The Revenant Queen 2 (wlw)

Chapter Twenty

At the sight of those familiar eyes, of humbleness and gentleness, Isabella was left dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that the man stood there, and in all his glory. But could it be him, the sunny, charismatic man who was eager to learn about devils, to be wealthy, to learn and grow as an intelligent being, an intellectual force or was she hallucinating?

Probably.

Nothing had truly changed thought the older devil as she stepped away from the scene of her whipping her daughter like it didn't happen. She brushed off Wolf's magic. Her footsteps were slow and unsure as she neared the man and as expected she stopped short, her thoughts too thick and disarrayed to propel her forward.

It couldn't be, could it? She asked herself incessantly. Humans were not supposed to live that long not even if they learned magic, so there was no way that he could be alive....unless? No. She didn't want to believe that he was conjured from the dead, if so for what?
Even if the man was conjured from the dust, why was he there and what did it had to do with her? Were Isabella's thoughts. She left him behind for a reason, there was nothing special about this human despite him being an admirable wizard and a good friend. There was nothing that bound him to her, there was nothing he had that she needed or would like to see and that's why she erased him from her memories.

Yet her chest still flattered, her heart still tugged and goosebumps still decorated her flesh in those annoying patterns and she couldn't tell what exactly caused such a reaction.

For a moment, the creases between Isabella's brows relaxed as she admired the man. Aksel, across the room, seemed to mirror her reactions because there was no longer confusion on his visage but possibly interest. The man seemed genuinely intrigued to have seen the woman after so long but hidden behind his affability was uncertainty. He too felt like neither of them should've been there, particularly him. He didn't know why the other devil, Wolf found him within his haven, bringing him back into civilization.

At Isabella's uncertainty, her deciphering that she wasn't the only almost godlike soul in the universe, Colette took the opportunity to run over to her majesty along with McLean. Adira was fine, but her skin was marred in a few regions due to the whip lashes. The obscure cuts on her skin caused Colette to shudder. For a moment it took Adira a few seconds as she struggled to her feet but McLean was there, offering himself as a platform to use so she could pull herself upright and seeing that the brunette went further, extending her arm to her love.

Adira shook as she gripped the older man's oddly firm arm, pulling herself up. Her majesty groaned, feeling her side as it hummed from the pain of being bashed in. Her mother truly did a number on her but those wounds and injuries would be healed in no time but the whip mark?

"Jesus, you're bleeding so much," said Colette touching the woman's upper arm gently and frightened by the dark hue. The blood seeped from Adira's wounds heavily, the dark crimson painting the floor in all obscure patterns as they stopped due to the queen gently swaying from her disorientation.

"We need to leave," whispered McLean and Adira looked at him, and then to Colette.

There was still hostility flooding through her veins, how she wanted to turn around and drive that dagger into her mother's chest but she couldn't, she'd already caused enough mayhem for one day. Instead, Adira looked back at her mother and that was when she saw the other figure the older devil stood a few feet from.

This man was just as tall as Isabella, but his existence wasn't as blood curdling and menacing and her majesty figured it was because he was a stranger. But this stranger had interesting eyes, they seemed to look into the soul and the queen wasn't mistaken because as she lingered there trying to gather herself, the man glared at her and the way his eyes gazed upon her reminded her of something so familiar.