Chapter 174: 174-Exposed (2)
"Why has your petal gone numb, Maisa?"
Varitreya’s question lingered in the room. Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Maisa stood between the vampires, her petite figure looking even smaller beneath their combined attention.
Her delicate brows drew together, and her soft pink lips pressed into a thin line as she searched for an answer that wouldn’t expose the truth.
She had known this day would come; perhaps not today and not so soon but she had always known the others would eventually notice something was wrong with her.
She had simply hoped for more time. More time to understand what was happening, restore the bond, and undo the damage caused by the person she had foolishly trusted. But time had never been particularly kind to Maisa.
"I told you, I don’t know," she repeated, lowering her eyes.
Varitreya’s expression didn’t change. "Look at me when you say that, Maisa."
Maisa’s fingers tightened around her dress, twisting the fabric until it bit into her knuckles.
Slowly, reluctantly, she lifted her gaze. The princess watched her with an intensity that made it difficult to breathe.
Her beautiful face held none of the teasing playfulness she’d displayed moments earlier. The faint smile had vanished, replaced by a seriousness that made Maisa’s stomach sink.
Varitreya wasn’t asking out of idle curiosity anymore. She was investigating and Maisa was the mystery she intended to solve.
"You can’t feel the sun," Varitreya began, counting off the evidence with quiet precision. "You couldn’t feel Addessa biting you. You couldn’t feel my hand on your face, even when you leaned into it. And when Addessa and I were practically almost kissing, you felt nothing through the bond."
She paused. "Do you understand how strange that is?"
Maisa swallowed. Her throat felt scraped raw. Of course she understood. That was precisely why she had tried so desperately to hide it.
A vampire’s connection to their mates wasn’t supposed to disappear so completely. Even when the bond was quiet, there should have been something lingering there; a faint emotional echo, an instinctive awareness, a little tug beneath the heart whenever one of the others came close or moved away.
Maisa had always been able to feel them: their happiness, anger, longing. Even the smallest emotional shifts could reach her through the flower of fate, reminding her that no matter how far apart they were, a part of them remained connected.
Now, there was only silence. It was a terrifying, suffocating silence that seemed to press against her ribs from the inside.
"Perhaps she’s experiencing a temporary disruption," Lumi suggested. "We can’t just assume she did something wrong. She could be a victim too," she was more than ready to come to Maisa’s defense.
Everyone turned toward her. The vampire had settled near the door, her arms folded across her chest. Her expression was thoughtful, though her eyes kept flicking between Maisa and the others.
"Bonds can be affected by powerful magic, can’t they? Maybe someone interfered with hers."
"That is one possibility," Varitreya acknowledged. Her gaze remained on Maisa. "Who would have the power to do that?"
Maisa’s breath caught. The question sounded casual, but the princess’s eyes were not. They searched Maisa’s face for the smallest flicker of recognition.
"Or perhaps she’s sick," Zolani added cheerfully.
Maisa stared at her. Zolani tilted her head, apparently unbothered. "What? It happens. Vampires get sick too. Well, some of them. And considering how strange everything has been lately, I wouldn’t rule it out."
"Your concern is touching," Addessa remarked dryly.
"I know. I’m a very caring person," Zolani responded happily despite sensing the sarcasm in Addessa’s voice.
"You’re a menace."
"And yet you missed me," she fired back. "Don’t deny it. I can feel you’re aggression is only surface level."
Addessa rolled her eyes. Under different circumstances, Maisa might have laughed. She might have joined in, thrown an insult at Zolani, or nudged Addessa for being so easily provoked. She might even have reached for Varitreya’s hand, allowing herself to be drawn into their familiar chaos.
Instead, she stood quietly to the side. Their words reached her ears, but the warmth behind them seemed to belong to another world. She understood the jokes and why Zolani was teasing Addessa, but she couldn’t find the feeling that should have accompanied that understanding.
It was like watching a scene through a window. She could see and hear everything, but she couldn’t enter. Worst of all, she remembered what it had felt like to belong. The memory sat beneath her breastbone like a bruise, tender whenever she breathed.
"Maisa," Varitreya’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. "Have you tried reaching for us?"
Maisa hesitated. "What do you mean?" she asked even though she understood it all clearly.
"The bond." Varitreya stepped closer. "Have you tried activating it yourself? Calling to us? Anything?"
Maisa’s throat tightened. She had tried. Oh, how desperately she had tried. There had been nights when she lay awake, pressing a hand against her chest and silently calling for them until exhaustion dragged her into sleep.
She had reached for the flower of fate in moments of fear, loneliness, and unbearable longing, hoping for even the smallest response.
Nothing had answered. Not once. But she couldn’t tell them that. If she admitted how long the bond had been silent, they would want to know when it began. If they discovered it had happened after she accepted help from her mysterious benefactor, they would demand to know what she had done and Maisa wasn’t ready to answer.
"I haven’t really tried," she lied.
The lie scraped across her tongue. Varitreya’s eyes narrowed. Addessa slowly turned toward her and even Lumi looked unconvinced. Zolani, however, smiled and didn’t seem suspicious like the others.
"Oh, that’s interesting."
Maisa’s heart sank. "What is?"
"If you haven’t tried, then we should help you try," she suggested.
Before Maisa could object, Zolani clapped her hands together. "Everyone, gather around! We’re going to summon the missing petal!"
"Don’t call me that," Maisa muttered.
"But it’s such a pretty name," she smiled even brighter. "Petal, don’t pout. You look better when you smile."
"Zolani!" Maisa scowled.
"Fine, fine. No nicknames during the sacred ritual."
"There is no ritual," Lumi pointed out. "And please for the love of everything that is sane. Please, stop being so merry. It’s getting weird and creepy... Even for you."
"There is one now, Lumi dear," Zolani sang heartily. "Don’t be sour. Life is sweeter when you embrace the positives."
"How about I embrace my negative for a minute with you. Want me to try?" Lumi pressed a clenched fist close to Zolani’s face.
Addessa covered her face with one hand. "I can’t believe I’m related to you people."
"You’re not related to all of us," Zolani reminded her.
"Unfortunately, I know."
Under any other circumstances, the exchange might have lightened Maisa’s heart. However, it deepened the ache inside her. They were trying to help her. That was what made everything so difficult.
If they had been cruel, she could have distanced herself. If they had accused her outright, she could have defended herself. But they stood around her, joking and arguing as though she were still one of them, as though the bond were merely sleeping and could be awakened with enough effort.
They didn’t know she had already spent countless hours begging it to return or how frightened she was. They didn’t know that every hopeful glance felt like a hand closing around her throat and she couldn’t bring herself to tell them.
"Come here," Varitreya said gently.
Maisa obeyed before she could think better of it. The princess extended her hand, palm facing upward.
"Give me your hand."