Page 73 of Scent Of Obsession

“Sleep.”

Her eyes glistened. A lonely tear ran down her cheek. I stopped its trajectory with my thumb, making it disappear.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered with all her sweetness, stroking her cheek on my thumb.

I’m not going anywhere.

I won’t ever leave you.

You belong to me.

I cleared my throat. “Sleep, Lily.”

The corners of her mouth turned up.

“You can’t hide behind your words forever, Radcliff.” She closed her eyelids, drifting asleep slowly. “Your actions showed me.”

My lips turned into a thin line. She was reckless, convinced that having her as a weakness was a good thing for her. It wasn’t. For none of us. I brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, leering over her chest rising up and down.

Lily was just like a diamond.

She allowed the light to enter and reflect off every facet of her. A diamond didn’t reverberate in a rainbow color, contrary to what people thought. It allowed the darkness to penetrate and reflect in a silver tone. A powerful mix of darkness and light.

Too perfect, it’d be fake. A diamond had little breaks inside. Invisible to the naked eye, those inclusions were worthy to be seen only by a deserving soul. It didn’t affect the beauty of it—on the contrary, it magnified it. It was those internal characteristics that created its uniqueness.

A bruised diamond, yes. But not too bruised to break and shatter. The duality I had for her was here. I’d hold the pieces together, shielding her, but my destructive craving for her could also easily damage her. Worshiping or enslaving her.

I strolled to the balcony, letting her dive into her dreams. I grabbed my tarot set on my way, observing the darkness with a new light. I shuffled the cards under the twilight.The Towerwas behind us, but my gut told me this was just the beginning.

I was still keeping secrets from Lily. Things I couldn’t tell her.

The prospect of losing her wasn’t allowed.

The price for the truth was too big.

The only thing I was certain of was I’d protect her from everyone else—except me.

I turned over the card.

The hair on my skin hissed, and my blood froze. I let the card fall off the balcony. It sneered at me in its downfall.

A skeleton with an invincible armor.

A flag with petals of rose.

The boat of Charon floating down the underworld river.

The card no one can escape.

Number XIII.

The Death.

Inspiration couldn’t be tamed or tempered.

It was an orchestra swallowing me whole.

A symphony I had to play now, or it’d be lost forever.