Chapter 373: Mending the Bridge Between Father and Son_Part 2
"No," he said, bringing his hand forward to brush lightly across the mark. "It’s supposed to take effect immediately, to bind us with a deep connection, sometimes even a mind link. Though not everyone with a mark can achieve that unless they are of the same kind of creature, still... my mark should not be this weak on you. I don’t know why it is like this, but the fact that it saved your life is more than enough for me."
He told her, but he couldn’t help his own worries as to why his mark was not strong on her. And though he didn’t want to give heed to anything the demon king had said, or even allow himself to believe any of it, still, one thing the demon spoke lingered stubbornly in his mind, clinging to him like a curse that refused to be shaken off.
’You might believe you have everything now, that you have saved your wife from death, but you are gravely mistaken, young one. She carries death the way one carries blood in the body, it flows through her. She may have cheated death this time, but it will soon catch up to her. And just so you know, you cannot give a permanent mark to someone whose life was already meant to be over...’
He had pondered over those words so many times that they made him sick just hearing his mind repeat them. What did the demon mean when he said he couldn’t give her a permanent mark? And what did he mean that she carried death inside her? Rohan was aware that the demon king knew far more about Belle than he himself did, but he would be a fool to ever seek help or knowledge from the very creature who wanted nothing more than to destroy his family.
Belle, meanwhile, stared at the dark mark on her shoulder through the mirror and smiled softly. "I like it. It might not have worked the way it’s supposed to, but to me, it feels like a gift of love. I will take it like that... a token of your love, right?" she mused, turning shining hazel eyes toward his darker ones. His gaze had been fixed intently on her face, serious and searching, but he softened with a small smile when she turned to him.
"A token of love," he muttered in return. "And what will be my own token of love?" he asked, leaning down to press his lips against her forehead. However, before she could reply about what she might give him in return, Rohan asked,
"How did it happen, Isa? How did you end up in the land of the dead?" His voice was steady, but his eyes were heavy upon her, studying every change in her face. He wanted to have a lighthearted conversation with her, to bask in her company like nothing else mattered, but he knew they had reached a point where serious talks and discussion could no longer be avoided. Time was too fragile to be wasted now, and he needed to know everything there was to know.
Belle’s smile fell away, her expression turning distant. "I lived Isabelle’s life again in my sleep, and when I opened my eyes, I was in the land of the dead," she whispered quietly, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.
"What happened in her life this time?" he questioned, reaching out to clasp her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together with firm warmth.
Belle told him what she had seen, how Isabelle used to sneak out to meet Deven, how she longed for him and burned with desires he had stirred inside her, but desires he never quenched because he wanted to keep them pure until their wedding night.
"Do you think that was the reason she sought out other men when he traveled? To quench that lust inside her?" Belle asked, though even as she said it, she doubted it. Deep inside, she knew that if she had been Isabelle and if her love for Deven had been as strong as her love for Rohan, then no other man would have been able to quench such a hunger. A thirst stirred by her husband could only ever be satisfied by her husband. But then again, she wasn’t Isabelle.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to believe Isabelle had truly thrown herself at other men just to spite Deven and then blame him when she ended up pregnant. It felt too shallow, too contrived. As if reading her mind, Rohan also said,
"I don’t think that was it. She wouldn’t have done that. Something else must have happened, something powerful enough to twist her from the innocent young woman you described into the vengeful person she became. What else did you see after Deven told her about his travel?"
The only way to untangle why all this was connected to Belle was to uncover exactly what Deven had done and what had truly changed the young woman into what she was before her death. Such hate couldn’t have started without him doing anything to her.
"I didn’t see anything more," Belle admitted softly. "All I experienced in that dreamlike world was a time slip, one moment I was her again, and the next I saw Isabelle attacking a doctor who suggested taking her to the asylum. I think I killed... I mean she killed the doctor. And the worst part is, I think he deserved it." Belle’s voice dropped to a whisper, recalling the dark, disturbing satisfaction she had felt when Isabelle attacked the man like that.
Rohan studied her face closely as she spoke, and he didn’t like what he saw. His wife’s sharing in Isabelle’s life was beginning to blur the lines, making Belle believe, somewhere in her heart, that Isabelle’s feelings were her own. His mark might not be strong, but even now he could feel it: the way she was carrying those emotions like they belonged to her. He didn’t say anything, though, he only tightened his hold on her hand.
"What else have you experienced about Isabelle you haven’t told me?" he asked, his voice calm. "I need to know everything so I can piece it all together. Don’t keep anything out."
Belle grew thoughtful for a moment, then suddenly paled. Her eyes lifted to his throat guiltily as if recalling something terrible. "I...I hurt you yesterday. The spirit, it was me. I saw you through it, but I thought you wanted to harm me, so I...I cut you with the glass. I don’t even know how I did it, but it just happened..." She confessed with deep remorse, her voice cracking. "I didn’t mean to. I swear, it wasn’t my doing."
"You didn’t do it, my love. Don’t feel guilty or the need to apologize." He placed a steadying hand on her shoulder and gently turned her toward him. "Isabelle is tampering with things, Isa. We need to look for ways to cut this connection before she ruins our life."
The only thought consuming Rohan now was that Isabelle might be possessing Belle at times, making her do things beyond her own will. The spirit she had left behind in the old mansion was capable of possession, perhaps she hadn’t left only that fragment behind. Perhaps there were other pieces of her, and one was already threading its way into his wife...
"H-how are we going to do it?" Belle asked worriedly, her voice trembling as her eyes searched his. She desperately wanted to be normal again, to be free of Isabelle’s shadow in her life.
"In Isabelle’s diary, she wrote that only Claire believed her and nobody else. I am thinking about looking for her. There might be a possibility of the woman still being alive. If we knew what she tried to make people believe back then, I might be able to figure out why Isabelle went to rest yet is still keeping part of her soul in the living world."
"How are you going to find this Claire?" Belle asked, frowning.
"I will. In many noble houses, if it is the same with vampires, they keep records of the people who have served their families. Many even have offspring who continued to serve that family. But considering how your family moved and changed houses because of Isabelle, Claire’s offspring will most likely not be here. Still, her records should remain. I will look into the Dawson staff records and see what I can find."