The Eruption of Mountgomery

Chapter 19.5

I sucked in my lower lip, my teeth gnawing against the flesh of the lower lip. The moment I tasted blood, the air crackled, the navy blue shade that his eyes once held had relented to a stormy grey. I shook my head. He expected me to believe him? He really expected me to collapse to my knees begging for the hatred that only grows further and further to halt? No! I could not stop it then--we couldn't stop it then. He left me! I needed someone, something to vent to--someone to allow the pain to dissolve. I inhaled sharply, half anticipating the rant to continue and oh, did it ever. He takes a step closer, a simple step closer. The movements like a dance. I backed up and when my back hits the wall, I finally notice it. I caught that burning ire I wielded become completely unmatched and a small smile takes form upon my lip. The stormy grey eyes became normal, for a moment when laughter met his ears. The sound, which escaped my throat unnerved Loch and he upon narrowing his eyes, I sober up abruptly. "This is not how I anticipated we meet again," He growls out, his words punctuated now, by not a physical act but a meteorological one. Gale-force winds shake the aging wooden compound and there's that distinct spattering of rain upon the roof. The words were icy and the room darkened significantly as if all the lights within the compound were off. I straightened, regaining my footing and closed the space between us, pushing off the wall. I simply smiled.

"Oh? Do you expect me to run? How did you expect us to rekindle the spark that we could have possessed all those years ago? Candlelight dinner under the stars?" I knew my tone was jeering, hurtful and I caught sight of the olive green hue return, clashing against the blue. It seemed there was a brawl between the colors of his eyes. Normal against rage. I softened my tone, choosing the perilous phrases carefully. "You abandoned me because your parents feared the influence I wielded over you. You questioned why you were feared--that--" I motioned to the crack of thunder before the room brightened and the navy blue hue triumphed. "was why! You claimed to Caleb in your defense that I was nothing more than a child! I was continuously berated, bullied, and scorned for abilities I never knew I had until then. You were adored. They propped you up and you flew to nearly head your department, isn't that right, Officer Loch."

Nero's eyes rapidly dwindled to that olive green hue and against the rising crescendo of the electrical dance outside, there was the wind's wolfish howl. I knew I was playing a treacherous game, knew I would end up dead or seriously wounded. However, the ire could not be targeted at me--it shouldn't and I knew exactly how to shift it. A bolt of lightning had incinerated an aged potted plant and I chuckled. I could no longer pull any of my punches.Caleb and Jennifer were using him--I knew it! Why would they ally themselves with someone like him? I shook my head, turning my head away, my eyes focusing on the door as I spoke.

"For years you could have defied your parents' wishes, denied them of the cliched life you have lived to seek me out in order to find it if I shared the same feelings. For a time--" I paused noticing the ire had simmered.

He uttered, the words like shattered glass. "You knew? How long?"

I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest and with a roll of my eyes, I answered, "It did not take a moron to figure out that you saw something in me that nobody else dared to see. Perhaps it was the goodness I somehow possessed when we were young. Perhaps had you not left me to the starving wolves, I would not be where I am now. Or maybe our roles would benefit--" I stopped talking, the wail of sirens from cop cars growing dangerously close. "Does it really matter? You were deemed good, but you do not realize that you are used. I lived with bitterness all my life--"

"I am used?" He shouts. "No! I am not. You are simply a criminal and I want my position back."

I raised an eyebrow when the snap of a tree branch jolted me away from the window. "You did not come here to arrest me--Caleb knew who I was--where I was. He knew the dreamed up risks I posed. He wanted me dead, wanted you to forget about me. You simply couldn't and I do not blame you."