𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 45

"You worthless scum!" She threw him into a cold, dark room, his hands scraped by the hard floor, as his ears heard a squeal.

It took all of his strength to look at the cage in front of him.

It was Laito and the new girl. They had called her the sacrificial bride. She was significantly older than them, even older than Shu, who was almost fifteen by now in human standards. Her hands had been tied behind her back, and Laito's desperate grunts and pants scared Ayato. It was too much to bear for the child, as he ran back towards his mother to shield himself from the act in front of him.

He was met with a cold gaze instead.

"Are you happy now? There's your brother, go give him a hug if you will!" Cordelia pushed Ayato in front of the cage, as she spat at him. Ayato felt dirtier than he had ever been in his life. The girl sobbed as Laito dug his fangs ravenously into her pale skin.

"I'm sorry, mother," Ayato sobbed, kneeling in front of Cordelia. "I will be the best. I will do everything you want. I won't ever ask for Lai-chan again." He grabbed the end of her gown, and was kicked off by her in disgust.

"You bastard!" Cordelia said, pressing her heel hard into his chest. Why couldn't he just disappear... why couldn't he just not exist at all? It would be way better than all this humiliation.

It was perhaps the best thought that could come into his mind as Cordelia picked him up by his ruffled collar, her nails digging into his pale, lifeless skin. Her green eyes sparkled in the dark, as she said, "Kanato and Laito have always watched me love others." He was thrown back onto the floor. "I've sheltered you enough. It's time for you to be a man."

***

Subaru blew out a sigh, looking at his elder brother in anticipation. Kanato was already in the limousine, talking to Teddy about meaningless crap that happened to him during the day. Laito was chewing on some macarons. The clouds had opened up, the light of dawn filtering fine through the misty skies, bathing them in a gloomy grey colour.

"Shitty class," Ayato breathed hard, leaning against the car door, looking at the school exit. "They fucking keep Chichinashi so occupied she forgets that she has to tend to my wishes."

"That's incredibly rude of you to assume that she's only here for your stupid ass," Subaru curled his hand into a fist, staring at the redhead intently. He'd noticed the girl and Ayato become intensely awkward around each other, almost as though he could feel the sexual tension around them. He knew this bastard fed off her too much already; the colour had started to drain from her cheek, her heart rate was slow as in cases of hypotension, her skin now becoming an ashy grey instead of the flushed pink it always was.

"Fuck you, Subaru," Ayato stuck his tongue out. "At least you have your mother to cry to."

"Glad I didn't kill her."

Ayato stepped a foot closer to him. "What did you just fucking say to Oresama?"

Subaru huffed, kicking the tire of the limousine. "I attended the school only because she told me to. And now that she's making me stand in this hellhole for this long, I feel like I could punch something."

"You could definitely punch your teeth out. I'd be glad if you don't irritate me with that scratchy voice of yours."

"My voice is not scratchy!" Subaru screeched at Ayato, his voice breaking involuntarily at the end of his sentence.

"Then what the hell was that, you fucking tsundere?" Ayato smiled sardonically at him. "Looks like your balls are just starting to drop."

"At least I have hair on my chest."