14. Chapter 14
A fter the creation of the daggers and Eloise was satisfied with the results, she dismissed Eden. Without a word, she had turned and left the study with the decision it was time to go back to Omega for a few days. At least I have a place to get away from my family. This year she found herself grateful for the escape as she walked down the street of Elder’s homes, the slightly warmer breeze contrasted the one she felt this morning in the woods causing her to pull her hood up on the sweatshirt she had grabbed on the way out.
She went up the front steps, to the door, and stopped. Loud country music came from the other side of the wood which easily told her there wasn’t an easy way of getting by unnoticed entirely. Great, a party. I was hoping to avoid people. She rolled her eyes, opened the door, and closed it as quietly as she could so as to not catch the other's attention as she made her way down the short entrance hall. With a quick glance around the corner, curiosity got the better of her as she looked to see who was having a party at dinner time. She was met with a familiar group of six people that all sat on the leather couches with a board game on the coffee table.
Wyatt yelled over the music at Rosalyn and Octavius who were in the middle of some sort of line dance. He had ditched his leather jacket and replaced it with a flannel and black cowboy hat. His brows furrowed in concentration as he corrected them. Her attention was drawn when she saw Bastien, who must have joined the party while she was with Eloise, sat beside Aron and Lennox on the other couch.
She watched the two demons as they sat across from each other, they had no idea she had just sealed their fates. Adrenaline coursed through her as her gaze fixed on the back of that bubblegum hair as she prowled from around the corner. They were completely unaware of what was on its way, a sense of future victory played within her mind which overshadowed the initial anger at the sight of the woman. Wyatt stepped to the other side of Rosalyn right where Eden stood in the middle of the doorway. Instantly, his eyes fell directly to her face and his smile widened as if he had hoped she would show up. Shit, I’m caught.
“Little Viper! There you are!” His voice boomed which drew everyone’s attention to her.
“Hey! There you are, the teacher's pet!” Bastien called from the couch, a smirk crossed his face at the inside joke.
“I am not a teacher's pet, she’s my mother.” Eden retaliated. “I was just going to my room, don’t let me bother you guys.”
“You’re right, that’s Lenny,” Aron spoke up as he jerked a thumb to the pink-haired demon beside him.
Lennox opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Wyatt. “Come on, Nox. You can’t deny it.”
“Fine, I won’t argue.” She put her hands up and turned to face Eden, their almost identical eyes met. “Why don’t you join us, Eden? You’re not disturbing us.”
“I’m okay, you all seem to be having enough fun.” She attempted to make her way to the stairs as there was no way she wanted to be around Lennox more than she needed to be.
With her back to the group, she didn’t hear the footsteps that came closer as the music continued to play loudly. A hand suddenly came into contact with hers which caused her to stop in her tracks and swiftly turn around still on edge from the day's events. The grip on her hand tightened gently just enough so her hand wouldn’t slip from theirs though she tried to pull away. Eden’s gaze fell on none other than Wyatt Stelle who had managed to close the distance between them unnoticed. The storm in his gaze was calm as he peered down at her with the usual flirty look as he squeezed her hand. Eden felt herself hesitate for a few moments as she tried to tear her eyes from his.She blinked and felt herself come back to reality just before she smoothly pulled her hand from his grip.
“You could stay, I’m just teaching them the copperhead line dance,” His deep velvet voice was just loud enough for her to hear. When she pulled her hand away, his expression didn’t fall instead, he seemed unphased.
“I don’t want to interrupt your fun.”
“You’re not interrupting, there’s always room for more.” He ran his right hand through his hair, the black and white rose hand tattoo placed there caught her attention before he extended it to her once more. “Please join us, Little Miller.”
Eden peered past him for a moment to see Bastien who didn’t attempt to hide his blatant stare as the others talked and laughed. He raised his eyebrows and gave her a quick go-on motion. He just wants to see me with Wyatt. She turned her attention back to the man who still had his hand outstretched to her, his eyes almost pleading for her to join them.
“Fine, fine. Just for a little bit.” Eden agreed as she turned to walk past him, until his hand slid into hers once again. Before she could retaliate, he closed his fingers and pulled her into the common room.
Everyone smiled as Eden took a seat beside Bastien who elbowed her after Wyatt went back to Rosalyn and Octavius and line danced. With a swift glance around the others she could tell they avoided her eyes purposely as if they hadn’t all just seen the moment in the hall. Her eyes fell to Wyatt as he seemed distracted with multiple stolen glances her way as he corrected Ocatvius.
“It’s not so bad having friends you know,” Bastien leaned in close to her.
“I know, I've just never really had this many, real or as a disguise.” She pointed out.
“You had a boyfriend though, why not give it a try?”
“Holden doesn’t count… We weren't official and you know that.”
“Yeah yeah, duties come first- As usual.” He taunted.
Her eyes fell to the chilled bottles laid out on the table and picked up one of the wine coolers. These aren’t friends, she reminded herself and her eyes drifted to the two heads of house chatting between each other. I’m so close to her, I could just get her away from the others and ask my questions… I have to wait till the right moment. If I’m the reason Eloise’s plan fails I’m dead. Desperately, she wanted nothing more than to hear the truth from Lennox but she fought with herself instead. As much as she had to find out if it was Eloise or Xemos who told her the truth she couldn’t be the reason they had to pick up and go before she could get what she wanted. She felt her adrenaline pick up the longer she looked at the woman who had left her, she turned her attention back to Wyatt.
“No no, cross the right foot over the left.” He scolded Octavius.
“I’m trying!” He argued over the music.
“Come on, it’s not that hard!” Aron teased.
“If it’s so easy, you do it.” Octavius countered.
“With pleasure,” He placed his hands on his knees and stood from his seat confidently as he joined Wyatt who lit up with a shared look.
As Aron walked up, Eden noticed his eyes dart towards Rosalyn. His jaw feathered as he passed a few feet away. With a quick note of his discrete movements, she peered beside her at Bastien and wondered if he had caught it. A tap against her foot from him confirmed her question as he watched them. On queue with the music that quickened, Aron and Wyatt danced on beat perfectly in sync. Eden’s eyebrows rose in surprise while Rosalyn put her hands on her hips; Octavius put his elbow on Rosalyn’s shoulder as the room watched the two. She heard Bastien and Lennox laugh from the couches as the two kicked in unison. The music soon ended and everyone gave an appreciative applause while Wyatt and Aron bowed.
“Right well the dance is pretty simple, it's four kicks with both left and right then a kick cross with the right then again with the left.” Wyatt turned to the room slowly doing each step once more for them, “After that, it's a foot stomp right then left and turn oh and don't forget to clap while doing so, and then rinse and repeat.”
“Where did you learn this?’ Eden asked Wyatt who seemed happier than ever.
“I spent some time in Dallas Texas and happened to meet Aron in a honkey tonk bar.” He explained. “What was it, a summer about five years ago?”
“That was five years ago? Man, time really flies doesn’t it?” Aron laughed at some unspoken joke.
“Come on, let's try it!” Bastien spoke up and grabbed Eden by the arm, with no time to retaliate as the others started to dance the copperhead.
Eden stood at the end of the line of people next to Bastien who smirked at her attempts to keep up. Thankfully she still had her drink in her hand and decided she would need to be a little tipsy to deal with this, so she downed the rest of it and peered over. She watched the others and slowly attempted a few moves and found herself with two left feet. As she became too focused on her feet, she noticed a pair of shoes come up behind her which caused her to stumble. Hands caught her by the waist, she gasped sharply and froze as Wyatt’s familiar voice sounded beside her ear.
“I’ll always be here to catch you, Little Viper. If you let me inside those walls of yours.”
“My trust doesn’t come easily, Copperhead.” She responded and turned her head to the right to look up at him, her body slowly relaxed in his arms. His hands hadn’t moved from her waist.
His flirtatious demeanor changed as sparks seemed to dance in his electric eyes. “Copperhead? Is that a nickname bestowed upon me by the infamous Eden Miller?”
“I felt like it was fitting.” A dangerous snake that could lash out at any moment, alluring people with his charms. At least, that’s what Eloise would say. The issue was he was exactly that, charming with some sort of human side that made it seem like he genuinely cared. After they had their study session, she found that somehow he had actually started to break down her walls.
Sometimes, Eden found herself with the question if it all wasn’t an act that somehow he had discovered who she was and wanted to play cat and mouse. So far, it didn’t seem like it, however, as she looked into his eyes her thoughts seemed to melt away. For only a moment, she was consumed with the magnetic look in Wyatt’s eyes. A soft smile on his face and a happy glimmer in his stormy eyes and when she didn’t pull away from him, she felt him gently pull her a little closer. The motion sent a whiff of his cologne that was embedded into his clothes her way. Sandalwood and lavender with citrus filled the air between them the closer they got which pulled her deeper into her trance. His black leather jacket brushed against her arms, his hands still held her steady. The others still danced to their left with their backs to them, the moment they were sharing going unnoticed.
The two sides of her screamed inside her mind. One yelled at her to get his hands off, the other begged for the chance to see what it would be like to give into this forbidden pairing even if he had no clue just how big of a mistake he would make with her. It’s a good cover. Bastien’s words echoed in her mind as her gaze danced between the x’s on his cheekbones to the spark in his irises. He doesn’t have to know the real me… It’s all just an act here anyways. Within a few moments she decided it may be time to start to give into this mysterious draw and placed her hands over his.
“Thank you for catching me.” She finally spoke, completely engulfed by his gaze.
“No worries,” his raspy voice was low in her ear. “So tell me, how does one win your trust?”
Eden thought for a moment, she couldn’t tell him the real reason she could never trust a demon. Instead, she pulled at something buried within her, something real and she spoke as if he drew it out of her with a simple question.
“Show me that I can, that… You wouldn’t walk away.”
“If I walked away from you, it would be like a man in the desert turning away from his only source of water.”
The group made their last round and turned to the side where Bastien knocked right into the two. The collision brought her back to reality and she shot him an annoyed glare as he gave them an apologetic look. Wyatt dropped his hands and took his spot beside her for the last thirty seconds of the dance.
Once the music stopped, everyone laughed and took their seats on the couch again. Silently, she hoped Bastien would come to sit beside her and found herself mistaken as Aron of all people decided to take a seat to her right. With a quick glance to the other Miller in the room, she pleaded with her eyes that he would take the seat next to her. However, Bastien smiled and took a seat directly across from her on the other couch where Lennox had returned to sit beside Rosalyn. Octavius had taken the armchair to the right of the couches and spread out which left the spot open for Wyatt who slid beside her. His arms stretched behind her on the back of the couch and he smiled.
“Anyone hungry?” He asked the room as they all started drinking again.
“Starving! What does the Omega’s have in their fridge, Cade?” Bastien asked.
“I brought a demon favorite, deviled eggs!” Wyatt said excitedly and stood again. “I’ll grab them!”
“No, I got it.” Her uncle winked at the two of them before he got up and went into the kitchen. “I’ll leave you two to get to know each other better.”
Eden folded her arms, she caught the shit-eating smirk spread across Wyatt’s face at his own joke and Bastien’s encouragement. I could slap that goofy smile right off, even if it is kinda cute. She turned her attention towards the lesser of two awkward situations which for her was the two Heads of House locked in conversation. Aron ran a hand through his hair as he fixed the red bandana tied around his head as his attention darted occasionally toward Rosalyn. Eden knew when someone was uncomfortable around another and for some reason he seemed nervous around the brown-haired demon.
“I’ve heard you play guitar?” Lennox said as things went quiet. “Wyatt was telling me you keep your guitar in the common area cause people kept coming to your door to listen?”
“Guilty,” He confirmed and turned to Wyatt who looked at him expectantly.
“Well then, let’s hear it. Did you bring it?” Eden chimed in.
“I made him, he was going to leave it but I thought just in case the girls wanted a chance to listen in.”
Aron stood and went behind the couch and pulled out a dark wood acoustic guitar with silver strings before he returned to his seat. He pulled the black velvet shoulder strap around himself and leaned over the edge of the instrument. “Any requests?” He asked, glancing around. “None? Alright, players' choice.” With a quick adjustment of his hands, he started to let his fingers dance across the strings before anyone could answer. A string version of a classic rock song filled the quiet as Bastien returned with the plate of food and a friend. Immediately she recognized Corvus Bane, the fling on Bastien’s phone with a heart next to his name. His brown hair contrasted with Bastien’s black as they whispered to each other, the demon's hand on her uncle’s back.
The music sent a sense of calm over Eden as he hummed along with the notes and ignored whatever he was up to. Not my circus, not my monkeys… Well- he is my monkey but he’s strong enough to keep himself in check. Quickly, she convinced herself not to worry too much as she saw them sneak out the front door after he placed the food down. Without him there, she became a little awkward and found herself drift closer to Wyatt. Out of everyone in the room, he was the only one she had a sliver of trust with. He happily bobbed his head along with the others, reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. As the song came to an end he tossed dollar bills at Aron which made the room break out in laughter.
She laughed along with them, though it was all supposed to be an illusion of friendship for her, Eden found warmth fill her chest as she genuinely smiled for the first time this year.