“Tae be honest, laddie, with the anti-traffickin’ laws currently in place, it would have been smarter if he had fought back. There are nae second chances, and his death will nae be an easy one.”
“It’s well deserved.”
Cecil was a bit surprised Roth had called. More so that the man was telling him anything. He would have thought being related to one of the bad guys would have disqualified him.
Roth’s tone was unusually serious, but also gentle, like he was trying to lessen the impact of his words.
It was unnecessary. Cecil knew he should have felt something, but he didn’t. He supposed he was glad his father had been stopped, but that was about it.
Yes, Cecil hated his father, and sure, it hurt sometimes,but he tried not to dwell on it. His father was not worth his time.
“I’m sorry, Cecil,” Roth rumbled.
“For what? You didn’t do anything.” Cecil cleared his throat when his words were met with silence. “Um, anyway, thanks for telling me.”
“I—”
A voice that he was pretty sure belonged to Benji drowned out whatever Roth had intended to say. “Let me talk to him!”
There was a muffled conversation and then Benji was on the line.
“Hey, Cecil!”
Cecil couldn’t help but grin at the excitement in the man’s voice. “Hello, Benji.”
“So, get this. There was this really scary guy that came over to join the fight. The one that turned out to not really be a fight.”
“And?”
“So the guy comes over, right? And he hasn’t really met any of us. His name was Jayden, I think. Anyway, he has these unnatural, pure black eyes, and feathery black hair. It looked super soft. Part of me honestly wanted to touch it. But I like breathing, so I didn’t.”
His grin widened. “Probably for the best. I think I saw him when Sin took me to the castle. Definitely not a man you’d want to mess with.”
“Oh, good, so you can picture him. Anyway, he comes in, and Roth being the big idiot that he is, greets him as he did you the first day. Picked him right up.” Benji started to laugh. “I don’t think I have seen Dante Kozen, the boss of the Kozen Zaytari group, ever lookso horrified.”
Oh, boy. Jayden had not looked like the touchy-feely type. More of a ‘murder you if you piss him off’ kind of guy.
“And Jayden?”
“He seemed to go into shock. The man stood frozen where Roth put him down until Dante murmured something to him. Then, the whole time we were planning, he was caressing a knife while staring at Roth. There was a really creepy smile on his face.”
“Sounds like it’s as lively as ever over there,” Cecil chuckled.
“Yep! So how are you liking the Dusburn branch? They treating you right?!”
Wasn’t that the question? The place was what he had expected a Zaytari main branch to look like. It was nice, fancy without being obnoxious, and a blend of earth tones and neutrals. It was…nice.
But it lacked the individuality of the Makeshift Mansion, and it was quiet. Currently, Cecil was sitting by himself on one of many couches in an overly large living room. The walls were a gray-green color, and the floor was wooden. There was one large TV, too many couches, a small table with four chairs, and a few pool tables, but not a single video game in sight.
“I’m not sure yet. It’s pretty quiet here. They don’t talk much.” He missed the other house.
“Oh…maybe they just need time. Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll open up and love you as much as we do. So how is school?”
Cecil jerked in shock—love? That was not a word he heard often.
The quiet house suddenly filled with noise. There was yelling. People ran past him, and the sound ofshoes slamming on the floor soon became a thundering symphony.
But the pounding of his heart soon drowned it out. Benji’s increasingly panicked words were muffled. Cecil smelled blood. The scent kept him glued to his seat, because he knew the scent and who it belonged to.
