These Streaks of Blood

27

Nelye brushes her hair roughly; each stroke is its own attempt to tug the strands from her scalp. She bares her teeth and deals with it. This is her punishment, for taking her eyes off those twins for a second. She had gone hunting, and those two had taken the girl. The girl that may have been her one-way ticket back into Ryffin's heart.  

Lost in her thoughts, she brings the brush down too hard, and it hits her head. She grimaces and puts the tool down. The few tangles that were in her hair to begin with have been gone for a while now. She looks in the mirror.

She looks worse than she has in ages. Well-fed,well-groomed, but tired. Her pearly skin is noticeably darker under her eyes; she hasn't been sleeping well lately. Ever since Ryffin rejected her on the beach, she's found it hard to drift off; the gears of her brain just don't stop turning. 

Nelye dabs makeup over the darker spots, not wanting people - in the case of her going out in public - to think less of her. She has a reputation to uphold.

She finishes and just begins to apply scarlet lip gloss when she hears the front door open. She watches her contemplative expression shift to one of confusion in the mirror. She's not expecting anyone...

She puts the gloss down and finishes the last two buttons of her long cashmere coat. Quickly, hearing the sound of a small scuffle from the floor below her, she pulls on her black stiletto boots and rushes down the stairs--

--and halts, staring at the man in her foyer in shock.

He stands rigidly, wrath emitting from him in palpable waves.  His right arm is held out to his side, his hand wrapped around Ossian's neck. The butler looks petrified as he claws at the man's arm, trying to get released. Nelye's gaze only lingers on the butler for a moment before flicking back to the man. She realizes the door didn't open; his anger seemed to have been so great that he simply lifted it off of its hinges, breaking it from its frame with ease.  

Slowly, Nelye matches her gaze with his. She's seen him angry before, but this... his eyes are raging, wholly unforgiving. His heated glare burns into her, and she blanches. This is the only man who can affect her this way. The only man who can make her doubt her abilities, herself. But why is he here?

"Ryffin?" she murmurs, eyes searching his, trying to understand his mood.  

The butler's eyes widen, and he bares his teeth. He tilts his head back, probably thinking that Ryffin isn't paying attention, and Nelye steps forward. But right before Ossian bites, the muscles in Ryffin's arm tauten, his hand squeezing the vampire's throat tighter. Ossian's feet leave the floor, and Ryffin's gaze finally snaps away from Nelye, fixing itself on her worker instead.  

Everything about Ryffin right now looks murderous. His posture, his gaze, the twitching of his jaw. He still hasn't spoken, but Nelye isn't looking forward to when he does.  

Ossian glances at Nelye, his eyes pleading with her. He wants her to help him. He expects her to talk sense into his victimizer. He thinks she cares more about him than about what's wrong with Ryffin.

What a foolish man.

Ryffin reaches out his free hand, resting it on Ossian's chest. Nelye can see the magic surging through his body, can see it run down his arm, into his hand. Tendrils of the smoke wrap themselves around each of his fingers, and Ossian cries out with fear. He kicks at the air desperately, his nails producing long, bloody cuts on the back of Ryffin's right hand, but his abuser doesn't even seem to notice.  

Right in front of Nelye's eyes, Ryffin's hand sinks into Ossian's chest, as if burning a path right through the flesh, bones, and sinew. The lights leave the butler's eyes as his body is charred, a giant hole ripping its way through his torso. Nelye watches in fascination as Ryffin's arm emerges out Ossian's other side, his hand clenched in a fiery, bloody fist. Then the butler is tossed across the room, like a bag of garbage that's begun to smell too bad to stay in the house. He lands inches from the fireplace, and with a curl of one finger, Ryffin makes the flames roar. They envelope Ossian's body quickly and efficiently. Hoping that Ryffin won't allow the fire to spread throughout her house, Nelye turns her back on it, facing him instead.