Louisa's POV
Derek put his hand into his pocket.
Colt thought he was about to take out a weapon or something, so he stepped forward, trying to stop him.
"This..." Derek took out an amber-colored stone from his pocket and said. "This is Amber of Star. I want to give this... to your friend. I got it from... Underground City. With this stone, people can communicate with the soul... of their beloved deceased ones... I'm sorry that..."
"I don't want anything from you." Mata cried out. "You took away my brother's life and there's nothing you can do to make up for it! He's dead! You killed him! You took him away from me! I have been staying with my brother ever since I first opened my eyes, and now his eyes will never open again. He can never hold my hands when I'm scared! It's a big scary world out there and I'm always scared!"
"But you can talk to your brother... As if he's still alive..." Derek tried to explain.
"You just don't understand, do you?" Mata wiped off the tears in his eyes and said.
Then, he continued, "I don't need some starstone to talk to him. When I close my eyes, I can see his face. When I listen, I can hear his voice. You can take his life away from me, but you can't take away my memory of him! How can my brother die if he's still in my heart?"
I held Mata in my arms and wept silently.
The Amber of Star dropped on the floor.
Derek covered his face with his trembling hands.
"I'm wrong... I'm wrong about everything..." he mumbled.
Then, he lifted his head drastically and said, "Louisa, take me with you... I'll take you to see my brother... I have to hold him in my arms and tell him that I'm sorry about everything... but I can't walk..."
Alex stepped forward and said, "I'll take him. Let's get going."
Lucas' POV
"What the fuck did you say?" I couldn't believe what I had just heard.
The soldiers in front of me were shivering. None of them dared to say anything.
Akela looked very puzzled and said, "Why are you so angry, Lucas? We've got lots of maids. It really doesn't matter if one is missing..."
"Where the fuck did she go?!" I shouted at the soldiers.
"We really don't know, Alpha. We found Lady Akela in town, driving the carriage all by herself. She didn't tell us where Miss Louisa went..." a soldier said.
Just when I was about to rip his head off his neck, Lucian walked into the tent.
"Leave us," Lucian said to the soldiers.
"Yes, Beta!" They said and disappeared immediately from the tent.
"Lucas, can you help me to zip up this wedding dress? It's very tight. I need to lose another fifteen pounds before the wedding. But it's OK. I won't eat anything from now on." Akela said while looking at herself in the mirror.
I stepped behind her, trying to help her, but I couldn't concentrate on doing anything.
My woman was missing and I had no fucking clue about where she was.
And then the zip clenched my finger.
"Fuck," I swung my hand and said.
"May I?" Lucian walked next to me and asked.
I stepped back and let Lucian take over.
He's a fucking expert in helping women get dressed while I only know how to rip their clothes off.
I said impatiently to Akela, "Girl, you really should pick a larger-sized wedding dress next time when you get married."
"What do you mean?" Akela looked at me in surprise.
Lucian stared at me, sighed, and rubbed his forehead.
Fuck. I couldn't believe I had slipped it out! Did I just tell Akela that I wasn't going to marry her?!
Just when I was about to get toasted, Akela batted her eyelashes and continued, "Do you mean that I'm fat? Oh, no!" She covered her mouth with both of her gloved hands.
"I knew I shouldn't have eaten that pound cake last night! It's called 'pound cake' for a reason!" Akela burst into tears.
Well, that was fucking close.
I guess I can always trust a girl like Akela. Her stupidity has never let me down.
"Babe, come here and give me a hug. You are not fat, babe." I pretended to hug and comfort her. But actually, I just want to feel her boobs.
They looked so tempting in a V-necked wedding dress like that.
Akela stepped back and said, "Don't come closer! You can't hug me when I'm in this wedding dress. It will get wrinkled. And I will just be a fat girl wearing a wrinkled dress at my wedding!"
Then, she started to cry out loud.
Lucian held her arms and said, "Akela, don't cry. Your brother's messenger was here this morning. He's here to notify us about your brother's arrival. He'll be here tomorrow."
Akela immediately stopped crying and asked, "What?! You mean my brother is coming?!"
Then, she paused for a while and said very seriously, "No, I don't think he's going to be happy to see me. I ran away from Emerald Creek and he must be very mad now. I need to find a place to hide. Lucas, can you hide me in a closet or something? When my brother comes, you can tell him that you haven't seen me."
"Darling, your brother is coming tomorrow, and hiding in a closet isn't going to solve any problem," I said.
"But how about a big case? You know, the ones I saw this morning when Josephine tried to put her maid in..."
"You cannot hide in a casket either, Akela." I smiled at him and said. "Only dead people sleep inside caskets and vampires, of course."
Deep in my heart, I really wish I could stuff her into a fucking casket and bury her alive.
At least I could shut her up in this way.
Lucian said, "Wait a minute, you saw Josephine putting her maid in a casket this morning?"
Akela nodded and said, "Yes. It was the maid that I was hanging out with in the Luna Tent the other day. She was trying to take away some potion from a potion box. And I met her again the other day, she was trying to add sugar to a teapot."
Lucian looked at me and we walked out of the tailor's tent.
"It's Josephine. She's behind all this," Lucian said.