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“Introduce us,” he ordered his son.
Arkane looked like he had stifled a hundred sighs as he eyed his father. “This is Bellerose Esteal,” he introduced flatly.
“Right.” His father’s eyes were fixed on me. “Are you aware that this is a family gathering, Ms. Esteal?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“And you’re an outsider,” he said.
“She’s my guest,” Arkane said in a cold tone, taking my hand in his. His father didn’t like that one bit, with the way his eyes hardened.
“Let’s all be nice,” Jon told his father, smiling despite the obvious tension. “She saved our lives, after all.”
“She also put all my sons’ lives in danger,” Victor Stormhold countered firmly, pursing his lips.
Arkane’s hand tightened around mine, and I was just about to speak when Chiara graced us with her presence. That completely shifted Victor Stormhold’s energy. He was all smiles and pure joy as he wished his daughter a happy birthday. The complete opposite of how he treated Arkane.
“No wonder you hate your father,” I mumbled to Arkane, just as their father left to take his position by the head table, and all the family members lined up to meet him. While he kept a reserved nature with others, he showed a certain gentleness and love toward his own children. Well, everyone except for Arkane. Everything about their interaction was cold and unfeeling. Almost as if it were a pure transactional relationship.
Arkane gave me a hard look. “I don’t hate him,” he said flatly.
“But you don’t like him either.” I wondered when the lines blurred this much for me to have a casual conversation with Arkane. He was this cold, untouchable man when we first met, and now we talk like we’d known each other for years. Now he noticed me, cared for me in his own weird way, and protected me like I was his.
“We have a difficult relationship,” Arkane said. “But he’s still my father, and I don’t want to talk about it with you.” A certain hardness in his tone suggested that I know my place before he walked off to his sisters.
I internally sighed. Only seconds ago, I was thinking he had changed with me. It was apparent that it was all a simple courtesy while I, on the other hand, was overimagining things.
I was going mad because of this man.
It wasn’t long before everyone scattered, and I was left standing in a lone corner in the room, nursing a glass of plain water. Without Arkane by my side, I felt more judgmental and curious stares my way.
Why was I still here anyway?
Deciding to leave, I quietly slipped out of the room to the empty hallway.
“Nobody here likes you,” a cold voice said from behind me. “Well, maybe except for Arkane.” He paused. “Weirdly.”
I turned to see Lucien Greigewood cloaked in the shadows. Wrapped in my head, I hardly noticed his presence. I didn’t like that I wasn’t on my guard in the enemy’s lair.
“Thank you for the insight,” I replied flatly. “I never would’ve guessed.”
A smile pulled at his lips. It made his eyes gleam in the shadows. “I don’t like you either.”
Why the hell was I putting up with these people? It wasn’t like I wanted to win their approval or anything. They don’t mean anything to me. So, without saying a word, I turned back and walked away.
“But then I don’t hate you either,” Lucien’s steel voice echoed through the hallway, and that made me stop in my tracks. “I think you and I are very alike.”
Once again, I turned back, this time giving him my full attention. “How so?” I asked, taking my time to study him. Something was oddly similar between him and Arkane. Maybe it was their dark hair or beguiling presence, but Lucien Greigewood intrigued me the most out of Arkane’s circle.
“I see a little of myself in you. We both love to kill.”
“I don’t, and more so, I’m not a cold psychopath.”
Lucien smirked. “But you are an unfeeling killer.”
“I don’t have to feel anything to kill evil people,” I said flatly.
“Now, I’m only more intrigued,” another voice added from my side. Karl Ford, leaning against the wall, watched me intently.
