Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Forty Two

  As Delilah walked into the kitchen the next morning, she got a few questioning glances, but no one commented on the matter of the previous night. Good, she thought.

  Was it's cruel of her? Undoubtedly. Did she regret it? Not at all.

  Elio died with a gash through his chest, she thought it only fair Aleksander lived through the pain Elio was saved from feeling. She didn't kill the boy, but she made sure it felt like he did.

  Eventually Tom came down, also sparing Delilah a glance before he poured himself a cup of tea. Everyone was staring at him, waiting. He had been calling all the shots for so many years, and despite how much most of them claimed to hate him, they were lost.

  He took a tentative sip, the liquid burning his tongue and it was bitter, he didn't mind. "We have a lot to discuss," he eventually said. Pyrrhus scoffed under his breath as he took a bite of toast, "that's an understatement."

  Tom didn't bother to glare at the boy. He hadn't the energy. Nor did he feel the need to. After the funeral, something shifted. His relationship with everyone shifted. Even they could admit, they no longer saw Tom as the tyrant he so often posed as. Finally, they saw a boy who could care, and who could lead.

  Out of everything that's happened, it was reassuring.

  He looked at Delilah, "you didn't kill Eques, did you?" Tom's tone was casual, as if he was asking her if there was any sugar left for his tea. She picked at a thread on her jumper that she'd put on over her nightie and shook her head, "no, he's still unconscious though." Tom nodded, "good."

  After all, Tom was the one who wanted to deal the final blow.

  Delilah nearly let herself smile but she caught sight of Olive. Her heart broke for the girl. Of the two boys she let herself love, they ended up breaking her. Delilah worried she'd never let herself love again, and at the moment she couldn't blame her.

  Turning to the rest of the group, Tom sighed and set the cup down behind him on the counter with a clink of the china. "Main issue, Grindelwald knows who we are, what we want, he knows everything."

  Lolita shifted uncomfortably, gripping Cain's hand, "what does everything entail?"

  "I mean everything, he's a seer. And from what Delilah and I've witnessed, what he has planned for the future, muggle and magic alike, is pure destruction."

  Every one's nerves seemed to sharpen the air to a sting, making limbs jittery and hearts skip beats. "And what does that mean?" Olive asked, pushing the eggs around on her plate absentmindedly. She looked ill. Her skin sallow and her once perfect hair a frizzed mess.

  Tom and Delilah shared a glance, he reached for her, something he had always been afraid of doing. But the time to be idle was gone now, now was the time to act without thought of consequence. He wanted her by his side, and by god, he'd have her.

  His arm wrapped around her waist and she fell into him, the contact giving her a boost of energy she wasn't aware she needed. She rested against him, and cleared her throat, "Grindelwald's after the Deathly Hallows."

  There was a mix of confused glances and slumped shoulders, the boys in particular looked crestfallen. "What're the Deathly Hallows?" Lolita asked, gauging in her fiancé's troubled expression. "To make it vague, they're three objects made by Death himself. And if one collects all three, they become the Master of Death." Delilah felt a headache coming over her, she couldn't believe just how messed up everything had become.