I am the Queen

"Y-you . . . y-you're sleeping with him?" Asher's eyebrow twitched. The anger burning inside him was replaced by nothing but hollowness, and for a moment, his face was blank.

"Yes, we are a couple living inside a one-bedroom apartment. Where do you think I would sleep?" Evangeline sneered.

Once the words registered in Asher's mind, there was no stopping the anger ravaging inside him. His murderous eyes peered behind Evangeline, zeroing on Eric, who was avoiding any eye contact with him. Eric's face was unusually red and . . . guilty.

"You son of a bitch!" Snarling, Asher was going to kill him. No question about that.

Only, any criminal thoughts were vanquished by Evangeline's palm against his chest, stopping him from advancing to punch the life out of Eric.

"Don't test my patience," Evangeline said, tone no longer playful while her face was serious.

"E . . . E-Eva . . ." Never in his life that Asher felt so defeated. Utterly crushed. He was not ignorant nor innocent what a boy and a girl were doing alone together inside a bedroom. And at the thought that Evangeline was together with the guy for almost two months, together, alone –– he wanted to murder someone. And when he meant someone, he meant Eric. He wanted to skin him alive before feeding him to his reptiles.

"Now, go and sleep in the living room, and don't disturb us." Evangeline shoved a pillow on Asher before slamming the bedroom door on his face.

Asher stood there, pillow in his hands. For once, tears welled in his eyes, and he slid down against the door. Couldn't believe this was happening, and he was powerless to do anything to stop it.

Inside the bedroom, Eric and Evangeline cuddled on the bed under the dim lights, ready to go to sleep.

Brushing a finger on her hair, Eric asked, "Is your cousin gonna be alright?"

"It's fine. He's a big man. He can take care of himself." Evangeline pouted, snuggling closer to him. "I'm very annoyed at him for disturbing our first night in your apartment."

"He's just worried about you."

"I know that . . ." Evangeline frowned, tone upset. "But it's awkward to do anything knowing he's just outside."

Eric softly laughed. He didn't have anything to say to that. As much as he didn't want his and Asher's relationship to dwindle, he also didn't want him always to disturb his alone time with Evangeline.

"Sleep. We're waking early tomorrow to buy ingredients, remember?"

At the thought of their date to the supermarket, Evangeline's lousy mood disappeared. "Where are we shopping for ingredients?"

Eric leaned and kissed her forehead. "It's a surprise."

Evangeline looked over, meeting Eric's gaze. Their pupils were reflecting each other's faces. There was something, a powerful gravity which they couldn't resist, pulling them together every time they saw each other reflected on their eyes.

Closing her eyes, Evangeline tipped her head back, leaning forward to meet Eric's kiss.

Knock! Knock!

Evangeline's lips clamped in a tight line, and she took a deep intake of air to calm her angry nerves.

"Ignore him." Evangeline yanked Eric's shirt when he was about to climb out of bed and open the door.

"He'll stop if we won't give him attention." Evangeline insured when Eric hesitated.

Eric clasped her arms and gently peeled it from his shirt. "It might be important," he said before he went out of bed and opened the door.

"Eva, I can't sleep in the living room," Asher said the moment the door opened. Ignoring Eric, he let himself in, making sure to bump his shoulder against the nerdy man.

"I'm going to sleep here," Asher declared, slamming his pillow on the floor.

"No. You. Won't." Evangeline was running out of patience, and she was close to pressing the send button on her phone.

"Yes. I. Am," Asher countered, unperturbed by his cousin's hostility. "I can't sleep there with all the cockroaches roaming around."

Evangeline's fingers clawed the sheet, holding her composure. "And since when are you afraid of a cockroach?"

"Since now," Asher replied. "The cockroach in this place is different. They're so dirty, ugly, and scares the hell out of me! So I'm going to sleep here whether you like it or not." Asher's scandalized expression turned blank while his tone was flat.

His hair then rose on end with the way Evangeline was looking at him. Her eyes were foreboding, and he sensed the anger radiating from her. But he refused to lower his stance. He would sleep here, and that's it!

Before Evangeline exploded, Eric was already preparing another set of comforter and quilt. "It's fine, Eve. He can sleep here."

"What?!"

Both Asher and Evangeline said at the same time, disbelief in the former's voice while anger in the latter.

Instead of answering, Eric laid the two comforters on the floor, making sure it was far away from each other so Asher wouldn't strangle him in his sleep.

"Eric, what are you doing?" Evangeline already knew what he was doing. She just wanted to make sure that what she was thinking was correct.

"I'm sleeping on the floor," Eric said, smiling in her direction. It's awkward to sleep together, knowing someone is spying on us after all. He went to her side and kissed her cheek to calm her down.

"Be good and go to sleep," he whispered before he went to his side of the comforter, ignoring Asher's trembling fists.

"Good night," Eric said the moment his back hit the soft fabric, and without a word, he covered himself with the quilt and shifted to his side.

". . ."

". . ."

After a moment of silence, Evangeline shot Asher a glare. "Consider yourself lucky." She then curled on the bed and covered herself with the blanket.

Asher let out some of the breath he was holding. Curling his lips inwardly, he flexed his fingers. They were numb from all the pressure he was exerting to hold all his emotions down.

Grumpily, he laid on the comforter, and instead of sleeping, he shifted to his side, facing Eric. Amidst the dim lights, his piercing cold glares were boring against Eric's back, while all sorts of plans to dispose of him without Evangeline knowing ran through his head. It went on for almost an hour until his exhausted mind gradually shut down, and he dozed off to dreamland.

At the side, Eric could barely breathe easy. He couldn't sleep with all the pressure and death looming behind him. His instinct was in constant high alert since Asher might kill him anytime that he was asleep.

Minutes passed, but he was still wide awake. No matter how much he relaxed, his muscles were tout, whereas his limbs were stiff, ready to fight or flee at the danger. For some reason, it felt like he was a rabbit on alert from the big bad wolf.

This must be what the animals felt when they sense danger. He couldn't possibly sleep knowing there was a man who didn't even bother to hide his evil intentions, sleeping meters away from him.

Should I sleep in the living room? At least Winter was there to protect him if ever Asher would do something.

He was ready to get up and go to the living room when he heard soft noises from the bed and sense the vibration of steps from the sole of the foot against the floor.

He didn't have to look to know it was Evangeline. Remaining silent, he watched her as she lay beside him and snuggled to his chest. Warmth percolated his veins the moment her soft body pressed against his, relaxing his tout muscles like magic. Inhaling her scent, his eyes closed.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her hair, letting his lips rest against it while his consciousness slowly disappeared. And not before long, he was asleep.

The night continued its course, silent and still. When Asher opened his eyes, he was still half awake. But when he remembered what happened, his consciousness was jolted with the painful reality of his situation.

His gaze traveled to the back of the man who was soundly sleeping that he could even hear his peaceful breathing. Silently, holding a pillow, he crawled his way to him one step at a time.

Everybody dies in their sleep. He thought as he was nearing his target. If he knew this would happen, he should have prepared more equipment like sleep-inducing drugs and weapons for silent killing. But this was an opportunity he would not pass.

He loomed over at Eric, half of his face was covered inside the blanket, and he couldn't perform his criminal act if it were the case. As quiet and careful as he could, he pulled the quilt down, exposing Eric's face, and along with it, two scary eyes stared at him. Under the dim lights, they shone like amethyst, but it was nothing beautiful, especially the threat it promised.

Asher gulped the lump back in his throat at the sight of Evangeline curled against Eric. Goosebumps crawled all over his skin, and all his fine hairs stood on end at the sight of her cold eyes promising death. Slowly, he returned the quilt to its original place, covering those sinister eyes before he crept back to his bed.

Curling his body to the side, he closed his eyes tight, a small whimper escaped his lips.

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