Chapter 142

Chapter 142

Each time one of our siblings tried to get a word in, Jeremy shot them down without mercy.

“They’re quite the nuisance, huh, Sis? Want me to have ‘em all gagged?”

Still, in my eyes, he was the epitome of sweetness itself. It was painfully obvious that those sitting at our table were less than happy to be at the gathering. Not a single one of our brothers or sisters looked as if they could stomach the meal let alone all the stale formalities.

Yet even so, no one dared speak out against our new leader. While I continued to watch their petty dilemma with near-giddy interest, I felt a slight tug on my hand. It was a signal from one of my butterflies that they had a message to relay.

“What is it, Xana?”

Jeremy had become so attuned to me that he had picked up on even that minuscule reaction. I looked toward the hall entrance without giving him an answer, which caused him to glance in that direction as well. Before too long, a foreboding figure that was almost as dark as the night sky came into our view.

Clink.

The sound of my brother dropping his cutlery against his dish created a din so loud that everyone else in the hall paused to search for its source. One of our other half-siblings had noticed our unshaken focus on the hall entrance and turned to see what had captivated us.

“D-Deon?!”

Krakaboom!

As if his sudden appearance demanded further dramatization, a clap of thunder shook the hall as Deon’s name was announced. He was drenched from head to toe, which informed us all that the rain had been falling quite heavily outside.

The water dripping from his overcoat formed a pool on the luminescent marble floor at his feet. Everything about him, from his ominous appearance to the thick, brooding air about him, felt so out of place in that glittery palace. He was like a thundercloud in a setting where sensuous music, sunshine, and flowers were the norm.

Before long, there wasn’t an eye at our table that wasn’t looking in his direction, yet not one of them managed to utter a single word.

I could hear the remaining onlookers begin to mutter to one another at the spectacle from their seats. It was most likely that the overt uneasiness of our clan members had tipped them off as they were almost comedically glancing between us and the newcomer.

Deon’s menacing figure only further fueled their desire to gossip among themselves. Despite the distance between us, our eyes met just as they always did whenever we were in the same room.

My gaze was as cold as ever. Yes... For some reason, I had a feeling he’d show up. I had known since the moment my mother spoke his name. Just hearing her say it was as painful as having it branded on my heart. And if I’m being totally honest, I had sensed something like that was bound to happen from the moment I turned my back on the Agreces. It seemed as if he was telling me the same thing in his silent way.

“I knew you’d be waiting for me too,” Deon said.

His cold, slithering stare practically planted those words in my ears without his lips making a sound. Ugh! Honestly, I had just about had my fill of this annoyingly tedious story that kept us bound to one another! The next raucous sound to grate everyone’s ears was my chair scraping against the marble floor as I rose from my seat.

“Wait, Big Sis.”

Jeremy attempted to stall me while turning his sharp gaze on our older brother. He then stared up at me with an almost pleading look in hopes of keeping me from leaving his side. His hatred toward Deon had far from grown dull, but there was something else in his gaze as he looked at me. Something almost like dread.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand that. After all, anyone could see that the way he was standing at the entrance like a wooden sentry on such a dreary night made for a menacing sight. But be that as it may, he was there for me. He was rather overtly waiting for me to go to him.

Had I resisted, there was no doubt he would trudge over to me instead, which was a situation I was keen to avoid. Besides, I had my own reasons for needing to meet with him.

“It’s okay. I’ll be right back.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“No.” I made sure to speak with finality so Jeremy wouldn’t push the matter further. “I have to go alone.”

Everyone else at our table kept their heads down and lips pressed tightly shut. I supposed they sensed it was best to keep silent when it came to matters concerning the top three members of our clan visibly clashing. Still, I thought it best to bid them a brief but gentle farewell before departing.

“I hope you all enjoy the rest of tonight’s banquet,” I said.

By the time I properly made my way out of the hall, Deon had disappeared from view. I quickly stepped over the red carpet leading to the hall doors and pursued the ominous air he left in his wake.

From the corridor, the sound of the rain was far louder than the music still playing in the hall. I unknowingly moved in step with its pattering sound as if it had possessed me.

* * *

I followed the trail of wet footsteps he had purposefully left behind until I eventually found myself face-to-face with him. He was waiting for me in a quiet corridor a good distance away from the banquet hall. The sound of the rain served as white noise to drown out the sounds of our silent hate-filled glares.

As I studied his figure standing there with the night sky as his backdrop, I imagined he was more like a character in a watercolor painting. Those crimson eyes of his bore into me with equal intensity while being cloaked half in darkness and half in dim candlelight.

I took a step toward him to reach out for his cheek. “What happened? You’re soaking wet.”

I immediately sensed something stir in him that seemed to even be out of his control. I hadn’t seen him since that winter either, but unlike Jeremy, he hadn’t changed in the slightest. Or so it seemed. Whatever the case, it didn’t feel as though he and I had been apart for all that long. A single raindrop slid down his square jaw before plummeting to the floor. I made sure to look deep into his eyes as I caressed his face again, then whispered, “Poor, Deon... Did you think there would be a welcoming party when you arrived that made you run all the way to Yggdrasil like this? Honestly, how can you still be so dense?”

As the venomous words left my lips, I saw a flicker in his eyes that soon grew into a roaring, all-consuming flame. I was sort of happy to be back to my old cold and merciless ways. It was as if whatever meaning had been in our last farewell that night in Lante’s office had been entirely forgotten.

Of course, he soon recovered his senses as if he had expected as much from me. He then gripped my wrist firmly enough to break it if he had chosen to.

“So you...” He spoke as if the words on his tongue burned his lips as they left his mouth. “You’ve actually been with Cassis Pedelian all this time?”

“I have. What of it?”

I was surprisingly calm despite hating the sound of Cassis’ name on his tongue. He then sneered at me crookedly.

“You don’t even deny it?”

“Why should I?”

I could almost feel the rage bubbling up inside of him. Sure enough, animosity was far more familiar to us. On that fateful night in the Black mansion, we might have imagined things could change between us, but that was a grave mistake.

I was more certain than ever that we would always be like that. Together we were like a stinking, festering boil that was bound to burst eventually. Thus, no matter the passage of time, our relationship was unlikely to change in any meaningful way. In fact, the more often we saw one another, the more worn out and frustrated we made one another.

“What’s with that look on your face? You aren’t mad at me, are you?” I smiled icily at him as I spoke. “At the very least, you can’t possibly think I’m to blame for your late arrival tonight.”

It seemed necessary to make it clear to him that he wasn’t the only one of us with a great deal on our plate. I was finally able to properly vent the rage I felt from the moment I laid eyes on Achille’s husk at the Gold manor—and toward his murderer who was conveniently standing before me no less.

“Surely you didn’t dare presume I would welcome you with open arms. I mean, you didn’t even keep your promise to kill Lante.” That was the most direct path to getting under his skin. I was prepared to torment him as if it was my only purpose in this fictional life, then laugh at him for every new wound I inflicted on him. “You really are useless.”

Cassis assured me more than once that everything at the Black mansion that night had gone according to my wishes. Standing face to face with him like that I supposed that if I had really wanted him to live, it was only so I could hurt him a bit more.

Mother informed me that he dealt Lante a rather lethal blow, but received one himself in the process. Thus, she asked Emily to bring him along during their escape, so she could treat him. And while I was aware that he could have killed her easily once he recovered, yet hadn’t...

Who cared?! Did he expect me to thank him or express sympathy toward him? Ha! He was the main reason that the wicked Achille impostor even existed in the first place.

“So you chose the Blue Heir over me because he killed Lante that night?”

As strange as it may sound, the moment I heard him mention Cassis, the rage inside me began to cool. I took a deep breath

“No. No, but I do think you are woefully mistaken if you think you are his equal or even close to someone who could fill his shoes.”

He gripped my wrist even tighter, but I pulled my arm away. Then I noticed a crooked smile playing on his lips. “You know what? That foul smell coming off of you... I also smelled it wafting off that bastard when I ran into him not too long ago.”