Page 4 of Sonata
4
Lucien
“There is something wrong with the female.” Folding my arms across my chest, I stared my brother’s mate down. “You cannot know what the witch did to her in your absence.”
After leaving the female in her room, I ran through the tunnel, the colorful threads guiding my way. While my boots thumped a steady rhythm on the hard packed ground I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something. Something of utmost importance, that was right before my eyes. The only logical solution was that the magic wilder did something to the female.
“Get him out of my fucking face.” Étienne snarled at Moël, baring his fangs while pulling his mate into his arms.
“It is the truth.” Not backing down, I glared at my youngest brother, daring him to touch me so I can punch his lights out. “She was disoriented, couldn’t focus on my words, and was making shrill sounds like a banshee.”
“If that’s the expression you had on your face when she laid eyes on you like you have now, I’d be screaming like a banshee too if I was a female.” Moël grinned at me, probably counting his lucky stars he wasn’t within arm’s reach. I wanted to break the Louis XVI wingback armchair he was perched on across his head.
The heavy drapes in our home's living room were pulled to the sides, allowing the fresh breeze to pass through the open windows. It wasn’t enough to lighten the mood, which the bright light of the chandelier hanging above our heads did not help, casting a yellowish glow over all our faces. The opulent antique furniture and the priceless statuettes and knickknacks didn’t take away the fact we were all ready to go at each other’s throats and having a bar fight in the middle of all the luxury.
“Maybe she drank that water Seraphina used to make me drink?” Melody looked up at Etienne, ignoring me. Not that I cared. She should be scared of me. If the Muse ever decided to attack me, or any of my brothers, I was going to tear her pretty little head off her shoulders without blinking an eye. Étienne can hate me as much as he wants. At least he will be alive to hate me.
I could live with that.
My doubting myself and my instincts lead to my father being assassinated in our home, in his own bed, because I liked to have all the information first and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. Thinking I was smarter than everyone else and scoffing at archaic laws cost me more than I was willing to pay, but pay I did nonetheless. That part of me died along with my father, my king, so they can all hate me but I will follow my gut. Something didn’t add up here, and I had to figure out what it was before any female, including the one I couldn’t get out of my mind, could blindside me. Unlike Étienne, I wasn’t thinking with my dick.
“What did she do exactly?” realizing her mate would be glaring for a while without saying a word, Melody finally locked her gaze on mine. Her dark irises had so much depth it was like some ancient entity was staring at me through them, and I had to stiffen my spine so I don’t take a step back. “And you’re sure it was Viola you saw and not Harmony?”
I gave her a court nod grinding my molars when she turned to the fucking cat for confirmation. The fucker nodded too as if it was human, and it made this whole situation weird and as crazy as it sounded. My fists kept clenching and unclenching without me realizing what I was doing. Until Melody peeled herself with great effort from my brother and came to stand in front of me.
“Did it catch you off guard?” she reached out and took one of my fists in both her hands gently as if she was dealing with a feral animal. My entire body locked harder than a high security prison for supernaturals with immense powers. “When you saw Viola, I mean. I know that Étienne and I didn’t really act like ourselves when we were in the same room for the first time, not counting the club and it hit us both hard when we touched. Could that be it?”
I felt my heart trip over its own heartbeat but barely had time to process her words when a fist came flying at my face. Ducking, I spun around Melody, keeping her between myself and Étienne like a shield while I grinned at his scowl. My uptight brother was finding it very difficult to control his emotions around his mate, and I took advantage of it as much as I could. The female was oblivious to his turmoil, acting like a human and always touching both me and Moël. It drove Étienne insane, and I loved every second of it.
“Would you stop?” she rounded on him, poking his chest with a finger. “What the hell is the matter with you? He is your brother Étienne.”
“Écoutez votre petite Muse, frère. Elle est très sage.” My smirk was so wide it hurt my face when he snarled in anger since I had the audacity to tell him to listen to his mate because she is wise.
“And you stop provoking him.” She turned on me next, but I didn’t have time to wipe the smile off my face before she saw it. “Not funny, Lucien. While you are acting like kindergarteners high on sugar here, my friends are hurting and being held against their will. Your mate is hurting. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“We don’t know if she is my mate.” I snapped at her, but all of us knew I was full of shit. Including me. Fuck me, and this screwed up fate.
“Don’t we?” the corners of her lips tilting up in a forced smile, she scolded me with her gaze. “So it was easy for you to walk out of there and leave her with Seraphina then?” the saccharine tone oozing from her voice rubbed me wrong, but Étienne was holding onto his control by a fragile thread, so I kept my mouth shut. “Let me tell you something about Viola, Lucien, and pay very close attention. Don’t mistake her flippant attitude and jokes for something they are not. That woman cares about people more than anyone else I know. Her lighthearted attitude is her way of making things appear better than they really are. Viola loves making people happy, it’s who she is, and from where I’m standing... you don’t deserve someone like her.”
“He is a stubborn fool, Melody.” This time Moël added his two cents, pissing me off. “Let him walk with his head through a wall. He will learn the hard way just like everything else in his life.”
“I literally walked with my head through a wall, brother.” My jab only brought more attention to the female I left behind. It might’ve made things easier on myself if I admitted that it took me a good few hours to convince my legs to step out of that cursed tunnel, but I refused to play along with their schemes.
“So, do you?” Melody was as annoying as Étienne when she focused on something. “Think that maybe the mate bond had something to do with you thinking there was something wrong with her, or did she catch you by surprise, so you rather think there is something wrong with her than something not right with you?” She elaborated as if I had trouble remembering things now, insulting me in the same sentence.
“It could be the bond if there is one.” I reluctantly pushed the answer through my teeth. “She lost consciousness when I stepped through the wall. How would I know if that was the reason she acted strangely?”
“Asshole.” Moël turned away from me as if disgusted.
“You scared her, didn’t you? Viola is not really the fainting damsel type.” Melody accused with a rhetorical question because no one expected an answer as she continued. “You can act as tough as you want, Lucien, but I see right through you and all your bullshit.”
“Contrôlez votre femme, Étienne,” snarling at my oldest brother to control his female, I narrowed my eyes on his mate.
“Speak English, you jerk, so I can understand you.” The sound of my molars grinding was evident in the room where we were clustered. “And you don’t scare me, just so you know.”
“You should be scared, little Muse, if you care for your life.”
“Do not threaten my mate, brother.” Etienne’s voice was so low and calm my entire body went on alert, especially when he spat the word brother like a curse. His powers came at me in waves searing my skin.
