HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 32

Several weeks passed without any incident but, to my great regret, Olivia’s behaviour remained the same and Salomon had decided to return to the Mortain Castle.

Thanks to Mr Forbe, I had put on a good five kilos. I had a few left to go but the result was already impressive. Everyone was amazed at my ability to regain my strength and rejoiced at it every day. With weight came form. To get my muscles back, Elvis had prepared a muscle re-toning workout, as he called it. As my coach, he made me eat the most suitable foods to quickly regain weight and concocted a sports program for me including weekly punching-bag sessions. It had the merit of relieving my stress, which I needed more than ever. Sometimes, thinking back on it, the rage stirred my guts so much that I felt like I was on the edge of a precipice. My heart raced suddenly, my skull screamed in sharp pain and I was prone to nervous spasms that worried me more and more. Sometimes I even wanted to fall into this abyss and lose myself in my silence forever. The sport was therefore a welcome therapy but it took a long time before my strength returned. Knowing that the end of the road wasn’t tomorrow, I rehabilitated myself with an unfailing determination. My survival instinct dictated it to me.

The Forbes asked no questions. They knew that something was wrong with us, but Mr Forbe was a tolerant man. Seeing me on my return from London, he understood immediately that his help was a matter of life and death, and he brought me back to life thanks to his care. How to be more grateful to a man who alone raised two sons who were as different in life as they were united in generosity. Elvis was being tough but treated me like a queen. I guessed that it was the action that delighted him because Gregory’s attack had been one of the most captivating episodes of his life. As for Johnny, he watched Olivia day and night. Despite our friend’s silence, he continued to talk to her and shared with her the latest news from school. The school year had just ended and Johnny was starting to get excited about the summer program rather than the exam results.

The presence of these two men made me smile again. With them, it helped me at times to forget…. I thought back to sweet and voluble things, but more often than not, incredible anger drove them away immediately. I was almost constantly transfixed by it.

My relationship with Thomas remained limited. I had recently regained my full caste abilities, in particular the worst: succubus. Now, since Salomon’s recent departure, the only two caste in my presence were the Panchak brothers. Even if I wanted to ignore it and even if, at first, this feeling revolted me, I had to give in, crushed under the weight of the waves projected by the youngest of the brothers. His devastating smile was still having its effect, much more than I would have liked in any case. He sometimes looked at me with such intensity that I lowered my eyes each time we met. And there were many. He still felt the same physical attraction to me but contained himself as much as possible, so we stuck to friendly conversations. I was beginning to feel the relief of this implicit agreement, until the day when he decided to return to the subject.

It was one morning, after my morning workout with Elvis. I was coming back sweaty from my jog around the neighbourhood and still had trouble keeping up. On returning, I found Thomas sitting on the corner of the couch, alone and in silence.

“Hello,” I greeted him, a little embarrassed as in each of our moments alone, “Olivia and Johnny are here?”

“In Johnny’s room.”

“Okay. Well… well, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Will you ever let me tell you what happened with Naomi?”

I had dreaded this discussion before, and now that my condition had improved, I wasn’t going to avoid it anymore.

“I’m not sure I want to talk about it,” I said, hoping it would stop there.

“Eve, please, you didn’t give me a chance to explain at Mortain. If you don’t want to forgive me, I accept it. But I want you to at least know all the facts.”

“But what is there to know?”

“I thought it was YOU! I was totally drugged!”

Stunned, I stared at him, speechless, totally bewildered by this revelation.

“What?!”

“At least let me explain everything to you since the day of my abduction.”

I gave in and silently sat down across from him. He took a deep breath before starting without taking his eyes off me.

“I was leaving for school when one of Carmichael’s minions drugged me with a tranquilliser gun. That first day, I was taken to a cell in the Pomona room. Naomi took my blood and Conway came the same evening to torture my mind to make me reveal who we were, Eric and me. I’m ashamed to say it but she was too strong, I didn’t take long to reveal everything to her. She then asked me very personal questions about you, our relationships… even the physical. Naomi was there and Conway was telling her that you had met the owner of the place, Carmichael, and that she had never seen him in such a state. Because of my revelations, she got all the answers she wanted. I would have needed all my strength to fight but the drugs took away all my will.”

“I know that feeling, keep going.”

“The next day, Naomi came back to give me an injection. She was pissed at someone and stayed in my cell for a while. To provoke her, I told her she was hardly impressive compared with you. She doubled her anger, so she decided to make me jealous. She told me that Carmichael, the lord of the middle territory, one of the most powerful caste of this world, had come to see you at home and that you had fallen into his net. I told her, with regret, that it could well be the opposite. She was mad with rage again.”

A hint of guilt made me realise that I was not free from all blame. I began to look at Thomas differently. I understood him. I didn’t know the rest of his story and I didn’t need it anymore. I decided to let him finish since he had waited so long for the moment of this explanation.

“Anyway, Naomi understood that you were a danger to her. After meeting you, Carmichael didn’t have a single look to devote to her. She told me later that you would soon arrive with Eric. Then, and for a week, Conway came to question me every evening about Joseph and his discoveries. I was completely drugged. One evening, she injected me with something much stronger than the others. So powerful that I was blinded by it. I don’t remember exactly everything that happened. Just hearing footsteps, feeling a female presence calling me to her. I was delirious, so I thought you had just arrived at the castle. Only it was Naomi. She then made me believe that it was you, that we were going to leave that cursed place.”

Thomas clenched his jaw and I felt his sadness as surely as mine in realising what a mess the end of our relationship had been.

“And… you know the rest,” he murmured before continuing, in a firm voice, “Carmichael made you wait another two months before bringing you to the castle to make sure that his strategy would be effective, and it was. Naomi was pregnant. Later, Naomi told me that it was Conway who pushed her to take advantage of the situation that night. Certainly under Carmichael’s orders. As Naomi wanted revenge, Conway’s arguments to convince her didn’t take long. But she promised me that she had in no way planned this pregnancy. I hated Carmichael beyond reason. When Naomi broke the news to me, I knew it meant the end of our relationship and I thought I was going to kill them all. Then one day, for the first time, Carmichael paid me a visit. He told me you were coming. Since it was our first meeting, he was curious and wanted to share his feelings about you. He had discovered your powerful talent for attraction and wondered about what I had felt in your presence for months. He asked me lots of very inappropriate questions about you, if you managed to channel your impulses, how long it lasted, how you were in everyday life, what kind of music you listened to… He wanted to know everything. I was determined not to let go, but in the end, I didn’t have to. Carmichael ended by telling me that he understood me. That, if he had been in my place, he would keep it to himself. Despite everything, he was angry with me for taking your virginity and, against all odds, he invited me to live in the castle among them. He told me that I could stay as long as I wanted, that I could see my child grow up and that my place was here. He apologised for my welcome and for the trap Naomi had set for me, but expressed no remorse. He explained to me that he never backed down from anything to get what he wanted.”

“It seems a lot like him, but I’m surprised by what you’re telling me, Carmichael distanced himself from me the day I arrived.”

“According to Salomon, since you met, he has changed and I didn’t hesitate to tell him what I thought of his attitude.”

“What?” I asked, intrigued.

“That he would be unhappy all his life.”

“Why?”

“Because he would see you die,” said Thomas as if it were obvious.

His answer stunned me and I couldn’t help but think back to that night in the chapel when I felt so humiliated that I stormed out. Carmichael could have taken advantage of me, but he had restrained himself. Was it for the same reasons that Thomas had just mentioned?

I was well aware that Thomas could have spared me certain details. He was doing it for me, so that I could move forward. With some answers to my questions, I could now sweep away the past and begin a new future. I kissed Thomas tenderly on the cheek and thanked him.

Our relationship became much friendlier. He even still flirted, at times. It amused me a bit to have this kind of relationship with him. As for Eric, the problem was quite different. He was discreet and silent, hardly ever spoke to me, and fled my presence whenever he had the chance. He had resumed his role as a guardian angel and was keeping a safe distance so well that it was starting to really annoy me. But I hadn’t premeditated what was going to happen that morning, I was even far from having anticipated everything that was going to happen during that terrible day.

Eric and I were alone in the apartment and we found ourselves in the Forbes’ narrow hallway. He couldn’t help but look up at me and immediately met my eyes. I immediately captured his desire to put his hands on my skin, to smell my scent, to kiss me until I was exhausted. But that feeling stopped dead when he disappeared from view and I heard the door of the guest room he occupied slam. At the time, I decided to ignore his evasive attitude, but a sudden irritation made me change my mind. I walked into the bedroom and slammed the door open.

“I don’t think I deserved this, Eric!”

He remained silent and kept his back to me. Admittedly, I hadn’t tried to find out more about what was tormenting him until then, but I thought I deserved better treatment from him than this.

“I apologise if that’s what you think,” he said in a low voice.

“That’s not enough for me! What’s the problem?”

He turned around and took a deep breath before finally looking up at me. A sudden heat, a shock in the back of my neck, a shiver that went up my spine. I began to feel desire again, a feeling that had been foreign to me for months. I thought until then that my own flame was extinguished forever.

“Eve! You can’t understand! I don’t know what happened in London, but I’ll never forget what I saw there. I’m sure things happened that I should know about! It makes me crazy! It’s my fault you got caught. I abandoned you!”

He took a step forward. I imitated him, thinking for a moment about what I was going to be able to say to him. Our eyes remained locked, but he shook his head when I put a hand to his face.

“It wasn’t your fault. From the beginning, Eric, you protected me, you kept me at arm’s length, I could never have continued without your presence. Whether it was in high school or when we were crossing the country in the Cougar. And even… at Mortain.”

“I wanted to be a good man for you, but I lost control.”

“Eric Panchak, you lived up to all my expectations. I just find it a pity that we couldn’t live the rest of this story.”

“Because you thought about it?”

“Of course.”

“When I saw your tears, I blamed myself, I thought that…”

“You think too much.”

A long silence. The door opened abruptly behind us, and Elvis entered out of breath.

“Someone saw the redhead, two other men and your f*****g philosophy teacher hanging around! YOU MUST LEAVE NOW!”

Eric immediately took his cell phone. Thomas was with Johnny and Olivia, and all three came back right away when we were packing our bags. Our farewell to the Forbes was unfortunately too brief and more painful than we had imagined. I had the terrible impression of losing the rest of my humanity by leaving them. Elvis handed the Audi keys to Eric, who collected his property with a knowing nod. The time had come to resume running.