Chapter 397: Possessiveness

Chapter 397: Possessiveness


“Your” creature has arrived. Baron's eyes softened.

“What have you done?” Tayme asked accusingly.

“I told you that I reward as well as punish.”

“Which child did you kill? What's in that serum?”

“That serum is just an antidote to the tranquilizer I shot into you. I guess you didn't want to spend the rest of your life sleeping, did you?”

“What child?”

He looked at her and then looked away.

“Are you coming home with me?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes. I've always given you options, Tayme. You can stay here, you can go back to the tunnel... You're free to make your own decisions.”

“But if I don't make the decision you like, something bad will happen!”

“I didn't say there would be no consequences, did I?”

“Did you kill my daughter?” Tayme asked, feeling his eyes cloud over with tears.

He took a deep breath and walked to the door.

“There are clothes in the closet. I'll wait for you outside for thirty minutes, if you don't leave the room, I'll understand that your decision was not to go with me.” He said and closed the door.

Tayme pulled the needle out of her arm, stood up and quickly put on a Jens, a shirt and a flannel blouse. She looked at the clothes in surprise. They were new, and exactly her size. She hadn't worn anything new for a long time.

She took a hairbrush and combed her hair, realizing with a start that it had grown a lot. She put it up in a ponytail and opened the door. The creature was waiting for her outside. They walked side by side out of the place.

“You should tell me your name.” Tayme said absent-mindedly, observing everything around her. This place was different. “You should be ashamed of yourself for letting me think of you as 'my creature'.” She grumbled as they passed an imposing, very new house with a layout she had never seen before.

The creature smiled enigmatically.

“So, you've just revealed two interesting things to me.” He said, stopping in front of another imposing house.

“Did I?”

“You think of me, Tayme? I'm flattered.” He said and gestured for her to enter the house in front of him.

Tayme held her breath. The place was luxurious to the extreme. Clean to the extreme. She turned to him. The enigmatic smile was still there.

“I think of you, and then I feel like throwing up.” She said and his smile widened.

“And I think I liked knowing that you're as possessive as I am.” He said and pointed to the living room. “What do you think?”

“I don't know...” Tayme said doubtfully. “I'm not possessive, creature.”

“I think 'my creature' is a bit possessive, yes.”

Tayme hated him for picking up on the details in her words.

“I hated that house.” She lied and diverted the subject.

“Good. I hope your brother and his family don't share your opinion.”

“What do you mean?”

“They're going to come and live in this place I built for them.”

Tayme stared at the creature in amazement.

“Why?”

“Ah! I promised. Do you remember?”

“You always keep your promises...” Tayme said thoughtfully. Ryan always said that too, and yet...

“Yes.” He said and put his hands in his trouser pockets, his face showing contained fury.

“What did you do to the humans who attacked you?”

“You know what we did to them, Tayme. And you should thank us for it.”

“Thank you for being murderers?”

“Do you think we didn't watch and listen to your every move and word? We knew all along about the vigil of those humans, Tayme. We're not idiots. And we stayed in that house after you left and they planned to kill you, too. They didn't believe you were human, but they believed you were human and that was useful to them. And you shouldn't rush to judge us. Those humans have been living among us for many months now and they were only alive because we allowed it and if they are dead now, it's because we don't allow them to hurt one of our own and we protect ourselves.”

“They knew I was human!”

“You appeared to the man who killed one of us with almond eyes, Tayme. If someone appears in front of you with almond eyes, will you believe they're not a Firecold?”

“If he hadn't believed it, he would have killed me!”

“He was willing to do that, but since you didn't suggest any threat when you spoke to him, the man thought you were just a crazy Firecold.”