw Tessa trying to make her way towards me. How did I not realize she was here? I can't even throw her out.

"What do we do Nikolai?" I asked, running towards Tessa. Half of her top was burning and she was crying her eyes out, trying to put out the flames on herself. I tore her top, throwing the burning tatters away from her, and then I hugged her to me, trying to shield her from the fire.

"I will be outside. Throw her exactly eight hundred meters high to the north at an eighty-degree angle. I will catch her." He kissed my forehead before he shot out of the fire towards the north.

I helped Tessa as much as I could but at this point, the wooden flood was burning too and she was crying her heart out. The gut-wrenching pain in her cries broke my heart. Tears streamed down my cheeks seeing her in pain. "I'm so sorry, we'll get you out of here safe, I promise. I'm going to throw you and Nik will catch you. Hang on to him, okay?"

'I'm ready.' Nikolai told me.

And without waiting for her response, I took a deep breath and threw Tessa just as Master had instructed me. I hope I did it right and Nik catches her, or else I won't be able to forgive myself. She is my responsibility.

'I got her.' Nik's reply came in half a minute and I finally took a relieved breath.

Finally, I walked out of the fire. It will never stop to amaze me how I was immune to fire. When I walked out, my entire family was there, waiting for me and my entire pack was behind them, looking at me with a reverent gaze.

Nikolai slowly made his way towards me with a smile and my lips stretched into one.

Much like the last time when Nik and I walked out of the burning house for some reason, everyone started dropping to their knees right now too. Seeing hundreds and hundreds of people kneel in front of me shook me to the core. I am responsible for them too. I must lead them too.

I looked at all of them- my entire family, my pack kneeling in front of me. And then I saw Nik, walking past them, making his way to me.

Nikolai came near me and placed a chaste kiss on my lips. "You did well."

"Thank you." I bit my lip.

His eyes darkened. "Don't." He pulled my lip out and then groaned. "Plus you're naked, Love." He closed his eyes, struggling hard to control himself in front of everyone. Out clothes had burned in the fire. "I'm going to fuck you so hard after all this."

I nodded, gulping. "I'll hold you to your promise." I had missed him.

And then two slaves came in, carrying a dress for me and a pair of shorts for Nik. We both quickly got dressed before Nik stood beside me, opening me to the public eye.