Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 43

Hi hi

XLIII: Jungkook

Taehyung's grandfather looks just like I remembered him: powerful body, thick mane of white hair, and of course, his unforgettable cold eyes. He wears a midnight black robe, with red patterns winding across his shoulders. He holds a gold tipped cane in his hand, the head shaped like a falcon.

"Sir Alastair," Yoongi steps forward. "If you hear us out, I think you'll see that our request is quite reasonable."

"Hmph." He looks at us one by one, his gaze resting on Lisa and I for the longest. Especially on the mark on my shoulder. "I should hope so. You have brought... quite a crowd. It has been a while since I saw so many vampires at once." Lisa glares daggers at him, but he seems not to notice. "Well? What is it you want to talk about?"

"Sir Alastair," I force myself not to flinch when his eyes land on me. "Perhaps we could go to a more private place for this conversation. The reading room―"

"Ah. My grandson's soulmate." His gaze rakes across my body, but I keep my chin high, staring right into his ice cold blue eyes. After a moment, he snorts. "At least he chose someone with a little bit of backbone. And I see he's turned you into a vampire. That's a start. Well, don't just stand there like lumps. Come along."

We follow him through the maze of torch-lit hallways, the lush velvet carpet muffling our footsteps. I see Lisa staring at everything with sickening awe, and fall back to talk to her. It couldn't be easy, going into a home of a relative you barely ever met and liked even less.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "You can talk to me if you want."

"Everything's fine. I'm just surprised, that's all. I've never been here before." She says, but the way she avoids my eyes makes me think different.

"Never?"

She shakes her head. "He likes being alone. We never visited him and he rarely ever came to us. It suited both sides just fine." We stop at a pair of black doors, and she looks up. There's something like relief in her voice. "Oh look. We're here."

Alastair waves us into a reading room, which is only lit by a flickering fire in the hearth. Shelves of books line the walls, but it is a pitiful collection compared to what Armad had. The frost on the windowpanes and the barely sat in chairs makes me think that Alastair rarely ever set foot in this room. Before we can even sit, Alastair gets straight into the topic.

"Now, you are all here because the monster started to take control of Taehyung, is that right?" At the shocked expression on our faces, he snorts. "Oh please. You think I didn't know? I'm a powerful man. I have spies everywhere." He leans forward in his chair, putting his hand beneath his chin. "When did it first take control?"

"We think that it was about one week ago," Jin says. "But how could you know? We never saw any spies out in the forest, and definitely none came inside the castle."

"I have my ways," Alastair says, clutching the head of his cane. "And you want my help to try and defeat it, correct? It is only a matter of time before it starts to create havoc in bordering clans."

"Well yes, but―" Jimin starts to say, but Alastair cuts him off. "Well, I refuse! I have no time to be caught up in other people's problems. Blackcliff is far enough from Armad that it does not concern me. Figure out how to defeat it yourselves."

"He's your grandson!" I say, unable to contain my anger. "Don't you want to help your family?" Alastair only stares at me, blue eyes as sharp as scythes.

Hoseok puts a hand on my arm, a warning not to get too angry. "Sir, you must cooperate. It's already burned down Armad Castle. There's no telling what it will do next, or who it will attack. Even you are not completely safe. We need to find a way to remove it from Taehyung's mind, and fast." As soon as the words leave his lips, Alastair turns around, eyes bulging.