Rise of a Queen

Chapter 35

    "Because I'm standing right here." Eli commented from the doorway. He scratched at his head subconsciously, "And it would be more than my heart could bare to hear those vulgarities spoken to someone such as you, darling."

    Dustin chuckled and released my finger. I pushed him away and sat up to stare at Eli, whom I hadn't noticed when exiting the bathroom, "Sorry, didn't see you there Eli. How was your night with Corinth?"

    Eli's boyish charm transformed into something obscene by the shameless upturn of his smile, "Couldn't you hear us?"

    Dustin plopped down next to me, "Bro ... that's my cousin."

    "Sorry." Eli commented, then reconsidered and shrugged, "Actually, I'm not. Not at all."

    "I thought you were going with the rest of the group to the cafeteria." I wondered, "Didn't Erie say there was some stuff she wanted to talk about?"

    Eli nodded, "I'll meet up with them in a few minutes. There is something kind of important that I need to talk to you about before things get too busy around here."

    I motioned for him to fully enter the room, to which he graciously denied and stayed near the door. The rule to stay out of Dustin's room endured even after the long absence of its owner and Eli dared not tempt the lasting decree.

    "Well what is it?" I asked him.

    Eli sighed and chewed on his bottom lip, "Uh ... well ... I don't really know how to tell you this Sadie, so I'm just going to spit it out and pray that you don't decapitate me." None of us laughed at his joke and he shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, "Okay. There was, um, an incident at your house-"

    Alarm bells wailed in my head and I was suddenly on my feet, rushing towards him before I realized I was moving, "Did something happen with Toby while I was gone?!" I slapped a hand to my head, how could have I forgotten to call him once we got back? I was so worried about everything else that it completely slipped my mind, "Is he okay? I was trying to call him during the trip but the Count was blocking our calls-"

    I was close enough to him that Eli could drop his hands on my shoulders without having to enter Dustin's room. He held me tightly in comfort, "It's okay Sadie, don't panic." He bent forward until our noses were level, "Toby is fine."

    My eyes closed and the air in my lungs released on a long, replenishing exhale. The three of us waited for my fear to pass before I was able to speak calmly once again, "I'm sorry. I should have let you explain before I freaked out. Please tell me what happened, I promise I'll stay calm until you are done."

    "Unfortunately, I don't think you will be able to stay calm after you hear this." Eli glanced towards Dustin, then swallowed and straightened, slipping both of his hands into his pockets, "Your house was attacked."

    And here comes the dizziness again.

    I stumbled backwards and tripped over the forgotten sheets on the ground. Dustin lurched forward to catch me before I hit the floor and with me safely in his arms, he turned towards Eli, "Explain, now."

    Eli stared at me apologetically and crossed his arms over his chest, "It happened a day or two before you all arrived, right after the compound was attacked. I decided to check in with all of our men who had been posted on offsite assignments. Most of them were alright since the Council didn't have their exact location, but I couldn't contact the men posted near Sadie's house that were tasked with watching over Toby."

    Dustin sat me down on the bed but remained at my side, mostly due to my firm grip on his arm with the unfortunate cut of my nails past his skin, "What happened?"