Chapter 17 - Confrontation
Idalia began to speak, the wheels turning in her head. "I—-"
But Louie froze and looked away; his body was still like he had heard something, then he turned back to her.
"He's here." He pulled away from her and shoved her towards the door, stopping short and muttering under his breath. "Fuck, he is going to smell you."
Smell her?
Her wolf had been concealed, and so was her aura and the unique scent that came with it. To others, including humans, she was supposed to smell like nothing. But she still needed to take care of her body, and for that, she had taken Grandpa Alfred's advice to use fragrance-free body care products, all to ensure she wouldn't leave any evidence of her presence even in the air.
He had confirmed that it had worked, but Grandpa Alfred was no human, and the fragrance might just have a scent after all.
Her hands balled into tight fists as fear ran through her veins at the oversight in her plans and the consequences that might follow. She could hear Louie spraying cologne into the room, and that made her even more afraid.
Louie rushed out of the room, stopping short when he found her still standing in the hallway, a frown crossing his face. In a second, he pulled her into his arms and carried her down the stairs as fast as he could.
She had so much fear in her that she had no time to argue for her independence.
He ran down the stairs with as much speed as he could summon, stumbling into things at every turn while being faster than Idalia had expected anyone–any human– to be.
Her blood grew cold to see this side of Louie, his highly trained capability, perhaps, or maybe it was as a result of their science. It was terrifying and jarring to ruminate on speculations of his other possible capabilities, but it was even more terrifying to realize that whatever he was, Mr. Lythoryn was more.
And he was here.
By Argon, this was bad.
What would he do to her?
Especially, what would he do to Arik if he were to find out what she had done?
At the end of the stairs, Idalia turned to the main door and, finding it empty, she heaved a sigh of relief, until the croak of the bird crushed her peace, and those dreaded words met her ears.
"Hello, Coin." The raven croaked as it flew over them.
It was only at that moment that she felt the unusual tightness of Louie's grip around her.
She could hear the thump thump of her heart as she followed the bird with her eyes and watched it land on Mr. Lythoryn's gloved outstretched hand.
"Hello, Coin," he said, his voice deep and low, as he brought the bird closer.
Her breath felt stifled by the sudden tightness in her throat, and her gaze shifted to his face.
He was looking right at them. At Idalia's interlocked hands around Louie's neck, at Louie's firm grip around her— and his eyes narrowed.
Displeased?
Irritated?
She couldn't tell.
Louie quickly set her down.
"Mr. Lythoryn. Good afternoon, sir. You are back early. I hope there was no problem at work." Louie said, his voice strangely calm.
But nothing about this felt calm for Idalia.
The fact that Theon, who was standing behind Mr Lythoryn, was looking at her with those ever-guarded and suspicious eyes made it even more difficult for her to think.
Wait.
Mr. Lythoryn seemed to have made it out of the secret passageway she had just discovered, which meant that, right at this moment, he was with the key, as she had suspected. Her eyes swept quickly over him, over his buttons and cufflinks, but she found none to have the required patterns. Then she looked from one pocket of his black pants to the other, in search of any slight bulge of an object that would indicate the presence of a key.
A throat was cleared.
And she froze.
She looked up to find everyone's eyes on her, and it took her a moment to realize what this looked like.
Her cheeks heated in embarrassment at the misunderstanding, "No—"
He waved his hand, dismissing whatever she had to say.
It wasn't important.
She wasn't important unless in the context that he decided that she was, and right now, he didn't.
It was clear to her, and she hated him even more for it.
"Did my presence interrupt something?"
That yanked her from ruminating on her feelings of hatred, right back to her present problem.
"Impossible, Mr. Lyth—"
"Julieeee! Julie! Julieeeeeeee!" Coin flew up towards the stairs and back to Mr. Lythoryn's shoulder.
It took everything for Idalia's mouth not to fall open in utter shock.
By Argon, that bird was a snitch!
She thought Coin had been bored of her, but instead the bird stuck around to collect evidence and snitch! She had no sense of affinity to this bird, but something about this stung like betrayal.
Mr. Lythoryn chuckled. It was always odd to hear his muffled laughter. It always clashed against this image of him in her head and almost tricked her into believing that he was just a gentleman who could do no wrong.
Then she would remember that in the true sense, she was, in fact, his captive. And if he were to know what they truly were—what she and Arik truly were—then he would be their killer.
The Killer of all her kind. Louie had said it; once he got that approval, he would begin a full-scale extermination.
When Mr. Luthoryn set his cold green eyes on her, Idalia froze.
"Is there something you would like to tell me, Miss Summers?"
Idalia eased in a breath, killing the urge to turn to Louie and beg him not to say a word, while she tried to ensure her heart wouldn't beat too fast that it would plunge right out of her chest.
"No," the word fell out of her mouth.
Although his face was unreadable, she could sense it in the air that he didn't trust her.
It was all because of that stupid raven!
It wasn't herself she was scared of; it was Louie. The foundation of their friendship wasn't one she had trusted for a second. If he were to confess, she would be thrown under the bus. That would mean that his friendship proposal was real because after that, she would definitely not see him as a friend, which was something they wouldn't like to risk if the proposal had been Mr. Lythoryn's order.
But if he were to cover up for her, and if it were to work perfectly, then she could be right that his friendship was just a facade. It would mean that they still needed her trust and everything would be done to preserve it.
Whichever way this would go would determine a lot.
By Argon, why did she have to get caught?
She could see Theon shift his ever-accusing gaze away from her to Louie. Then Mr. Lythoryn shifted his focus to him, too. With bated breath, Idalia waited for the inevitable.
"Louie?"
Idalia's heart skipped a beat. It took her everything not to turn to Louie. Her back grew hot with the knowledge of his presence, and her head felt heavy knowing that not only hers but her son's fate depended on Louie's next words.
After seconds that felt like forever, he finally spoke, and his next words did more than stun her.