DESCENT

XIX -The shadows, they grow darker

WILLIAM VEIL:

Selena's was a cozy-looking café with a minimalistic interior design, themed with white and baby blues.

Soft and easy in the eyes, added by the pleasant aroma of brewed coffee and freshly baked bread. It was a hidden gem of a café that just recently opened a few months ago from what he had known when he chatted with the pretty barista.

Lucky for him, the shop was located a few blocks away from his old university's campus and just a few minutes' drive from their summer home.

Although William didn't really mind the fact that he had to actually drive all the way here, he was just a bit disappointed that the place hadn't been available when he was still a student in AST Academy.

If it was, it would have been a pretty cool spot to hang out with what little friends he had managed to make during that time.

Ah, good times...

From what he had observed, Selena's was open 24/7 and was filled with a decent amount of customers that were a steady mix of students or school staff busying themselves with their paperwork or laptop even if it was nearing 11 pm. Majority of the customers was just about anybody who could appreciate and needed to pump their systems with strong caffeine to get through the night. And as a monster mercenary, William Veil was a definite example of that.

Also, the coffee's divine.

Okay, he lied.

Well, no, not... noy the part about the coffee. It was some real, honest to gods, high-quality coffee bean.

So... maybe attempting to spy on his sister's first date is not a really good excuse for him to be here and this may be karma collecting her debt but hey, William just wanted to be sure that the werewolf's not going to do anything remotely... funny.

(He still thinks Alastor Nyx is definitely sus.)

But no amount of good coffee could even dare to lift William's spirits up when he had come to finally realize, he even fucking checked the backroom that the two weren't even remotely anywhere near here!

He had been sitting here, having ordered two cups of espresso for the last fucking two hours straight and both of them didn't even bother to show up!

I mean, just what... what the hell is up with that?!

Had his sister somehow clocked on that William had followed after he pestered her for details? Or had they moved on to another place without him knowing?

Seriously, what the hell?

Where are they?!

A hand suddenly pinched on his face, tugging at his cheek too-roughly and William was instantly jolted out of his thoughts, scowling, and raising a fist to punch the idiot who seriously dared to touch him–

"Gonna punch me, Veil?" a smooth, baritone voice resounded dangerously close to his ear, a hint of a blade hovering dangerously close to his ribs, "...try. I dare you."

And William immediately felt himself turn into a various shade of gray in a span of a second before he turned his head to gawk at the older man now chuckling and moving to sit across him, "What are you doing here, Nick?!"

Silver eyes gleamed knowingly behind black-framed spectacles, "...I could ask you the same thing, Veil."

"Cut the bullshit, Cayden," William groaned, wiping at his face tiredly with both hands, "I just know you were the one who ratted out our place to that werewolf. And now, you're following me around. Dude, did you put a tracker on my phone or something?"