THESE CELESTIAL BODIES (Demetre)

Chapter sixteen

Rose drew in a breath, shook her head.

Ekki pulled off his gloves. 'Wanna tell us why you've been avoiding Dean?'
     Her head whipped to the two vampyrs. 'What has he told you?' avoiding was an understatement, Rose ran from Dean as if he was the plague. At mealtimes, she'd not stay more than fifteen minutes, she'd blank him if he tried to speak to her. I claimed you, Rose. The words stung and shook her every day, the bite marks on her neck had faded well enough but Rose felt the lingering instinct to be around him claw at her back every day. Some stupid vampiric cult shit.
     'Nothing,' Ekki raised his hands.
'What he means to say is, whatever you two argued about, unargue about it,' Rhazien sighed. 'He's literally being a dick to everyone.'
     'Not my problem.'
     Rhazien shook his head and gave Rose a tight-lipped smile. 'Guess I'll have to get the stick out of his ass myself.'
     'Are you coming for dinner?' Ekki asked. Right, dinner. Not only did she have to endure Dean, but she had to endure Kara as well. And not only that but Cato of all goddamn people, had been spending a lot of time at the castle doing business. It began with messages to Dean from Astaroth and then it became full day stays and then he began stayed overnight. The gods must hate her. She didn't have the energy for such nonsense.
     'Maybe,' Rose said.
'You can't avoid him forever.'
She scoffed. 'I avoided Chrissy Lunden all of sixth form, I think I can avoid a stupid vamp.'
     Rhazien put his hand on his heart. 'She called Vamps stupid.'
      'Damn straight.'

He shrugged, locking his fingers behind his head. It was Ekki who seemed weary to leave her out here alone, but she offered him a smile and pushed them along. 'Make sure you take the tonic Thalia made for you to combat the poison in the air.'
     'Yes mother,' she smiled. Once they had left, Rose started walking. She let her feet guide her and let her thoughts run rampant. Just a week ago she'd been told the truth, a week ago she and Dean had...
     They'd done something terrible, and he was embarrassed by it. She was embarrassed by it. What would Kara say if she found out? What would the other lords say? They'd probably kill her, she'd have to find a way out and back to Zamar before it's too late. But for some reason everything felt too late.
     When she walked through the dead garden, it's heavy, dove-grey hair was dizzy with something unbreathable. There was something soft yet utterly annihilating about her, she held both an intolerable tenderness and hell fire. And as she walked, she knew she was not alone in the mist. She paused, scanning the hazy grey and the lazy poisonous winds as they breezed past her.

'Perhaps if you were to follow me, may I suggest quieter shoes?'

A male emerged from the grey wisps of mist. Tall—taller than she remembered—dressed pleasantly in earth tones, hand stitched and tailored. Cato gleamed at her. 'I was looking for Dean, have you seen him?'
     Her stomach rolled at the mention of his name. Rose bit, 'I'm not his keeper.'
     Much to Cato's respect, he did not frown or grimace. He only took a small step closer as if she would run away and she was much inclined to. 'And yet you live in his home and dine with his family. How oddly amusing.'
    
Her amber eyes flared. 'If you'd like to know where he is, I suggest you follow the train of crying women. It will lead you right to him.' Rose continued walking, surprised to hear his own catch up and match her stride. Suddenly the steel, the fire, the hell in her, vanished. 'What do you want?'

'Just wanted to say hello,' he offered her the same smile he'd given her that day at the coffee shop. What a lifetime ago.
     'Bye.'
He chuckled. 'You never cease to surprise me, my love.'
     She'd never rolled her eyes so hard before. They stopped her a rose garden, a dead rose garden. Rose stared long and hard at them, every emotion in her body threatening to spill out and make her break. But she wouldn't do that in front of Cato, he didn't deserve to see how much she was suffering.