Dark Hunger

Elize was feeling heated up, a nest of butterflies in her stomach. She turned to look at him and found that the petals that pixies had dropped had spilled all over his hair and face and two petals had each closed his eyes.

Her hand reached his eyes and she lightly removed them, her fingers brushing his skin. Caleb still, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated a little. There was surprise in them and he looked… astonished. "Thanks," he whispered. And that was when Elize realized that he wasn't breathing. Her gaze landed on his lips and she quickly turned her face back in the front trying her best to focus on what pixies were doing.

It took them an hour to reach the exit of the cave. The pixies didn't come out to see them off but they all gathered around Elize and then gave her a bouquet of glowing flowers. Elize giggled again. It was as if her wish of seeing flowers growing even without sunlight had come true. Then they flew to Auril and bowed to their king. Auril bowed them back out of respect. The pixies waved goodbye to all of them and then hurried inside the cave as if afraid of the dark outside.

When they stepped out of the cave, it was still dark. Arawn guided them to the place where the car was waiting for them.

Laurel looked at the massive black beast with wonder and wide eyes. "This is a horse on wheels? Where's the tail?" She asked as she trailed her fingers on its sleek steel surface.

Arawn shook his head and smirked, "First-time Loreans are always a pain!" He handed the keys to Caleb, ignoring her and said, "You should reach Yorkshire in two hours. But I suggest that you don't stop there. Those beasts are still lurking around in every alley ever since we took down two of them." He pointed at the Aston Martin and said, "I chose this from your fleet because it had tinted glasses and runs at godly speed."

Shocked, Laurel stopped in her tracks and stared at Caleb. "You have a fleet of such horses?"

Caleb didn't bother to answer her. Over the past few years, he had invested a lot in the country and it had given him fantastic returns. He had ended up setting up an office but soon gave it all up when he had to return to Ixoviya. Now he just held wealth in small pockets all across the country. He had a fleet of over twenty expensive cars, but he would give them all up for the woman he loved. He clasped Arawn's hands and the centaur did the same, as the two friends would. "Thanks!"

Arawn opened the door for Elize and said, "Now go." Elize dipped her head low and thanked him and sat inside the car. Caleb rushed to the other side. Auril opened the door for Laurel because she was absolutely confused about what to do next. When Caleb started the ignition, he first turned to see whether she had strapped her seatbelt or not. When he heard the click, he pressed the accelerator. And the car sped. Everything on the outside became a blur after that. Laurel held her seat, her heart lurching.

As they approached the city, Elize's breath became ragged. She had to leave him, leave it all and just go away, fade into oblivion. For the entire journey back, she didn't speak a word, but when they neared the town, she said, "Please take me to my apartment."

"But I told you it is not safe, Elize," said Caleb with frustration in his voice. A muscle feathered in his jaw.

"I don't want to talk to you about my safety, Caleb. Stop thinking about it!" she retorted. "Just take me to my apartment!" And she crossed her hands across her chest with stubbornness.

Laurel narrowed her eyes. Did it mean that she wanted to leave him? "Your Highness," Laurel said. "The king is so concerned about you. Please listen to him."

Elize ignored her. "I need to get to my apartment," she repeated. "I have to retrieve my phone, clothes and money."

"You don't need any of that Elize," Caleb said. "I have enough—"

"I don't want your—" she clenched her jaws, sensing that Laurel was about to speak again. "Just take me to my place, okay?"

Irritation spiked to a new level. Caleb pressed the accelerator and Laurel flung back to her seat with an audible cry. Auril cheered him on from back. "Whoooo! Man, I love your driving! Were you in the car racing circuit?"

Caleb grunted. He was close to it when he was younger, but only an amateur. By the time he qualified for the professional circuit, his father had given him business responsibilities. He knew that Elize won't be persuaded otherwise, so as soon as they entered the town, he sped to her apartment. It was still dark. He parked the car right in front of the building and turned to tell Laurel and Auril, "I am going up with her. Keep a vigil here." The two nodded.

Elize whipped her head in his direction and was about to protest but he looked so dangerous that she snapped her mouth shut. She unstrapped herself, jumped out of the car and rushed upstairs. And Caleb—he stayed close to her till they reached the apartment. The door was locked. She wanted to smack herself for not stopping down at the guard's counter to take the duplicate code in a hurry, so she started to leave, but stopped. A crack was heard and she whirled to see that the handle was in Caleb's hand. He waved her inside, and she pushed past him.

When she reached inside, the first thing Caleb did was to draw all the curtains. Feeling extremely enraged, she shouted at him with all the pent-up emotions. "Why are you after me? I don't want to be with you, so please leave! You have made my life miserable. Just fucking leave me Caleb. Haven't you done enough already?"

Caleb knew that it was coming. However, first he made sure that every curtain of the apartment was drawn so that not a ray of sunlight entered. He had seen her condition under the sun and the thought made him shudder.

Seeing that he wasn't answering her, Elize just ran inside her bedroom and started packing a small bag. She saw her phone and it was dead. Immediately she plugged it to charge it and continued to pack her clothes. She had opened her wardrobe when Caleb entered her bedroom. He started helping her. "What are you doing?" she said, snatching her clothes from him. He turned to the wardrobe to take out more clothes when he saw that one of his white shirts was hanging laundered in the corner. A smile crept on his lips. He took it out and wore it. When he glanced at her, he found that she had blushed a crimson. "Th— that was—" she stammered and then pursed her lips, the rest of the words choking in her throat.

"It's fine. I needed a shirt anyway. Also, where do you want to go? I will take you there."

"No need," she mumbled. "I can manage."

He snatched her satchel and said in his Alpha dominating way, "That wasn't a question."