Elias glared at the carriage for a long time. The two silver coins burning a hole in his pocket. He could just sit in it, go to his mistress' home and kill her. Even if he could not kill all of them, killing her family would be enough. He would not care if he died later.
The rage and vengeance burnt his chest. The coachman leaned out from the side of the carriage, and shot a glance at Elias.
"Are you coming or not, boy?" he asked in a gruff but not unkind voice.
Elias didn't answer. His jaw clenched as he stared at the polished wooden door, the fine brass handle catching the light like a cruel invitation. He could already imagine it.
He was marching into that pristine mansion with his blood-stained boots, dragging her by the throat across her velvet floors while she would beg for his forgiveness. He could do it. He wanted to do it.
His fists trembled. But when his eyes met the coachman's he shook his head and took a step back.
The coachman clicked his tongue. "Suit yourself," he muttered, giving the reins a gentle flick. The horses neighed and the carriage began to roll forward.
Elias stepped back, his body taut like a bow pulled to the brink yet nothing was shot!
"Coward," he hissed to himself, cursing under his breath. "What are you waiting for? Her permission!"
He turned around to storm back, but froze mid-step. There she was.
Seraphina! She leaned casually against a crooked post with her arms folded and the corner of her lip curled in a smirk that didn't reach her eyes.
"So you decided not to burn the world today?" she asked in a soft but mocking voice.
"Where the hell have you been? You left without saying a word and I have been waiting for you like a fool!" he snapped.
Only he knew how long he had oppressed his rage and now his anger surging to the surface. When she did nor reply, he took a step closer and held her hand. His chest rising with every heavy breath. "Am I only a fool in your eyes?"
"Relax, young boy!" she looked at her wrist he was holding with a smirk on her face. Just a look and he let her go. "Do you think I will just forget about you after investing so much in you?"
"I was watching," Seraphina replied smoothly, pushing off the post, "and waiting!"
""Waiting?" he spat. "For what? To see if I would burn the world or not?"
"Yes!" she clapped her hands and nodded with her eyes gleaming. her actions left him dumbfounded. "It was a test, Elias and you passed it."
Elias glared at her with disbelief "A test?"
"Yes! I do not want to waste my time on someone who could not see the bigger picture. If you only look for your petty revenge then you were not worth my time. If you want to work with me, you need to control your rage and calculate everything coldly."
"Rage is easy. Vengeance? Predictable. But restraint…" Her hand touched his chest. "That is rare."
He knocked her hand away, but his heart was pounding. "I don't need your games."
"No," she agreed. "But you do need purpose. And now that you have chosen my side, Elias, it's time we start tearing theirs apart."
He searched her face. Her crimson eyes gleamed with something dark but for some reason he felt pride in them and it stirred his heart again.
"I do want revenge. But I still don't know what you want?" he asked, but she only smirked and did not reply.
Seraphina tilted her head, her fangs barely peeking from her smile. "I want justice. You want revenge. We can work with that."
Elias looked over his shoulder once, toward the slums and then back at her.
"I don't trust you," he said bluntly.
"You shouldn't," she whispered with a grin. "But you will follow me anyway." he did not deny it. He had waited for her after all.
But he was shocked when she did not leave the slum. She entered his house instead. Lina had just boiled some vegetables when Seraphina opened the door and walked inside as if she owned that place.
"You are pretty!" Lina flushed looking at Seraphina. One glance and Lina knew that the woman was a high class noble. Someone who should never be here.
"Madam!" she bowed her head hurriedly as she came back to her senses. She did not dare to anger a noble. "Are you here to take my brother back?" without explaining, Lina assumed that Elias had left the manor unannounced or had extended his leaves to protect her. And his mistress had come personally to fetch her.
He had once told her that his mistress cared for him too much. But she had never believed that she would come to the slums for him.
Seraphina knew what the girl was thinking but she did not clear the misunderstanding. She scanned the small room and nodded instead.
"Lina!" he warned but the girl felt guilty for stopping her brother.
"I understand, I apologize for keeping him here. Please do not punish him later." She apologized and bowed again.
Seraphina laughed coldly. "Your sister is too naive." Elias had stiffened at some point. He did not want Lina to be dragged in it.
"Do you want to save her?" Lina forwned but before she could ask anything, Seraphina looked at him. The girl froze at her spot.
Elias frowned and blocked her from Seraphina's gaze but he realized it was not fear but Lina was really frozen in time. Except her heart, nothing was moving in her body.
"What did you do to her?" He glared at her, making her laugh again.
"Do not ask foolish questions, Elias. I asked, "Do you want to save her?" Elias nodded without hesitation. If he must trade his life for hers, he would do it without thinking twice. She was the only family he was left with.
"Do you believe that those thugs were just local criminals who had come to collect funds and targeted her because she could not provide enough?" Elias's hands clenched into a fist.
"Whenever you leave, she will be targeted again. She is your only weakness, the more you get powers, your enemies would rise against you. And she would be targeted every time. I will leave the decision to you." She stood up ready to leave but he held her hands.
She stared at their entwined hands. It was the second time he had held her and she had not killed him. Interesting!
"There must be some way to save her. I do not want to harm her." She watched his face, the look of humanity she had long forgotten was still so raw in his eyes, she couldn't help but stare into those electric blue eyes for a long time.
"There is! But she would completely forget about you." he hesitated only for a second before nodding.
"She could even be your enemy in the future. Would you take the risk?" Though she asked, she already knew the answer! And his unreserved nod, made her smile!
"Alright! Then you need to leave before she returns to her senses and remember, never to come in front of her eyes again!"