Chapter 588 - SOUL TO SOUL

Hope was aware of Lana's feelings for Kace, but at this moment, there was something else that had drawn her attention more than her understanding about that. 

There was something from the beast's behavior that made Hope couldn't take her eyes off of him. It was as though he was the gravity of her universe, everything around her was fading away, and even Lana's outburst was meaningless.

Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, made Hope walk absentmindedly towards the raging beast. Didn't really care about the fact that the monster was in the middle of a rampage, and presently acting weird.

"Hope, what are you doing?" Ethan was the first person who realized what Hope was going to do. He stretched out his hand to grab her wrist, and pulled her back to the safety. 

Lana stopped making a fuss with Chiron when she watched how Hope, all of a sudden, fell to the ground, lost all of her strength along with her consciousness. 

Fortunately, Ethan already held her before her head could hit the ground. 

"Hope!" 

It was the last word that Hope heard from the people around her, before everything went completely dark. 

The last scene that she remembered was when she was staring into the beast's red eyes.It felt like those eyes could suck her soul out of her body, Hope lost all of her senses. 

It was completely silent… so dark… until a soft sob echoed in this nothingness. 

Who is crying?

Hope furrowed her brows, she was not sure whether she had opened her eyes or not since the darkness that surrounded her seemed to make no difference. 

And the cry was getting loud, but with strangled sobs. 

Who is there?

It sounded like a boy. Above of all, Hope was glad she was not alone there.But at the same time, the sound of the cry didn't settle well with her. Hope felt like she hated whatever the thing that caused this boy to cry. 

Hope was lying on a concrete-like cold floor, her awareness probed tentatively, she wriggled her body and found she was able to move, she raised her hand and rubbed her eyes.

Only then she realized her eyes were closed this entire time. Hope frowned. How stupid she was…

She didn't even know whether her eyes were closed or not. 

However, it wasn't the time to berate herself because she had this sudden urge to come closer to the source of the crying sound. 

And when all of her senses came to function, the chill in the air reached her first.Her body was aching, yet her heart was distraught by the only voice there. 

Hope tried to sit up, but the motion made her head spin, leaning on her forearms, she forced herself to breathe in deeply. 

Hope blinked her eyes, once, twice… to readjust her sight with the light that invaded her vision. 

And then, she found herself there, in the familiar situation that she had seen before. 

It was a young man, burying his face between his knees while he hugged his legs tightly. 

"Hello?" Hope approached that man. She knew who he was. His scent was something that she would always miss. This situation was akin to a lucid dream and déjà vu mixed together. "Are you okay?"

Hope crouched down in front of that man, staring at him, waiting for him to raise his head.Yet, he didn't do it, neither had he replied to her.Somehow, Hope knew he wouldn't do it. 

Just like what she had done, not so long ago, Hope stretched out her hand and patted the man's head. "It's alright." She said lightly, as soft as she could to console him. "Everything is alright."

There, Hope felt it. The spark that erupted from her touch. The man also felt the same as he raised his head and stared at her with his deep ocean blue eyes. 

It was Kace. Of course it was him. His ocean blue eyes were something that Hope loved the most.It always felt like she could lose herself in those beautiful blue colors. 

Hope remembered, this was the last scene that happened last time before Hope was awakened from her afternoon nap when Kace was still unconscious because of the aftermath battle. 

"Why are you crying?" Hope asked the teenage version of Kace, as he looked at her with confused eyes. 

He didn't answer. 

Hope crossed her legs and sat in front of him, hand still patting his head as she smiled reassuringly to him. 

"You never cry in front of me." Hope thought this would be a long conversation, thus she adjusted her sitting position to make herself more comfortable. The boy didn't answer her, but he was still staring at the girl in front of him. "You always smile, and it went down to me thinking that you never had any problem."

A fat tear fell on his cheek that she brushed it away with her sleeves harshly. 

"I think I was wrong for thinking that way, because… who doesn't have problems and difficulties in this troublesome life, right?"

The boy still didn't answer her, but his blue eyes flickered with something that Hope could tell as… an eagerness? Hope was not sure. 

"But, why don't you share it with me?" 

Though Hope didn't know where she was now, or what kind of situation that she was in, or why she met this younger version of Kace. But one thing that she was sure about this roller coaster situation was that being here with Kace, calming her nerves. 

Hope felt like she had a purpose to be here, to meet him, in this absurd condition and place. She felt very close to Kace in this moment. 

Felt much closer than the times they had spent together.

Weird isn't it?

Yet, that was what she felt now. 

"You said I am your mate, your soul mate. Don't you think our bond is something special?" Hope played with his curly black hair, just the way Kace always played with hers.

"—me," Kace mumbled.

"Hmm?" Hope leaned over. ��I am sorry, what was that? I didn't hear you."

Kace glanced over his shoulder, "The beast scares me."