Avond woke up to a numbing sensation at the side of his face and small throbs of what was left of his migraine. His eyelids slowly opened, expecting an intense morning light, but instead, he was covered in comfortable darkness. His body was nicely enveloped by a thick duvet, his head propped by a soft pillow.
It was not the temporary moment of forgetfulness that made him afraid to move, but the memory of a girl he knew he couldn't have, now lying curled like a kitten against his body.
Avond looked over to Celeste, and his breath caught in his throat, his body unexpectedly reactive despite his state. She was half-naked, only in her bra, revealing the tender fullness of her round breasts spilling over the cup of her bra.
Avond gritted his teeth and looked up at the ceiling, secretly hating his brother for what he could have but would never appreciate. Not like how he would, Avond thought, shamelessly.
Careful not to wake her, Avond rose to check his phone in his pocket. His eyes widened at the number of phone calls and angry text messages—two from his father, fifteen from Tiel, six from Wouter, three from Jade, ten from Lionel, and over two dozen from his closest men.
Tiel had forced them to look for Celeste, which Avond had told them to do, but it seemed Tiel wanted them to go on looking without rest or exchange. It was all men on deck, while his father left no messages.
Lionel, God bless him, was brief:
LIONEL
18:00 - We have a suspect! I'll let you know what he says.
22:00 - He killed himself. There was a pill in his mouth. Couldn't save him. To his house. Finding clues.
01:00 - He had a family. He was forced to work with them. We have a letter. Come and see.
And that was it. Avond could feel the ups and downs of emotions from those text messages, matching his own.
Whatever blissful, saddening thrill and excitement he experienced before left with the realization that he had so much work to do—a series of mysteries he couldn't help wanting to unravel as he sat there.
Although his heart whispered of a different kind of desire. One that forced him to stay put and not move away.
"Avond," a weak whisper called out to him. He turned around, expecting to find her eyes open, but she was still asleep. Celeste was dreaming of him.
Avond's heart raced in his chest, and it ached with a new feeling of possessiveness he didn't know he had in him. Tiel had said she was his, but Avond knew otherwise. Celeste was for him and yet...
The sound of his doorbell ringing jolted Avond out of his thoughts. His eyes shot up, back straight. Someone was at his door—the door in front of him. And no one else owned the key to it except...
"Tiel," Avond said under his breath. Celeste sluggishly woke from her sleep, not yet fully conscious before Avond swooped her off the floor and ran straight to the spare bedroom but then thought it wasn't a good idea.
Tiel always checked if anyone was in the house with him. Avond looked inside the bedroom—the room was untouched—then to the living room.
The wardrobe.
"I-is everything alright?" Celeste asked, looking up with a furrowed brow. He put a finger to his lips. "It's Tiel. Don't make a sound; he has sharp hearing." Then he closed the door as the doorbell's ringing intensified.
"AVOND! Bro, I know you're in there! I can hear you!" Tiel yelled. "I'm not going anywhere just because you're ignoring me."
Avond cursed under his breath as he picked everything off the floor and dumped it on his bed, making it look as if he had been sleeping in it. Then he dashed toward the door.
The door shook violently as Tiel knocked harder and harder until Avond finally turned the knob, revealing Tiel standing at the other end, his face dragged down by exhaustion, a dark shadow lingering behind his eyes as if he were haunted by unexplainable darkness.
"Who are you with in there?" Tiel asked with suspicion, peeking over Avond's shoulder. He looked back and then told Tiel, "I'm alone." Tiel stared at his face for the longest time before shrugging, pushing his way through and into the apartment. Then to the kitchen, where he suddenly stopped. His brows raised. "You can't cook." It was a statement.
Avond went to see what it was, shocked to see a full-plated meal left untouched at his kitchen counter. It was simple but mouth-watering at the same time, although cold. Avond glanced at Tiel, who was looking at him with displeasure.
"So here I am, running up and down creation, trying to look for my bride, and you're here with some woman. Alright. Who is she?" Tiel demanded.
Avond shook his head. "No one you know."
"Oh yeah?"
"And frankly none of your business. Why does it matter to you who I choose to have my midnight liaisons with?" Avond lowered his eyelids, a strange bitterness in his chest. "Have I ever questioned you for being with that thing?"
Tiel's face soured. "Not you too. She gives me attention and keeps my bed warm at night. Is that such a crime?"
"It's not the activity; it's the girl. She's not the right one for you," Avond said, feeling like a broken CD, repeating the same sentiment over and over again. It was not that he was agreeing with his parents because they were his parents; it was that he saw what they saw and did not have a choice but to agree.
Asti was not a good woman.
Tiel stayed quiet to this, knowing well where it was going. Instead, he went and grabbed a plate in one of the lower cabinets and put some food on his plate. Food that was cooked for him, Avond thought, surprised by his sudden greed. He never minded sharing with his brother; it was his brother.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Sit down and eat; you're wasting food, and I have some things I need to tell you," Tiel said without looking up. He didn't wait and started to dig in.
"Oh yeah?" Avond asked, taking a plate for himself as well.
"Guess who paid me a visit?"
"Who?"
"Joey," Tiel said. Avond felt his stomach turn at the mention of his name. In his childhood, whenever Erickson was too lazy to punish him, Joey stepped in to do it for him. And never once had that man gone easy on him.
"And?"
"Dad wants to know where you are, what you're doing, and how far you're progressing. You know, the basics... and of course when you visit that old man Everhart. You know?" Tiel asked, putting a mouthful of meat and vegetables in his mouth. "Hmm, this is good!"
"He wants to know when I'll be visiting Jordan?"
"Nah, but I want to know. When are you going?" Tiel asked. Avond took a long deep breath; he had completely forgotten the man had asked him to do that. No wonder his burdens didn't seem complete—something was missing.
"I'll be going tomorrow. Don't worry about it."