Killing Softly ✞ (gxg)

8 | cozy

That night, as Holden brought the three humans into the dining hall, they weren't late, therefore Lily was able to witness the Queen's vampire servants bringing the dishes of food to the large table.

Lily went to take her seat at the same place she sat the previous evening on the very opposite end from where the Queen had sat, but she received a quick, "No, no," from Holden. Looking at him in confusion, she watched him walk down the table and pull out the large wooden chair that sat right beside the Queen's chair at the end.

"There?" she mumbled, visually measuring how close the seat was to the Queen's. She did not want to be that close to her, especially since the last time she saw her she was fuming.

"Yes, little dumbass," Holden said in a much less aggressive tone than his words seemed to be. "Queen's orders."

She creased her brow at him, slowly walking towards the chair. "That nickname is demeaning."

Holden chuckled as the blonde gently sat in the chair, easily pushing her up under the table. "I think my misdemeanors are the least of your worries." Stepping to the side, he leaned down slightly to whisper, "And please, for my sake, eat something so I don't have to sneak food up to you again tonight out of the kindness of my cold, dead heart."

Lily smiled, glancing up at him and responding in a matched tone, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to prevent your hospitable charity from being needed again."

Nodding in response, Holden gave her an impish smile before leaning up and taking a few steps back, standing against the wall directly behind the girl as he was instructed to do. He watched Jasmine and Peter take their same seats, and just as they did so, Giana came walking through the door in her black cocktail dress, her heels clicking aggravatingly loud. He despised everything about that woman—even her light brown bob bouncing on her shoulders as she walked irritated the shit out of him.

"Well, well, well," she spoke, grinning as her red eyes locked in on the blonde who sat rigid in her seat, weary of the unfamiliar vampire. "Little Bo-Peep is here early tonight."

Lily averted her eyes to the table, not wanting to stir up any more trouble with vampires, especially since she had formulated a plan with her human friends.

"And I get to sit right next to her, too," Giana continued, her shrill voice echoing in the large dining hall. She pulled out her seat and slipped into it, leaning threateningly close to the blonde whose breath hitched in her throat. "How lucky am I," she hissed.

Peter glanced over nervously, feeling scared even by the presence of the woman who had mistreated him and emotionally and physically scarred him for good. Jasmine looked the same way, her visage paler than usual as she avoided looking at the vampire.

Holden noticed the way that Giana continued to lean even closer, that grin staying plastered on her face purposefully so that her fangs were out and ready to be used. "Giana," he spoke firmly, causing the vampire to quickly snap her head towards him. He noticed the dilation of her pupils. "I don't know if you got the message, but Lily here is off-limits."

Giana pouted her lip, arching her brows into a sad expression. "Even to me?" she playfully whined, looking back at the girl and noticing there were no bites on her. "Such a waste."

Lily said nothing. She only kept her eyes focused on the glass wall across the room that served as one ginormous window. Dusk was beginning to set, a sort of blue hue masking the face of the mountains. The mountains, tall and not too far from the castle, were still coated in snow, appearing to be white elephants bundled together. The very bottoms of them were spared from the snow, contrasting the rest of their bodies with an almost blackness. A few snow-coated pine trees sat between the mountains, swaying in the wind that blew snowflakes wildly throughout the air.