Emma’s eyes were as wide as her mouth. Wow. He’d really spoken is accent was different from hers which made her excited to find out where he was from. Perhaps he was from a completely different country! The thought made Emma giddy with
itement. She’d never had a friend from another country before.
She leaned closer to him, careful not to fall into the water. He said his parents weren’t dead. Oh, thank goodness! What a relief. She hadn’t hurt his feelings then.
“Really?” she said softly. “Well, that’s a relief. But then…” Emma frowned. “Why do you live all by yourself? I’m twelve, I’ll be thirteen in a month and you’re only a little older than me.”
Viktor turned his gaze on her and shrugged one shoulder. “They put me here.”
His words were flat with acceptance and it made Emma so sad. “But… why?”
Viktor picked up a sandy rock and she watched him slowly crush it, the grains pouring out from between his fingers to disappear in the water below. “They hate me,” he whispered. “They hate me so they put me here.”
Viktor nudged open the door to his study with his elbow as his hands were full. Damn Kingdom duties were bothering him this early in the morning! He hadn’t yet even punished Kamilla for her dangerous actions yesterday.
He had things to do, for heaven’s sake! Like figuring out why his reflection in the mirror kept on glitching.
He looked up and froze at what he saw. His office chair faced the library beyond his desk and Viktor stared at the red hair just peeking over the top of the chair.
A heady feeling suddenly overtook him, making Viktor flinch back. He shook his head to rid himself of the sudden dizziness, but his head only started spinning even faster.
Viktor took a step back, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to clear his head. A bout of nausea rocked him when a image filled his mind. It was so bright, lit up by the sunlight. He suddenly envisaged broad daylight over a vast fi the centre sat… a girl. He saw her back. Nothing but her bright ginger–red hair as she tilted it back in laughter.
“Viktor…?”
‘den
and in
Viktor clenched his jaw and gave his head a hard shake. Blinking his eyes open, he released a breath as his world stopped rocking. “What in the fuck…?”
“Viktor!”
His gaze snapped up to see Kamilla looking worriedly at him from his chair where she sat, a book clutched tightly in her hands.
“Huh?”
She sighed shakily. “Are you okay?!”
Viktor glanced away, clearing his throat as he walked over to the table.
1/3
Chapter 82
“Well?” asked Kamilla as he placed his stack of folders and files onto the large table. “What just happened to you? Did you… did you feel any pain in your head just now?”
Viktor shook his head. “No. Something else. Something really bizarre, but it’s gone. I can’t even picture it anymore.”
Kamilla bit her lip and rested her hands on her crossed legs as He carried on arranging his folders. “What happened?” she
asked.
Viktor shook his head and waved away her question as he came around the desk. Kamilla made a sound of complaint as he hooked his finger into hood and pulled her out of his chair.
She scowled down at him as he seated himself and drew the files towards him.
She tugged down her hoodie and crossed her arms. “Won’t you tell me what just happened? Did you maybe…”
Viktor looked at her with a tired look. “Did I what, Kamilla? Did I see my reflection as another person again? Did I hallucinate a whole circus into my chambers? What? Did I see the future?”
Kamila gave him an expression that said oh, come on!
With a sigh she shook her head and inched closer. “Now, that is not what I meant. Although… if your reflection does happen to behave a little şt-‘
“What are you doing in my office, Kamilla?” Viktor cut her off sharply.
Kamilla looked at him wide–eyed for a moment before stepping a safe distance away from his desk. “Uhm… I…” She dragged in a breath. “I came to say… yesterday… I’m sorry for going to Cassius and talking to the enchantress about you… without letting you know. And then deciding to go ahead and get drunk on magically brewed alcohol which rid me of most of my sense. That was wrong of me.”
Viktor’s gaze lowered to her fiddling fingers before looking back up at her wide remorseful eyes. Clearing his throat, he glanced away. “Oh.”
Kamilla bit her lip. Oh? Was that all he had to say? She’d had to bite down on her pride to come here and apologiz this. He hadn’t spoken to her since he got up and left the room last night! Was he still mad at her?
Viktor’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so anxious? Stop it immediately. I don’t enjoy this emotion one bit.”
Kamilla blinked. Oh. Right, she’d forgotten. Of course, he could feel that she was embarrassed half into her grave. She couldn’t help but feel a sharp sadness over how openly Viktor showed that he dislike being so connected to her.
“Uhm, sorry,” said Kamilla. She looked at him and squared her shoulders. “Viktor, yesterday Ursula said something else to
me.”
Viktor raised a brow. “What’s that?”
Kamilla took in a deep breath. “She told me… that I had better tell you about him. That you two need each other to heal.”
Viktor rubbed his jawline as he frowned at her. “What? Tell me about who?”
Kamilla’s hand rose for a moment to point at him. “Him. She told me to tell you about him. The other you. Charming.”
2/3
Only Half Dead
