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General Carol's lesson dragged on into the early hours of the morning. Lawrence didn't learn anything new; he already knew what times of day and night to be in the castle, and he knew the rules of Myrefall and the woods. If Carol were teaching him to dematerialize or shift into a bat, then maybe he wouldn't feel like the lesson was a waste of time. When would he learn that stuff? After he'd taken Abbot down.
He followed the other Fledgelings down the spiralling staircase and through the castle halls. Once they got back to the ballroom, instead of joining them in their miserable corner, he scoured the place for Abbot's best friend, Master Percival. Black hair, shimmering red eyes, and a suit worth more than Lawrence had earned in his entire life—there he was...standing by the large entrance with General Bronson, and Adherents Rose, Fay, and Ruben. Abbot's closest friends.
Lawrence made his way over, grasping onto what confidence he could find, but he was nervous. He'd never spoken to any of them other than Bronson and a brief interaction with Adherent Fay, but he wouldn't say that he knew her well. Bronson, on the other hand, might give him the ticket he needed to get into their circle.
When he reached them, Lawrence locked eyes with the General, who looked a little hesitant. "General Bronson," he greeted.
The group stopped chatting and shifted their gazes to him.
"Hey, Lawrence," the General said. "How'd your first lesson with Carol go?"
"Great," he lied. "Though I can't lie, I'm kinda eager to learn how to shift and stuff."
Adherent Ruben laughed a little. "You'll learn all the good stuff eventually, kid. It's not exactly protocol, but Count Abbot likes to make sure that everyone's ready at the same time."
Lawrence didn't even have to try to get that information. So, there were two things that Abbot was doing wrong: turning humans and teaching Fledgelings.
"His methods work," Adherent Fay said and sipped from her glass of blood. "Who are we to question them?"
Master Percival cleared his throat loudly.
The group went silent, all adorning cautious stares.
"Shouldn't you be with the rest of the Fledgelings?" Percival asked Lawrence.
Lawrence couldn't be snarky anymore—at least not to his superiors. "They're all kind of...depressed," he said. "And General Bronson and I are friends, so I thought I'd come and hang out with him for a bit."
Adherent Rose scoffed into her glass. "They're all miserable, heartbroken little things."
"Wouldn't you be if you thought you'd be spending forever with someone only to get dumped hours after getting turned?" Ruben muttered.
Percival cleared his throat loudly once more, silencing them.
"They'll cheer up," Fay said confidently. "You did." She looked at Ruben.
"That's because I had over a hundred years to do so, and I didn't have to watch him move on to the next guy," Ruben muttered.
Lawrence didn't know that Adherent Ruben was one of Abbot's exes. He still seemed resentful, and he wondered...could he get some useful information out of him? Ruben was one of Abbot's oldest coven members, so he had to know if he'd done any other shady shit, right?
"Head's up," Bronson announced.
They all turned their heads towards the main doors, so Lawrence did, too...and that was when he saw Count Abbot. He stood in the doorway wearing that same smug smile he always did; the black velvet choker around his neck—which Lawrence knew he wore to hide an old scar—had a sapphire-encrusted, gold-trimmed broach attached to it, and it really brought out the blue in his irises and the golden rim around them.
YOU ARE READING
The Downfall of Count Abbot
Paranormal[**Slow Updates**] Lawrence thought that Count Abbot was his soulmate...until he realized that his creator had abandoned him as a Fledgeling to pursue another human. - ⥽ ✟ ⥼ - Lawrence thought he found his soulmate in Count Abbotーuntil Abbot heartle...
