She flicked her red eyes to me, startled, as if I had broken a trance she was in. “Hmm, what? Oh, me?”
“I mean, who else would I be talking to?”
She rubbed her arm harshly, making marks in her light skin. “I’m ok, really.” I gave her a look of ‘yeah, right’ that she shrunk under. “I guess I’m just... I miss my sister.” Ambermourn peeredover the edge of his paper when she said this, but when he caught me glaring at him, he sank behind it again and went back to reading.
I exhaled through my nose and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder so I could squeeze it. “I see, I see. I really am sorry about how things worked out.”
“I am, too. She was my sister, whether she was good or not. I wish... I wish I could bring her back, somehow.” She cut me a side eye. “I can’t do that, can I?”
“It’s not very easy,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, who’s to say she won’t try and hurt you again? Is that something you want to risk?”
“No, not really, but she deserves to live.”
“Does she?” I popped curiously. Isadora was unsure of what I meant based on the look on her face. “I think she was a cruel, corrupt soul, who wanted to do nothing but take down those close to her to gain her goals. She lost fair and square. Who’s to say she would try to bring you back if the tables were turned? I don’t think you owe her anything.”
“Maybe not, but I don’t think of it like that.” She tensed up and looked back out over the crowd. “Only you and Nick can bring people back, right?”
“Yes...?” I unsurely replied.
Her shoulders slacked. “Thought so.”
“It’s for the better, Isadora, really. Try not to think about it too much.”
“It’s all I think about...” she whispered brokenly. I glanced back at Ambermourn, who sipped his drink quietly. His demeanor was calm, but his eyes were alight with plotting, scheming. I knew those eyes well and feared them more than anything in the world.
Ambermourn’s home was empty when I arrived today. This was my fifth visit in two weeks, and at this point, I was growing tired of entertaining his desires for information. My body felt worn down, like I was returning to a long and agonizing job; my joints were simply not ready to communicate with the rest of me. I brushed through his office and bedroom, unsure of why he wouldn’t be here, and nervous about this. A notecard sat on his kitchen counter. When I picked it up and turned it over, I saw a phone number etched in dark red ink across the backside. Something about the number was familiar, so I pulled my phone out and dialed it into my keypad. Low and behold, it was Isadora’s personal line.
“What the fuck are you up to...?” I snarled under my breath.
“It’s not nice to poke around people’s personal belongings when they’re not home,” Ambermourn sniffed from behind me, scaring the absolute shit out of me. The card flung from my hands and onto the counter again. I spun in a circle and threw my hands up. “I thought you had left me a note is all.”
“Uh huh.” He had an angered, glossy look of aggravation today, and moved to snatch the card and shove it into his pocket.
I switched on my charm and took his hand to tug on it, fronting an innocent smile. “You’re quite grumpy today. What's on your mind?”
“Nothing,” he cut in a short, blunt tone.
I tsked and kissed his cheek, leaving my lips there for a moment. “You can talk to me?”
He hesitantly accepted my gesture. “I just... don’t like when people are uncooperative.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“It’s... It’s nothing, really. Um...?” He ran a hand down his face with a huff of annoyance. “Look, can we do this another time? I’m not really in the mood today.”
“Sure, of course.” I was grateful for this myself, but his comment made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I was able to pry his hands off his face, and when he looked me in the eyes, he inevitably crumbled. “I’ll give you space, but before I go, can you assure me that you’re ok? I don’t want to leave you alone when you’re this upset.” I kissed the palm of his hand for good measure to lay it on thick.
His pale grey eyes were consumed with sadness, so deep and penetrating that I felt it along with him. He raised a hand to walk his fingertips through my hair, gently tucking it behind my ear. He pinched my earrings, a pair he had given me centuries ago that I never got rid of. “Have you ever had to hurt someone you love to accomplish a goal you aren’t even sure is worth fighting for?” he whispered lifelessly.
I swallowed softly. “I... yeah, I have.”
I'm doing it right now to Ashlynn.
His expression was warning me, but I was too blind to see it. “I am stuck at a crossroads of devotion versus domination. I finally have a chance to gain something I have wanted for centuries, but if I claim it, I will hurt someone very dear to me. Really, that person is hurting me every day without even realizing it, but I still love them too much to fully commit to my goal.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I cannot say.”
