The Entanglement {Book 1}

Chapter 32: The Real Threat

"Why don't you just have a seat. Let's get you out the rain." I offer as she steps inside the castle. I shut the door behind her and walk with her to the dining room. Everyone else was too busy staring at her to even offer her decent hospitality. I snapped my fingers at the three of them, and they snapped out their daze and followed us. Sabin had a seat in one of our dining room chairs and looked up at us with a smile.

"You look exactly like Theodore," she replies to Jace. His expression shifted from confused to grim. Like he had no clue whether or not to divulge this stranger with stories about his or his brother's life. Her smile wavered a little, and she turned to me,

"So where are grandpa and grandma? Don't I get to meet them too?" she questioned, and I felt the urge to laugh tastelessly. Even if they were still alive, they were the last people she would want to meet.

Trust me, I wanted to confide but right now did not seem like the time for one of my witty remarks. I looked around at the rest of them, and they appeared exceedingly uncomfortable with the girl's comments and questions. But instead of speaking on it they just stared at her as if her face is going to say 'you got me, I'm not really related to you all.'

"Why don't we just call this a night? Sabin, you can take the guest room. We all could use a little sleep to process this." She stood to her feet,

"I understand completely." she smiled warmly before one of the staff members finally approached and pulled her away to the guest room. Everyone started retreating to their rooms. Once Damien and I were alone, he went to the desk by the bed and started shuffling through the drawers,

"Looking for something?" I question. What on earth could the man have lost that fast?

"He must have sent us a letter or...or something to let us know that he had a baby," he replied as he frantically searched his desk.

"Why look for that now?"

"Because she's here now. In case you haven't noticed," Damien replied with an elevated tone. He was working himself up,

"Why are you so upset?"

"Because my dead younger brother supposed child is here!" he yells while slamming the desk drawer shut. I jumped a little at his sudden outburst.

"As if I needed another person to hold things back from me," he grumbles while running his hands through his hair. I sighed and looked at him. I knew this would turn back to the loss of our baby.

"Damien I-"

"No, you've explained yourself quite enough. It's my turn." I bit my tongue.

"In your sea of letters to me, did you even write a single one about the loss of our child? Did you even think about the way I would feel? Did you ever even plan to tell me about it? Now I'm stuck in a never ending loop of feeling nothing. Do you get that? I can't feel anything. It's like it hasn't truly hit me yet. Then this woman shows up claiming she's my brother's daughter!"

"Damien, I'm sorry for not telling you, but I'm trying to move on. We should both try and move on together. I can help you if you let me-"

"Help me?! It takes a lot out of me just to look at you. To know that you would rather send a letter to a friend that your unattached too the news about our baby but not me. I can't help but think if you had stayed here in the castle, perhaps the baby would have lived."

"If I had stayed in this castle instead of leaving with my brother, I would have hated you. And I'm not talking about oh I hate you now, but I'll love you again later. I mean I would hate every single thing about you. I would hate you for making me stay here with you while my brother suffers alone in the human faction by himself. And if he died...I don't even know what I would do. I had to leave you...and me staying here wouldn't have made our child live or die." He says nothing and heads for the door.