Prey

Chapter 9

Xander's POV:

I left dinner early.

For multiple reasons.

One being the fact that I kind of forgot to give Nico some information concerning the current population status that he needs for his meeting with Lord Bronwyn tomorrow.

That he probably needed about a week ago.

Shit, he was going to kill me.

Not that I didn't partially deserve it, but I still wanted to try to slip it to him without having to face him directly.

I quickly noted the castles delivery box that sat outside his door, figuring that could work quite well.

Another reason to my early departure was because of the girl whos hard stare was practically burning into the back of my head.

Which I definitely also deserved.

My tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, the taste of her blood still lingering despite how little I actually consumed.

There was something about her blood that caused my stomach to turn and the lingering taste to turn bitter after the fact.

Something that apparently only happened to me and got progressively worse every time I did it.

Although this time the initial feeling hit me as soon as I felt the fear and retaliation in her body.

She's never acted that severely to me.

I guess both of us knew that her blood was now limited, and especially on the days she had to recover, food was essential for her.

But first impressions are important and I wanted to make sure mine wasn't a good one.

Its easier to have someone not like you right off the bat instead of disappointing them later.

Easier to gain the ability to be liked instead of re-gain it.

At least that's what I've discovered lately.

And as soon as everything started working out for me, that's exactly what I planned on doing.

I stopped for a moment once I reached my door, turning to look down the hallway at my brother's before letting out a soft sigh.

I caught a glimpse at Doe as I did, her eyes still fixed in a justified glare while her hand covered the side of her neck.

Opening the door, I let her step inside first, knowing I had some making up to do.

She took a few steps in before she turned, just enough to see me from the corner of her eye.

As soon as I closed the door, I walked over to my desk, leaning over to set one hand on it while the other lifted the phone.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice coming a bit more nervous than usual.

I could practically smell her anger ever since it replaced her initial fear.

But maybe having her choice of food instead of whatever bogus they feed the pets in the dining room would help.

Not that that would mean her forgiveness, but maybe it would help...

I knew it wouldn't.

"What the hell was that for?" her voice was calm but her tone was pissed.

I pressed my lips together tightly, watching her shoulders raise as she waited for an answer.

Thing is, the answer wasn't anything she hasn't already heard from me and I think she already knew that.

Both of us were well aware of the stupid things I did and said around my brother already, and I guess now his new pet.

All of which are things I can fix once I got what I've done all of this for.

That phrase rang itself through my head yet again.

It's been a phrase I've become accustomed too ever since I set out to pursue Layla.

I can fix this.

I live a long life. I'll have plenty of time to make up for all of this once I get what I've worked so hard for.

I've been doing this for so long. Doing the things Layla says and asks of me just to see her smile, just to get her to look at me.

Lately, it seemed like it's been working better, or maybe I was just telling myself that.

The end has to be coming soon, right?

All of these things that I've done will pay off...?

If ever, I sure hope now its soon. Now that Nico cut me off of his medical help, and the only thing bringing her to me was in danger.

I looked back at the girl in question, her impatience growing with each second that I stayed silent.

She already knew the answer, she just wanted me to say it.

Probably to reignite another one of the handfuls of arguments we've gotten into about why I was doing what I was.

That knot in my stomach tightened at the very thought of doing that right now.

My actions were impossible to justify, and any attempt would come out futile.

I didn't have an excuse, just a reassuring phrase that I kept telling myself.

But I've put in too much work. I've ruined too much of my relationship with my brother to come out of this with nothing.

"Does it still hurt," I asked, in an admittedly weak attempt of changing the direction of this conversation.

Though the tightening of her jaw immediately told me she wasn't going to comply.

"Don't change the subject, Xander, not right now," She bit, "You could obviously see how scared his pet already was, there was absolutely no reason you had to do that!"

My eyes flickered to the door after I noticed her fists tighten at her sides, wondering for a moment if it would be weird if I just left for a few minutes.

Although knowing Doe when she was angry, she didn't drop things easily.

Surprisingly she didn't get mad as often as she probably should, not like this.

I set the phone down, that insanely uncomfortable feeling in my stomach growing at the very thought of having this conversation.

She was right, everything she said was right, but I was in no mood to explain myself again.

She didn't get it.

"I don't want to do this right now," I admitted.

"Well, I didn't want to get bit today." She retorted.

I actually flinched at her words.

"You already know what I'm going to say. There's no use of me saying it again, and then having it blow into the same fight we've had before," I said quietly.

She huffed, crossing her arms and grabbing tight onto her biceps.

"Whatever," she snapped, turning her head to the side, "Get me that parmesan chicken thing with the lemon garlic sauce."

I felt my shoulders relax at her compliance, picking the phone back up to do just that.

Maybe if I get her something sweet too it'll help...

"How long did you say I have until Layle comes back?"

I looked her over at the strange and sudden change her voice had.

The words were as tight as the grip she had on herself, her fingers digging themselves into her arms with what looked like an uncomfortable amount of pressure.

"She comes back the day after tomorrow."

She gave me nothing but a small nod before turning and slowly walking back over to the couch she'd spent most of the day on.