Tip of the Tongue [CMS Bk. 1 - BoyxBoy][Complete/Editing]

Chapter 18

Things couldn't get worse.

When anyone thought that, it usually meant things were going to get worse. Ren knew that and maybe everyone did. But when he snuck out to find Ashton Mantel, he already counted on running into trouble. Though, he hadn't been expecting to meet any of the other Mantels. Maybe he should have thought about that before he set out on this small adventure. It was starting to feel more like suicide when he counted in the Hounds.

Ashton turned. His stoic face made Ren bite his tongue. He wasn't going to say anything, but he wanted to make double sure that he didn't make a sound.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs was a thin, almost pale, woman with short blond hair cut just at her shoulders. She had green eyes, lips the color of a lotus that were pursed in a thin line, and a tall frame that filed out the silk gown she wore. Her arms crossed over her small chest. She narrowed her eyes at them, the faint color of green on her eyelids from the earlier day's makeup.

"Well?"

She almost didn't look that surprised to see Ren, a complete stranger, standing with her son covered in blood. Ashton looked worse off with the gashes in his arms that were barely heeling. Ren would have thought they would have at least scabbed over by now.

"What do you want me to start with first? The dead body or the Hound?"

She snorted. She tightened the belt of her silk robe, tying it off with an angry snap. The fabric made a zipping sound.

"Sit down," she bit out. Without waiting for them to move, she turned around. The bottom of her silk robe and nightgown whipped against her legs. Then, she elegantly moved across the dark room to the plush couch and sat down with a slight fluttering of her clothes.

Ashton was the second to move. He followed her path, an almost copy of her if it wasn't for his clothes, the blood, and the angry look on his face. Ren could see the similarities between them though they were muddied with the striking differences. As close as they got to being one and the same, they were forcibly pushed away in only slight differences.

Ren tiptoed across the room. At just the soft patter from his feet, he caught her icy stare. She glare at his feet as if he'd made the biggest offense in her life. He swallowed down the queasy vomit.

Ashton sat down, falling back on the cushions with an air of no care. The whoosh of him sitting down made the grimace on her face deepen. Ren sat beside him, light as a feather as to not make her notice him further. But he was sure it was hard to not notice the quite large elephant in the room that was him.

It also didn't help that they were both covered in blood.

She raised a brow.

"What?" Ashton didn't look at all frightened by the instance look on his mother's face.

Ren stared down at his hands, fingers fumbling over one another as he tried not to scream.

"Do not talk back to me."