July was at that age right now and the average age for humans was seventy, which meant, she would have thirty more years more or less to live.
That was a short period of time for someone like Knox, who had lived for centuries, but then Chaos would have achieved his goal sooner with the fact that there were a few of his shattered souls that left, including his child.
"What have you done to her?" July looked at Knox intensely, trying to see what he wanted. She was on alert and looked at him like he would harm her and their daughter.
"I put her to sleep," Knox replied in a matter of fact tone. "She will wake up later."
July was still skeptical and cautious even after she heard that, she held Rhea's hand tightly, as if Knox would take her away from her at any moment, thus the silence in this room was very suffocating.
There were a lot of things that they needed to talk about, but at the same time, they didn't know how to start it and... was it even worth it now? They were standing in different paths now and the best that they could hope for was to not cross paths with each other again. n--o.(v.-e..l/-b-(1-/n
"I will take my leave," Knox said after that suffocating silence.
But then July stood up from the bed out of instinct and rushed toward him to grab his arm when his figure started fading away.
"Wait!" July grabbed his arm so tight, she stared at him.
He was the same as the first time they met. He didn't age even a minute and this fact hurt her as she was getting old. Right now, she felt like she was his aunt or some elder to him.
"What do you want to say, July?" Knox asked her after a long moment of silence, in response to which, July didn't say anything. She just held his arm tight.
"I don't know, Knox... I don't know." That was true, she didn't know what to say, even though there were a lot of things in her mind, she ended up feeling unable to say it, instead, it was tears that streamed down her cheeks.
She was frustrated. She couldn't get her words out, but she cried, albeit that was the last thing that she wanted to do.
"I don't know... I don't know what I should say," she whispered between her tears. Her feelings were so strong for him, even after all these years, her heart was still beating so fast at the sight of him. It was so cruel for both of them to end up this way. "I don't know what I should do..."
Seeing tears in her eyes, it hurt him.
Knox pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, he hugged her so tight, as if he would never let her go, but this only made July cry even harder.
This was the warmth that she craved for the past six years, this was the man that she wanted in her life and this was the person that she wanted to be with.
However, the situation between them became very complicated and everything that happened only drifted them apart even further.
July only cried even harder in his arms and the sound of it was so devastating for Knox. If he could, he wanted her to forget about him, completely, even if that made her sad.
However, he didn't have the power to do that.
"You don't need to do anything, just raise our child." Knox rubbed her back, as her body trembled. "Nothing will happen to her."
July was having a hard time speaking again after that, but then, when she calmed down a little bit, she lifted her head and then looked into Knox's eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes were filled with concern.
The same concern that he always showed to her whenever she did something reckless in her youth. How time flew so fast, she was no longer a young woman that could carelessly do everything she wanted.
She was no longer a successful actress that was loved by so many people, having a handsome boyfriend that she was so proud of.
That was the best time of her life if she could say and something like that would never happen again.
Now, she was old and not many people remembered her name. Her days zipped by, but here he was, effectively dodging the clutches of time for centuries now. He was still the same as before.
"You will not bring her to Chaos?" July still hugged him, she couldn't bring herself to let him go. The memories rushed back to her mind and that only brought her more pain.
"I will not." Knox gave a pause before he added. "Not yet." The goal would only be completed if all the shattered souls disappeared from this realm, but then it meant he needed to sacrifice his daughter.
July stiffened when she heard that. "Did Chaos know about this?"
"No." Knox then looked at her sternly. "I don't want you to get involved in this anymore. And, stay away from the devil." His voice was so cold when he talked about this and he dropped his arms around her body. He was so angry at the fact that July involved herself with the devil even after knowing how dangerous and stupid that decision was.
July bit her lip and lowered her head. "I am sorry..." she said in a small voice. "I am sorry for being so selfish and for asking for the devil's help."
"I can't forgive you for that, July..." Knowing so much about the devil and her still going with that plan was something that Knox couldn't even try to figure out why she did that in the first place. "But, I can't hate you." That was true, after all they had gone through and what she had done to make things worse, he still couldn't hate her.
July cried again, but this time Knox didn't wipe her tears. He even ignored the look of disappointment in her eyes.
"We could have lived together, just the two of us. I gave you everything and stayed by your side, but that was not enough for you and you wanted more. You wanted something I couldn't give to you..." Knox stared at his sleeping daughter's face. He couldn't hate her either. He couldn't even bring himself to imagine that he would harm her. "I think I am not enough for you."
July shook her head, but she couldn't say anything. Her words stuck in her throat and her chest caved in, but still, she couldn't arrange her words and speak them out loud.
"You went behind my back and stabbed me this way." Knox lowered his eyes and found hers, which were filled with fear and pain. "I can't forgive you for doing that to me, July, even though I still love you. I will always love you."
And with that being said, Knox disappeared, all of a sudden, from before her eyes, as July hugged the empty air, which made her heart hurt even more. She felt like there was a big hole in her chest.
The feeling of being stabbed wouldn't be so bad as this.
Knox disappeared after saying that without even waiting for her explanation, but then what else could she tell him?
"It's not like that... you are enough... you are more than enough for me..." July was having a hard time breathing.
Things had gotten this far, but if she could turn back time, she would do the same thing all over again to get Rhea.
No matter how much love that they had, it couldn't make July feel safe in their relationship.
When she was young and beautiful, she didn't care much about this, but when she grew old and couldn't deceive time like Knox did, she couldn't even stand that thought.
At first, she would look like his older sister, and then his mother, and then his grandmother? While he looked exactly like the first time they met.
This was cruel and July couldn't live that way...
July clutched her chest and cried even harder. She felt like her entire world had crumbled around her feet, but she knew she would be all right...
She had her daughter, the only thing that mattered to her right now, her baby she risked everything for...
========================
Vanesha stared at her brother, who was standing at a corner of this room, while Gael was sitting on a chair in the middle of this room.
She tried to study his expression and wanted to know what he was thinking.
Nikolai must have remembered Gael, he knew him more than her when they were little, though growing up, he had never seen or met him.
"Nikolai," Vanesha called her brother and he lifted his head to look at her. His expression was devoid of any emotions.
Meanwhile, Sol walked toward Gael, who didn't even spare Vanesha a glance, as he straight up glared at Sol.
"Long time no see, Gael," Sol said in a cold tone. The grudge between them only became deeper with the death of Lise.
"I want to keep it that way, but unfortunately, you trapped me here." Gael replied with the same cold tone, as he smirked at Sol. "It seems you want to see me so badly."
The device that was put on him made it harder for him to use his power. Right now, he was nothing more than a normal human.