This is book 2 in the "Beautiful Destruction" series. You MUST READ "Theirs to Claim" first in order to understand this one.
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When I was ten, my father told me that all of my dreams would one day come true. Naively, I believed him.
I may have gr...
A/N: You guys are probably about to get mad at me again... but remember the whole training/fighting scene all of you wanted? That's coming up really soon, so be happy about that while you read this :)
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Chapter 19 : Madelyn Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
Things were quiet this morning when I woke up.
My room was warm despite the iciness outside, and I was honestly surprised when I saw my alarm clock read 10:15am, Lev having usually woken me up by now to train.
Back at the Keep, even though we were fighting half of the time, we would see who could beat the other up just so we could find the cruelest ways to wake the remainder.
I thought he'd just been giving me a break so far considering how tired I've been, but I really was alone when I got up this morning, still in the same clothes as last night minus my underwear and shorts that were now shucked away on the floor.
It was then that the real parts of last night hit me at full force—the name I'd been calling out muffled against the same pillow I was resting against right now.
Shit.
I remember everything, even over the fuzziness of my sleep, and as much as Caleb's icy blue gaze continued to pierce my mind, I also became increasingly aware of the injuries I'd sustained last night.
My adrenaline had kept me going enough to let me rest, but it was all gone today. All I felt now was a sharp throbbing in my stomach, shades of purple and yellow marring my skin in the faint outline of a shoe.
That hurt so much worse than the thoughts Caleb had managed to invade.
"Lev?" I called out once just to make sure he wasn't somewhere in here, and when I heard nothing, I ever so carefully slipped out of the warmth of my bed, grabbing a new pair of underwear and shorts from my drawers.
Just bending to put things on reminded me how tender my skin was right now, and I knew it would probably take at least a week for it to fully go away.
On the bright side, though, I was thousands of dollars richer now. Even with Caleb's list of jobs, I wasn't sure if I wanted to give the kind of money up.
He may have given me every opportunity in the city he could approve of, but none of them gave me the thrill I had last night.
Walking across the cold hardwood floor, my bare feet lightly tapping against it with each step I take, I move over to the cabinet where I've started a small collection of medicine.
Praying for two Advils to be enough, I filled myself a glass of water before drinking them both down, once again wondering why Lev wasn't the reason I'd woken up this morning.
Maybe he was still sleeping?
After all he'd been up late too, even though my night had gone much later than his had. I smiled at the thought of getting to be the one to restart our stupid tradition, the one that had once distracted me enough to make me want to get out of bed.
