The Reaper's Wicked Obsession-Chapter 196: The Skeleton

"Hold on to it as much as you want, as long as you don’t point it at your throat to prove a point."

Isadora narrowed her eyes. She had no intention of doing such. She had a strong feeling that he knew this, but he was still suspicious of her trying it.

Why was he irritated about it?

Isadora lifted the dagger to her throat like a test.

Kraven reacted instantly, gripping her and pulling the back of her head to his chest, away from the sharp blade.

"You are suddenly having the nerve to irritate me more. Don’t make me teach you a lesson right here and now!" he seethed, his voice holding a sharp edge that sliced through her ears.

Isadora was right. A dagger to her own throat troubled him so much.

She wasn’t stupid or brave enough to cut out her throat. She may have made an attempt in the past, but that was just her being emotional, and she never went through with it.

This was something else.

"Why does this affect you so much?" she asked, desperate to understand.

However, this might’ve been a waste of time because of how guarded Kraven was. Yet, to her surprise he replied.

"Because the woman who raised me forced a dagger into my hands and slit her own throat... just to make sure I’d never forget what I am."

Isadora’s breathing quickened, and her blood ran cold as a ghostly chill swept through her insides.

Her eyes searched his silver ones, for any hint that she’d heard wrong but his eyes spoke so much that forced her to ask a question.

"H-How old were you?"

"Old enough to know what it means when someone stops breathing."

It was an indirect answer, but she knew, because, at a young age, she understood life and death.

But then a chilling thought grasped her. "Your mother?" The mere question unleashed terror within her.

"No," he replied. "Just a servant."

Isadora had a feeling the woman he talked about wasn’t just one. It made her wonder who she could’ve been to scar him for life.

Kraven peeled his gaze away from her, staring into the distance. His head replayed the scene over and over again until it became a broken record.

This was one memory he could never recover from, no matter how he tried to lock it in that iridescent door, the haunted skeleton kept crawling back out.

Seeing the faraway look in his eyes, Isadora regretted her actions.

She made a silent promise to herself at that very moment.

She’d never point a dagger at her throat again.

~♧~

They finally made it to Brookcrest, emerging from the woods, a few distances away from the Port, where the ships set sail and others boarded.

The familiar upbeat of the place caused deja vu. The wooden stores selling a medley you could only find here, the vessels, passengers, and the ones who carried goods into them, the population was small but hailed from busy activities.

From the top of the cliff, Isadora observed everything. Having enough of ogling she turned back to the herbs she grinded against stone.

"What are you doing?" Logi asked, curious.

"Just making a medicine," she replied, pouring the powder into her flask. "My friend Serena taught me," she added with a smile on her lips.

"Hmm... a medicine for what?"

A blush found her cheeks. She wasn’t about to tell him she made tonic to still the seed.

"For energy," she drawled, shaking her flask.

Logi strolled to her and crouched beside her, using his fingers to rub against the stone and bringing it to his nose.

"Don’t..." she warned, nervous and embarrassed, judging from the look Logi had on, he knew.

He chuckled. "You shouldn’t have bothered, though. Kraven’s very thoughtful when it comes to you. He probably took care of it already."

"What do you..." She paused, as realization struck her. "The drink he gave me in the tunnel wasn’t just energy tonic, was it?"

Logi shrugged.

Isadora sighed, not knowing what to say. She didn’t know if she should be relieved that Kraven was thoughtful or just angry he wasn’t straight with her.

Kraven emerged from the woods, his footsteps grabbing their attention.

Logi rose to his full height and asked. "So did you find this Thornfoot the dirtbag?"

"He hasn’t been at the port for his usual smuggling business for a while now," Kraven replied.

His earlier scout had been useless, no one had seen Thornfoot.

"Where is he then?"

"Desires Haven. Words have it, he’s the manager."

"I thought Serena was the manager," Isadora said with narrowed eyes as she rose to her feet.

If Thornfoot was the manager, then what about Serena?

"I guess we’ll find the truth ourselves when we get there. Let’s get moving."

"Finally! I was getting crammed staying in one place," Logi said, walking ahead. "I’m curious to see where our precious Isadora was stolen from."

Isadora grabbed her things. "Why didn’t you tell me the tonic was Stillroot?"

At her question, Kraven pulled his attention to her. "I’m guessing Logi poked his nose where he shouldn’t have." He didn’t sound pleased.

"If he hadn’t guessed, then I’d have thought—"

"That I never gave a thought about my little bunny? I’m hurt."

He did not sound hurt at all! Only teasing... and it got on Isadora nerves.

Her teeth clenched. "I had hoped I would’ve heard it from you, not him." She walked past him, fuming.

"I did what needed to be done. You’d have questioned it, and I saved you from all that."

"Saved me?!" she snapped, twirling to him. "I can make my own decisions, too, Kraven."

He narrowed his eyes, confused. "Why are you angry at me, Isadora?"

"You shouldn’t have acted on your own, especially when it concerns me."

"It was the best choice to make."

"It’s not only your choice to make!" she growled. "I’m not a child!"

"I never said you were!"

"You very well implied it when you did this!" She exploded.

Kraven opened his mouth to speak but she didn’t let him.

"We’re together now, and you don’t get to decide everything for me without talking to me first!" She yelled, leveling her eyes to the flask she held. "I’d have talked with you before taking this." She raised it to state her point. "What’s the point now? All you do is control!" She stormed away.

Kraven felt a sharp irritation storm through him. This was not the same as when others defied him, this felt different.

She was angry with him, and that unsettled him to the core.

He was used to controlling everything around him and bending things to his will. Yet, having her walk out on him felt like a rejection.