“Why did you bring me here?” she finally managed to say, her gaze not leaving his face, not once. She almost didn't blink.
He looked away. “Better to leave you in the snow, freezing to death?”
“That's not an answer,” she nearly growled, her hand clenching in a fist.
“It definitely is. I just don't tell you what you want to hear anymore,” he said bluntly.
Ouch.She felt a pang.
“So that's what you were doing all this time? Just feeding me with something I wanted to hear?” The tears shone in her eyes but her voice rose.
He eyed her again.His gaze had never been so raw. Like he despised her, when only she had a reason to do so.
“I think I've already told you all of that.” He straightened up his back – his eyes had never been so bleak, not even when they’d met for the first time. “I promised to bring you home, you’ll depart at sunset. The carriage will be waiting outside.” With those words he turned back and walked away.
Violette froze. Each of his words felt like a stone. She couldn't believe what she just heard. This was how it was going to end? Him just walking away? No goodbye? A flash of their memories and moments they spent together flew before her eyes. So that's what it was – just a vague insignificant occurrence? Nothing to remember, nothing to forget because all of it was just an illusion. Alie.
The anxiety hovered over her. The air sliced her throat with each inhale. The tears ran down her cheeks, she couldn't hold them in anymore. She didn't want to cry. She thought she could swallow this truth, she thought she would feel only anger but it was too painful. She roughly wiped her cheeks and ran out of the room in an urge to get one answer before it all ended.
She intercepted him right before he disappeared behind the other door.
“I just want to know one thing.” Her face distorted in animosity. “Why?”
His gaze fixated on the doorknob before he turned his head in her direction. His eyes flickered out of the cornersat her.
“Should there be a reason? Aren’t I just a terrible evil being?”
Violette’s chest tightened.
Dante took a step into his room but she stormed in right after him.
“You push me away but then go after me to keep the promise, like you are a damned gentleman. I don't understand you. Why make it so complicated? Why make me go away if you don't care? Why save me if you don't care?”
Dante stood by the window, facing her with his back. He didn't dare or didn't care to turn to her – to look into her eyes. She didn't expect him to be that cruel. Last night, when she said she believed he had a kind heart, she never thought she’d be so wrong. Her biggest mistake so far. She was indeed naive, believing in him, believing there could be something more behind this fortress.
“I have no obligation to explain myself to you,” Dante stated and looked to the side, but never at her. That was what she remembered last, him by the window, silhouetted by the dim sunlight penetrating through thick curtains.
Her stubbornness finally gave up. It was time to let go. She didn't say goodbye, she didn't say anything and she didn't cry anymore. Why should she cry about something that was never real?
Chapter 43
UNHEALABLE WOUNDS
The trees and snowy fields rolled past the window as Violette sat in the carriage. The fogginess outside and the icy ground were the only things she remembered about this trip. She looked through all of it, the empty eyes of a hurt soul watching as the landscapes changed over hours.
Dante didn't come with her. He didn't even show up as she departed. The way home was hazy – her mind was a labyrinth of thoughts about what happened in the last hours. She wished to think about something else but she was haunted by the visions of the past. Betrayal was the only thing she could feel as the carriage was moving through all those places she saw for the first time with Dante just some days ago. She lost track of time, not paying much attention to what was happening outside, instead she was traveling through the memories which she had to bury now. How ironic, they'd visited so many dead places but now, the one who felt less alive washer.
The young man who drove the coach accompanied her throughout all of her journey. She assumed Dantepaid or lured him; she didn't really care at this point. She just wanted to go home. To see her father. At least, she had something real waiting for her.
One blink and she again stood by the lake with the portal. It was time to go back where she belonged – the splash of the water echoed through the cave.
One sigh and she was already in the middle of the lake in the night garden. The trees were blissing with light just like the night she was here the last time. The fireflies glowed bright before her eyes as she stepped out to leave this place forever.
Her companion took her to the city and finally everything started to feel more real, like the phantasm of the dreams started fading away. Soon a familiar sign emerged before her eyes and it felt like awakening.
The amicable willows at the entrance to the city greeted Violette with their presence, lightning something warm in her chest. The small houses blended with the high buildings, streets so familiar and dear to her heart, were filled with ever-burning magic and lights. Her eyes followed the changing streets with longing as the colorful shop signs were flashing outside the windows. It has been forever since she left this place, though everything stayed as it was. It was her place, her town, her home and yet – she still felt the aching like she lost something while being away. A part of herself, perhaps. The street lightswere burning just the same when she saw them for the last time, but she was different. The pain of losingsomething that turned out to be fake will forever linger underneath her skin.
She crossed the threshold of her house. The familiar smell that met her nose seemed to be a dream but it didn’t awaken excitement in her heart as she expected. Everything seemed so different when nothing changed. Her chest squeezed, something heavy weighed her soul, even though a smile tugged the corner of her lips when she finally found herself in the living room.
