Volatile Shadow

6. Day before the meeting.

"Think Galan is still asleep?" I ask, curious if he was able to rest well last night.

I gave him painkillers to deal with the pain before putting him to bed. Maybe they've worn off by now; I  never had to use them much myself, so I'm not completely sure how long they'll last.

"Give it about an hour or so, Galan usually doesn't wake up this early." Cassandra says, looking at the analogue clock mounted on the wall.

"With what happened to him yesterday though, it might be different this time..." Cassandra sighs, shaking her head at the memory of seeing her beat-up brother.

She is resting on one of the leather sofas in the house's dining room.

She's changed into her business attire, getting ready to head for work soon.

Wearing a simple white dress shirt; with a black pencil skirt to correspond with her top.

Her hair has been tied up into a neat bun, with bangs on the sides of her face; and red lipstick being the only makeup she has decided to put on.

Black stockings cover her legs, the stilettos she's wearing increase her height by a few inches.

She's just waiting for Mason to arrive now, another one of the Vetrova family's loyal bodyguards.

I'm still wearing my black suit, having not been able to change, since I stayed the night. The dress shirt and slacks are a bit wrinkled. My blazer lies next to me on the couch, opposite to where Cassandra has sat down.

"Do you want me to check on him?" I ask her, ready to stand up and enter Galan's room if she wants me to.

"No, that'll be alright. Reese will check on him when he gets here, will take him to the doctor too, if he's not feeling too well. She reassures me, noticing my growing worry.

I checked on Galan's wounds before putting him to sleep. While he was definitely bruised, it doesn't seem like anything major was damaged. It looks like he was able to protect the vital parts of his body well.

"What was he doing at the Archangel district? He's never shown interest in going there before..." Cassandra thinks, confused as to why her brother would go to the lower-class area.

I told Cassandra both the details I've gathered, and suspicions I have involving Galan last night. We both agreed to keep our knowledge of this from Galan, until we figure what he's been doing these couple of days, and why.

We'll act like we decided to let these recent activities slide, faking the assumption that they're just new delinquent antics his come up with.

"He's hiding something. Don't know what though." I respond to her question. "Has he said anything to you, like something out of the ordinary that'll give us a hint?"

"Nothing, that I've noticed..." She replies, lightly tapping the armrest of the sofa. "Should we inform the V.P.A?"

"Until we find something concrete, we'll just tell them to keep a more watchful of a eye on Galan."

"Mhm..." She nods in agreement. "Let's focus on this after tomorrow. With what's going on today and tomorrow, I'm going to be busy."

Right... The funeral.

...And the meeting with the Patriarchs.

Neither Galan or Cassandra are leaders of the Vetrova family, that title belongs to Davian Vetrova, their father. The current head of the organisation.

They still have to go to the gathering though, this is an emergency meeting after all.

With Angel Castellanos dead, his position as Throne is left unattended, with his son only being the acting representative until the suitable successor is revealed.