The next afternoon I woke up well-rested and surprised I was able to be up at the time that the sun was at its peak. I kicked off the covers and shed off my night dress letting it sink to the floor and kicked close to my bag. When the events of last night crept into my mind it sent a wave of unease to wash over me—and it's not a great feeling to have while you're half-naked.

I stumbled to the mirror once dressed. I had my raven hair hanging loosely down my back and wore a deep purple chiffon dress with subtle bell sleeves. It was an old frock with a V-neck top, so my cleavage looked particularly good in it. In fact, after spinning in it for a dramatic amount of time in the mirror, I found that my eyebags weren't so deep. They were still present, but they didn't make me look sickly and my I had only one pimple protruding on my forehead. My shoulders from where Lycius' claws had punctured through were healing slowly under their bandages and the rest of the cuts and scratches on my body were in their itching phase. All I wanted to do was scratch them open for relief. I should have healed myself properly while I had the chance to last night.

'I'll take this as a good sign.' I tied a black ribbon around my neck for the final touch and once satisfied I went downstairs to start working. The house had never been this quiet and I hummed to myself to keep the ominous atmosphere from overwhelming me. Maybe they were out with the wolves. Lycius would probably be in his wolf form today.

All thanks to me.

No time to think about that, Lycius would come to me when he was ready. We definitely had to talk about it because I crossed a line before I even saw it, and if he wanted to have boundaries, he needed to specify them. Listen to me trying to rationalize all this as if last night wasn't a devastating overreaction to a simple question. I didn't understand who the Darlings were, only that they were magic users and had something to do with werewolves. What was it that Paul had said about them?

"Most bad wolves go off to the Darlings for help, but not all of them come back."

I clenched the doorknob to the parlour. 'But Lycius came back.' My heart dropped, not only because new ideas were spiralling out of control, like the potential harm that might have come onto Lycius or to the Darlings, and like Paul knowing about Lycius' condition and being very afraid for me being near him...

The door to the parlour was locked.

'Ah, Miss Drakos, you're awake,' Calix called out from the ballroom. White light shone from the skylight, and it kicked a wince out of me. Like I had gradually shrunk back into my nightly self and wanted to expel the sun from existence. The way the light bounced off Calix's blonde locks incited some violence from me, that, and the cartoon white gloves. 'Come, come,' he said, 'I'll make us some lunch.'

I narrowed my eyes as he all but skipped towards the kitchen. With no other choice, I walked in too and watched him pretend to fuss about the kitchen with a dreadful pleasure painted on his face.

'Where's my honey gone?' he said.

'I wouldn't know,' I said quickly. 'Why is the door locked?'

'Never mind! I found some maple syrup. Hope that'll do for your appetite.' He popped those t's in appetite, and I arched an eyebrow. 'Please, sit Miss Drakos. It's a lovely day. Not that you take much notice of them. And my, what a lovely dress. Eggplant looks good on you.'

'It's indigo.' I sat at the small table in the corner, unable to shake the feeling that a decision had been made against me. 'Why is the door locked?'

Calix came over to the table with a plate of pancakes, he set it down before reaching into his blazer pocket and placing an envelope next to it. With no explanation, he waltzed back to the stove to keep on cooking. The envelope itself was blank.

'I hope you had fun outside with the shovel last night,' he said. 'Maybe you could take up grave digging.'

'I'm shocking at manual labour,' I remarked dryly as I opened the envelope. What I found inside made me sick. I closed it and held it out to Calix. 'What is this?'

'It's your pay. With interest. Mr Mavros will no longer be requiring your services.' He turned around grinning. Eyes shining with victory. 'Isn't that great? You get to go home.'

'Where is he?' I said.

Calix slowly lowered a plate on the bench top. 'He doesn't want to see you.'

'He's wallowing in his room, isn't he?' I said.

The air grew thick, the pause a beat too long, and I slowly rose up from my seat as Calix paced softly around the bench. Eyes locked, hands balled in fists or around cooking utensils.

'Are you sure you want to do this Miss Drakos?'

'Calix,' I said, 'Your fly is undone.'

I rushed for the door, and he leapt out like a panther to stop me, but I was too fast and slunk past to make my way across the ballroom. I bolted up those stairs to get to the West Wing and fear struck me harder than when I was chased by the werewolves. Perhaps not as hard as when Lycius transformed in front of me the night before, but the feeling of the butler close at my neck genuinely scared the shit out of me. What did this little man think he could do to me?

'He doesn't want to be disturbed!' Calix shouted. It was too late. It was far too late to throw me out now, I had made an offering. I had asked for guidance. I didn't know what the consequences were for suddenly backing out. That was just simply not done. If Lycius casts me aside I was sure to have a panic attack.

'If he wants me to leave, he's going to have to drag me out himself!' I shouted. Then I added for Lycius to hear, 'COWARD!'

'Don't make me use force,' Calix warned as he hobbled closer behind me. The man was swift on his little legs. It was like trying to outrun an angry rooster who kept screeching at you.

'Oh, you'd love that wouldn't you!' I said. He grabbed my wrist, and I was ready to clobber him with my fist. 'Don't think I'm against hitting my elders. AH—'

I was incredibly unprepared for what he did next. My wrist burned under his fingers like acid was melting through my flesh. I screamed.

Calix did not give a fuck. 'It's time to go, Miss Drakos.'

'I'm not leaving. LYCIUS! Ouch!' I tried to pull my arm away, but Calix's power only grew hotter. White light glared out between the gaps of his fingers as they clamped me down and made me want to fall to my knees. The heat was like nothing I'd ever felt as it coursed its way up my arm singeing my nerves. It was nearly paralysing.

Did he really think I was going to give up just like that after all I had witnessed? Did they really think that they could just send me off like some common employee? This little man was lucky it was broad daylight. He was lucky enough to incapacitate these hands, just not my foot. I stomped down hard on his polished dress shoe, he barked as he loosened his grip, and with my limp arm, I bolted again to the end of the corridor. To my left was another set of stairs, the ones Lycius had pointed out during his lazy tour and specifically wanted me to avoid. I took those two at a time.

Calix swore left and right behind me and as I came across another smaller lounge area—it was a break between the stairs and a set of double doors as grand as any other but was nearly off its hinges and had enormous scratch marks across it.

I took a chair from its spot by the window and with my one working arm, I dragged it to the staircase and rolled it down the stairs. Calix, who had made it halfway up, his shriek rang around the house as he ran back down them to avoid impact. For a moment I thought I heard something heavy fall from the room. I thundered over and rapped on the door, my wrist singed and stinging with pain at my side.

'Oi!' I roared and rapped again.

'You bitch,' Calix snapped. I refused to look at him. 'You could have killed me.'

I stared down at my dead wrist, at the red burn mark. 'You're lucky I didn't throw a whole table down!' I banged my fist against Lycius' door. 'And you! You better let me in and explain yourself! Or expect—'

The door clicked and opened slightly ajar to reveal a single blue eye on a tall wolf-man body. I held the envelope up to his grey face. 'What the fuck is this?'

Lycius' nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed onto my raw wrist. He threw the door open with a loud bang and hung his head out. 'What the fuck did you do to her?'

'She threw a fucking chair at me, Lycius. A chair!'

'I swear, I'll burn this house to the ground. In fact, I won't need to. I'll just let Ari move in and let nature take its course!' I slammed the envelope into Lycius' furry chest, and he trapped it and my hand to him. I looked down and saw he was in pyjama pants and nothing else.

'Calm down,' he said. The nerve. A werewolf telling me to calm down!? 'Wait here.'

'I will,' I said.

He brushed passed me to the stairs where Calix was leaning and heaving against the wall and I heard them grumble back and forth, Lycius was an eight-foot-tall wolf-man over a five-foot-five man and if I wasn't in complete agony and filled with rage I would have rejoiced at the sight. The tiny butler stomped his foot like a spoiled child then ran his hands down his blazer and cleared his throat. The next thing I knew Calix was stomping toward me and offering his gloved hand.

I looked at Lycius. He nodded at me. 'Give him your wrist.'

I reluctantly presented it by throwing my shoulder out and we watched it flop between us. 'I can't lift it, douche,' I said.

'Allow me, whore,' Calix said.

'Stop it!' Lycius snapped. His sharp teeth smacked together. 'Just get on with it.'

Calix gently traced the burns, or his bloody fingerprints with his fingers again. This time when I felt a burn, it was a tingling sensation rather than a scorching bite from Satan. The skin started to heal up until it was left pink and raw but not as tender.

'Thank you,' I said. 'Thank you, creep.'

'You're welcome grave digger.' He folded his hands in front of him.

Lycius growled. 'Calix, take the day off. And Rhea, I'll meet you downstairs.'

I wore a large sunhat with a floppy brim and a pair of old sunglasses with my long coat. I looked like a grieving widow as I waited outside the front door for Lycius and the other wolves to arrive. After an impatient few minutes, they all emerged around the corner of the house and the girls zoomed straight for the lawn while Humphrey, like always, lingered with Lycius. Instead of shrinking small, Humphrey walked on his hind legs reaching Lycius' height. It wasn't the first time I'd seen the werewolf on his hind legs, the night at Penthouse and the damaged car comes to mind only this time it was strange. It seemed like they were conversing. Like Humphrey was eagerly listening to Lycius.

Lycius was in a long black coat with the collar lifted like a cloak of a vampire, his torso was exposed and fluffy while the rest of him was packed away in black jeans. He saw me and gestured for me to come over, so I did. I descended the stairs and joined Lycius' other side while Humphrey looked around Lycius to stare at me.

'Hello,' I said.

Humphrey wagged his tail and then ran off to join the other wolves. Under the light, I was able to catch a reddish hue on his spine and the points of his ears. Once again, the wolves were adorably grotesque to watch, and we followed them as they wounded around statues and fountains and leapt over rose bushes. I wondered what would happen if they came across the pit.

Lycius hadn't yet uttered a word and my impatience was starting to dominate my better self.

'Well,' I said. 'Aren't you going to apologise?'

'Rhea,' he said pained. 'I am really, truly sorry about how I acted last night. You didn't deserve that, and I wish you never had to see it—'

'I'm not talking about last night; we'll get to that. I'm talking about today.'

If his brow could furrow, I'm sure it would have. 'About Calix burning you?'

'No, Lycius,' I said exasperated. 'The money.'

He stopped us and turned to face me. I couldn't read his wolf-face to guess whether he was expressing emotion or not. 'Wait, that's what you're angry about?'

'You insulted me.'

'I was saving us from an awkward conversation. I thought you'd want to leave after last night.'

'How many breakdowns did I have in high school that you witnessed?'

'This was more than a breakdown Rhea, I hurt you. I'm too easily triggered and all you did was freeze up. You should have used your powers on me.'

'Look, you didn't hurt me, you scared me but not in the way you think.' I winced. 'Gods, Lycius, I would have preferred you'd thrown money at me because we had sex so this weirdness between us would at least make sense. You could send me away because you're a jerk instead you're sending me away because you're scared.'

Lycius raised his hands and curled his fingers as if he wanted to crush my skull in them. He huffed and let them drop. 'Show me your shoulder.'

'No,' I said. He reached out and I leaned away while glaring at him warningly. 'We had a good night before I ruined it.'

He shook his head and pressed his hands to his chest. 'I ruined everything because I can't control myself. It's irresponsible of me to have you here when I'm this unstable.'

'But you want me here,' I said.

'That doesn't matter. It's not right. It's not fair.'

'I want to be here. I want to do the job. I want to help.'

'I love that you do,' he said his voice cracking. 'But I'm only getting worse.'

I stepped up on a stone bench to reach a little closer to his head. I was still small but tall enough not to crane my neck completely back to meet his gaze. 'You're sending me away because you think I'm too afraid to leave by myself, right? Well, I don't want to leave. I knew the consequences. Now I'll be more careful. I'll even do as Calix says, whatever he asks me, I'll respect that what he says is what you wish, but I need you to be straight with me.' I hesitated. 'Do you never want to see me again?'

It was his turn to pause because this was exactly what he meant when he was asking me to leave. That I would be gone, and I wouldn't be allowed to return even to visit. That he would have to be in this house on his own—with the butler, the werewolves, and on occasion his mother there to look after him and no one else. He had no other outside connections as far as I knew. I couldn't imagine being that lonely all year round.

He pointed at my chest with his long black talon. 'Next time, use your powers. Use your frightening darkness. Don't let me get away with anything. I mean it.'

I flung my arms around him and buried my head in his fur. 'I promise I'll beat you up.' I felt his body shake with silent laughter as he gently ran his claws through my hair. 'Now do you mind if I go back inside? I'm dying out here.'

Lycius unlocked the parlour for me, and I had to unpack some of the art supplies that Calix had put away. Later in the evening, Lycius joined me with Humphrey who was back on all fours and had a paw up through the doorway. Little intelligence was left in his expression but he knew he needed permission to enter.

'He's promised to behave. He seems fine and I'll make sure he keeps his distance,' Lycius said. 'So long as you're comfortable with him here...'

'Of course.' As soon as Humphrey heard my confirmation he rushed over to the long couch and stretched his body across it. Stretched across it like a man but like a dog, his tongue flopped out and he started panting. 'How do you communicate?'

'Uh...' Lycius walked over to the armchair and angled it, so it was facing me before he sat. 'We don't. I assume he understands me... Unfortunately, he's more dog than werewolf, unlike his sisters who are more feral beasts than any dog I've encountered.'

'So, they have to be locked away?' I said in a sad tone.

'They have many things to entertain themselves with. Don't worry.'

'Do they attack each other?'

'Only playfully. When they're in their other state it's like they don't fully see each other.' He laced his fingers together on his lap and twiddled his thumbs. 'I want to ask you a question.'

'One kiss, and some under-the-skirt action but that's all,' I said seriously. He was simply baffled, and I laughed. 'Go on with your questions.'

'I don't remember you being this horny in high school.'

'I was always this horny I just wasn't always this confident. Dating an incubus will do that to you.'

'Right,' his laugh was gruff. 'Never mind.'

I spun on my heel and put the paintbrush down. 'Go on.'

'It's not important.' He used one hand to massage the palm of the other. His thumb traced circles over the greyish pink pads. He was getting nervous but at least he wasn't freaking out.

'Come on, Lycius, you've seen my breasts. You can ask me anything I will not be shocked, disturbed, or repulsed. I promise.'

'Since you promised... How does Lazarus know you?'

Oh, Gods, it was like the library all over again. A promise only to be met with disappointment. I walked closer to where he sat with my hands behind my back. 'We met up once, he was a catfish. I didn't really get to know him; Ari won't explain to me how she met him. She was compelled by him, hypnotised... He's just a new pest in our lives. Why?'

He was suddenly fascinated by the hairs on the back of his hand, and I drew close and knelt down at his feet. I forced him to look me in the eye by gently touching his chin. I asked again and he didn't answer. He tried to but it came out in a dreadful rasp.

'I wish I could tell you everything,' he whispered.

'You'll share when you're ready,' I said. 'And I'll be here.' He angled his head away from me. I thought he was staring off into the distance but when I turned to look, I realised he was staring at his reflection in the mirror. Our hands had intertwined to comfort each other on his knee, either neither of us had noticed or we pretended not to.

His eyes shifted from his face to mine, absorbing our reflection together. 'We look wrong together.'

Darkness rolled across my arms and up my neck to cover my face. 'Is that better?'

'You still look beautiful,' he said bitterly. Then he unlaced his hand from mine. I stood up and went to grab my phone by the easel.

'Let's order some food tonight. I'm thinking nachos,' I said. 'Should we get something for you son?'

Lycius rolled his head over to Humphrey's sleeping form. 'Sure, why not? He's been a good boy.'

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