The Judgement Of Divinity (TMOE #2)

Chapter 34: Selfish

Lucius was sick and tired of the amount of Damien in his life, and to think he'd agreed to make room for more of him in Lucia's life.

Unless I can do something about it.

"So?" He crossed his arms as he once again stood before Damien in his office. "What's it about this time? Want me to congratulate you?"

"Wouldn't hurt, would it?" While Damien had a calm air around him, the triumphant smile on his lips was unmistakable. "It's a good thing, after all."

"My cousin being coerced into marrying a heartless angler and forced to keep her private life hidden?" Lucius arched an eyebrow. "I think our ideas of 'good' are very different."

"Clearly," Damien replied with a similarly disapproving look. "But I thought you'd be happy, since Anthony is staying."

Lucius opened his mouth to say something rude again, but halted himself. Why risk upsetting Damien further when he'd actually agreed to leave Anthony alone?"

"... And you have my gratitude for that," he said through gritted teeth. "But I'm still worried about my cousin."

"Unnecessarily so." Damien's eyes were bored, and he opened a drawer in his desk to find a quill and ink. "I've made it no secret that I'm only marrying her to uphold The BBT's position in this town, but I have no intention of harming her, or this town. Everything will be as before."

Lucius doubted it, but only showed it with a brief, disdainful glare.

"Is that all, then? You want me to congratulate you?"

"I wouldn't mind, but no, it's not what I asked you here for."

"More insults then?" Lucius looked around the room. "Or having Mr. Kilgrave kick me to the floor?"

Fortunately, he could see no sign of Derek in the room.

"And here you go yet again with the pleasant ideas," Damien remarked. "But no. In fact, it's your discomfort around Derek that I wanted to talk about."

The contempt in Lucius' eyes spilled over the rest of his face.

"Even with my slightly poor manners aside, you must realise that what happened with the natbakka was unacceptable, and that both you and Mr. Kilgrave will find it hard to regain my trust."

"That's why you're in luck," Damien said, only giving Lucius' expression a tired look back. "Derek has found traces of the garm and its pack and therefore proceeded with the search alone. Which gives you the opportunity to work on another concerning matter of ours, without him."

"Well that's... Good," Lucius admitted, still not quite content with letting go of the garm search, but at least there'd be no Derek. "So what do you want me to do?"

"A few years ago, an old member of The BBT ran off with an invaluable artefact belonging to the organisation. Remarkably skilled at hiding, we haven't been able to locate his whereabouts until now."

"And you want me to go get this artefact?" Lucius guessed, receiving a nod from Damien. "And this man, is he... Dangerous? Immortal?"

"No, very mortal," Damien assured him. "And not too dangerous at all, but you may still find some trouble with getting a hold of the item."

Lucius narrowed his eyes.

"Because?"

"Because I have reason to believe he was buried with it."

"Oh..." Lucius blinked. "Well that explains why he's suddenly so easy to find. So I'll... Just go there when it's time for his unburial, then? Is it soon?"