Oh my goddess.
Oh my goddess oh my goddess oh my goddess. Had that just happened?
I couldn't seem to think straight.
I had since left the records room, going down a million hallways, until I finally decided I was completely lost. Currently, I was hiding out in an odd room, with a pool table and a few other games in it. I had no idea how to play any of them, so I found myself silently sitting on the leather couches by the back of the room. They faced opposite from the door, but at least there were no windows in this room. I liked the darkness of the room.
Another reason I liked the room was the silence. I never heard footsteps outside the door, or snow or cars from windows like I did in every other room. I could finally hear myself think, which was very much a necessity after what had just happened.
My thoughts made my head spin as I faced the corner of the room. I didn't know what on earth I was still doing in this palace. My goals of getting away from Batilda and freeing Milly and Daisy had been accomplished. So what was I still doing here?
I couldn't leave without getting rejected first. It would be far easier for Dante to find me with him already knowing my scent, and it wouldn't be fair to Dante. He had been so helpful and kind to me that it wouldn't be right to just abandon him without a word.
But by goddess, he wasn't understanding me. He didn't realize that the best option was for him to reject me. He could find a suitable mate, and I could be relieved of being the queen. Then, I could figure things out. Alone, with all my choices my own. I practically sighed at the thought. It seemed nice.
My thoughts were finally interrupted when I heard the door open, and two pairs of footsteps came in.
My breath caught. I didn't want to be found, not this early. I wanted more peace and quiet, away from all the royals.
The hope that it was simply maids was crushed when I heard Finn speak. "I'm going to kick your ass today, I promise." He slurred, and I almost slapped my forehead. Of course. Finn always seemed to be everywhere.
A laugh followed Finn's promise. You've got to be kidding me, I thought. Dante laughed again, replying, "If you win, it'll only be because I'm hammered."
Finn walked towards the wall I was facing, and I saw him at the other end of the room at the table, where multiple things of clear liquid sat in crystal decanters. "I'm drunk too, but I'm still gonna beat you." Pouring two glasses, he went back to the side of the room behind the couch where I couldn't see.
"You set up this time," Finn told Dante, and I heard the shuffle of pool balls on the felt table. "I'm gonna go first, 'cause I'm better than you."
Dante scoffed, but seemed to allow his friend to do it, from his lack of protests. The crack of the balls knocking into each other and the walls of the table sounded, and Finn whooped. "I'm stripes, bitch. Take that." He moved around, before stopping, and then hit the balls again. He groaned, and I guessed he didn't make any in this time.
Dante laughed at his friend. "Way to scratch. I really appreciate it." I heard the swish of liquid in glass, and then Dante took another sip.
Goddess, I was stuck in here. There was no way I could leave with them still playing their game, and I couldn't be caught. So I kept my sounds to a minimum, and I didn't dare move, knowing the couch would make noise.
They were both silent as Dante took his turn, and I heard the balls clack again, and Finn cursed.
"You're an ass." He told Dante.
Dante chuckled. "Love you too. Don't hate me because I'm a fucking pro."
My eyes widened at Dante's words. He practically never swore, and he was never cocky. Although, this was funny. I had rarely ever heard Dante and Finn bicker like this.
"Yea yea, whatever you say. Professional dumbass." Finn shot back. My jaw dropped, and I heard both men laugh at that.
"Good one." Dante replied, and another crash of the balls sounded.
Finn gargled the liquid in his mouth as Dante finished his turn. He finally swallowed, and then I heard his glass being set down on the wood of the table. "Did something happen with Florence? Sapph said she broke down."
My heart sped up. Oh goddess, if this had been a bad situation before, now it was all that much worse. They were talking about me now.
Yet, I still listened with anticipation.
Dante sighed, before hitting the balls with the pool stick again. "Shit," he muttered, and I heard his footsteps retreat from the table. "Sapph can't ever keep anything quiet, can she?" Dante asked Finn.
"She sounded worried. I know she likes Florence." Finn replied, before talking his turn. Clack.
Dante was quiet for a moment, allowing Finn to continue with his turn. "They were watching Melinda I guess, and Max Abernathy was on. Florence is Max's sister, so watching it—"
Finn smacked his hand on the wood. "You're fucking kidding. Max has a sister? And it's Florence? No fucking way. There's another Abernathy?"
Dante must've made a silence response, because Finn continued. "That's insane, dude. Does Max know she's here?"
Dante sighed again. "No, and Florence doesn't want me to tell him. I know if the roles were reversed, I'd want to know if Sapphire was still alive after eleven years. But I'm not going to go against Florence here." Something thudded against the wall, and I was going to guess it was his head.
I had to remind myself to be quiet. I was a little confused as to how they hadn't heard or smelt me yet, and then I realized they were probably drunk enough that their senses were impaired. I thanked the goddess for that.
Dante wanted to go against me and tell Max, but he wasn't doing it. He was listening to me, which made me feel a little more at ease with the fact that Dante knew the truth now. But he just told Finn the truth, and I didn't know if I could trust Finn.
"I'd tell him. Max is a good guy. He should know." Finn missed again, because he groaned. He walked over the liquor again and refilled his drunk.
"I know. But Florence was so adamant on not wanting to be apart of her family anymore, I don't know what to do." Dante set up for his turn, and then set the ball into motion.
Finn backed up, and I felt his weight on the back of the couch. Oh dear goddess please don't spot me don't put me don't let him see me.
His back was to me, but I could see him swirling the liquid in his glass, before taking a long sip. Please don't look back, I repeated in my head. I was barely breathing, trying to be as silent as possible.
"Fuck though, there's so many freaking Abernathy kids. I thought five straight boys was a lot, but six kids? That can't mean well for you, dude. You're gonna be bustling around little monsters." Finn joked.
Dante let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Isn't it a bit too premature to be talking about that?" He struck again, the balls bouncing against the walls, although now there were less balls on the table.
Finn rolled his shoulders back, jumping on the back of the couch to completely be supported by it. Goddess, he was getting closer. "She's gonna want, like ten kids. But hey, baby making." I could practically hear Finn wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. My cheeks flushed bright red at his remark.
Dante groaned. "You're an idiot." At this, Finn made a smooching noises at his friend. My cheeks heated up. It was a very strange experience to be witnessing this banter, and I wanted to disappear more and more with every innuendo and suggestive remark.
"Maybe not, though. I think Max is happy with his kid. He doesn't seem to want a whole dozen right now." He thought it over, and then he sat up straighter. "Wait. Wait. His kid is Venice, and his sister is Florence. Woah. Woahhh. Do you think he did that on purpose, 'cause if so, that's cool. I should call him about that, let him know I dig the reference—"
Dante caught on that this was a bad idea. "No, you shouldn't." Clack. "You're not going to go and tell Max that, because then he'll know you know about Florence, and then she'll kill me for telling you. She'd already be pissed that I told you if she knew." Well, he wasn't wrong. I wasn't very happy with that fact.
Finn rolled his eyes, dropping his shoulders back down. "Florence this, Florence that. It's like she affects all your decisions, man." He threw his free hand up in the air to make his point. "What happened to my man?"
Dante remained silent as he focused on his game. "I think I'm in a very delicate situation with her right now, and you don't understand that. Let's talk about something else." He hit the ball again.
Finn grumbled. "I don't get it, dude." He threw back his glass, downing half of it, which was a lot. He brought his glass down quickly. Too quickly, it seems, as it brought him off balance. He tilted forward, and then seeing that he was going to fall forward, he tilted back, but he overshot it, and now was even more unstable.
Off balance, falling backwards. I couldn't react quick enough, and all I managed to do was stiffen up and bring my arms in front of my face before Finn's body landed on mine. I had entirely forgotten about his liquid, but when it spilled all over my chest and shirt, I remembered it.
"Oof!" I exclaimed, just as Finn swore, "Shit!"
He turned his head to the side to see me, and his eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding," he mumbled, and then Dante showed up over the side of the couch.
His eyes widened as he saw me. "Florence?" He asked, almost in disbelief.
I had the decency to blush, wishing I could disappear right now and never show my face at the palace again.
Dante's eyes then darted down to my wet chest, which clung to my bra, before he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Finn, please remove yourself from my mate." He said, and Finn rolled off me and onto the floor.
"Where did you come from? Were you here the entire time? That would suck." Finn said from the floor.
I brought my hands up to my face, trying to see if by covering my face, I could disappear.
Dante turned around, walked to the other wall, opened a closet, and came back. He dropped a piece of clothing onto me, which I then realized was a fresh shirt. I sat up and quickly put it on, knowing full-well my cheeks were still bright red.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," I finally mumbled, looking across the room. Goddess, this was so embarrassing.
Dante sighed, walking backwards to lean against the pool table. "I'm too drunk for this," He mumbled, running a hand down his face.
Finn nodded next to me. "He's right. He drank a shit-ton of wolfsbane before this." He added, and Dante opened his eyes to glare at his friend. Dante didn't seem drunk, but he didn't seem like his put-together, perfect prince self, either.
Finn didn't seem to be bothered by the glare, because he turned his full attention to me. "Are you actually Max's sister?" He asked.
I made sure to turn to give a glare at Dante, who suddenly found the ceiling fascinating, before nodding hesitantly at Finn.
He sat down in the chair across from me. "That's crazy. I've known Max and Isaac forever—wait, that means you're Isaac's sister too—never mind, but they've never mentioned a sister." He shook his head in disbelief. His words made me remember earlier, seeing all those documents and still knowing I don't belong there. My heart started hurting again, after feeling numb for the past couple of hours.
"Hey, Finn, you're really not helping right now." Dante focused his attention back on me. "How long have you been here?" He asked. I wrung my hands in my lap.
"Um, I don't really remember..." I lied, and Dante sent me a look that let me know I shouldn't even try to lie. "A couple of hours." I finally whispered, and Dante sighed at that.
"So you couldn't find your way back to your room and settled here?" He questioned, and I nodded meekly. I was confused as to why I was being so normal with Dante right now, after he had done... what he did, earlier in the records room.
Finn seemed to think it was a good time to leave, because he got up and inched towards the door. "I'm gonna leave and try and catch this hangover early, thanks love you guys have fun!" And then he left and closed the door behind him.
My shirt still clung very uncomfortably to my chest, and my bra felt wet too, but the large shirt I had on top thankfully covered that.
"I really wish you had let us know you were here." Dante said, rubbing his eyes with his palms.
I toyed with the hem of the shirt. "I hoped you guys would just leave after a minute or two." I whispered back.
Dante let out a laugh. "And you wouldn't make yourself known, because I freaked you out earlier." He stated.
I gulped in response, but didn't deny his words. He had freaked me out earlier. Dante had kissed me, and by doing that, he had reminded me of what we were supposed to be. What we were. Mates. I shivered at the thought. Sapphire had reminded me of that fact earlier, and it has spooked me then.
Dante scratched the invisible stubble on his chin. "I recognize that this...situation, isn't ideal. I don't want to be king, and I know Sapphire told you that." His blue green eyes locked with mine. "But I'm not going to reject you. No matter how many times you ask, I'm not going to reject you."
"Why?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes. "That's a dumb question. Why do you want to be rejected so bad? What do you think you'll do once you're free of me?"
I immediately opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. I didn't know what I was going to do, all I knew was that I wasn't going to be confined to one room, or one basement, or one palace. I wanted fresh air, new sights, and solitude. There was always someone with me it seemed, and it was driving me insane.
"You just want me to reject you and set you free to be what, homeless? You won't go home to your family, so where would you go? What would you do? I'm trying, desperately, to understand why leaving the palace seems like the best option to you." He admitted. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You don't have to understand. This isn't about you. I don't want to be here. I can't be your queen. I don't want to be anything more than the stupid human I am. Just let me go."
Dante ran a hand through his dark brown locks angrily. "Here as in the palace, with me, or here as in anywhere, Florence? You're not really clarifying." It came out as a frustrated hiss, and I deflated at his words.
I flopped back down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't know." Both, maybe. I didn't know. I don't know.
Dante was silent. I was silent. Neither of us said anything for a minute, and then that stretched into minutes, until I wasn't sure the amount of time that neither of us responded.
Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Dante stoop up straight and walked over to me, looking down at me over the back of the couch. "Come on, I'll take you back to your room." He motioned to the door, and I didn't protest, getting off the couch and following him out of the room.
Dante led me in silence through hallway after hallway, making me feel even more lost than when we went to the records room, but finally we were back in the foyer. I opened mouth to tell Dante I could find my way from here, but he was already moving up the steps. I followed him the rest of the way silently.
After a little while more of walking, we finally ended up outside of my door.
"Thank you, for uh, bringing me back here." I told Dante, opening the door to my room. There was no light in the room, even the moonlight was dark and faint. It looked like it was only a day or two away from the new moon.
Dante nodded, his mind seeming to be elsewhere. "Goodnight," He bid, walking down the hall. With a sigh, I entered my room, closing the door behind me. I stared at the moon through the window, walking closer until I was only a few feet away from the window.
"I hate you, you know." I spoke quietly to the moon. Obviously, she didn't respond. "You've ruined my life. I was so happy." The moon seemed to get brighter, as if mocking me. She thought this was funny.
"You hurt my family, you've ruined me for Dante, and you're going to bring down your kingdom. All because you made my wolf white. I hate you." The moon taunted me by not answering me. I just wanted a response. I wanted a reason as to why she had chosen to hurt me. Yet she remained a bright crescent in the sky, her presence everywhere, never letting me forget what my life could be like if she had chosen someone else.
I went to bed quickly, exhausted and angry and sad and confused. And a little hurt. I just needed to forget about seeing Max on television, hearing about his kid, and most importantly, I needed to forget Dante's kiss.