Neverswan

Chapter Twenty-Eight | Kaylessa

Enjoy this chapter, mwah-mwah! Thank you for all the reads while the book was on hiatus lmao

—chloe

"Should we tell her?"

"I'm not sure."

Kaylessa stopped rummaging through Alina's pantry as she caught snippets of the conversation held in the main room. She fingered the lid of a can of glectos as she tilted her ear towards the noise.

"How do you know if this was recent?"

"Does Kaylessa know?"

She inhaled sharply at the mention of her name and opened the door to the pantry slightly to peek through the crack. Viessa's back was to her and she only saw half of Ashryn through the small slit. Viessa shifted slightly to the right to answer a question Kieran asked when Kaylessa saw the picture frame she clutched tightly in her hands.

Raverie was kicking a large pile of prattles when she saw Kaylessa shift the door open.

"What are you doing?" Raverie asked. She reached down to pick up a prattle and pop it in her mouth.

"Do you hear them?" Kaylessa whispered loudly.

"No, why are we talking so quietly?" Raverie moved to stand behind Kaylessa as they watched Viessa pass the picture frame around. "What is that?"

"I don't know. Are they going to show us?" Raverie cocked her head to the right and squinted at the minimal view of the picture. The lights glared off the glass and made it extremely hard to spy.

"Let's see," Kaylessa muttered as she shoved the door fully open.

"Kaylessa! Did you see that pile of prattles? Alina is such a hoarder!" Raverie said too loudly. Her awkward, stiff tone attracted the attention of the others. Viessa not so subtly hid the picture behind her back.

Kaylessa shot Raverie a look and headed towards her friends. Raverie followed.

"Hey Kaylessa," Viessa said. Her eyes were pleading as she watched Ashryn shrug.

"What's behind your back?" Kaylessa asked innocently. Viessa's eyes widened and Ashryn shrugged again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keryn shift into a defensive position. Uh-oh, this was bad then.

"Um, maybe you should sit down?" Viessa suggested, looking extremely nervous.

"Did you find an Alden stash?" Kaylessa asked jokingly, trying to break the sudden tension in the room. Raverie ducked under her brother's outstretched arm and ran behind Viessa. She caught a glimpse of the picture and gasped.

Kaylessa crossed her arms, "Just show me, Vi. It's fine."

Viessa gulped audibly and slowly moved her arms in front of her. Kaylessa watched Viessa turn the picture over and became very still.

She squinted at the picture and tilted her head, but the image didn't change. Her father was smiling slightly with his arm slung over Alina's shoulder. Alina was laughing as she wrapped both arms around Elion. There was a slight bulge in Alina's stomach. Kaylessa could only think, Alina should lay off the prattles.

She stared at Elion's face. It was still grief-torn, but there was light in his eyes. His smile seemed genuine, but there was still that sad tone in the picture. It was probably taken after her mother died. Her father would never have touched another female if she hadn't.

She didn't know that her father found love in Alina. Why? She had no idea, there were plenty of better people in the world, but her father seemed truly happy. His arm was draped over Alina's shoulder so casually too. It was . . . weird.