Chapter 59
Venus POV
Aaron came to me and hugged me from behind. “I hope he is fine,” he said.
“I hope so too,” I replied, leaning against him. “After mom died, he was very lonely. With Gaia, he seemed so happy, but “t swallowed my words. The vile fox had tricked him into believing that he loved her. How could you play with someone’s emotions so easily, without guilt?
Aaron took a deep breath in. “Do you want me to come with you?” He kissed my temple as he stared at me in the mirror.
I shook my head. “I want to have some alone time with him. He is still in deep trauma”
“I understand,” he said, releasing me. “Be back by evening, and if possible, coax him to stay with us. With more people around him, I’m sure his loneliness would reduce.”
Sometimes, Aaron surprised me. He had matured a lot over the last few days. He used to be so boyish, but now he was a man. I turned to him and kissed him on his lips. “I will ask him. Luna Marie has also asked me to get him here. But I know he won’t. He is pretty devastated.”
I was on my way to meet dad in the next twenty minutes. Both Alpha and Luna asked me gently to get my dad to our manor when we were having breakfast.
My house was a mess. There was a layer of dust on all furniture, cobwebs sprawled on the corner of the ceilings, the smell of rotten food filled my nostrils making me gag, and the house was enveloped in an eerie silence. From my father’s room, I could hear the soft sounds of his cries. I couldn’t help myself and I rushed upstairs. Opening his room with a loud bang, I entered and found him sitting on the floor with my mom’s pics all around him. He was leaning against a wall with his arms curled around his knees and his head in between them.
“Daddy!” I covered the distance between us in long, hurried sides and kneeled in front of him. He snapped his head up and his eyes went wide.
“Chickee?” he said through moist eyes, his words hoarse. “What are you doing here?” He was looking disheveled. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was unshaven.
I just leaned into him and hugged him tightly, crying hard, mourning mom. If I felt so bad, I couldn’t imagine how my dad felt. As if waiting for someone to comfort him. My father clung to me with a cry so painful that it broke my heart. “I miss Sera,” he wept. “How could I marry someone else and betray her memory?”
“Oh, goddess, daddy, it wasn’t your fault,” I mumbled. “You know it was because of the spell. Please stop blaming yourself.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. It was my fault. Why couldn’t I reason with the unnatural affection?”
I pulled away from him and wiped his tears. “Because those were some powerful spells that affected your reasoning as far as matters of hearts were concerned.”
“Chickee, 1-1- goddess, I miss Sera so much. What should I do?”
“Well, I got an idea,” I said.
His forehead crinkled in a crease.
“The house looks like you have neglected it like hell. I’m going to clean it. So if you are gonna help me, it’s okay, otherwise, I’ll just do it myself.”
He jerked his head back, and then he laughed softly. “It’s great to have you, Venus.” He rested his forehead on mine. “I think I didn’t open the house for the cleaner all these days. I’m sorry.”
After collecting mom’s photos and keeping them nicely on dad’s bed, I went downstairs with him. First, I fixed him a quick bagel with cream cheese and handed him the newspaper. “I want you to read while I’m working.”
“You’ll get tired, chickee!” he blurted, taking the bagel from me.
1/2
Chapter 59
“Don’t worry, I will call the cleaner” I made him sit at the island table forcibly. “Just eat and take a bath, dad, you are curbing like a dead he
He narrowed his eyes at me and slapped my back playfully. “Your mom loved my smell.”
“Ew. Gross!” I bleated. “Spare me the details!”
As my father laughed, rushed out of the kitchen and called the cleaner, Lana, on the phone. She was so happy, saying that she would be there in a few Though he sounded better, I knew he was inclined to follow my mom to the Fade. The thought like a thorn in my chest, and I quickly shoved it
I had already decided that I was going to clean Vicky’s room first and then I will make sure that I trashed hers and Gaia’s belongings. I didn’t want to keep a single thing they owned, however expensive they were, because that would remind my dad of them, making him unhappy.
Vicky’s room was just as she had left it. I opened her main wardrobe and pulled out all her clothes, tossing them angrily in a heap. Gosh, I so wanted to burn them all. Striding to her cupboards, I opened the drawers and pulled out her jewelry, shoes, makeup stuff, underwear and everything that i could find. I tossed them in the same heap of clothes. Then I crossed the room to go to her bathroom when all at once my foot got caught on the edge of a faulty floorboard. “Bitch!” I cursed as I stumbled, but my gaze fell on the floorboard, which had dipped a little more. Intrigued, I lowered one knee to the ground to inspect it.
Hidden under the loose floorboard was an old, tattered book, along with a small vial filled with clear liquid. My heart raced as I took it out and flipped through the pages. It was a book where she had written about love spells. Her handwriting was scribbled everywhere. There was a list of names against phone numbers. There was another list of specific ingredients written in it. It seemed like she was charting them all to create her own love potion. But why? She was already using the help of witches. As I turned more leaves of the book, reading through it all, I came across a specific ingredient listed, Goldenseal, something rare, something that could be traced to a single source. And if could trace it, maybe I could find Vicky.
But was it too late? She was already on the run. Still, with the evidence in hand, I had the key to track her down.
Feeling excited, I went downstairs and decided not to show it to my father. He was chatting with Lana, our cleaner, who was in her mid–fifties. And she was chiding him for messing the house. I liked she didn’t talk about Gaia or Vicky.
I called Aaron, though. When I handed him the book and pointed out the ingredient, a wolfish smile appeared on his face. “Do you know where Goldenseal thrives?”
“It thrives in the rich, moist soils of dense, shady forests, where light can’t reach. And it is very rare. Grows once a year during winter.”
He hugged me tightly, grinning. “You’ve made my work easier!”
I pulled away with a frown on my lips. “What work?”
