A/N: Picture of younger Keira in the media.
Jett and I were silent as he took me back home. It was seven pm and the shouts sounding through the house told me that Brandi was looking for the both of us.
As the motorcycle pulled up to the driveway I clambered off, handing my helmet back to Jett.
We looked at each other and I thought back shortly to that little boy with piercing grey eyes, no doubt it had been Jett. We had met when we were little.
I hadn't told him I remembered and he hadn't acted in any way that made me think he knew who I was. No doubt that he had forgotten about his confession. Thinking back to the miniature Jethriel I felt a small smile quirk up my lips before nodding, 'We should go inside, I can hear Brandi panicking from here'.
He sighed, turning the motor off before grabbing my helmet, 'I have a rather appealing idea of skipping school for today'.
'Haven't you already skipped it twice?' I commented as we walked back to the house.
Jett turned to grin at me, 'I don't think it really matters, whether I skip or not'.
I snorted but stayed silent as we made our way to the front door. Before we could reach it the door flung open by itself and Brandi put her manicured hands on her hips, eyes narrowed, 'And where have you two been?'
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Jett had left me alone the moment Brandi had appeared. He had subtly backed away and taken the detour from the garden back into the house instead of facing the furious brunette that blocked the doorway.
After mumbling apologies, she had let me in, stone-faced and muttering that Uncle Edmund wouldn't be happy with my escapades. Especially not when it concerned Jethriel.
With a snap of a finger, Briana had appeared with my school uniform. The maid smiled apologetically at me before pulling me to my room before Brandi would have the chance of devouring me alive.
The meeting of Lady Eluen had opened my eyes and though she had lifted the spell that lay upon me and bid us farewell I found it hard to forget what I had seen.
I had been the one who convinced mother to save Daniel, hence her death was indirectly my fault.
I found it hard to stomach and Briana hissed in irritation multiple times when I made no effort to clothe myself, 'You should really stop hanging out with Master Jett'.
'I thought I told you not to call him that,' I mumbled and she sighed as she held out my undershirt.
'Come on Miss, you're already late for class'
'I don't get why everyone hates him so anyway,' I grumbled further, taking off the shirt I'd had my little adventure in and shrugging on the white undershirt, 'He's not that bad'.
Briana's plump lips curled up slightly, 'I thought you didn't like him'.
'I don't,' I snapped - too quickly - and my mouth closed slowly when Briana looked at me with a knowing smile, 'I just find him more... acceptable... recently'.
The maid nodded, though the smile did not disappear and she helped me button the shirt before handing me the skirt, 'All I'm saying is that, he isn't the nicest person, definitely not after what happened after Daniel died. He's closeted himself and now he has problems with socialising. It was a surprise that the Frost family even decided to choose him as Lady Anastasia's fiancé'.
I stayed silent at this, I had nearly forgotten that Jett was engaged. A word that tasted foreign on my tongue. I was too young to talk about marriage, and yet he was already engaged. To a beautiful woman that was powerful and rich to boot.
Slightly bitter, I yanked my school jacket in place before wriggling my feet into my heels, 'You'd think they'd choose Nathaniel right?'
'Oh,' Briana smiled, 'Nathaniel's already engaged'.
'Oh,' I smiled, 'then-' My face blanched as the meaning of the words finally sunk in and I turned to Briana, feeling more blood drain from my face, 'What did you say?'
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'Nathaniel? Nathaniel!' I shouted, stomping down the hallway with Briana hurrying behind me. The girl had realised she had said too much the moment I'd stormed from the room but it was too late to stop me now.
I was good at stomping away in heels.
As I reached the end of the hallway where the Lionfield brothers' rooms were, I turned to my left, knocking on it with a ferocity I didn't know I possessed, 'Nathaniel? Are you in there? I need to talk to you now!'
Muffled footsteps sounded and then the door opened, revealing a confused looking Nathaniel who was already dressed in his school uniform, 'Keira? What's wrong?'
His green eyes caught the way I was shrugging off Briana who had been trying to tug me away from his door but had stopped the moment he appeared. She bowed, and took a step back, keeping her eyes trained on the carpet.
I took in a deep breath before lifting my eyes to his, searching for an honest answer, 'Are you engaged?'
Nathaniel's eyes flashed with shock and then anger, his green eyes flickering down to the servant who stood slightly trembling, 'Where did you hear this from?'
'It doesn't matter where I heard it from,' I muttered, giving a light push to Briana's shoulder and she hurried down the hallway before rounding the nearest corner, 'I want to know if it's true'.
'I think you should come in,' he said softly, stepping aside before gesturing inside.
From his doorstep I could see how different his room was from Jett's. His four poster bed was of light wood but the same sheer white curtains draped over it. His furniture was minimalistic, a mixture of light grey and white. Only books lined the shelves - no toys - and everything was impeccably clean.
For some reason, it creeped me out and I crossed my arms, 'I don't think I need to go in. I just came to find out the truth'.
I watched him watch me, his shoulders rigid and tense before they sagged and then he nodded, 'Yes, it is'.
JETT
'How could you?' the soft wail sounded and I looked up from my journal, suddenly shocked awake from my reverie.
When I wrote down my feelings, I became submerged in the feelings and not much of the outside world would come through to me. But now, Bambi's cries had alerted me of her distress.
'Trust me, I didn't want it to happen that way,' Nate's voice sounded, nearly apologetic and I sat up from my bed, closing my journal slowly before stepping towards the door.
'Don't touch me! Don't fücking touch me!' Bambi shouted and I opened my door with a yank.
Two pairs of eyes looked at me, one furious, the other brimmed over with tears. I swallowed and tried to maintain my poker face before looking at my brother, 'What's with creating such a fuss at this time of hour?'
'It does not concern you,' Nate replied coldly, his head jerking; telling me to get back into my room.
I would've normally obeyed but this time - with Bambi crying - I felt no need to listen to him, 'I think it does'.
The tension built and I watched as Nathaniel's fists clenched for a minute and then they relaxed, 'We're just having a little tiff'.
'It's not a tiff,' Keira's voice sounded, abnormally hostile before she turned to me, 'Did you know he was engaged?'
I cringed before I realised and the betrayal on her face cut met somewhere deep - somewhere I'd buried so long ago, 'Keira-' I had reached out a hand but before I could reach her she'd turned.
We watched her disappear down the hallway, one forearm reached to her eyes and her sobs reached our ears. She disappeared round a corner and the moment she was gone I turned to Nathaniel, 'I warned you'.
Nate growled, a feral sound with a warning, 'This is not your concern'.
'I already told you that it is,' I murmured, ignoring his glare as I hurried after Keira.
KEIRA
I couldn't believe he would do this.
As if he taunted me, Nathaniel's smiling face appeared in my vision once more. Those sincere green eyes, smiling lips as he kissed me in the glow of dawn in the car by the sea. We had talked so much, he had talked as if he liked me, he had kissed me with such a fever I nearly believed him.
It didn't matter that he scared me shortly after and I had leaned towards hanging around with his delinquent brother.
I couldn't believe he lied to me, how could he do this to me?
I wiped at my eyes, ignoring Brandi's call as I opened the garden door and made my way across the expanse of greenery.
My bare feet were cold and dirty on the grass and as I reached the stables at the far end, mud coated my toes. I had to go somewhere, hide from the rest of the world as I got rid of the hurt that bubbled inside me.
I unlatched the stable door without thinking and snorts and neighs greeted me the moment I stepped into the house of the horses. They looked at me, dark brown eyes assessing the strange girl that had just entered their territory.
There were twelve horses in total and I walked down the length of the stone paved centre, unlatching the door of an empty stable before locking myself in.
It was the soft neigh that made me look back.
A colt stared back at me, its head reached me mid-waist and it neighed at me the moment I had locked myself in as if to ask me why I were intruding on its territory.
'I'm sorry buddy,' I whispered, soft sobs choking my voice, 'I didn't know you were in here, just lend me some of your space for a little while'.
I walked to a corner, hoping that it was clean hay as I sat down and pulled my knees up.
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The colt had laid down next to me, letting me stroke his soft nose as the night progressed.
The glass windows atop the barn showed that the world outside was now dark. I felt cold and the skirt of my uniform definitely did not cover up enough with the knee-high socks. I was feeling cold and if it weren't for the colt's warmth, my fingers would've looked blue.
He neighed softly once more, as if asking me how I felt and I smiled, pressing a kiss on his soft head, 'Thanks bud, I feel a bit better now'.
'You do?'
I looked up, my heart beating like mad. Was it another monster? A Lesovoi?
The colt stood up on its long unstable legs and trotted over to his stable door. Slowly, the door swung open and I saw Jett. He had his back towards the stables and the opened stable door showed half of his back, one long leg and the mass of dark curls. He turned, his profile handsome, 'I was hoping you'd stop with crying, it's getting quite cold'.
'How long were you there?' I hiccuped - post crying, suddenly wishing that the colt would bite at his face.
Jett's head turned the other way, probably to check his watch, 'Shortly after you started snottering'.
I turned away from him, 'I hate you'.
A hollow bitter laugh emanated from the man before he turned, this time, his chiseled face was clear in the moonlight, 'I've been protecting Bambi from the wolves, and this is how she thanks me'.
'Bambi was a male,' I snapped, pulling my knees up further.
'Close enough,' he smirked and I resisted the urge to throw a handful of manure at his smug face. The colt trotted back to me, laying itself back beside me and Jett smiled, 'I see you've met the newest addition to the family'.
'He's been a huge comfort,' I muttered, playing with the colt's ears until it tried to nibble my chin.
Jett sighed, 'We should go inside, your uncle won't be happy that you've been hanging out with me again'.
'I'll just tell him that you were stalking me,' I whispered, smiling as Jett's eyes flashed with soft anger.
'I don't like it here,' he suddenly said as he stood up, 'it's really better that we go back'.
'I don't like it there,' I countered, pulling my knees closer to my chest, 'it's really better that I stay here'.
'As much as I like staring at your panties,' Jett jerked his chin and I gasped, putting my legs back down and wincing, 'I really think it's getting late'.
'You're such a creep,' I hissed, pulling my skirt over my legs even though my knees weren't pulled up anymore.
Jett shook his head, 'I can't help myself'.
'You think?' I muttered back sarcastically but stood up anyway - or at least, tried to.
Pins and needles travelled through my legs - the cold had definitely not helped - and I gasped as I fell.
It was Jett who caught me and my face flushed despite the situation, 'I'll help you back,' he whispered, and before I knew it he had swung me up in his arms like a princess.
'Let me down,' I said through gritted teeth, my entire body tense as I lay against him.
'Just stop squirming, or it's going to be hard for the both of us,' he snapped back before walking out the stable, locking the door expertly before carrying me out of the barn.
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In the dark my bare feet glowed up a ghostly white and slowly, I relaxed in Jett's arms.
He was more muscled than Nathaniel and despite it all, I felt grateful that he had come find me. If I were to have to walk all the way back to the house alone, I'd be scared. Especially since the last time I had been in the garden, some monster dog had attacked and I'd been scared shîtless.
'What are you thinking about?' his voice sounded in the cold air and I looked up, he wasn't looking at me but was keeping up a stable pace as he continued walking.
'Am I heavy?' I asked.
He shook his head, 'No, not at all'.
I gulped, 'Why didn't you tell me he was engaged?'
I watched him sigh, before his grey eyes flickered to mine. Even in the dark, they seemed to flicker a greyish silver, 'He said I wasn't to be concerned with his business. I had to butt out'.
'So,' I cleared my throat, 'who is he engaged to?'
'You'll know this weekend,' Jett commented, a bitter smile upon his face as he caught my confused look, 'Edmund is hosting a party this weekend. To celebrate your arrival as well as the upcoming marriages of next year. I'm sure he'd have invited Nathaniel's fiancé as well'.
'So Anastasia will appear?' I commented, suddenly feeling sick. The last time we'd met, she'd frozen my hand to the bathroom door knob.
Jett grinned, 'I'm afraid so'.
It was in that moment that a pang of guilt hit me. He had no idea that Anastasia was cheating on him with Blaze, no idea at all. But then again, was it really my place to say anything about it?
As we reached the house, I still hadn't made a decision and Briana was waiting at the door, concern etched on every line of her face.
'I need to head to class,' Jett muttered as he let me down slowly, 'I have something to attend to in the Pit today'.
'The Pit?' I asked as Briana put a supporting arm around me.
Jett nodded curtly, before he left and Briana's wide eyes stared at me, 'It's unbelievable'.
'What is?'
'He hates the barn,' she explained, helping me out of the kitchen, 'even when he rides, he has Master Vincent get the horses for him'.
I frowned, 'He went in there to get me today?'
'That's what's unbelievable,' Briana commented, her eyes staring back at me, 'he hasn't been there since Master Daniel died'.
'What does that have to do with it?' I asked, breathless all of a sudden.
Briana gulped, 'Master Daniel died in the barn'.
A/N: Thanks for all the love recently! Do you like the new cover? Please vote and comment if you like this chapter, it helps a lot :) ! ♥