Chapter Seven
Verena slowly followed behind Praxis as he went to the kitchen.
Verena kept looking back at the living room as she was paranoid that Azryn was going to get up and attack her at any moment.
Thankfully, she could keep an eye on him from the kitchen as there was no wall that blocked the kitchen and the main living room from each other.
Azryn was a lot like Praxis in the sense of not really paying much attention to her as she grew up.
Praxis, though, would at times silently acknowledge her while Azryn would lightly shove her out of his way if she was ever in his path and mumble things such as "move it runt" when he would shove past her.
Azryn had never hurt her, even though when she bumped into the wall from a shove from him, it didn't feel great; he had never laid a hand on her or bullied her.
Just treated her as a pest if she was in his way.
She wasn't ever scared of him, but now she had to be alert.
Her body refused to relax being back in this house, with her brothers.
"What would you like, Verena?" Praxis asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Verena looked at him warily as he opened up the fridge to browse for food. She wasn't hungry at all. She was nervous that if she refused, they would shove a feeding tube down her throat.
Verena just shook her head, making Praxis frown. "Just a small snack, please. What about some fruit, or I could make you a smoothie?" he suggested.
"You are not going near the kitchen appliances." Davian's voice warned off the walls as he descended the stairs.
Verena and Praxis turned their heads towards Davian, who walked to the kitchen. Praxis huffed at his warning. "Who do you expect to make food since Arthur is off for the week?"
Arthur? He must be new. The cook used to be Claudia, whom she liked a lot. She was so nice and gentle.
Praxis saw the confusion on her face. "She passed away a few months after you left. She had a stroke." He explained.
Verena felt her eyes water in grief at the news of the sweet old cook passing. She didn't even get to say goodbye to the one person who seemed to care for her. Praxis looked at her dolefully, feeling sad at seeing his little sister on the verge of tears.
"Arthur is pretty cool. He makes some mean pasta." Azryn spoke up from the couch.
"And I trust him to handle the kitchen appliances, not you." Davian cut in, shoving Praxis to the side.
"I am not that bad," Praxis grumbled.
"We have had enough incidents of you getting blood all over the damn kitchen because you handle sharp objects like a toddler." Davian glared before turning to Verena. "Now, what do you want. Do not try to say you aren't hungry. You will eat something."
Verena went stiff and bit down on her lip. She felt like she was being trapped in a cage with Davian's stare. When he gave orders, you followed them. That went for all her brothers as well, no matter how high-strung some of them were.
"Saying nothing isn't an answer." He said lowly.
"You can write it down if you still don't want to talk." Praxis offered.
Verena nodded, and Praxis grabbed a pen, ripped a paper towel off the roll, and handed it to her. Davian gave Praxis a look of disapproval but didn't say anything as Verena wrote on the paper towel.
She wrote smoothie and then pushed it towards her brothers. Davian then turned and started pulling things out of the cabinets and fridge. He put different fruits into the blender, such as strawberries and bananas, and then put oats in it too.
She watched him intently to see if he was purposefully putting something she was allergic to in it.
"Why are you watching him so intently?" Azryn asked from behind her. She didn't even hear him coming up behind her.
Verena jumped away from him in fright and locked her dark blue eyes onto his lighter blue ones. He seemed surprised at her reaction. "God, you act like I'm going to kill you."
Verena took another step back from him, not taking her eyes off him. "You're a lot more skittish than I remember." He mused.
"Leave it, Azryn." Praxis snapped.
Azryn put his hands up in surrender and then got a bag of Doritos from the pantry.
Praxis rolled his eyes as his older brother walked back to the couch.
Verena almost found it amusing that Praxis was scolding his older brother.
Azryn is twenty-five, while Praxis is twenty-three.
Verena was still taken aback by one of her brothers defending her.
Davian turned on the blender, making Verena jump. She wanted to cover her ears from the loud noise. It didn't last long, and Davian began to put the smoothie into a cup. He placed it on the kitchen island and motioned for her to sit.
Verena slowly hoisted herself onto one of the tall island chairs. Her sore wounds stung at the movement, making her wince. Praxis quickly went to her side in alarm.
"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.
Verena just nodded and settled into the chair. Davian handed her a straw, and she put it in the drink. When she just stared at the contents in the cup, Davian sighed with impatience. "Drink it, Verena."
She sighed and began to drink. She was surprised that it actually had a good taste. She continued to drink, and Davian gave a nod of approval.
Verena sighed in relief when he walked away, just leaving her with Praxis, the only brother she felt somewhat comfortable with.
"Good job, honey." Praxis praised her when she finished the smoothie. She gave a tight smile when he grabbed the cup and put it in the sink.
Verena and Praxis froze at the sound of the front door opening. Praxis was praying it wasn't Riven. It was normal for Riven to be out late in the night and return drunk at three in the morning. There was no way he would decide to come home in the afternoon.
"Hello?" a voice called. Praxis relaxed at the voice of their second eldest brother, Lucian. Verena remained stiff as a board.
"Living room!" Azryn shouted with his mouth full.
Lucian walked into the living room and almost immediately saw Verena. They locked eyes, and he raised his brow in surprise.
"Verena?" he asked.
Verena looked away from him, and Praxis sighed at her shrinking in the seat. "Davian and I had her discharged. The conditions at the hospital weren't...great."
"Are you sure she should be here? You could have just put her in a different one. Riven is going to lose his mind." Lucian asked in suspicion.
Praxis clenched his jaw in anger. "She deserves to be home, Lucian."
"Suit yourselves." Lucian shrugged before heading upstairs.
"We aren't sending you anywhere, Verena. I promise." He tried to assure her.
Verena didn't believe him.