Goodbye, My Mate

Chapter 42

Leah's POV

At that time, Troy walked into the warehouse with Clara in his custody. She looked like a lifeless doll with her head and arms lowering and dangling.

Jalin followed them in, talking on his mobile.

As soon as he met my brother's eyes, he cut off the phone and said to him, "Some human beings were involved and injured. We are trying to figure out what exactly happened."

My brother stared at Jalin and said in a cold voice, "You deal with them now, and I will deal with you later, including you." He took a glance at Troy, who immediately straightened up a bit when he met my brother's eyes.

"Yes, Your Highness." Both Jalin and Troy replied.

"Leah, let's go," Lucian said to me.

I looked at Jalin and Troy, who looked absolutely miserable. I took a deep breath and said to Lucian in a steady, calm voice, "Actually, I want to stay. I've been running away from them all the time, but now I guess I'll have to take some measures to deal with this situation."

My brother nodded slightly and walked off with Laura in his arms.

Looking at my brother's back, Troy put his arms on his hips and looked pissed.

"OK, so why am I also in trouble?" He asked Jalin. "I've done nothing wrong but followed the protocol. I managed to locate two teenagers on riot within 10 minutes in a city with a population of well over 45 million. Nobody on earth is as good as me."

"Let's just say that he doesn't like your sense of humor." Jalin gave him a dark look and said.

"Oh, come on, Jalin!" Troy covered his forehead. "You've got to say some nice words about me to His Highness to cut some slacks for me. Today's my off-duty day! I volunteered to help you babysit Leah and this is what I've got?"

"Gentlemen, if you may." I frowned at Jalin and Troy.

"Leah, listen. There's no way I'm going to leave you with these two losers alone," Jalin said.

"Just five minutes. All the soldiers are here with me. Just let me deal with it," I said.

Jalin sighed and said, "Three minutes. We'll be right outside."

He then walked off with Troy following him. I heard Troy grumbling along the way, "Seriously, Jalin? Do you know what your problem is? You give in so sweetly whenever someone is batting their eyelashes at you!"

"OK, you can try batting your eyelashes at me and see if it works right now," Jalin replied in a grumpy voice.

Their arguing voices faded as they walked out of the warehouse.

I turned back and stared at Clara and the young man, whom I recognized to be her deadbeat cousin Mick.

I crouched down to get eye level with them, stared into their eyes, and said in a calm voice, "Now, you've got three minutes to justify yourself. You will say all the truth and nothing but the truth, and then I will decide if I send you back to Lucas or to Bellevue Asylum. Now, who wants to go first?"

"You fucking bitch!" Clara spat at me. I dodged.

"Good, so you want to talk first." I squeezed my pants, but what I really wanted to do was to squeeze her neck.

"Fuck you! Leah! I will make sure that everyone in the Kingdom knows about who you really are!" Clara barked at me in a broken voice. She struggled violently, but the soldiers pushed her down.

"OK, so tell me. Who do you think I really am." I frowned.

"You're a slutty gold digger who's using black magic to control rich and powerful men! You tried to take control of my brother, but he rejected you! So now, you're moving on to your husband number two! They Lycan Prince! I will make sure everyone knows about it! You're a fucking witch and you should be hanged or burnt at the same time!" Clara screamed.

The air was thick with tension as she shouted at me. Her eyes were blazing with fury. Her wild, unkempt hair hung in tangled strands around her face, and her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. The blood vessels bulged on her neck and the veins pulsed on her forehead. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl, revealing teeth that seemed unnaturally sharp and pointed. There was just something about Clara that had always been bothering me. It seemed that she was possessed, consumed by a fury that seemed to come from some dark, primal place within her.

"Lucas is my brother! Mine! He loves me and you can't just take him away from me!" Clara shouted with her eyes boring into mine. "How dare you do this to me!"

At that moment, Gean's words occurred in my mind -

Below average IQ. Bipolar disorder. Paranoia.

All of a sudden, all my anger was gone, replaced by sympathy.

She was being tortured by her own soul.

I couldn't possibly stay mad at someone who was undergoing tremendous pain and agony every second of her life.

I couldn't really punish her, for she had already been sentenced to life.

"Don't blame her! It's all my fault! I bashed the waiter in the club and abducted Laura! I thought she was you! I had planned to torture you by making sex tapes and posting them online. That's all my idea! It has nothing to do with Clara! So you can kill me if you want! Don't hurt Clara!" Mick exclaimed at me, trying to protect Clara with his body, but he was pushed under the ground by the soldiers.

"You make me sick, Mick. Clara's a patient and you know her condition better than anyone else! How could you do something like this? To abduct someone and make a sex tape of her?! Are you seriously thinking that you can get away with any of this?!"

"I don't. But I don't care! I'll do everything for Clara! I always do!" Mick talked back defensively. Then, he continued emotionally, "Look at her! She's got no friends. Her parents treat her like retarded and they would lock her up in the basement because they're ashamed of her! Clara's not sick! She was just born into the wrong family! Come on, Leah! You were in that family before! You know how toxic the Farrows are! And Clara is stuck with them for 23 years! Could you do anything better than her if you were her?!"