Bone Diggers - Chapter Thirty

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Loading... Chapter Thirty

Ah, the price he would pay for that traitor's kiss and his lost love. Amilia's family home was silent enough for ghosts. Daniel found a chair that he figured to be Dimitri's, considering the fine detailing. He pulled out his weapons and placed them down before sitting. This wasn't about revenge.

Dimitri walked into his house without much wait, but came to a short stop inside when he found Daniel. He glanced at the weapons spread across the desk before speaking. "What do you want, boy?"

"Daniel," he corrected with an extra harshness. After everything, the man could at least call him by his name. "Where is she?" Daniel asked. "I want to be at the funeral."

Dimitri cocked his head in confusion before annoyance won out. Celio stepped in, nearly bumping into his father before he saw the scene he walked into.

"Don't tell me you don't have the stomach for such a simple request," Daniel added.

Celio drew a sword, but his father blocked his path with his arm. "Leave it," Dimitri demanded. "He just came to ask about your cousin's funeral."

"You don't belong at her funeral. It was you that dragged her into the mess, and it's your fault she's gone," Celio said.

"We appreciate the sentiment, Daniel," Dimitri said. He paused for a second with the practice of a salesman. "But you are not a friend of the family, nor are you her husband. In the wake of losing yet another lady of the family, you have no right to be here. Amilia would have wanted it this way."

"I belong with Amilia," Daniel said. The words made him feel rather silly. She wasn't a claim to be fought over. "It wasn't me who caused her to run away. So don't you dare tell me what she would and wouldn't have wanted." He tried not to make things personal, but it was proving impossible. "What sort of beast would deny such a request? Once—just once—will you allow me to mourn my dead?"

"I lost control of her when she met you. I lost a girl that was like my daughter," Dimitri said, also losing his calm. "You've known her for a matter of months. So don't tell me you belong with Amilia, and don't call her one of your dead. She isn't yours to mourn, not when she denied you at her last moment." He stepped out from the doorway now, waving a hand to get Celio to step back too. "Now, I think it's time for you to leave."

Daniel grabbed one of the throwing knives off the table. His fingers tightened so hard around the handle that his knuckles turned white. Despite the anger, Dimitri shook him up so much he looked down, as if reprimanded by his own father. "It would seem that way."

He took a moment to gather his weapons, putting everything back in its proper place. As Daniel walked to the door, he paused and turned to Dimitri again. "Pray we never meet again, for if we do I'll take your last heir as well." A bitter part of him wanted to do it now, but someone who Amilia loved should be around to go to her funeral. Even if it wasn't him.

Daniel walked out of their house with a confident stride. But once he was far enough away, that waned until he needed to brace himself on a nearby wall. Days ago, Amilia was in his arms, and now she had been ripped away by design. Had everything been a trick, or was it as simple as trading her life for her families? He walked on, until he found himself climbing up the stairs to her other home. This place was as neutral as Amilia got, away from her family, and away from him.

Being inside somehow made him feel better and worse at the same time. He curled up on the bed he once woke up on. "Please come back," he whispered. Returning from the dead, however, would take no less than a miracle. Daniel repeated the words over and over until they spilled out of Owen's mouth too.

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