I snatched my phone and jogged to the hallway. I looked both ways and saw Kaschel was already ten meters away.
I hurried to his side. Annoyed that he couldn't just wait—like did he need me here or not? He sure wasn't acting like he did.
I didn't expect much from him, although some common courtesy would have been nice, but I highly doubted he could manage something as simple as that since he had kidnapped me once and had already locked me in a creepy room for hours. He was on a losing streak in my book, and playing nice was probably poison to a man like him.
Also, why did he keep referring to me as a parasite?
I took long strides so I could keep up with his pace and craned my neck up to glare at him. “Thanks for the endearing nickname, but I already have one,” I said, sarcastically. “It's Addy. Short for Adeline. Got it?” I enunciated by tapping my pointer finger on my collarbone.
He let out a deep chuckle that had no hint of amusement. “Oh? I didn't think I asked you for one.” His eyebrow perked up as his eyes stayed focused on the hallway in front of us.
He didn't glance or look down at me. He just continued walking, and it was pretty goddamn annoying. This guy was a total dick.
“Listen, old man. My life has been turned upside down because of your shady ass shit. Tell me what I'm supposed to do so I can fulfill our deal. I would love to hike my happy ass home where we never have to cross paths ever again.”
Did I have a death wish? Probably. Did I care? Absolutely not. I had no more fucks to give. Hell, maybe I would wake up in that psych ward after all.
His silence felt eternal as we walked down the hallway—that never seemed to end. His long hair was pulled back as it flowed gently with each step he took. I wanted to yank that stupid ponytail of his to the ground and see what kind of face he would make, but that would probably only end with him impaling me with his sword. But my patience was growing thin, and I was feeling more reckless as time passed by.
Had I always been this chaotically self-destructive?
He suddenly stopped, and I smashed into his lower back, nearly knocking myself over. He didn't budge at all while I practically had to clench every muscle in my body to stop from falling backward. I might have also snatched a handful of his tight shirt to assist myself.
I quickly let go of his shirt and padded my hands on my jeans.
I looked past Kaschel and saw the two women with azure-blue hair in matching all-black outfits. They both had two short, silver, pointed objects around their belts that I could only vaguely see. They were most likely daggers of some sort. The red-eyed man loomed over them in similar attire as he stood brooding in the corner, leaning against the wall.
Kaschel cleared his throat and resumed ignoring my existence. “Are the others there yet?”
“Yes. They’re waiting at Blàth Falls as we speak, and if we leave now, we'll make it there before nightfall,” the red-eyed man said, calmly as he fiddled with a switchblade.
Apparently, everyone had a thing for sharp objects here, which only put me more on edge.
Jared walked through the opposite door—his hair was a mess, and his eyes turned wild as he loosened his tie. “Sir, Therion knows we have one of the keys.”
Kaschel rubbed his temples and sighed. “What level is after us?”
Jared hesitated. “All… and I believe they may have seen me, Damian, and Taj take her from Hera’s Palace.”
Everyone's eyes were on Kaschel as they all waited for a command.
Kaschel side-eyed Jared. “I will discuss your error with you later, and you better hope I'm in a pleasant mood by then. Now, Zyair and the twins, go delay them as long as possible. Ryas and Valoria go to my study to find the relic and help the other two. Jared, you're with me.” Kaschel growled the last part and then grabbed my hand and chanted the same words as before. The black hole immediately materialized as he turned to face me. “This might be more uncomfortable than the last time.”
Before I could even protest, he pulled me behind him and I was engulfed in darkness that clung to me like tar. I gasped but couldn't breathe, and my time there felt stagnant until I saw light at the end. We fell through and I instantly hit the floor. I was on my hands and knees as I puked up a black gooey substance. I wiped my mouth, rolled into my back, and gasped for air. Gren shot through immediately after me and patted my back with his wing.
I saw Jared take a step toward me with concern furrowed in his brows, but Kaschel placed a hand up and stopped him. “Worry about yourself. Now go tell Heron we’re here.”
Jared only nodded and swiftly phased through the wall, leaving Kaschel and me alone in what appeared to be an empty cabin. Dust stuck to the crimson and gold tapestry like someone had neglected this place for years. A brick fireplace, one cherry-colored wooden table, and two chairs were all that occupied this room. It was dark, musty, and smelled of decay. It was incredibly unpleasant, and it didn't help that I puked all over the floor. Now, it smelled of both decay and vomit.
“Do you mind never doing that again,” I spit out as I tried getting up gracefully. But that was nearly impossible because whatever it was, it seemed to steal what little energy I had left, and my legs wobbled like a newborn giraffe.
“Not gonna happen.” He clipped his words short as he stalked over to the table, crouched down, and started tapping the wall.
“Please then, enlighten this little flea so I'm not an aimless parasite in all this.”
He turned and glared at me, but it seemed to have worked because he began talking, “That necklace you have is a key that was stolen from me, and I need to find the other one…” he stopped tapping the wall and looked at me. “You're rather annoying. Has anyone ever told you that?”
I know, he didn't want an answer; he was just being a rhetorical asshole. “And you're rather pretentious. Has anyone ever mentioned that to you?”
He just scoffed at my remark and didn’t spare me another glance as he began tapping the wall again.
It's like Gren read my mind and shook his beak.
I wasn't really planning on pulling his ponytail. That would be high school level petty. I was a little more mature than that.
I decided it was best not to push Kaschel further, turned my back to him, and started exploring the place.
Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary here—it was just an old cabin that needed some serious TLC. I peeked down the dark hallway and proceeded to walk in that direction because it was a hell of a lot better than forcing myself to be in the same room as him, suffocating myself under his dreadful presence.
The smell of decay was more pungent with each step as my senses screamed at me to turn back around and not open that silver door handle.
Maybe, I was immune to being scared at this point, or maybe it was because there was a six-foot-seven monster of a man in the other room who had already threatened to kill me and my friend.
At this point, I had to be numb to weird and creepy.
The door clicked open, and I threw my hand up to cover my mouth.
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