At dinner, Renji and Renee introduce themselves to Ciana and Aislinn as the four of them sit at the table in the kitchen and eat while Melantha, Nathan, Ayette, Reine, and I sit in the living room on the sofas, our dishes and glasses placed on the coffee table. Reine is silent throughout dinner and I chew on my lower lip anxiously from time to time, staring down at my plate.

"Dude, you could cut this tension with a knife," Nathan groans.

"Thanks for that," I hiss and kick at his shin from his spot beside me.

"This food is really good, guys," Melantha tries to bring up the atmosphere, "Renee and Renji really did a good job."

"Yeah," Ayette agrees, nodding as she takes a sip of her glass of water.

Suddenly, the front door slides open and all of our heads whip in its direction in surprise to find a tall fit male with lavender hair and teal-blue eyes standing there in a white muscle shirt, deep maroon ripped jeans that have black thigh holsters, a maroon jean jacket wrapped around his waist, black combat boots, and he has a pair of silver dog dags hanging around his neck and a few black rope bracelets with a black watch around his right wrist.

"Dimitri," Reine's eyes widen and she drops her spoon into her bowl, standing up slowly, "y--you're home..."

"Holy hell..." Ayette's eyes widen, "hello hotness."

Dimitri's eyes flicker across the room until they land on me and they narrow.

"You," Dimitri growls out, "what is he doing here?"

"Dimitri, you know that he's a part of--" Reine starts.

"Yes, I know what he's a part of. I also know how much fucking grief he caused you. It may not have been intentional, but I don't want him around," Dimitri's eyes practically burn through my soul and chills run down my spine as my mind swims in confusion.

"Dimitri, please," Reine sighs, "don't cause any trouble. H-- How long are you staying for?"

"Indefinitely," Dimitri snorts, "Coralyinn has moved her forces across the Winter Sector and we got pushed out. They're sending in more forces to counter her movements, but I was told not to go back. It's not surprise that she has an upper hand there. She was born there and her gift is Winter, for shit's sake."

"We're still safe here in Spring," Reine says with a sigh, "it'll only be a matter of time before she tries to take over every sector."

"Excuse me, but who's Mr. Muscles over here?" Ayette asks.

"Right," Reine clears her throat, "this is Dimitri, my older brother."

"It seems you've been busy while I've been away," Dimitri says as his eyes lock on to Ayette.

"I have," Reine says and raises her chin, "I've been gathering the chain. Coralyinn wants to take power from it, but I refuse to let her murder the innocent. Nor will I allow her to wage wars."

"It seems to me that you've been gathering more than just members of the chain," Dimitri says, crossing his arms, "you've found a relic holder and a member of the Lightdagger Brigade."

"You've got a problem, tough guy?" Renee narrows her eyes upon hearing her organization name and storms out of the kitchen and into the living room to stand in the archway with her arms crossed, mirroring Dimitri's pose.

"Not at all," Dimitri holds up his hands, his eyebrows raising, "my only problem is with a certain individual, but I'm not supposed to talk about that apparently."

"That's what I thought," Renee snorts before turning around and walking back into the kitchen, seemingly satisfied, but I only feel my blood run cold as dread washes over me.

"No need to be so hostile, Dimitri," Aislinn rolls her eyes and waves a hand from inside the kitchen, "you always were one for confrontation."

"You're one to talk," Dimitri snorts.

"I'm cynical and cautious, not hostile and confrontational. Get it right," Aislinn snorts back.

"Dimitri!" Ciana beams and runs out of the kitchen after putting away her dish and glass in the sink, "you're back!"

Dimitri smiles as he pulls Ciana into a hug and her head rests against his chest as her arms wind around him, squeezing him tightly.

"I've missed you," Ciana beams up at him, tilting her head back.

"It's good to be back," Dimitri chuckles.

"Are you going to help us?" Ciana asks, her amber eyes wide and imploring.

"Yeah," Dimitri smiles again, "I guess I will. Someone's gotta look after you three, after all."

"I have everything perfectly under control," Reine snorts, crossing her arms, "but your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Any help is good help."

And that would be how my day went from awful to completely and utterly horrendous.

***

I sigh as I roll around in bed, knowing that tomorrow we'll be heading out somewhere completely foreign to me with one person who's dead silent around me and another who hates my insides. I'm almost certain that Dimitri is the boy from the photo in Reine's room, meaning I'm probably correct in the assumption that she's the girl with brown hair and lavender eyes, but that doesn't make sense to me. Why would Reine go to say she naturally had lavender hair to Ayette and then stop herself when she realized she was about to sound suspicious back when Ayette didn't know the truth. She sounded so genuine about it. Either she's been keeping up the same story so long that she says it without a second thought, or she's not the girl in the photo, or something happened to naturally make it that way. Who's the other girl though? I sigh again, thoughts filling my mind about how Reine knows the truth but refuses to tell me. I just...I don't get it. I also don't get why Dimitri hates me, but I get the feeling it's related to that. Hopefully tomorrow goes better and I can actually get some answers sometime soon...