The Devil's Temptation!

58 Bring Her Alive

Roshan kept his piercing gaze locked on the two figures who danced to the rhythm of the soft music playing in the background. The lady in red was currently backing him as she moved gracefully with quiet steps and he found it difficult to 8 see her face. Even if he did, she must be wearing a mask like everyone else present.

Yet seeing sir Steve’s hand linger on her tapered waist and hers on his shoulder was making his blood boil and he forced himself to look away, her alluring scent was clouding his head and he wanted it to stop. No one except Anna has a scent like this.

Damn it! What was she doing to him??

“Are you alright?” The lady he was dancing with couldn’t help but ask after noticing his disturbed expression, most especially the icy look in his eyes and she thought she heard an ice crack. It looked like he wanted to kill someone but after hearing her speak, those looks vanished from his eyes like a fleeting bird.

“Yeah, I’m just burned up.” He subtly responded, a response the lady herself barely understood but it wasn’t his business if she did or not. His unsettled gaze shifted towards the two dancing figures again and he could barely focus on anything except them.

Anna, who forced herself to stay in the arms of sir Steve learned to hide her anxiety with a smile but she doesn’t think she can hold on to that patience for much long.

She silently wondered when the dance would end or if it’ll ever end. Occasions like this were always boring to her cause the wealthy preferred doing something fancy to keep their reputations in place rather than something fun.

She had witnessed a lot more while staying in the palace but she was never allowed to serve since she was considered a curse due to her mark.

Nevermind that, her main concern at this point was her mother. Her heart always acted restless whenever the thought of that corpse not being her mother crossed her mind. Doubts were gradually rising in her head but_ if it wasn’t her mother who owned those corpse and if she’s really alive somewhere, why didn’t she come back?

.....

If she was truly alive then surely her mother would have definitely come back for her, she wouldn’t abandon her.

Anna’s mind was discombobulated, or was she crazily giving herself false hope?

“Uhm...sir Steve.” She finally began, her patience had reached the top of the cup and she wasn’t willing to waste anymore time with this man than she already did, “about the woman you told me about, I was hoping if we could finish that conversation.”

She didn’t care anymore if it led to her true self being exposed, she just wanted to know the truth and since sir Steve oddly brought up the conversation, there’s no doubt he could be clueless about her mother’s whereabouts.

“Oh.” Sir Steve’s expression was one of puzzlement before a look of realization dawned on his facial features.

“Yes I remember, late Mateo’s wife right?”

Anna nodded before taking her time to speak, “you see, that conversation had really left me curious and I was wondering if you could complete it.” She said her words carefully before giving him one of her best doe-eyed looks and that was something sir Steve found difficult to resist.

He was a man who had interest in young women and it didn’t matter if she hated it, she’d use his weakness against him to get what she wanted.

“If you insist, let’s head up the stairs where there won’t be noises to interrupt.”

He released her from his dance hold which was nothing but a great relief to Anna. At least she tore herself from this uncomfortable dance she was having with sir Steve. A slow smile crossed her lips and she nodded.

“I don’t mind at all.”

Sir Steve’s eyes mischievously glinted and with a cunning smile that no one could see, he led Anna up the long stairs. Taking a deep breath, Anna shook off the eerie feelings in her heart and went up the stairs alongside sir Steve.

Roshan’s gaze silently followed them like a hawk until they were out of sight and a rage he couldn’t understand swept through him. His eyes blazed like deep forests.

Where where they going? This annoying woman! She really has no idea the amount of danger she’s currently putting herself into. Her presence alone is threatening but she always defied his orders and did as she saw fit.

Something didn’t feel right and a dread he’s never felt before crawled into his chest. He felt this way before leaving the palace and now that feeling only worsened after seeing Anna here.

She shouldn’t have come here. Wait... how did she even get here??

The music finally stopped and he looked at the lady he was currently dancing with.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back.” He said as politely as he could before releasing her, he didn’t bother to wait for her response and walked off in a hurry. The lady was a bit baffled and she had sensed his worry all through the dance.

Strange.

Making sure there were no guards of sir Steve guarding the stairs, Roshan headed up as well, he felt the daggers he hung at his belt side, confirming they were intact. Something told him he wasn’t just going upstairs to get Anna, but he was going for a killing spree.

Sir Steve led Anna towards the balcony of his mansion. There was no one there and even on their way here, she barely saw anyone come up this particular stairs.

Anna gazed up at the empty dark sky with her brown eyes sparkling under the moonlight but a hint of loneliness could be spotted in them..

‘There’s no stars tonight,’ thought Annalise, but the silvery-white moon lit brighter against the dark sky and it felt cold standing in the open balcony.

“I hope you don’t mind this place.” Sir Steve uttered after spotting Anna rubbing her arms in an attempt to keep herself warm. She wondered how it became cold here. It was much warmer in the hall.

Holding in the cold, she shook her head in response to sir Steve’s words before proceeding to ask.

“So....”

“Sir Mateo’s wife was very hard-working..” he began after clearing his throat, “...she was a good and beautiful woman at that.”

Anna held back a scoff due to the fetish look in his eyes, was he interested in her mother as well??

“That day on the ship, when the terrible storm occurred, no one in the ship survived but their bodies were found. I got to know of this cause the boxes of goods that had to be delivered to the neighboring towns were mine.”

He folded his arms behind his back, “I think she had a daughter, though I’ve never met her daughter before but I’ve heard people refer to her as a curse.”

Anna’s expression dimmed at his words, but she shook it off and waited for more.

“I don’t know about the daughter, but what I do know is the mother’s body wasn’t found. Like it just.... disappeared.”

Anna’s brow furrowed into a frown, “you mean her body was never found? If it wasn’t found then, where is the body?”

Before sir Steve could respond, something unexpected happened at the last minute and Anna’s eyes widened in horror. The world seemed to stop moving for a couple of minutes before the situation dawned on her.

An arrow was shot straight at sir Steve from who knows where and it left Anna frozen as she witnessed it herself. The arrow pierced through his back and the head stuck out from his chest. Sir Steve’s eyes widened at the quick sting of pain and almost like he couldn’t believe it, he lowered his gaze to his bleeding chest and he realized he got shut directly at his heart. Blood escaped from his lips as he looked up to meet Anna’s horrid stare.

“Sir Steve!” She clasped her hand over her mouth, watching the man sprawl to the ground and before Anna could react, a man surprisingly stood at the edge of the balcony with a demonic aura emanating from him, he wore a black mask that covered his entire face, not even his eyes were left visible for anyone to see.

The being held a crossbow and an arrow while staring at the dumbstruck Anna. She couldn’t move as fear gripped her whole senses, the cells in her system were screaming for her to run but she could barely move a foot.

Before her eyes, more demons appeared out of the shadows they were currently lurking in, but they appeared in the form of a grotesque, they had scaly bodies, lifeless eyes and two horns protruding at both sides of their head. Never has she come across demons that were scary and ugly as this ones.

They growled at her, sounding so inhumane as they came forward, their soulless eyes frightened Anna to the point she took a step back.

She wanted to scream as her throat ached to let out all her fright, but she could barely speak.

The man in a mask suddenly pointed at her and that’s when Anna regained herself.

Are they here for her???

Without waiting for a single moment, she took to her heels and left the balcony.

The man in a mask finally spoke to his minions in a cold but unhurried voice.

“Bring her alive. Our master wouldn’t appreciate a dead being.”