Chapter Four - Phone Call
992 Words
~Elara~
Isabeau is fussing over me in the back of the taxi, trying to convince me to go to a hospital, when my phone rings.
I didn’t even realize I had it in my pocket, and when I pull it out, it’s the same small model I had ten years ago. I haven’t seen it in ages, and my stomach drops as I see the name flashing across the screen.
Caspian.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” Isabeau asks when my fingers hover in hesitation.
I’m not even sure I remember how, and I certainly don’t want to talk to Caspian, but since I still haven’t figured out exactly what’s going on, I figure it’s best not to arouse anyone’s suspicions. For now, I’ll try to behave as normally as possible.
“Hello?” I say into the phone after jabbing at the screen until the call picks up.
“Hello?” Caspian’s warm voice teases, repeating the word back to me. “What kind of a greeting is that?”
He sounds like a completely different man from the one who stabbed me in the heart earlier that day. I suppose I sound different to him too, since I’m not the woman I was on the day all of this originally happened.
Knowing what I know now, he’s lucky to even get a ‘hello’ from me.
“Did you have fun today?” he asks, not waiting for a reply to his first question. “Did you get the dresses?”
For a moment, panic fills my chest as I realize we left the dresses in the trunk of the car, but just as quickly, I realize I truly don’t care. It’s not like I’m actually going to get mated to Caspian again!
But he doesn’t know that. If this is real, and not just in my head, he doesn’t know that I know anything, and that might just turn out to be my greatest advantage.
I can’t give anything away, not until I figure out exactly what to do with this second chance I’ve been given.
“Everything’s taken care of,” I assure him, doing my best to sound more like my usual self. “How are you?”
“Busy,” he sighs, and bile rises in my throat. He always used to tell me he was busy. Busy sleeping with other women, I know now. He covered his tracks very well. “I can’t wait to see you. What time will you be here?”
We must have plans, but I have no intention of going to him. I need a chance to regroup and think. I need to go to the one place I know I’ll be safe.
My family’s suite at the pack house.
“Actually, I’m not feeling great. I think I’m going to have a quiet night in.”
“That’s too bad, baby.” He almost sounds like he means it. “Can I do anything?”
“No. Thanks. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I hang up before he can say anything else, but I still can’t fully relax. The lines on Isabeau’s face have grown deeper as she stares at me in concern. “I really think you should go to the hospital, Elara. Something’s different about you.”
She has no idea. “I’m fine, I promise. I just need to rest. I can call the pack doctor if I need to.”
She can’t argue with that, so she instructs the taxi driver to take us to the pack house first, and when we get there, she insists on coming inside with me. “I’ve just linked with your dad,” she tells me. “He’ll be here soon.”
My dad. Is it really possible?
Sure enough, by the time we reach the bottom of the large staircase that fills half the entrance hall, his familiar form appears at the top of it, and tears immediately spring to my eyes.
He’s alive.
None of the terrible things that Caspian set in motion have happened yet. All the people I care about are still here, and when he reaches the bottom of the steps, his brows furrowed in concern, I can’t stop myself from throwing my arms around him. His familiar scent of oak and whiskey are like a warm hug of their own, and I bury my face against his chest, inhaling deeply.
“Elara? What’s going on?”
Isabeau explains about the accident, assuring him that we’re okay but that she’s concerned about me.
“I’m fine,” I repeat for what feels like the tenth time. “Some rest is all I need. But can we not tell anyone else about the accident? I don’t want Caspian getting upset about it.”
Mostly, I don’t want him to know that Atticus was involved. I can’t say why yet, but I have a feeling Atticus might be important. The way his dark eyes pierced into mine hasn’t entirely left my thoughts.
They both promise to keep it a secret, and Isabeau says goodbye as my dad takes me up to our family’s suite of rooms. My bedroom is just as I remember it. He leaves me there after I promise to take it easy, and once he’s gone, I walk slowly around the room, running my fingers across all the mementos from my childhood that I’d forgotten about a long time ago.
This is too detailed to be a dream. The sounds and sights and smells are too vivid. The pressed flowers against my mirror that Caspian gave me at the end of our first date still carry a little of their scent. The picture with my parents at my dad’s commendation after the last war hasn’t faded yet.
Somehow, I’m really here, and this time, nobody is going to make any decisions for me.
This time, I’ll be the one to survive.
- Writer
