Nefarious

C131 - Danger territory

Xylan left Jace alone after his harsh endeavour of ruining Jace completely. "Jace, I-" Rain started. "No, you don't get to say anything," Jace cut her off instantly. "You're back!" a little girl cheered. Jace's face lightened the slightest when he saw a young girl with dark hair approaching him. She looked to be healthy, and vivacious, judging by her beatific facial expression and seemingly high energy level. She approached him unhesitatingly, indicating she felt no fear of him.

Jace clarified to her that it was only a short visit, yet she didn't seem upset by it. She hugged his leg firmly as a warm smile appeared on her face. He bent down to her level eventually, allowing her to look directly at him. "Mother said you wouldn't be back in a very long time," she said, almost whispering her words. Oh, so this must be his niece, or so I'm guessing. He broke off the eye contact to look up at Rain swiftly. "And that's true. As I said this was only meant to be a short visit," he answered. "But I don't want you to leave," she pouted. "Okay, then I won't, but do me a favour back then?" he raised his eyebrows. She nodded in excitement, waiting for him to continue. "Can you go find your mother so we can talk?" he asked. She smiled widely before taking off, running to find her dearest mother.

A short while after the girl had run off, Jace got up and looked directly at me, completely ignoring Rain's presence. "Let's go," he said determinately.

Jace didn't express his anger nor let it control his actions around Xylan, but the second he ran downstairs his rage intensified. He slammed the doors shut behind him, leaving nothing but an echoing sound and a rising tension. I could see the confusion amongst the vampires who was staring him down as he made his way out. Flickers of fear crossed their faces, which I found calming in some strange way. Jace drew their attention away from me, and I somehow felt safer around him now despite his raging moments.

As Jace's anger progressed, I felt the urge to do something. Truthfully, I felt like I ought to. However, as much as I wanted to, my voice failed me once I tried calling his name. I managed to get out the first letter before I felt my voice cracking, letting out just enough sound for Jace to hear my failed attempt. He turned around almost aggressively, his eyebrows raising at me almost as though I was the reason for his anger. I began every sentence with a stutter, and it slowly seemed like Jace was catching onto my upbuilding panic. "Valerie, Alex isn't here. I promise you Xylan can't harm him or you, not from here," he said reassuringly. He heightened his hands carefully as he approached me slowly. "I've never heard such coldness in someone's voice before. From the first time I met you I've thought of you as the heartless one, but little did I know that was Xylan. We don't know what happened, Jace. For all we know, he could've been the one who hurt Alex," I blurted out. Jace stopped walking, his hands lowering, but his gaze remained directed at me. "He heard you."

Jace left me no time to react to his highly unexpected sentence. Instead, he grabbed my arm roughly before he began running towards the car. We both knew Xylan desired to be a leader like nothing else at this point. With that in mind; if he were to get a glimpse of my live body, I'm convinced he would kill me without hesitation.

Apparently, Jace had asked me a question thrice, but I was too scared to listen. Thankfully though, he managed to break through to me, asking once again if I knew how to drive. "I'm shit at it, but I have my license, yes," I nodded. He took some steps back before throwing the car keys in my direction. "Great, because we won't make it far together, Val."