Page 33 of Nocturne

She might not know it, but despite her short stature, Iyra can look scary when she is angry. Like now.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was when I received the phone call from a heavilydistraughtIvy?” she starts while she paces the area in front of my bed.

“She said that she couldn’t find you and couldn’t reach you on your phone. She was crying, losing her head that you’ve been missing in a questionable place for more than an hour!”

I hang my head, understanding how much Ivy would’ve panicking.

“Can you imagine how I felt? It was like reliving the past all over again! I nearly lost my mind thinking he had come back.”

She doesn’t know everything about Vir or what happened in the forests. But she knows I was kidnapped, tortured, and somehow escaped. I had to give her partial truths when planning our escape. Now, tears glisten in her furious brown eyes as she hurriedly wipes them away.

“I thought we were past this curiosity bullshit, Ara. The days where you drove yourself and everyone around you mad for the questions you need answers to!”

They are,I want to yell. But I cannot talk with the sting in my throat. So I shove some ice chips into my mouth and look around for my phone or paper. Iyra gives me her phone and I type quickly.

I wasn’t out there exploring those darn caves. I lost my way while coming back from the loo and ended up in a corridor where that lunatic was!!

She looks down at the screen with a frown.

“You lost your way? I don’t believe that!” she squints her eyes, trying to see if I’m lying.

I swear.

Something in my expression must convince her because she sinks into the chair beside the bed, shaking her head with a heavy sigh.

“You cannot seem to catch a break,”

I roll my eyes and type.

Tell me about it.

A smile cracks on her face and that has me smiling as well.

You don’t look so well, Iyra. Is there something bothering you?

She looks down at the phone and shakes her head.

“The business’s been tough. With the relocating and having demanding clients, it does take a toll on you.”

The guilt of everything I made her do settles in, making me want to kill myself more and more.

I’m sorry I made you come all the way here when you’re busy.

“Shut up, Ara. I get to take care of you too. You don’t have to do everything by yourself just because you are the elder one,” she rolls her eyes.

She doesn’t get it.

I made her uproot her life in a place she loved. I made her leave the boy she cared for and the freedom to live her life as she wished. I thrust her into a world where she can never step into the limelight, despite her talent as a patissier. In a time when anyone can showcase even the smallest skill online, I forced my sister into hiding, suppressing her talent so she wouldn’t be seen.

I took everything from her because I couldn’t let go. I’m her big sister, and I just wish I had done better.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before Iyra glances at me, suspicion in her eyes. I raise a brow in question. She leans back in her chair, stretches her legs across the bed, and rests her fist on her hand, giving me her full attention.

“So, I saw the man who saved you,”

It takes a minute for me to recall who she is talking about. But once I do, my mouth goes to form an ‘O’ but no sound comes out from my throat. I shove some ice chips just so that I would have something else to do than look at her.

“He is as…interesting as the company surrounding him,”

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