Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Just as quickly as Cassis grabbed me, he seemed to realize he was holding my injured arm

because I felt his grip immediately loosen. That simple action told me just what sort of person Cassis Pedelian was. He was indeed a young man who would abide by the gentleman’s code no matter the circumstance. While I hated the fact that I was taking advantage of such a person, what choice did I have?

“I’m sorry.”

I stroked his face with the hand he had just released and cast a forlorn look at him to suggest I was the one who needed his protection. It worked like a charm as he simply stared up at me as my hand continued to roam.

“Just trust me, okay? Even if it makes you a little uncomfortable.”

I could not leave my work half done. The mark on his neck was hardly discernible, so it absolutely would not do.

“I’ll be really quick,” I whispered into his ear as demurely as I could muster. I aimed to give the impression that the whole ordeal was agonizing for me as well, and that I was truly sorry for essentially being forced into what I was doing.

“Stay still, okay?”

Then again, I could have been wrong. Cassis began grabbing at my hand again. I quickly buried my face in his neck again.

“Wait, Rox—”

I assumed I stunned him speechless as I continued to work. His grip around my wrist did tighten, but he didn’t push me away this second time. Perhaps he was too shocked to do so. I felt his body tense beneath me even more than it had the first time. Meanwhile, the thump, thump of our heartbeats was quite literally pounding through me. Once again though, it was difficult to discern whose heart was creating the reverberations. I focused my aim as I knew I needed to leave as clear of a mark as possible.

Then suddenly, I felt his hand on the nape of my neck. Afraid he would try to pull me away again, I hurriedly bit into his neck as hard as possible. His hand threaded into my hair, then suddenly stopped moving. All I could hear was his breathing ringing through my ear. I felt a slight tug, which I assumed was due to his fingers entangling themselves in my locks, but luckily it wasn’t at all painful. In fact, it sort of gave me the leverage I needed to make an even longer-lasting mark. Luckily, I finished the job with less trouble than I had expected thanks to Cassis not squirming around all that much. While I was at it, I decided to leave a few more marks.

Once I was satisfied with my work, I carefully caressed the bite marks with my fingers. Cassis simply glared at me with those golden eyes of his as his chest heaved up and down. It was mildly suggestive of something.

“Thanks for your help, Cassis,” I whispered gently as I rose. With such a small task completed, we were that much further out of the woods.

* * *

It’s no joke when they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I stared at the two figures in the distance with genuine contempt. Lante and Deon Agrece had decided to converse while huddled together in the garden. If I sent one of my butterflies over to them, it could easily overhear what they were saying, but the risk was far too high. Instead of learning their secrets, one wrong step meant I might get exposed. From such a distance, they truly did appear awfully alike. Both father and son shared the same hair and eye colors. However, their facial structures were quite different from up close. Besides, they had a completely different air about them, so one could only mistake their similarities from far away.

I watched as Lante gave his son’s shoulder a good-natured pat. In all likelihood, he was probably congratulating Deon on yet another job well done. In this evil clan, no one was permitted to leave the compound until after reaching adulthood. That meant only a handful of Lante’s offspring were ever allowed to go out on assignments. To be exact—only two. I had two older brothers and one older sister, but she was still only 17. That left only the two males for outside assignments, and it was always Deon—the younger of the two—who excelled.

At some point I thought Deon might have perhaps seen me watching him, so I quickly pirouetted around to avoid any potential interaction. Five years ago, my poor brother died because he was unable to eliminate his assigned target. The sentence for his failure was immediate disposal, and the person who executed the deed was none other than Deon Agrece. That was my first reason for hating him. The second was that... he was the only person in the entire clan who had ever witnessed my weakness.

* * *

“Can’t you do it?”

It was the voice of a newly minted adult who had just broken free of his awkward youth. If the sound were represented by an object, it would have resembled a handful of icy sand that scattered at the slightest touch. As his cold, dry voice sounded from above, I heard the lack of solitary note of emotion. I stopped breathing as the words hit me like a sharpened dagger. I had been so petrified by the task at hand, that I had forgotten he was there.

“Then don’t do it.”

The arctic chill in his voice pierced through my eardrums. Then he began walking toward me. He meant to complete what I couldn’t—what I had started, but could not bring myself to finish. Had I been some know-nothing, ignorant fool I may have actually felt relieved. I may have sighed at the thought that there was a way to avoid getting my hands dirty, or even rejoice at the fact that someone else could step in, but I knew better. He wasn’t offering graciously or out of concern. Not carrying out my assigned task was essentially signing my own death certificate. Therefore I had to do it. Me. Of course, there were other reasons I had to go through with it as well.

“...away.”

I heard his footstep halt at my command. That he had even heard the squeaky whisper that had come out of my mouth surprised me a little. I palmed the wall with my trembling hand for support, then hoisted myself up.

“Deon, you stay away,”

I growled at him again.

“You... You better not butt in!”

It was my last evaluation before turning 15. A tearful Achilles who had already been dead for a few years shimmered before my eyes. Of course, it was only a hallucination. How else could a dead person be standing in front of a living human being? My head had also been reeling, but that too was probably due to the effects of the hallucinogen. Or perhaps it hadn’t just been that.

I trudged toward my dead brother who stood before me with bloody tears streaming down his face. I greeted him not with a bouquet of flowers to commemorate his memory, but with a dagger to slash the life out of him yet again.

“I will not allow Achille to die by your hand again, you bastard.”

Suddenly, Deon’s perpetually calm and cool gaze that had always reminded me of a frozen sea wavered. I had no idea what the glimmer meant, nor did it matter to me at such a crucial moment. Abandoning all concern over his slimy gaze, I continued toward the apparition. Achille had been 15 at the time—the same age I was during this evaluation. What had gone through his mind during his final test? What sort of apparition had appeared to him in this hallucinogenic state that he couldn’t slay it and chose his own death instead? That remained an everlasting puzzle, one which I couldn’t get anyone in this world to solve for me.