Bite Me.

28.

Following the death of Marzia, Meredith found herself promoted to head maid. This promotion and resulting pay rise would have been very welcome had it not been for how all previous obtainers had lost it. A mistake was compensated for with death. For now, though, it was great. Waiting hand and foot on Levi was in itself a struggle, as he had a habit of taking his daily frustrations out on whoever was in his path. But aside from that, she got to do all the fun jobs like helping plan parties. Also, he wasn't exactly a strain on the eyes. She didn't mind being in close quarters with him so much. But lately, she hadn't seen much of him. He'd developed the habit of waking up with a different girl each morning. He wasn't hers to be jealous over, so whenever she found herself scowling at the backs of the girls as they left, she scolded herself. She couldn't help it though- she'd been raised a strict Catholic. Although she no longer held her faith in the very core of her heart, she still believed in most of the traditions such as abstinence. Stupid, really. Her existence was enough to damn her eternally. A being that lived off of the blood of others could never ascend. Still, she did not complain when her colleagues and masters went against her morals. They could choose to live their lives however they wanted, damnation or salvation was their decision. So when there was nobody but Levi in his room on Tuesday morning, she was secretly overjoyed. She highly doubted he'd seen the error of his ways, but surely this was a step in the right direction?
'Did you want something?' He asked as he shrugged his shirt on.
'Yes,' she handed him an envelope. 'Somebody put this through the letterbox.'
'Through the letterbox?' He stared at her, incredulous. The people he kept as company were not the type to put letters through his door. 'Did you see them?'
'No. But I know the post hasn't come yet, so this was put through the door.'
'Thanks,' he turned the letter over in his hands. It was a thin, flimsy envelope. Clearly not from another Head then, or anything similar. He opened it, curious as to who could be writing him letters and personally dropping them round at 7am. If they were using stationary as cheap as this, chances were they didn't have anyone else they could rely on to deliver it. They knew where he lived, then. So not somebody from school, either. A complaint, then. A complaint from a lowly subject about territory disputes or something. There had been something of a minor uprising a few weeks ago- perhaps it was in relation to that.
'Thought you could escape? That your brother could protect you? We didn't forget you, and now we have found you. You're never free from Les Deuces.'
He pocketed the letter, crumpling it up in horror, his hand shaking and the blood draining from his face. Of course. Why else would Archer wait a year to find him? Why not just chase after him the second he recovered from being shot?
'Are you alright?' Meredith's voice made him flinch. Fighting to control his anger, he asked her in a very shaky voice to inform the school he wouldn't be present. She looked scared, but obeyed him nonetheless.
'Is my brother home?' He hoped so. He prayed that they hadn't somehow gotten to him. They had been here, after all.
'I think he's in the boudoir.'
He silently thanked the heavens and strode purposefully to find the lying bastard. He found him slouched in a chair, his nose buried in a book.
'How could you not tell me?' His voice trembled in anger, brandishing the letter furiously. 'Why didn't you tell me they're after you?'
'What are you talking about?' Archer feigned ignorance.
'Don't play stupid with me. Les Deuces. I can't believe you kept this from me!'
'Levi, calm down...'
'No! You should have told me!'
'I know. I should have, but I didn't. Pass me that letter,' he took the letter in his hands and his face screwed up as he read it. 'Shit. Looks like I can't hide any longer. I have to leave, then. I won't let you be collateral damage. They don't even know you were involved in the attempt to take over.'
'They don't? You mean you didn't tell them?'
'Of course not. I told them you'd left to England weeks before, and I had tried to take over to compete with you.'
'How long have they been after you?'
'About two months.'
'Why only two months? It's been a year.'
'Look... They were already on my tail when I met you at the airport. You shot me, and I woke up locked up in their dungeons. They kept me there until two months ago, when I finally managed to escape.'
'Did they-'
'Yeah. They tortured me a lot. You would've enjoyed it.'
'Shit. I had no idea...'
'You didn't even ask where I've been.'
They were silent for a moment.
'They can't get to you now. I'll get you bodyguards and we'll track them down, okay? We'll finish every last one of them,' Levi swore, and he meant it.
'How are you going to do that?'
'You're forgetting I run London. I have people everywhere. I'll send out word, offer a reward. If not, I'll do it myself.'
'It's three of them. Guillaume, Jacques and Marcel.'
'Well that will be a challenge... But I can handle it. Leave it to me, okay? And don't leave this house without me or five bodyguards. For now, you can borrow mine. I'll do without for a few days.'
'Can't pretend you don't care now.' He grinned, but Levi didn't smile back. He wasn't in the mood for jokes. Instead, he called Meredith in and ordered her to double security. He wasn't taking any chances.

Eren tried hard to conceal his disappointment when Levi didn't show up at school on Tuesday. He didn't talk to him or make eye contact with him, but sometimes he just wanted to see him. It was stupid, he knew, but he felt like the older boy was somehow at risk. He never usually missed school... He mentally slapped himself for being so hung up. It wasn't his concern him anymore. Still, he couldn't help but feel worried. Just because he knew he shouldn't didn't mean he didn't. It just meant he felt angry at himself rather than directing that frustration at the correct person- namely Levi. In a vain attempt to distract himself, he accompanied Armin to his lunchtime study sessions. Armin was a tutor for a few GCSE students, and he provided tutoring a few lunch breaks a week. Today it was a particularly giggly girl who kept stealing glances at Eren and then blushing. He rolled his eyes and every time this happened, made a confused face at Armin. When it was finally over and the girl was gone, he could no longer contain his lack of understanding.
'Do I have something on my face?' He asked his friend.
'No,' Armin tried to conceal a grin.
'What is it then? Why did she keep laughing at me?'
'Eren, are you completely blind?'
'What do you mean?'
'I can't believe you don't know... I really do not want to have to be the first to explain this. Do you just not talk to anybody?'
'I hesitate to remind you that up until yesterday nobody was speaking to me, so forgive me for being a little out of touch. Now tell me what you're talking about before I get even more disturbed,'
'The year elevens did a... They made a poll on who out of sixth form they'd most like to do. You were fourth.'
Eren spluttered in horror, his jaw dropping half a mile and giving him the appearance of a dumbfounded goldfish.
'Wait, who beat me?'
'Levi and Archer were first. Probably voted for themselves.'
'And that's why I hate the girls at our school. It's so creepy. And pointless.'
'Don't try and act like you don't enjoy knowing you're on a parr with Levi...'
'Can we stop talking about him?' Eren crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders, scuffing his feet irritably. 'I kinda want to forget about him and you talking about how hot he is doesn't help things.'
Armin just laughed and patted his friend amicably on the back. He was so whipped, yet he didn't even know it. To be fair, there was a lot of confusion and conflict of emotions around the object of his affections. And it was completely the wrong person to be hung up over.