In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: LXXIV

Sebastian's Point-of-View
The Gaunt Manor
Late July 1896

"Where's Imelda?" Ominis turned to face my direction. He shifted Lailah to his other hip, and her tiny fingers began pulling at his hair.

I chuckled at both my own thoughts and how Ominis let Lailah disrupt his appearance. "Oh. She's gone. She's been gone."

"Since when?" Ominis' brows scrunched at my wording.

"Hmm," I pondered to pick an exact date that would suffice, "Maybe April?" My statement sounded like a question because it took quite a bit of energy to remember.

She hadn't held my attention, but she did hold a place in my bed. Briefly.

Before my mind could wander to denser places, Xilia clapped her hands together to announce the readied feast.

Lailah's head spun around to the singsong tone echoing from the veranda. And Ominis' movement was similar; he seemed inclined toward Xilia's voice.

Since when had this family gotten along? That woman physically assaulted Antoinette for Merlin's sake, and no one in the room seemed to bat an eye at her peculiar behavior. Strange, but I supposed weirder things have happened.

"Sebastian!" Antoinette ran up to me and clasped her hands around my neck. My hands hovered over her waist, but I decided to spread them across her upper back instead.

Ominis cut in, but not because he was upset with the interaction. Antoinette's arms opened as if he whispered, "Alohomora," at her. He carefully set Lailah in her grasp, and Antoinette immediately turned back to me.

"They gave you a break as well? We must have cleared most of the Ashwinders and poachers out of Great Britain. Amazing!" She beamed at me, and she looked back at Kassia.

"Did you hear that, Kass? We're a lethal bunch." I saw the sliver of her eye wink from the way her body was positioned.

While she nodded at me and set Lailah up for supper, I felt eyes on me from all directions.

It wasn't Iskra, and I hadn't wanted it to be. Although, an absence of staring would be the most preferable situation. Alas, Marat, Kassia, and even little Morganna all looked at me from around the room.

I swallowed and shifted my head down to the table.

My body contracted to slink between the chairs, and I took my seat beside Ominis. Thank Merlin it was at the end of the table. Which unfortunately meant Xilia was to my left.

I averted her gaze until her slender fingers wrapped around my clenched fist tapping against the wood. Her voice was so low that only I could hear it, "Thank you for your faults. You've provided me such a wonderful family by failing in your romantic endeavors, poor Sebastian."

It wasn't even insincere. She meant it. What a crazy, ignorant bitch. But I took a seat at her table, in her manor. She offered me a place to stay while I gathered my bearings after leaving Imelda.

I chose the path of most resistance just to jest. "Only for you, Xilia. Perhaps one day, I could seduce you into leaving me, as well. Maybe it'll catapult you into finding another husband." I felt my lips pull to one side into a crooked smile.

My hand curved around the glass in front of me, and I sipped some of the bubbling champagne. When I set it back down beside my plate, I winked at her.

Xilia's mouth disappeared into a thin line, and her jaw clenched multiple times before relaxing. One rough conversation down. The triumph made me smile.

Ominis took a few tries before kicking me under the table, and the feeling knocked me off my high horse. The corners of my lips turned down, and I accidentally looked up at the person sitting across from me.

Marat.

His hand was grasping a fork so tightly that I was sure he would bend the silver. My eyes traveled up to the skylight instead, to distract myself and pretend like I hadn't seen him.

But now, he made me curious.

Iskra hadn't even acknowledged my existence. She wasn't eating. And it hadn't been because of Markov. The elves had been taking turns caring for the little boggart.

I couldn't stare too long, though. I was sure Marat would have murdered me if I did.

But she was thinner than she had been. Her muscle tone dwindled, and the  permanent grimace that plagued her face returned.

Something was different. Wrong. And I couldn't place my finger on exactly what. No one else seemed bothered.

I had to get her alone. To make sure she was alright. Even if it killed me.