Chapter 171: A Terrible Morning
Breakfast was one of the most awkward of her life—right after the one when she had first met Sean.
Kiyan wasn't ignoring Blanche.
Quite the opposite.
Several times, their eyes met across the table. He discreetly made sure she was eating. He said nothing, but that silent attentiveness had become familiar to her.
Argy, on the other hand, seemed unable to find his place.
Sitting between his two adoptive fathers, he remained stubbornly silent, his gaze moving from one to the other as though he were watching a chess match whose rules he hadn't quite figured out yet. Several times, he opened his mouth to intervene... only to immediately think better of it. The atmosphere wasn't tense, exactly, but it was strange enough that he preferred to observe rather than speak.
Kiyan had arrived at precisely eight o'clock to take Blanche home.
Since crossing the threshold of the North Tower, he had barely said a word.
His expression remained perfectly composed, but Blanche knew him well enough to guess that something was bothering him beneath that flawless self-control. Every now and then, his gaze settled on Sebastian before immediately returning to his coffee cup or the window, as though he had deliberately decided that whatever conversation might arise simply wasn't worth having.
The silence between the two men wasn't hostile, however.
It was more like the silence between two predators perfectly aware of each other's presence.
They had no need to size each other up, being friends.
Simply occupying the same room was enough.
Sebastian, meanwhile, had insisted on having breakfast with them.
No one had really tried to understand why.
He had settled into his seat with the effortless, aristocratic elegance that seemed to come naturally to him, legs crossed, perfectly relaxed. After all, he was only having breakfast with his best friend.
The only oddity...
Was his breakfast.
What did a vampire eat upon waking?
Apparently...
Nothing.
There was no plate in front of him. No fruit. No pastries. Only a large, completely opaque cup, immaculate matte black, whose lid carefully concealed its contents. A straw, equally black and surprisingly wide, protruded from the container.
Sebastian took a few sips from it at regular intervals with disarming naturalness.
As though no one was supposed to ask questions.
Blanche did her best not to stare at that cup for too long.
In vain.
Her imagination was doing all the work for her.
She was almost certain she knew what it contained...
But she very much preferred not to have confirmation.
The strangest part was the contrast.
While Argy absentmindedly picked at his breakfast, Blanche finished her toast, and Kiyan drank his coffee with the stern efficiency of a man already prepared to get back to work, Sebastian calmly savored the contents of his mysterious cup with the impeccable manners of an aristocrat.
As though drinking blood through a straw were a perfectly respectable habit.
At that thought, Blanche had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting out laughing.
Argy noticed immediately.
Their eyes met.
He understood too.
And for one brief second, they both had to summon every ounce of self-control they possessed to maintain perfectly serious expressions.
Dean had outdone himself. He had brought out a whole spread for everyone to enjoy.
« Did you eat a lion this morning? » Benjy asked, staring at the sheer amount of food the head chef himself had prepared.
Apparently, this wasn't the usual service. Blanche confirmed her suspicions when she took a sip of her orange juice.
Whiskey.
She looked up at Dean, who answered with a knowing wink.
Kiyan gave a disdainful snort, and that single sound was enough to tell Blanche that his mood wasn't going to improve anytime soon.
An almost tangible tension seemed to radiate from him, dense enough to envelop the entire room. Yet he wasn't trying to provoke anyone. He simply ignored everyone magnificently, arms crossed, his icy gaze sweeping over the bar-restaurant like a man forced to wait somewhere that bored him to death.
Eventually, his attention settled on the decor.
And apparently, that was even worse.
He examined the walls, the light fixtures, the booths, the counter, and even the frames that looked as though they had been hung slightly crooked, his expression one of profound distress. His eyes eventually stopped on a neon sign whose letters were lazily flickering.
One second.
Two seconds.
His eyebrow rose.
Blanche knew that expression well enough to realize that a devastating remark was coming.
The bar-restaurant wasn't ugly, though.
Quite the opposite.
It was stylish in that early-2000s sort of way.
It had simply...
Seen better days, while still being very well maintained.
It wasn't as though it had only been a decade old...
Well.
A decade and then some.
Kiyan stared for a long moment at an old pendant lamp hanging above the counter.
A little retro, but actually quite beautiful.
He inhaled slowly.
Blanche immediately sensed disaster approaching.
« Perhaps you'd like to share your expertise in interior design with us? » she asked with perfectly feigned innocence.
He finally turned his head toward her.
His gaze moved from her face to the room.
Then back to her.
« No. »
A pause.
« I value my sanity too much. »
Blanche lowered her eyes to hide her smile.
Argy was less successful.
Kiyan shot him a dark look.
The young man immediately cleared his throat and resumed a perfectly neutral expression.
Almost.
Judging by the trembling of his shoulders, he was about two seconds away from bursting out laughing.
Kiyan then returned his attention to the decor, apparently determined not to speak to anyone anymore.
With his atrocious mood and the expression of a teacher on the verge of handing out detention to the entire class, he almost seemed to think the bar itself had personally offended him.
« My powers want to devour you because your anger is spilling everywhere, » Sebastian sighed. « Forget about those articles. By next week, some other rumor will be making headlines. »
Kiyan grumbled inwardly.
Blanche caught Argy's evasive gaze.
What was wrong with him?
The same little dance repeated itself.
Kiyan curled his lip slightly as he drank his coffee without even looking at it, his attention still fixed anywhere but the table, while his anger seemed to have intensified.
Argy avoided eye contact.
That was what finally tipped her off.
« Oh, for the love of all the gods... » she whispered. « Tell me you didn't do that! »
The boy had the decency to stop eating, looking thoroughly ashamed before lowering his head.
The young woman pinched the bridge of her nose.
Great.
Just what they needed.
Argy had told Kiyan that Sebastian had kissed her.
The man was simply jealous.
After all, she had kissed everyone here except...
Him.
As far as Kiyan was concerned, his alter didn't really count.
She then placed her hand on Kiyan's thigh.
The contact instantly broke the tension.
The surprise caused by the gesture cast a sudden chill over the flames of his emotions.
« Sorry... I barely slept. I'd like to go home and finish sleeping, if you don't mind, Mr. Ardachir. »
The gentle smile on her lips was enough to extinguish the last drop of his simmering anger.
He resumed his stoic mask, catching Blanche's hand when she tried to withdraw it after sensing him move.
« Before that, I'd like to know what my son did to you, » Sebastian asked.
Apparently, the gesture beneath the table hadn't gone unnoticed.
Blanche activated Lie before giving Kiyan's hand a slight squeeze to warn him.
« Benjamin told his uncle the name of my new boyfriend. And he's not exactly thrilled about it. Anyway... we'll be leaving you. »
She stood up.
Benjamin was making a rather strange face.
Sebastian, meanwhile, never took his eyes off her.
Impassive.
His gaze lingering far too deliberately on her cleavage.