17 • Commandment

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"Where's that woman when you need her?" Axel grumbled, as we reached the public area of the hospital.

Everything was bright with white walls and lights, and all the doctors seemed to know Axel, greeting him as they passed us by. All the nurses looked as if they were about to swoon at the mere sight of him. Augh.

We waited at the front desk of the nurses' station, but no Matilda came. Axel sighed impatiently. There was a big difference between him and his brothers. Gabriel might just wait, Axel might just sigh in impatience, Alistair might complain, and Roman...he might actually demand any nurse that would be passing by his side and behest her crudely to do what was supposed to be done. Which was to look for Matilda all over the gigantic hospital.

Jesus. Why did I just think of all that? I shook my head quickly and blinked. I may be part of the Daevas, but my observaculosis still did not lose touch.

Anyway, we looked around, and I smiled as a stout, cherub-faced woman came out of the back door of the front desk, looking grim.

"Hi," I said to her, leaning over the desk slightly.

She raised her head up, looking at me through her gold-rimmed glasses. "Yah?" she responded, not looking happy that I'd just interrupted her. "Can I help you?"

I smiled. "There is a Miss Matilda here a while ago that, um..." Okay, so I was kind of wavering a bit with my words now. Thankfully, Axel took over.

"Matilda Swinton was here minutes ago, I believe. Do you possibly know where she is?" he asked smoothly.

Nurse Holbein, as said on her nameplate, shrugged her thick shoulders. "She was here a while ago, Mr. Van Allen. She'll be back in a while. She already said that Miss Elizabeth will be out tomorrow, correct? She's down at the pharmacy, buying medicines for her sister."

I smiled timidly at her. She actually rolled her small, green eyes behind her glasses and huffed, then looked at Axel with a glare. Any moment now, I could feel she'd hit us with her clipboard. Axel tried charming her; her hard expression kind of thawed a bit.

Nurse Holbein sighed again. "Don't charm me, Mr. Van Allen, I am not those giggly young nurses. They're practically infants. But thanks for trying."

"My pleasure," he said with a roguish smile and a wink.

She suddenly laughed heartily, her big voice booming. "You scoundrel!"

He smiled, and I waved at her. She gave me a nod, still laughing. Well, at least I know now that only Axel could make her lighten up.

"We're heading to the pharmacy." Another doctor passed us by and greeted Axel in Russian. He replied back in the same language. What? How could he even know how to speak that language? When the doctor left, I told him what I thought.

He laughed. We took a turn on the right. "The Daevas speak all foreign languages. You'll slowly realise that you're muttering words that isn't even your language, and that's how you'll start to speak them. We're linguists from the very beginning."

"Wow," I breathed, awestruck. "That's really cool."

"I know," he said with a beam. We kept on walking, and as we reached the pharmacy, we saw a gorgeous girl leaning her elbows on the counter, her face serene. Her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, curled at the end, and she played with the zipper of her black jacket with one gloved hand, while the other was holding a prescription.

"Wait," I asked in a low voice, stopping Axel in his tracks. He waited and quirked a brow at me over a turquoise eye. "If you guys are immortal, why does Liz have to get a prescription medicine? Why is she even sick?"

Axel sighed. "I knew you'd ask that. But it's really not mine to tell, so you'd have to wait." At my disappointed look, he pulled me close and gave me a hug. "Be patient, Ven."

He then began calling Matilda and, as he did, she looked in our direction, smiling.

"Good afternoon, Axe," she said, as we neared. Both sisters were beautiful. Matilda had a much darker shade of brown hair, more of a mahogany than a brown, and her features were kind of exotic and haughty. But the way she looked and smiled at us, she didn't seem lofty at all.

"And you must be Miss Carlson!" she cheered, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Yeah. But you can call me Venise," I said sheepishly.

"By all means," she trilled, extending her arm, her hand spread open for me to grab, "you can call me Matilda. I am quite forgetful about this. Always used to addressing someone by their surname when first acquainted, because that was how I was basically trained as a lady. Oh! And not to mention curtsy to you. But," she said, sighing, "this isn't 1815 or whatever year it was in the past anymore, so I simply must get used to it!"

Even I had to admit that I would be attracted to her and that posh accent of hers. But anyway, I ignored it, and grabbed her hand to shake. "I don't really know much of that, but I agree that it really must be hard to adjust to the, er, accustomed tradition that you had."

She gave a giggle. "It is! It is! Good heavens, I really still can't adjust fully to the ways of this world now! Two centuries is still not enough for dear Lizzie and I to get used to. Even Mama and Poppa. Still making the 'footmen' and the butler wear powdered wigs and the traditional red and gold livery, and the maids in those long, black and white dreadful dresses! And not to mention, they are still using carriages, which are quite banned by PETA now. Rather good thing they're in Northumberland, so not much people would think them quite odd and cruel."

"Hey, Matty," Axel piped up, noticing how I was trying to keep up with Matilda's fast chatter. "Why is this taking so long? Getting the prescribed meds for Liz?"

She shook her head at him and looked at me. "Men!" she breathed. "My, I would go for the gentlemen in my days anytime! In this century, men don't bow or kiss a woman's hand anymore." She sighed, pouting her full lips. "Ah, how the years have gone by. So very dejecting, really. If only we could turn back time and wear pretty dresses again; have suitors calling on you everyday and challenging one another on a duel for your love and affection!" she exclaimed. "Life," she stated, "is so very unfair."

I stared at her. When I read my -- okay, so it was really Jemma's Regency Romance novels, but whatever -- I really wished to be in those times. To transport myself and meet people back in those days. Most of Jemma's books were set in England or France, and I loved them immensely. But, of course, I didn't want to tell that in front of Axel. That would be embarrassing, I was sure he'd laugh at me.

So I just said this: "Yeah. It would be pretty cool to be back in time again."

Axel rolled his eyes. "We couldn't help the way of the world, you know," he said to Matilda.

She waved a hand at him, ignoring his words, then she turned to me and exhaled dramatically. "I'd gone back in England, 1815, last Thursday," she told me swiftly.

I raised a brow. "Last...Thursday?"

She nodded. "Yes! We have a friend who's a Daeva also. Veronique Montclair, who can transport to a different time with just a blink of an eye, you see. Time-travelling is her skill. So naturally, there was no harm in going back to my beloved England back where I was just a blooming young lady on her early days of being introduced to the Quality, surely." I stared at her unblemished face. She was still blooming to me.

"Except the people back in your time is getting really surprised that a girl from the future, who is actually born in those guys' time, is there, wearing black skinny jeans," Lucifer eyed her clothes, "a yellow shirt, and a black leather jacket with a zipper, which isn't really all the rage back then."

She grumbled. "I will have you know that I still have my beautiful gowns that came from the early nineteenth century! Why, I am quite the catch there again when I went back last Thursday with Mademoiselle Montclair, and I also --"

"Here are the prescribed medications for Miss Elizabeth Swinton," said the redheaded pharmacist, showing up with two small orange containers of medicine. She looked weary, probably from searching. And besides, she was the only one inside the pharmacy room, and there were a lot of medicines installed in every metal file drawers. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Saved by the bell," Axel said happily, grinning at the pharmacist, who immediately straightened and fixed her hair that was in a bun, smiling at him flirtatiously.

"It's all right, Catherine," Matilda said through gritted teeth, giving Axel the Evil Eye. She took the medicine and raised her chin in defiance. Looks like the haughty woman I thought earlier on had shown up.

"I'm only joking, Matty," he charmed, his eyes sparkling. "You know I just like to do that."

"Well, really!" Matilda surged. "Goodness, you really ought to check the length of your jest, Van Allen. "

But she smiled softly after that, and started walking, taking the lead in the middle. We rode the elevator that led to the private suite, and all the while I asked Axel how much it cost for Liz's stay at the hospital. He merely told me they were not charged for anything at all. Apparently, Dr. Pearson, the family doctor, and the very same man who tried to help me, gave the private room for emergencies, and for the comfort of the patient who would be installed there (which was a family member only, or a very close friend.)

But if the hospital didn't know them, it would have cost the Van Allens, especially Alistair, thousands of dollars. I actually choked from my own saliva at what he said to me.

Matilda patted my back gently. "What happened to her, anyway?" I asked, coughing away.

"Oh darling, poor Lizzie had a terrible coma," Matilda explained hastily. I stared at Axel. He nodded. "It's that horrid man, who's actually Axel's older brother. He caused her this, and Liz has no idea what she did to him to treat her so! Even if Lizzie is a Healer, it still nearly cost her to meet her death!"

"That's a real shocker," Axel grumbled. The elevator doors opened and we walked on slowly as we continued our talk. "Even Alexander did things to Venise's life, not only Liz's this time." I shuddered at that, and he instantly placed his arm on my shoulders protectively. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have said that."

The moment we reached the room, we saw that Liz was telling stories to Georgie, who was sitting beside her on her king-sized bed, about her first season in Bath and London. Alistair was talking to Roman and Gabriel by the lounge, the fire still burning. Roman was his usual self, and even Gabriel was, as we entered.

Of course, Roman would just completely ignore everything around him, so naturally, he didn't talk to me, Matilda or Axel.

"Oh good, the three of you are back!" Liz said cheerfully. "I was starting to become worried, but Gabriel said that Matilda and Axel are having a bit of a row downstairs at the pharmacy area."

"No worries, sis," Matilda assured her. "Axel and I have fixed our argument and we are both in good terms."

Matilda gave Liz her meds and they started telling Georgie about their life before. Georgie looked so enthralled, that she actually bounced on the bed, causing Liz to nearly tumble down. Luckily, Matilda was on her other side, and caught her in time. Georgie bit her lip, earning a glare from her eldest brother. Axel joined his brothers in the lounge, and I began to feel uncomfortable. I walked slowly, heading to the tall window, drinking in the view of the scene in front of me. It really was a gorgeous sight after all. I just stared at that, and, for a moment, I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me again. But when I blinked again, I saw him.

Alexander.

He was walking in the gardens, his coat rustling from the wind. He stopped in his tracks and raised his head to look at the direction where I was. He smiled. I held my breath, glancing at all the people behind me. They were really busy in their conversation, that they did not realize that the man who was determined to ruin our lives was there, outside, smiling wickedly at me. I looked at him, and he opened his mouth, saying something that I couldn't understand. As if on autopilot (and I hadn't felt that way in my two days of stay at Michael's), I listened. My eyes closed, and my hand touched the cold glass of the window. I concentrated on what he was saying, but all I heard was the clear word of: "Venise."

And then he laughed.

I opened my eyes as quick as lightning. I jerked my hand away, as if the glass was poured with toxic. I heard myself gasp. He only said my name, but I felt as if his words hit me hard.

"Venise," I heard Georgie say, "what's wrong?"

I slowly turned around to look at her. And blinked. "The --"

Don't tell them I'm here, the deep voice whispered.

"The gardener down below..." I lied rapidly. "He nearly hit the squirrel passing by the bushes!"

This excuse was done poorly, I'm afraid.

I tried my best not to think of what really happened, for Gabriel was eyeing me closely. And it seemed to have worked, because he furrowed his brows and looked away.

"A squirrel," Roman intoned sarcastically. "Really."

Gabriel looked at him.

I didn't have the time to fill up a retort.

"Oh, don't be like that to Venise, Rome," Liz scolded, wagging her finger at him like he was a naughty schoolboy who did a wrong deed. "It certainly is not polite."

"Don't start now, Rome," Alistair warned. "Venise just got back, remember."

Roman merely crossed his arms and yawned.

"Men of this current century!" Matilda complained. "I cannot bear them!"

"Quite right there," Liz agreed. "But you do realise they've been in this world quite longer than we have. Just quite."

Matilda rolled her eyes. "They certainly don't act like they were born earlier than we were."

"Guys," Georgie said shakily, waving Matilda's complaint away, "I feel something very wrong with the rush of the wind..." Trying to check if her senses were right, Gabriel turned to look at her, then, slowly, slowly...to me. He raised his brows a fraction of an inch.

Don't,Venise, the voice inside my head commanded benignly in a deep tone.

How could he enter my mind? I averted my gaze from Gabriel's icy blue depths, and I really did try my best to not let him read me. I hoped I achieved that. I didn't know why I wasn't telling them at all, and I really wanted to. I really did. But when that voice talked to me inside my head, I could not help but obey. It was like he was holding some power over me that I didn't know existed, until now.

"Hmm," Georgie murmured. "Looks like I'm wrong. Nothing's gone crazy with the wind outside anymore. Anyway!" she exclaimed, propping her chin on her hand. "Do continue about that duke, Lord Aldridge, who courted you before, but whose attention had been caught by the gorgeous Kate Levinson! Oh my God, this like a novel, only better!" she huddled forward, waiting for Matilda's story. Liz gave a laugh.

"Well..." Matilda started, smiling.

I was saved for the afternoon, but I knew that wouldn't last long.

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