♤PACTS♤

Chapter 42 - Easing wolves

Danny Torent's POV

There's this logic about connecting animals to human emotions. They say that happiness is like an Eagle whose sky is the limit. Stress is like the Sloth. Anxiety is an owl that hoots in the darkness and looks for what isn't there.

And then there's anger.

It's a snake that wraps itself around the heart and kills its victim from the inside out.

And like other emotions, anger has its signs no matter how hard one tries to hide it. It starts with pinched facials and rigid movements, and my favourite is the drastic actions that happen afterwards.

As I eat the distance between Penny and me, I spot all the symptoms, but she has a new one.

Tears.

They flow down her face and drop into the fountain. Penny's lips tremble as she looks at her reflection in the water. She sees the only person who could stop her waterworks. Running her hands through her head, she pulls it so hard that some strands of blonde hair pull out.

She turns away from her reflection and paces in front of the fountain. Stopping again to glance at her reflection, she screams and pulls out her gun. Aiming the object at the reflection, she pulls the trigger.

The bullets enter the water one after the other as the chips fall to the floor at her feet. She continues to fire at her reflection until the barrel empties. Flinging the gun away, she pulls a knife from her boot and slashes her reflection till her sleeves soak with water.

There was no stopping her.

I reach her and stand aside as she moves with precision. Her knife slices through the air as she tries to injure her reflection, but as you can tell, no blood bathe.

Tired, she slumps against the fountain and sits on the floor. She cradles her knees to herself and cries softly in them. I continue to watch her, allowing her to deal with her emotions.

Her sobs turn into sniffs as she rests her head against her knees and looks at me tearfully. Once I notice her still demeanour, I ask. "Are you ready to talk?"

"I see her, Danny." She sighs. "I see her every bloody time I look in the mirror, and I'm sick of it. All I want is for her to stand beside me and be my sister till the day I die. She's my missing piece. My other half. The person I want to conquer the world with. If I have to live here for the rest of my life, I want her to live here with me."

"What about Rachael and Sam, your grandparents?"

Her laugh has no humour as she replies. "Rachael is lovely, but I know it's too late for me to have a motherly figure in my life. As for Sam, the man might be a wonderful father figure, but he's broken me. No, thank you."

I don't have the heart to tell her that the person she wants by her side might be the same person who wants her head on a silver platter.

I walk to her and pick her up with her shoulders. I keep eye contact with her and see the changes. The vulnerability in her blue eyes speaks volumes as her golden hair glistens in the moonlight. Her face crumples in despair as the seconds tick by. She wants me to offer a solution, but this is beyond my power. If Lola joined forces with the French Dynasty, she is our enemy now.

Such news would make Penny use the knife against herself instead of the reflection. I take a different route to avoid that.

"I need you to calm down and breathe," I say.

I inhale slowly and exhale along with her. Once her erratic breathing gets under control, I pick her up bridal style and carry her towards my room.

On our walk there, I say. "Penny, this place will change us for the worse. It will make us lose sight of who we are to keep up with it. Lola might not return, and you need to accept it before your run mad."