Chapter 80 Can't Be Better

Lazarus tilted his head preferring not to answer that question because he had found her and he couldn't speak a lie.

Maeve scowled at him. "Your silence says that you haven't found Emma and you brought me here to show this carnage to impress me? To tell me that you did all this for me to find that brat?" She kicked a rolled head on the floor and as her foot connected with it, she grunted in pain. "How selfish you can be, Lazarus? You have disturbed me in so many ways. Not only have you lost Emma, you have brought me here in this pathetic cave when I was about to sleep!"

"Selfish?" he said coldly. "I was always selfish."

"This mortal is proving to be troublesome!" she spat as she wrapped her nightgown tightly around her to stop herself from chattering. She looked at Lazarus for him to give his cape, but he continued to sit there and watch her coldly. This annoyed her all the more. "I feel like going to Emma's home and killing her parents and that little brother of hers!"

"You can demand all that but I won't let you do that," he replied coldly.

Maeve crossed her arms against her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling bad for the mortal, Lazarus? Do I see a possible sway? Like again? How many times have I said that her worth is only till the ritual?" When he didn't reply again, she got aggravated. "I think you don't need me anymore. I will go back to Vilinski and come back only when the ritual begins!"

"If you leave for Vilinski, I will make sure that I kill this body of yours," he replied so coldly that Maeve felt shivers down her spine.

She corrected herself and sucked in a sharp breath. "Why have you brought me here?"

He got up from his place and reached her. He started circling her. "I need answers."

"Really? Not again! I should be the one who should be asking questions and not you."

He ignored her words. "Do you still want to rule with me on the Kingdom of Wilyra?"

"Of course! What kind of a question is this? Why are you doubting me?"

"You have always said with conviction that you want to rule Wilyra with me, but what are you going to do about the two of us?" he asked. Circling. Circling.

"What the hell do you mean?" She was beginning to get a headache with his constant wariness.

"When we both will sit on the throne of Wilyra, after that?"

"This is getting so tiring, Lazarus. I already told you that we will conquer other kingdoms. We will become invincible. I will become the goddess all over again in Emma's body. And that reminds me, have you marked her as yet?" She wondered if she should tell him how she would deal with his father, but she realized he didn't need to know those fine details. "Just focus on the ritual. This is my last chance. If you don't mark her, then the whole process would be of no use."

His jaws clenched and he closed his eyes. "What after that?" he growled. "I want to know what happens after that!"

Growing irritated, she walked towards the mouth of the cave. "I am tired, Lazarus. Take me back."

He grabbed her upper arm and yanked her back. "Did you order the rogues to attack Emma?"

"Oh my, my!" Maeve's voice dripped with sarcasm. "It seems you have actually developed feelings for her, haven't you? She isn't your bride, I am." She pulled her hand out of his grasp and failed. "I didn't. Won't that be plain stupid?" Her body writhed in pain.

Lazarus earlier believed that it was Maeve who was his bride because she insisted on it, but he believed that she no longer was. To fall for the mortal? For the very human whom he considered lowly. If she was his bride, what could he do? He left Maeve's hand and stabbed his fingers in his hair.

He had rolled the ball in motion. He had brought Maeve to cast Emma's soul out.

It was Emma who made him feel protective about her. When she was attacked, he felt like he would lose his life. When he looked at her, he felt his body and soul come to life. No. No. She was nothing but a… lusty… beautiful… girl… whose blood tasted like an aphrodisiac… like elixir. His throat bobbed. How could Lore do this to him? Pair him against a village girl?

Seeing him doubting himself, Maeve added, "Imagine Emma, the daughter of a rebel blood vassal sitting on the throne with you?" She chuckled. "The world will laugh. The most powerful vampire with a villager?"

No, Emma couldn't be his bride. But the moment he thought that, his chest burned. His agitation increased. And his anxiety went so high that he felt like tracing back to Emma and losing himself in her to calm down his nerves. This strong feeling wasn't because she was his true bride but because she was the only person who made him feel… complete.

He took a step towards Maeve.

"What are you doing?" Maeve asked, doubting his lethal demeanor and stepping back.

"I am going to take you back to Wilyra."

The way he said it coldly, she went stiff. "Are you trying to dismiss me, Lazarus?"

"Yes."

Sparks of disbelief and confusion thudded in her. He yanked her by her waist and traced her back to her room where he simply left her and stepped back. She stumbled on her feet. "Lazarus, why are you behaving so strangely?" Maeve couldn't believe that he wasn't even trying to seduce her, a thing that he used to always do when he saw her. "Don't you desire me now?"

"Desire you who has hardly ever desired me?" He scoffed. "I am finished seducing you, Maeve. I will seduce the mortal who desires me."

"Lazarus, you are making a mistake!" she shouted. "Once I am in her body, I will make sure that you are completely satisfied! I am better than her in every way."

"You just can't be better than her. And I can't do it better with anyone other than her." He was shocked that he didn't feel the burn in his throat.