Endgame |18+ (Ménage)✔

|16|

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~Year 2080-Spring-

Aohdan didn't necessarily tell me to stay away from Delaney...

...so that's why I find myself sitting out on the back patio area of Taft's estate with Taft, Delaney having just stepped away to take a phone call.

He eyes me for a moment, my gaze catching his before he glances away and asks, "Have you seen Aohdan's new flavor?"

Considering we're skating on thin ice around one another, I don't even know what Taft's referring to as even Delaney hasn't mentioned anything about her brother lately.

"No," I reply, gazing out across his estate grounds, finding some peace with the serene quiet that fills the space around us.

"That's right..." his voice trails off, capturing my attention the moment he states, "...Abigail has you wrapped around her finger lately, now doesn't she?"

Entirely the other way around.

"I've been..." my voice trails off when I see Delaney through the glass pane of the window, pacing back and forth while pinching the bridge of her nose while she holds the cell phone to her ear.

Something's very different...

I don't think Tresor is manipulating her movements anymore...

"Been? That's it?" Taft arches a brow before following my gaze to his beloved. He sighs and shifts comfortably in his seat, "Don't mind her."

"...I've been preoccupied," I address Taft's initial question and then turn to ask him one of my own, "is Delaney alright?"

Taft shakes his head and gazes off away from her, "Too emotional and too attached."

Isn't that what being bound is meant to be?

"Correct me if I'm wrong," I lean against the chair armrest and ask, "isn't she supposed to be connected with you on a deeper level than anyone else?" I pause a moment when I see something flicker in his eyes at my comment however, I proceed next with, "Or better yet...aren't you supposed to reciprocate the same feelings?"

Taft chuckles and sighs, "Nothing lasts forever."

"I suppose that's true..." I stand on edge, waiting for him to explain the reasoning behind why he treats Delaney the way he does, but his silence remains like stone. I know I'm not going to get anymore from him today in regards to his beloved, so I ask, "Did Aohdan find his beloved?"

Taft shrugs his shoulders and his demeanor shifts the second he's no longer occupying the hot seat, "From the rumors spilling from his coven members, she very well could be."

Funny.

His mood sure hasn't changed. I would think if he found his soulmate that he would be pulled from this nasty persona he's taken on. Although, I believe he's already found his beloved...

The images of Aohdan holding a young human girl in his arms are burned in my mind and isn't something so easily disposed of. I'd been doing a bit of research ever since meeting with Richard and how he showed himself for the hybrid he is.