Obsidian's Reign ¹

∷ Chapter 12 ∷

CLARA WAS BEYOND petrified of the anger radiating in waves from the demon she was seated next to. His hands were clenched painfully tight around the steering wheel, eyes tinged with the redness of his rage as he stared straight ahead at the stretch of road before him.

Rylan hadn't spoken a word since they left the café and she wasn't too keen on disrupting the silence either. A part of her knew that the silence was her safety barrier against what his rage might entail. She was hence content in her warped bubble of naïvety, although her best efforts at falsifying her disregard to his emotion of choice were not boding too well for her.

She had an inkling as to the cause of his frustrations and she was willing to bet it had everything to do with the angel she had encountered moments before his arrival. Still, unless forced to, she was not venturing an attempt at confirming or denying her speculations. Her curiosity, at the present moment, was not worth the risk.

Rylan, on the other hand, was having a difficult time concentrating on the road. He couldn't seem to shrug off the feeling that something was wrong. For one thing, the girl's scent seemed to have faded into something else, leaving only a faint trace of what remained. His inability to pinpoint the cause of the change irked him and for reasons unknown, the emotion transitioned into anger on his part.

The silence that was once comforting to Clara now seemed suffocating as it stretched on between them up until the moment they stepped foot inside the mansion. Even so, Rylan refused to speak a word. He was acting as though she hardly existed in his eyes and it was starting to scare her.

Much like the first time, she followed him down the hallway, but instead of the casual office, Rylan stopped in front of an unfamiliar door. Upon entering, Clara found Jae seated behind a desk, sifting through a thick pile of documents. He did not seem to notice their presence and only did so when Rylan cleared his throat pointedly to get his attention.

He tore his gaze away from his work but said nothing as he stared at the two individuals before him. He made a gesture as if to order them to speak, the movement portraying his irritability at being interrupted in the middle of his work.

"I'm leaving her with you," Rylan said, finally breaking the silence that had descended upon them.

Jae exhaled, his eyes falling shut briefly before they opened once more.

"I understand that you have important matters to tend to at Alphaplex and I appreciate your hard work, but I am also busy and I don't have the time to look after her," Jae said, pausing to direct a quick apology to Clara.

"There's something wrong with her," Rylan said, a distinctive frown taking over his features. "I'm not staying anywhere near her until the matter is resolved."

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with her. She looks perfectly alright."

Turning to Clara, Jae added, "You are okay, are you not?"

"I'm fine," she said, although her response was addled with the hesitance borne of her obliviousness to the current circumstances of her situation.

Rylan met her gaze and crinkled his nose before facing his superior.

"She smells funny."

"Rylan, what do you–" Jae stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he looked at Clara. "Oh."

The creases between his brows deepened when he finally took notice of Rylan's concerns. He kept his gaze on her for a few seconds, taking a moment to confirm his speculations.

Turning to Rylan, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Rylan reciprocated.

"You haven't noticed," Jae said, mildly surprised at the realisation.