The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XXXII

Carolina

The drive to my apartment is a little tense. Elijah is silent the whole time, gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles have turned white. I reach over and try to calm him down by gently rubbing his knee. He loosens his grip on the steering wheel a bit but his posture stays stiff and his eyes stay glued to the road.

Once we arrive to my apartment, Elijah makes it to my door in a flash to open it for me. He firmly grabs my hand and pulls me close to him as he drags me close to him. I’m surprised at how quiet my street has been. From the outside, there seems to be no evidence that anything happened in my apartment building two days ago. My floor on the other hand is much busier. There are people in mover’s uniforms going in and out of two of the other apartments on my floor.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“They’re just tying up loose ends and making preparations for a decision I was hoping you wouldn’t make,” he mutters under his breath. 

My apartment, like the outside of the building, looks completely normal, as if nothing happened. Well, the living room and kitchen area is the same. Before I can make it to my bedroom, I feel a tall, slim body slam into mine in a bear hug. 

“You’re okay!” Tori exclaims as I feel her squeeze the life out of me.

“Yes, but I won’t be so fine if you don’t let me go,” I choke out as I reassuringly pat her back, hoping she would let me go so I can breath. 

“Can you blame me for being worried,” she sighs as she finally lets me go. Her relieved expression then turns to one of slight anger. “How could you not tell me the Elijah Seka was some cursed mummy?! Not to mention he’s your soulmate!”

My jaw drops as I look over to Elijah. “You told her?!” I shriek. 

“It was hard to cover up your k********g especially with all the damage she witness in your bedroom,” he explains calmly. 

“I managed to corner him and Charles and forced them to tell me everything. My question is why you didn’t say anything,” she huffs in annoyance. 

I sigh. “If you think I didn’t say anything because I don’t trust you, you’re wrong. There were so many times I wished I could go to you for advice,” I explain, “But everything I’m mixed up in would only put you in danger. Plus, do you know how insane the idea of a cursed mummy sounds?” 

Tori gives me a look as if she doesn’t completely believe me. Elijah takes her silence as his cue to speak up. “I also stressed that she keep everything she was learning about my world secret for her protection. Even I didn’t tell Carolina everything in the beginning. It’s not her fault that she hid things from you, Tori,” he assures. 

Tori nods, looking more satisfied with what we’ve both told her. “Honestly, this would all be a secret if my illusion magic would work on you but so far it seems like it doesn’t,” he adds. I raise my brows at him in question. His magic doesn’t work on her? Elijah just gives me a shrug. He then gives Tori a stern look. “In light of that, you would be smart to not share any information you know for your safety,” he states darkly. 

Tori gives him a stiff nod. “I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry,” she grumbles. She then leans in towards me and speaks lowly. “I can’t tell if your boyfriend is hot or scary right now,” she whispers. I lightly slap her arm playfully. A small smirk crawls onto Elijah’s face. Looks like he heard her. 

Tori helps me off the floor, allowing me to head into my bedroom. I’m greeted by the sight of Charles sitting at my desk looking out my window. The room looks like the way I left it the night I went on my date with Elijah before the attack happened. The window is fixed, the bed is neatly made, and my desk is the same cluttered mess. The walls, though, look oddly clean. 

“Was this room repainted?” I ask. I hear Elijah shift behind me. He gives off these strange, uncomfortable vibes.

“It was. And the chair for your desk has been replaced,” Charles deadpans, not taking his eyes off the window. 

I raise my brows and look at Elijah in question. He just scratches the back of his neck awkwardly and looks away. “And why is that? Did Jay cause some damage after I fell unconscious?” I ask. 

“No. His highness became frustrated upon hearing you got kidn*pped and took out that frustration by putting your chair through the wall,” he states, his voice straining at the word “kidn*pped”. 

I give Elijah a look. He doesn’t dare look me in the eye. I can’t hold back a smile. He’s acting like a little kid that knows he did something wrong but doesn’t want to be called out on it. 

“I know you only react the way you do because you care,” I say lowly to him while running my hand down his arm into his hand and placing a kiss on his shoulder. 

For a second, it almost looks like a tinge of pink has managed to find its way onto Elijah’s face. He then coughs, bringing his hand to his mouth to hide it. “I do. But...I’ll work on controlling myself. I’ve never lost my s**t like that for anyone before,” he mutters bashfully. He brings my hand up to his lips and places a tender kiss on it. I look over to Charles’ unmoving form at my desk. He’s still staring out the window.

“Babe, can you let me talk to Charles for a minute? Alone?” I ask sweetly. Elijah glances over at him before glancing at me. He gives me a slow nod, giving my hand a squeeze. 

“I’ll be right outside in the hallway,” he says as he leaves me and Charles alone in my bedroom. 

“Charles,” I start slowly. He stays silent. I continue. “Are you okay? What happened-“

I jump as he slams his fist onto my desk before shooting up from his seat.

“What do you think happened?!” He explodes. “I let the dark sand find you! I let one of them get into the apartment! I let them kidnap you! I disgraced myself in front of the pharaoh! I failed him! I failed you!” 

I stare at Charles’ back in shock. He’s turned away from me but I can tell he has his face in his hand. I slowly walk up to him and try to place my hands on his arms. “You didn’t fail-“ 

He abruptly shakes my hands off him and takes another step away. “Stop that. Don’t do that annoying thing you do,” he says, his voice sounding strained. 

“What annoying thing?” I ask as I draw my hands back into myself. 

He lets out a shaky breath. “When you act all friendly and soft and easy to talk to and approachable. I don’t want to talk to you about this. Hell, I don’t want to get to know you. I shouldn’t have to. I never wanted to,” he raises his voice at me. 

The idea that Charles doesn’t want to know me, as if he doesn’t like me, manifests a pain in my heart. 

“Okay, okay,” I say calmly, hoping to deescalate the situation. “You don’t have to tell me how you feel or what you’re going to. But please, don’t tell me you don’t want to get to know me or that you don’t have to. You’re my bodyguard for crying out loud. How could we not get to know each other?” I plead. 

Charles shakes his head. He lets out a humorless laugh. “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not your bodyguard for long. I couldn’t do the one thing I was supposed to. I didn’t protect you,” he mutters. 

It’s true that I got kidn*pped me but nobody could have figured that Jay was the one who was going to do it. He took us all by surprise. Charles can’t blame himself for that. 

“How did you guys find me?” I ask softly. 

Charles stays silent for a second. He then goes into my back pack and pulls out my dream notebook. He hands it to me but keeps his head down to avoid looking at me. 

“An investigation had started but it wasn’t going anywhere substantial. I remembered how you looked like you weren’t getting sleep last week. I thought about what you told me about that dream book you keep. I didn’t know what possessed me to read it but I’m glad I did. 

“Your dream journal reads like predictions, like visions of the future. The last reoccurring dream you wrote about aligned with your k********g. I showed Seka the book. We used the details about the docks and the Hudson River to narrow down our search. We investigated every abandoned pier on the Hudson,” he explains. 

My dream predicted my k********g? Well, that would have been nice to know before I got kidn*pped. 

“Charles,” I say gently, again. “If you’re the one who thought to use my dream journal to find me, doesn’t that mean you’re the one who was responsible for my rescue? You saved me.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t try to turn this around to make me some sort of hero. Your gift as a Seer is what saved you,” he denies. 

“But if nobody knew about my journal, I wouldn’t have been found. You were the only one who knew. You did save me,” I insist. Charles stays silent. 

“It’s true, I did get kidn*pped. But that’s not your fault. Nobody could have expected Jay would join the Dark Sand and suddenly have magic. He took us all by surprise. What matters is that you did everything you could to get me back. You guys retrieved me quickly and safely. You did do your job, and you did it well,” I urge. “Thank you, Charles.” 

Charles’ stiff shoulders drop and his hand comes up to cover his face again. Whatever invisible wall he seemed to have put up between us finally falls. 

“I don’t understand you. How could you forgive me so easily?” He mumbles. 

“I never blamed you to begin with and I’m not going to start now,” I reply. “Now, can you stop blaming yourself and let me be your friend already?” 

Charles finally looks up at me, his eyes looking red and exhausted. He gives me a curious look at the mention of the word “friend”. 

“Don’t act like we weren’t at least acquaintances,” I half laugh, hoping to lighten the mood. He gives me a weak nod. 

I stretch open my arms, inviting him in for a hug. “Bring it in big guy,” I say with a small smile. Charles shifts uncomfortably, his nose wrinkling as he seems to hold back a cringe.  

“I’m not going to put my arms down until you hug me, Charles,” I proclaim. He rolls his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. I inch towards him. He doesn’t move as I wrap my arms around him. It takes him a moment but he awkwardly returns the gesture. 

“Just know that if this feels awkward, it’s because you’re making it awkward,” I tease while we’re still locked in our hug. 

“You’re so annoying,” Charles scoffs. 

“And you missed me anyways,” I say while pulling away. 

He gives me another eye roll. “Don’t flatter yourself, Princess,” he says. 

“Looks like you’re back to normal,” I snap back with a grin. 

We’re interrupted by the sound of my bedroom door opening. “If you two are done, I’d like to talk to Carolina about our living arrangements for tonight,” Elijah says. 

“What about our living arrangements?” I ask. 

“Well, since you’re staying here, I thought you should know I’ll be taking the apartment next door,” he starts. 

Wait. What? 

“Elijah-“

“I don’t want you to fight me on this,” he cuts in. “I just got you back. Charles and I will be taking the other two apartments on this floor as added security on top of the other guards that will be watching you from afar.”

“But-“

“And I was hoping that since we’re officially a couple, you could live with me in my apartment...if you’re comfortable with that,” he adds. 

“I’m not moving back here!” I yell. 

Elijah gives me a dumbfounded look. His eyes widen in shock and his jaw goes slack. The look on his face is priceless. 

“Then why did you want to come back?” He questions. 

“I wanted to properly pack a bag of clothes and get my school things,” I say with a small laugh. 

“I could have just bought you new clothes. And I could have sent someone to pick up anything from here you needed,” he mumbles. 

“But I also wanted to see Tori and my room for one last time, at least for a while,” I add. “I was planning on staying with you, if you’re comfortable with that.” 

A chuckle escapes Elijah’s lips. “Don’t get cheeky with me. You had me scared for a second,” he playfully scolds. 

I give him a playful smirk. “I didn’t think you’d make a big deal out of this,” I shrug. I then wrap my arms around him and place my head in his chest. His hands automatically find my waist. “It’s sweet that you were preparing yourself to accept my potential decision to stay here, even if you were against it,” I say. 

“Well, your safety is one of the most important things to me. But I know having a say is important to you and whatever is important to you is important to me, too,” he grumbles. “Plus, the last thing I need is to be on your bad side again after everything we’ve been through.” 

“Am I not fun when I’m mad at you?” I ask innocently. 

Elijah gives me a wary look. “Not in the slightest,” he says. 

I pull away from our embrace and lead him further into the room. I pull a suitcase out from under my bed and a duffle bag from my closet. 

“If you boys aren’t busy,” I say while giving Elijah and Charles a look, “Do you think you two could help me pack a few of my things?”