“Tessa?" I limped towards her ready to understand what just happened when the door pushed open. "There you are.” An unpleasant voice said.I whirled around to see the Governor's wife inside, she had her hands clutching her purse as she stared down at Tessa with pure disgust in her eyes. "Good day Ma.” I raised my brow at Tessa's sudden shaky voice. Turning back to face her, I bit my inner cheek at the way she was bent at the waist, her hands clutching each other nervously behind her. "And you are?” I turned back to the woman with a cold stare. "Draven.” She raised a brow at me."Draven Dexter.” I completed, hating the fact that she looked superior. "You aren't from City X, are you?” She moved slowly to the couch Blair got up from minutes ago."No.” I hissed between my teeth. What does she want here? "I heard you got married to our Tessa.” She smirked, her eyes swiftly landing on Tessa's still bowed frame before staring straight into my eyes. "Yes.” "And that you are a cra

I tumbled down the stairs while trying hard to control my raw strength and heard gasps of shock the moment I hit the floor with a thud.My head rolled to the side on time to see Tessa tumbling forward as her body bumped the stairs till she landed on me.She whimpered as she laid still on me.Gritting, I closed my eyes and wrapped my hand around the small of her back, trying to reach out to her through the bond to understand what she was feeling at the moment but it came up blank. We laid still for a fraction of a second then I swallowed when she began to move on my body. “Are you okay?" I whispered above her head and she went still as if just realizing that she was lying on top of me. “What do you both think you are doing!?" Blair shrieked, making Tessa jolt. Predicting her next line of action, I held her back, preventing her from jumping to her feet at the sound of her sister's voice. She raised her head slowly to look at me.I blinked down at her eyes, expecting to see the cold

The last guest paused at the door and turned to look at me before giving a slight bow. It was the old lady from earlier. Poppy turned slowly towards me, her locking on mine and my throat tightened.Now all eyes were on me.“Stand up." She ordered. “What?" Emma blurted out, eyes wide as she looked from Poppy to me and back to Poppy. I gritted my teeth and held her gaze. Was it time to blow my covers? 'Stay still.’ The djinn ordered. “I said…stand up!” "How am I supposed to do that without the help of my cane?” I hissed through clenched teeth. "I…I think you are mistaken Ma'am…" Conrad started to say but kept mute when Poppy raised her right index at him.She had her eyes pinned on my face before they ran down my body only to stop at my legs.“Do you think I am a fool?" She raised a brow at me, the corners of her lips twitching. “No." She nodded before turning to face Tessa and without warning, she brought her spread palm down on Tessa's cheek making Tessa stumble backward. “

I fell to the ground, my lower lip in-between my teeth. “What is going on here?” Conrad's icy voice demanded. I sat awkwardly on the ground looking up at Tessa's still glassy eyes as she stood frozen in front of me. "What is going on here?” Emma questioned the moment she barged in, then snorted. "Don't tell me…" She walked into my line of vision, her eyes pinned on Tessa. “...she hit you." She concluded, turning sharply to face me. I stare at her, a blank expression on my face.“Don't tell me she is on it again." Conrad chipped in as he walked towards Tessa who suddenly started heaving. 'This bastard!’ Emma thought and my eyes narrowed on the hateful expression on her face. “Tessa." Conrad called a little too loudly like the person he was calling was outside the mansion and not right in front of him. Tessa blinked down at me but aside from that, there was no other expression on her face. ‘I should have just left her in the bin that night. This cursed creature!’ Emma continue

I hovered over her, my eyes boring into her empty eyes. We were back in the room and it has been over two hours since I finished painting. I wanted to walk through the door, snap their necks and never look back but I had promised to stay.I had promised to protect her. Raising my cold pale fingers, I ran it down the length of her face down to her nape but she didn't flinch. Her eyes were dry and unblinking as she stared right back at me. “Tessa?" I called and swallowed, not expecting my voice to come out rough. “What did she do to you?" I asked, desperately wanting to know why she was so afraid of Poppy. “Why are you so afraid of her?" I gritted my teeth, the question leaving between my teeth.“Who…” I paused, suddenly feeling my chest constrict as the image from hours ago surfaced again. “Who did that to you?" I forced out, my vision suddenly turning blurry. Fuck! Why am I suddenly feeling this emotional? I wanted to punch the space beside her head but pinched the bed inste