The Reaper's Wicked Obsession-Chapter 176: The Creak

Isadora trusted her instinct. She raised her pillow to reveal her twin daggers and grabbed one of them, swinging her legs off the bed.

Her feet pressed against the wooden floor, and it creaked under her weight when she rose to her full height.

Silence followed, and the earlier creak she had heard was gone, spiking Isadora’s nerves, but she remained rooted to her position, her grip on her blade tightened.

She kept her gaze on the wooden ceiling as they willed it for another sound to track, yet internally she prayed it would never come.

However, it did, this time faster, in various locations, and Isadora couldn’t keep up with it. She twirled multiple times as her eyes tracked every sound, but it was an endless attempt.

Whatever that thing was, it was unusual, and she couldn’t study it enough to decipher what it.

But then... It stopped again.

An intense silence filled the room, with only Isadora’s ragged breath drowning her ears. She swallowed back a hard gulp as her nerves worked her to the bone, her body giving little tremors, yet she didn’t let that dull her senses.

That would be a mistake. She needed to stay alert for what was to come.

The silence became nerve-wracking because not only within her room, but outside too. She never realized this until now—The village was as silent as a graveyard, not even a single rustle of leaves or branch snaps from little animals could be heard.

Almost like nothing was alive. Was that normal?

Creak!

Isadora’s blood ran cold at the sudden noise... it wasn’t from the ceiling but behind her!

Her breathing stilled, her wrecking nerves shutting down, replaced with an intensity that pumped the blood in her veins.

Creak!

Isadora spun swiftly, swinging her blade with formidable force. The pressure blasted away, and the gust caused a dent in the ceiling.

"Kraven!" Isadora rasped, staring wide-eyed at him before they moved to her wrist, enclosed in his hold to stop her attack.

"What did I tell you about using too much aura in a single attack?" He mused. "Just look at you... already breathless."

Her lips came apart, but the words couldn’t form.

Kraven narrowed his eyes, studying her closely. She was breaking a sweat, and he knew that attack hadn’t been enough to exhaust her.

Her lips trembled too, and there was a glint of fear in her eyes, not meant for him.

The thought of something or someone else inducing such reactions from her caused his rage to claw to the surface.

But Kraven remained calm as a dark look overtook his gaze, words dropping to lethal coldness directed at the threat. "What happened?"

Isadora tensed more at his icy tone—it wasn’t meant for her, yet somehow put her body under more pressure.

I-I-I-I..." She stuttered her words, a frown taking over her face. ’Why was I scared?’ she thought, confused, suddenly unable to remember what made her get out of bed in the first place.

"I don’t remember..." She voiced in realization. She wasn’t alerted by it—Just deeply confused, and still trying to track her behaviour.

’Was I too lost in my head? I didn’t know why I grabbed my dagger?’

Kraven kept his unbreakable attention on her. He didn’t sense any threat, she was more emotionally bothered enough not to recognise her own fears.

"Hmm... so you were randomly swinging your blade at this late hour?"

Isadora yanked her hand away from his hold. "What about you? Creeping around at this hour? Maybe that’s why I’m unnerved."

Suddenly, a grin spread across his lips, stretching wide to reveal his teeth. "Is it a crime to check on my wife?"

"Stop that!" she snapped, the anger rising to the surface and burning through her eyes.

"Stop. What?" he mouthed slowly, stressing each word to taunt her further.

"Don’t call me your wife when I’m not."

"As long as we’re here, you are, darling."

"Then, shouldn’t a husband be in the same room as his wife?" The moment the words left her mouth, Isadora froze. ’Oh no! Did I say that out loud?’

She clearly did, and it was a mistake!

Kraven’s silver eyes glimmered with delight. "Do my ears deceive me, or are you angry that I didn’t stay?"

"I-I’m not!"

He tilted his head, amusement blooming in his gaze and an undeniable feeling of satisfaction pumping through him.

It was a welcome idea knowing she thought of him, needed him. It was a completely different feeling when your obsession did, it awoke a side of him that not even he could control.

"I was gone for only a few hours," he murmured, still trying to entertain the idea, his heart racing in his chest.

Isadora couldn’t take her eyes off him, his words struck a realization. That little time he was apart felt like forever for her.

The audacity of this Fae to leave and show his face out of the blue... he was playing with her emotions.

It wasn’t fair. Nothing that involves him was ever fair.

"It doesn’t matter. Get out." The words felt like sand in her mouth; mentally, she wanted him to stay. She needed him.

But what was the point of saying those words? He would taunt her with it until she got mad enough to drive her blade into his heart. She knew he would love that.

In a heartbeat, Kraven ate up the distance between them, and by instinct, Isadora raised her sword, but he caught her wrist and trapped it to her side, spinning her in a swift move so that her back met his solid chest.

Isadora’s breath shuddered, goosebumps rising from her skin as his body heat slipped into hers.

The intensity of his spicy cinnamon scent dulled her mind, drowning her entire entity in the orbit that enclosed him.

Her nerves were gone and replaced with the fluttering butterflies on the verge of bursting out of her stomach.

She had a strong feeling that if he stayed longer, all morals would be thrown out the window. Her body can’t take any more of this and remain lucid.

"Easy, darling, the floor work here is nonsense. Everyone will know you’re trying to kill your husband. Or should we convince them otherwise?" He licked her cheek.