“You didn’t need to say that.” Scarlet nudged Phoenix further behind her.
“I don’t care.” Demetrius turned to face them. “Let my sister go.”
“Alexiel…” the queen said, slowly rising from her chair. She shot the prince a sceptical look, uncertain who she was meant to believe. “Is it true…?” she asked Scarlet.
His sister dug deep into her silence, choosing to set her eyes on the queen’s middle rather than lifting her gaze for them to meet. In the uncomfortable silence that followed, the woman asked that the chains be removed. Free of these constraints, his sister took her child into her arms but otherwise gave no acknowledge to king or queen…or prince.
As was her right.
“It can’t be,” Alexiel said, shaking his head.
“No,” the queen said, reaching out to take Phoenix by her chin. She tilted the little girl&rsquo
“You didn’t tell me you’d be coming over.” Demetrius watched Jamie scale her way onto the roof, taking great care with her footing before she made her way over to him. The boy’s gaze followed her as she took the spot next to him laced with questions he decided against asking. “I’d have come get you; we could’ve walked together.”Despite his extreme vigilance, the boy hadn’t found dangers lurking around each corner. That, however, did little to assuage his anxieties where she, or anyone else in his family was concerned. The boy had allowed himself to drop his guard and that was when disaster had struck.He wouldn’t be making that mistake again any time soon. Jamie shrugged. “It was spur of the moment. I didn’t wanna stare at my ceiling anymore or listen to my mother ask me how I’m feeling for the millionth time.” She looked out at the guard house, its figure silhouett
“Hurry up or we’ll miss it!” Megan pulled Jamie through the crowd of students that gathered near the football field. “He’ll be in detention until he graduates, I know it.”Megan shoved and elbowed the pair up into the bleachers where several other students had also managed to climb their way up. All eyes were cast toward the recently manicured lawn—the one the principal had paid landscapers to prepare for the upcoming track events to be held at the school.The entire student body had been abuzz from the moment the rumours first began spreading and those rumours had endured long enough to draw the crowd that they had.In the centre, sitting atop one of the school’s riding mowers was none other than Demetrius Nicholai Finley. He wore the widest Cheshire grin, overly pleased with the work of his hands and the crowd he’d managed to draw. The boy climbed atop the machine he’d stolen from the old shed, facing
“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” Demetrius nodded at his mother’s question. It’d been two years in the official capacity of guardian and she was no less inclined to worry. In truth, that night would be one of the easier investigations. The original target was out of town on business but it presented the opportunity for him to gain some secondary information. If things got sticky, he didn’t suspect he’d have a difficult time making an escape and returning with backup. “The first sign of trouble, you contact your sister, understood?” He nodded again. “It’s getting late, go.” The boy shrunk inward, taking his form as a black cat. Tail high, he trotted from the house and out into the cool October air. He’d been to the target residence once before to canvas the area and knew he would need to move in through the second-floor balcony.Demetrius rounded the house, listening to ensure the secondary-target was al
“Are you going to kill me?” Jamie asked. That had never been the plan. Dead—especially if his lead turned out to be false—would bring about an avalanche of paperwork he’d never find the motivation to tackle. There would be an unnecessary number of questions and perhaps a bit of punishment he’d rather not endure. Demetrius gave a lazy shrug. “Only after we’ve had a bit of fun. Now, how do you feel about ‘my mother has someone regularly checking in with us while she’s gone; they’ll be calling any minute’?”In place of any response, Jamie felt around for the door knob. She had the wild sort of look in her eyes that told him she was set to run. In his experience, that was never a quiet affair and was often accompanied by screaming; loud…unnecessary…screaming.“Don’t,” he said. “I’d rather not on an empty stomach.”Heedless of his polite request, Jamie spun on her heels and yanked the door open. She darted through it without so much as a glance back to see that he was already on his feet
They moved quietly into the room, ghostly spectres with lithe movements that left them undetectable. Demetrius led the silent charge, his body low to the ground and his steps swallowed by the pads of his feet. This time, he’d taken along his mother and sister, hoping they might better help him decide. Jamie lay asleep, unaware of the visitors that had come to see her but Demetrius understood the need for extra caution. She hadn’t been sleeping much, not since the night they met. More often than not, she tossed and turned in a fretful half-sleep, stirred by the faintest of noises. “I dunno, Dem…” Cassidy said. She leaned in to get her own whiff of the girl. “What d’you think, mom?” Their mother placed a hand on Jamie’s forehead causing the girl to groan and stir. The three held their breaths, hoping she would soon fade back into disturbed sleep but Jamie’s eyes fluttered open. They widened comically at the sight o
The whispers swirled around the hall faster than he could walk. Barely a half hour within the building and there were very few who didn’t know that Demetrius Finley had once again graced the mere mortals with his presence. It’d been a busy weekend of implanting documents and memories to get himself back into the school system and he now owed a few too many favours for his liking but if he planned to move forward, he would need greater access to a certain teary-eyed wonder. “Demetrius?” The boy stopped, forcing his most accommodating smile. “Haley,” he said. His eyes twinkled with a delight he didn’t truly feel. “Been a while.” His former classmate skipped to close the final distance. “It’s been years. Shit. What happened? Were the rumours true?” “Tell me what they were and I’ll let you know.” Haley spared a conspiratorial glance about the hall before leaning in to fill him in. It had barely
“Where are you going?” Demetrius froze steps from the front door. He’d expected his mother would remain in the guard tower keeping his father company until the end of his shift. “Out to clear my head,” he said. “Are you alright?” Concern weighed her brows into a crease. “If school’s been too much, you don’t have to keep up with it. You can try again in another few decades when you don’t have so much on your plate.” He shook his head. “I made the choice and I don’t regret it. Just need a quick walk before I begin that calculus business. It gives me a headache.” His mother’s expression softened. “Demetrius…” “I’ll be back.” He hurried through the door before she could launch into a real interrogation. For the last week, he’d been intentionally elusive, seldom remaining home and seldom willing to have conversations with his family. It had to be done. For as good as he was at detecting lies, Cassidy could
The 8oz carton of milk slid across the lunch table, coming to a stop inches from his hand. Demetrius looked at the box, then the hand that had nudged it closer, and finally the reddening face of the girl who’d initiated the gesture. Jamie didn’t return his gaze, instead choosing to keep her eyes downcast while she waited for him to accept it. “Here.” Demetrius took the carton, turning it over as if he meant to read the label or its nutritional facts but in truth, it was the gesture itself that stumped him. Not only had she come to share a table with him of her own volition, Jamie had brought a gift…albeit a puzzling one. When she finally lifted her eyes, she caught the question in his. “For last night,” she said stiffly, returning her gaze to the box of milk. “Huh? Oh. Oh!” He lowered the box to the table. “Don’t worry about it. I’d never let you get eaten.” She blanched at his words, the colour from earlier retre