“Samvel,” I say.
“Yeah. That’s it. I knew him when I was little. He had a twin sister, too. I remember because I have one too. A twin brother, just like Emma did. Anyway, we played together until one day they up and moved.”
I pull my phone out and open the picture Anthony sent to me. I hold it up to Ellery, and they roll their eyes. “I’m not talking to that traitor.”
I hand the phone to Bane, and he shows it to them instead. “Yeah, that’s Emma.”
“She goes by Virgin.”
“She always was a prude,” Ellery says, and Bane laughs.
“She kept passing out every time I went to remove something.”
“She isn’t tough at all. Her dad babied her.”
“Who’s her father?” I ask, but go ignored. Bane does the same.
It isn’t until ten minutes later, after chattering incessantly, like they’ve been long-lost friends, that he finally asks Ellery my question.
“So, who are the parents of this Samvel and Emma?”
“Dunno. They didn’t have a mom. I think this creep adopted them. Never met the guy. Just knew what I knew from what they told me. All I know is the dude was a shit.” Ellery leans up slightly and says lowly, “I’m pretty sure they had other people living in that house. But I think the dad kept them hidden. I think he was into some shady shit, but my family wasn’t exactly the Brady Bunch. I had shit of my own at home distracting me.”
Bane bobs his head. “He sounds pretty terrible. Anything else you can tell us about them?”
“Nope. Just that they were always mischievous. Getting into trouble. I think their dad encouraged it because they never got punished for it. They said he was proud of the weird shit they did.”
“What weird shit?”
“Stealing, lying, one time they even murdered someone. Well, I think they did. They bragged about breaking into Ms. Lydia’s house, and the next day, an ambulance showed up and rolled out a covered body.”
“Hm,” Bane says, but doesn’t ask anything else. He just moves the conversation to something else unimportant. I’m left to listen to them chatter until it finally stops, and Ellery requests dinner.
I hate this person. The entitled twit.
But Nova agrees to stay with them while I go and fetch Ellery something to eat. Me. As if I’m a servant in this house.
But the way Bane continues to ignore me leaves me to do as I’m told, returning with a plate of food for Ellery and something for Bane and Nova as well.
I should have poisoned it, I think as I set it before them. But I was never into apothecary. I could have gone into the field of pharmacology, but I quite liked taking people apart and putting them back together again. I was good at it, too. I still am. Only this time, I rarely put people back together.
Usually, I’m what Ellery said. A reaper of sorts.
Doling out consequences and ultimately death.
I watch as Bane eats the food, his eyes never moving to mine. I stand there, looming, feeling uncomfortable in this room as I wait for him to finish. But he’s taking his time, nibbling on the meal Agatha prepared. I’m about to grab it and throw it out the window.
But before I can, he stands up and tries to move past me. My arm extends and snakes around his middle, and I pull him into me.
“Do not leave.”
“Hands off me!” he shouts.
I growl, wrestling him gently. He’s slippery. It doesn’t help that Nova and Ellery are getting involved as well. Their hands land on me, and I recoil. Bane must sense it because he slaps them away.
“Don’t touch him! He hates it.”
My heart swells, uneven thumps in my chest as it tries to beat through my ribs. The feelings I have for this complicated man. They’re unwanted and yet, there despite it.
