ROTTEN LOVE - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Losing Jason was devastating. But he is out there somewhere. The loss is temporary.
The loss of my coven is soul-crushing. These are the people I was raised with. People who shared a table with me. Comforted me during hard times.
These were my friends. And they are gone.
The vamps we brought along were not subjects. Many of them watched over me after the death of my parents. They were open to my and Jason's lead. They respected our rules.
We were one in Vales. It was not vamps and witches. We were a family fighting for a common goal: to live. To make this world into one that is worth walking on.
And everyone is gone. I can't think straight. The insides of my head are crushing me, making it hard to breathe. I have no air.
They were my eyes and ears. I take another forceful breath. They came here to protect us. I failed them.
My gaze shifts down to my feet. There is no air. Why is there no air?
No, it's not my gaze. I am shifting down. My fingertips contact the hard floor.
I sense Marisa kneeling by me but it's not comforting me.
"That's not how I wanted to tell you. I am sorry, Helena. I am so sorry. I couldn't do anything. It was so unexpected." Marisa tries to explain.
I don't blame her but I don't want to hear it. The ache in my heart feels like it would move the earth, the wind, and the sky. All the while I fail to catch a decent breath.
Nothing makes sense. Who would take it this far?
"Was it quick?" I pray that my girls didn't feel anything. I hope their necks got snapped. Their hearts ripped out.
I want anything to be truthful as long as they did not suffer. I couldn't bear it.
Marisa, however, stays quiet. Her eyes strained.
No, it was not quick.
If I focus on the pain and the realization that I failed to protect them, I will crumble. Instead, I need to know who caused such destruction.
Hyperventilating helps no one. Not me and most definitely not the dead. I take a deep breath and stand up.
I don't look at Marisa because her distress will make me crumble. So, I focus on a point in the ground. I fist my hands.
There is a quiver in my voice but not from sadness rather from utter pure rage. "Who?"
"I am not sure. Why don't you ask Zain?" Her voice became stern.
I quickly whip my head to her eyes at the insinuation. She stares me down and does not blink. Her eyes are unmoving and unforgiving.
Marisa has shifted. She is distracting herself from the sorrow. Anger has come to the forefront.
She meant what she said. She thinks Zain is aware. The way her tone is says more than him being knowledgeable.
She is accusing him. I glare at Zain. Marisa must be wrong. Zain couldn't have betrayed me to the extent that cost so much devastation.
I search for his reassuring eyes but I get regretful ones.
"Why would I have to ask you?" I say to Zain.
He steps closer but I lift my hand to stop him.
"I do not know what she is talking about."
Marisa makes an unbelievable scoff as she turns her body towards him. His stance locks under her surveillance. She is marking her prey. There is a twitch in her fingers.
Regardless, of whether it's true or not, It's evident that Marisa sees it as such. I walk closer to her side.
Zain is under the scrutiny of both our gazes.
"Transaction complete was their message, along with their regards to Zain." Marisa snarls. Her voice is light but it's menacing. She is sneering at him.
I take her words in. Zain knows these people and whoever they are, they were working with him.
"Seems to me like they know who you are?" I grit through my teeth.
The pounding that usually is felt in my chest is more like pounding against it. There are no flutters. It's an excoriating ache.
The butterflies that come with interacting with him are more like daggers in the pit of my stomach. Then there's the bond. The bond which makes me weak in my knees for him, now has me trying to rip at my being.
"Helena, it's not the time. You must rest."
"Who are they?" I repeat.
"I don't know."
"I told you she wasn't dumb." Marisa mocks.
Zain growls but I raise an eyebrow. "Zain, WHO ARE THEY?"
I enunciate each word.
He bites his lower lip, cursing himself. Those stern but devasting soft lips. They don't just give world-breaking kisses but heart-shattering news.
"It was not supposed to be like this. We hadn't agreed on this. I would have never allowed anything to happen to your coven." He starts defending himself.
My heart sinks. He did betray me. I am aware that I didn't know him but not to this extent. I had seen him at least as a loyal individual, an alpha.
"Who?" I repeat. There is no explanation he can provide that will make things okay.
"Ambrose." He says avoiding eye contact.
"As in the Ambrose line." Marisa snarls.
The Ambrose line is the oldest pureblood line. When it comes to power, theirs is unmatched. The ruin of the Malfattos' sprang from them.
The Ambroses made it their mission to bring the Malfattos to shambles. From their viewpoint, it's their way or nothing.
Needless to say, the Malfattos did not take kindly to threats. They kept pushing their views into the limelight. They were making headway and this was not pleasing to the other three lines.
It endangered their unquestioning superiority. It's one thing to tolerate inferior species such as humans, wolves, and witches. But to be told to follow rules, to honor everyone's differences, essentially putting a leash on their uncontrolled habits when it came to others, was unacceptable for the lines to agree.
We knew it was the vamps that killed our parents but no line took responsibility. Everyone feigned ignorance, sending their condolences to Marisa and Maddox.
At the knowledge learned, my blood boils. I heave with the increased temperature. These people were responsible for my lack of choice in lifestyle, the death of my parents, and the kidnapping of my brother.
I can feel myself burn with the desire to hurt them. Kill them immediately. I keep a hateful gaze toward Zain. He worked with them. Aided in the murder of my peers.
It is unforgivable.
He spoke. "I lied to you. I had no idea where you were at. I didn't get lucky. I kept searching everywhere for you and I couldn't fathom the thought of not finding my mate. Then, they came to me. Proposed to me a plan."
I shake with rage. I was wrong. Nothing is calming about those blue eyes. They are hard as ice, and turbulent as the sea. I am no longer willing to drown in them.
"You gave up my brother to meet me and sold us out to keep me. What was your plan? We meet each other and we live happily ever after under the bodies you helped bury." I yell at him.
I get closer to him without meaning to. My body moves on its own accord. It senses my desperation to get my hands on him. To brand him as a liar. I fight the urge.
"No, Helena. They would tell me your identity. In return, I help get the Malfattos here. That was it. I swear."
"Did it ever occur to you what they would do to them?"
Zain tries to place his hands on me but I move my shoulder. He misses me by a second. He scoffs, "I did not care...I don't...I mean didn't. I had no idea you were attached to them." He breathes heavily.
"And when you did realize, what was the plan?! Huh? Surely, kidnapping my brother should have struck you as a bad idea."
"Yes, it's a bad fucking idea. The fact that you would even think I would allow it. To remind you, my sister is missing too."
"Sorry for not giving two cents about her. She is in this predicament because of you or was she also aware."
Marisa places her hand on my shoulder. I hadn't noticed I was practically in Zain's face. More like at his chest but my gaze was set on his face.
"Stay out of it." Zain shoves Marisa.
The blood in my veins roars. It boils me inside out. I could not believe he had the nerve to touch her, to touch anything else that belonged to me.
He instantly retreated his hand and took a step back. I see the surprise on his face. The way his eyebrows lift in shock. His jaw tenses.
"Shit. I'm sorry. Fuck. I hate this. It's their fucking fault."
Marisa tries to walk to him. She wants to shred him into pieces but I hold her back, sliding my hand in hers. Ciphering.
She might not be in the ideal condition but she is strong enough. I can tell by her attitude. The way her eyes are sizing him up.
She heeds my plea and stays back, tethered to me. No one deserves to hurt my mate, except fucking me. And the heavens know I am ready.
With Marisa in hand, both of us approached him with deadly eyes, "How dare you? Do not pin your faults on them. Your inadequacy to take responsibility. This is on you. My witches are dead because of you and I hate you."
As I said the last few words, my insides broke. I can feel my lip tremble and I bite it down trying to swallow the lump in my throat.
He ruined everything and it hurts. I don't think I hate him. Yet in this moment, it sure as hell seems like it.
I don't want to breathe his air or look at him. I simply want him gone. Most of all, I want my brother. I want Maddox. I need my boys at my side and Zain took them from me.
The tears stream freely from my eyes and I see Zain's posture change. His need to want to wipe them. Then the hard line in the center of his brow realizing that he might never be able to touch me again.
"This isn't how it should have been. You should have never been hidden from me. Your mother forced you into a life of servitude to them." He glares at Marisa.
"My mother protected me. She saw how your father intended to use us."
"She traded one master for another."
I flinch. "You do not own me."
"I never intended to control you. If she would of staid, then she would have realized. Despite what my father thought, it was not his choice what to do with my mate. She should have known that. Mates are sacred. She, who was raised by our kind, loved by my people, her people, should have known better."
I stay quiet because I know one jailer was switched to another. However, I loved my life. Despite feeling suffocated at times, I love Vales.
Marissa. Maddox. The Vamps. My coven. I love it all and that was thanks to her.
Zain took my silence as an initiative to continue. "Her choices still put you at risk. The Ambroses will stop at nothing to get to the Malfattos unless they intend to get with the program. Something I doubt Marisa or Maddox can do. They will hide behind your power. When I found out who you were, and who you served, I was desperate to get you to my side, to protect you. You and Jason were supposed to be safe under my care. Marisa and Maddox were not my problem. But NO ONE was supposed to die, at least not your coven."
With those last few words, he cemented our future. Zain couldn't have broken me more. Had my mom not removed us from here, then I think I would have believed everything Zain said.
I wouldn't have had a choice. I would have listened to my body's natural response to him.
My home is with them. Marisa and Maddox. Vales. And I get to decide what lies in my heart.
My mother knew better and I intend to at least take advantage of the little free rein I have over my life. I stare into Zain but it is more like starting into his soul.
I absorb every feeling his gaze causes me, storing it in the back of my mind. I do not intend to see him again.
I haven't said anything but he can tell I am saying goodbye by the increased tension in his body. "Helena-"
"I don't care for more. We will be leaving now. If you were wise, you would never step in front of me again." I turn with Marisa in tow.
I look over my shoulder. "Send Adam when he is good and ready to the hotel in town."
Marisa stops walking. No. She does not want to leave him. After everything, I understand. I flick my hand and Adam's body is levitating toward us.
It's simple enough. I did not take much from her, virtually nothing. We begin walking.
"No. They will find you and without any other protection you guys are sitting ducks." Zain points out.
Marisa talks for me. "And who's fault is that?"
He ignores her. Looks at me instead. "Stay. Give me a chance to fix this."
"You want to fix this? Then bring my coven back. Bring those we brought here back to life. Think you can manage." I give the impossible order.
"I would if I could. Let me help you get Jason back. I still need Maddie back. We can work together."
"I want nothing with you."
"Then just stay. Marisa and you can do everything you want from here that you would do in the hotel and it's safer."
I turn back to continue walking. He walks past us and gets in my way. "Stay. Helena."
"No." I move my feet. He gets in the way.
"Stay."
"Fuck off Zain."
"You know if you go out there you will be captured as well. You won't help anyone."
He is right. But I don't trust him. So I can't trust my surroundings. "No."
I walk. He gets in my way again. It starts to piss me off more. When he does it again, the rage is too much. I reach toward his arm, willing for the wrath I feel to come out and manifest itself.
Zain grunts as he falls to his knees slowly. I quickly glance at Marisa to ensure I am not taking too much from her in this state. Her smirk says to keep going.
She does not only want to see him on his knees. She wants to see him burn in hell and for a brief moment, I do too.
The fury comes out more. The heat blazes. My thoughts are centered around how my brother is held captive by those who took my parents away. How my girls were denied the right to live.
It's overbearing. How I left everyone to go to Zain because I had missed him. To trade Jason for me because being forced to be by Zain's side didn't seem so bad. It seemed worth the trade.
The rage burns but it's more than anger. It's utter misery. They are all gone. I am overheating.
I hear my name, "Helena?"
Marisa.
I am taking too much but I can't stop this sensation inside me. My vision blurs.
I lost them. I lost everyone. I failed.
More tears. I can't see anything. I fall to my knees. There is an intense growl that shakes the compound but it does not register. Only until powerful arms encompass me in an embrace so strong that it soothes the embers in me.
I breathe in the scent. The growl is louder snapping my attention. I look up through my lashes and see Zain's face in agony. I am still burning him.
Although Marisa has released my hand, I still have enough from her to keep going longer. He holds me tight and tighter not caring for the burns I am giving him.
Unable to consciously put out what I am feeling, he weathers the storm. I sizzle out as the emotions consume me and I cry like I had never cried before.
All the while thinking how my other half was the one responsible for the reason I am no longer whole.