Chapter 7
LORDE
Icouldn’t get Max out of my head, and nothing I did could banish him.
He clung to my subconscious as if superglued to me.
Sadly, none of the spells I’d learned could make me forget the way his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes or the richness of his voice when he spoke—not that I really tried because I was afraid I would forget everything.
My aunt was zero help and a bloody nuisance. Every morning when I awoke, she would be downstairs waiting for me and ask, “Have any interesting dreams?” I refused to divulge anything. She didn’t need to know I saw him every time I closed my eyes.
His haunting presence threw me off-kilter, unable to find a stable surface to balance on. I was floundering.
But it wasn’t only Max’s fault, my mother contributed as well.
I’d been avoiding her calls all week. Each voicemail she left me, she sounded more agitated and angrier, her tone shriller.
Each text she sent demanded I call her immediately.
The last two days, Mother had even called Aunt Pat, ordering her own sister to put me on the phone or force me to call.
I obediently said I would. More than once, I dialed, hit talk, and hung up immediately, not allowing the call to connect.
Why was I acting this way? We had a plan, I had a purpose, and with one encounter, I couldn’t think straight.
The morning of the party, I finally phoned my mother, prepared for the lashing I would receive, understanding that when I returned home to England, she would probably punish me severely. Of course, if I completed the job I’d come to do, maybe she would spare me.
Doubtful, I thought to myself as I listened to the line ring.
“How nice of you to return the multiple messages I’ve left you,” she sneered, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Hearing her voice made my heart speed up and chills to cover my body.
I was no longer a twenty-nine-year-old man.
In my head, I was a ten-year-old little boy who constantly tried to please his mother, failing more times than not and suffering the consequences.
Licking my lips, I tried to swallow and wet my parched throat. “Good morning, Mother. I’ve tried to call you on multiple occasions, but was unable to reach you.”
Her laugh made me cringe. “I see. Your aunt said the same thing, the useless bitch.”
I opened my mouth to argue and defend Pat, but I snapped it closed with my mother’s next words.
“Maybe I expected too much of you. I do believe I need to travel there myself to take care of our little problem. Both of you are too weak to do what needs to be done.”
“Mother!” I shouted.
“Excuse me?”
“I beg your pardon. Mother, you have trained me since I was a child and prepared me for this. You instilled in me that this was my destiny, not yours or anyone else’s. Mine. I have a plan, and I will follow through. Tonight, I have obtained a ticket to a party he is hosting.”
“Doing anything in front of too many people is dangerous,” she stated the obvious.
I’m not an idiot!
Taking a deep breath, I continued, “I agree, which is why I am biding my time. I’ve found out much about Maximillian Lux this week. I have not been able to return your calls because I’ve been out doing research.”
“And what, pray tell, have you discovered? Hmm?”
I swallowed hard again, but it didn’t help. “He is single?—”
“As far as you know,” she interrupted. “He could be hiding someone in the shadows, using them to get what he wants like his ancestors did ours.” My mother had tunnel vision.
“It is possible. However, if he truly does have someone, they are extremely well hidden.”
“What does his relationship status have to do with you?”
My irritation was growing, and I had to tap it down.
“He’s gay,” I rushed before she could say anything else.
I released the breath I’d been holding. “He’s gay and single.
I plan on going to the party tonight and winning him over.
He’ll fall in love with me, and that will make it easier to get closer to him and his family to deliver the killing blow. ”
The only sound I heard was a soft hum, and I assumed she was contemplating my plan. “Very well, but if there are any issues, you must inform me at once.”
“I will, Mother.”
“And, Lorde?”
“Yes, Mother?”
“I recommend you report in as you were instructed to do. Do you understand?” I heard the threat in her voice and clenched my teeth together.
“Yes, Mother,” I choked out, surprised I could force anything out past the knot in my throat.
“Check in tomorrow,” she instructed, her tone telling me to do it or else.
“I will,” I quickly assured her, silently begging her to end the call.
The second ticked by, and then the line was dead.
No goodbye or I miss you, but she’d never been one to say stuff like that, never been one to embrace me when I had a bad day or hurt myself.
After we moved, I lost Pat. My father tried to be a buffer, but he was weak-willed and couldn’t do much.
Eventually, he stopped trying. My mother always won.
My phone fell to the floor, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It only lasted a moment. Tonight, I would see Max, follow through with my plan, make him fall for me, and then destroy him. I had no choice. I would not allow him to distract me any longer. My purpose and destiny were to end his.
Hearing a soft knock at the door, I scrubbed my hands over my face before getting up from my bed.
“Lorde?” Aunt Pat called through the door. One of her gifts allowed her to see things others tried to hide, and that meant she probably already knew about the phone call.
With a forced smile plastered on my face, I opened the door a crack, afraid if I didn’t, she would breeze into the room when I’d rather be alone. “Yes?”
She tilted her head and closed her eyes briefly. Slowly, they reopened. “Are you all right?”
“Perfectly. Thank you for your concern,” I answered, my fingers tightening on the wood of the door.
“Did you know that after you talk to Kelly, the way you speak is different, more polite?”
“Are you saying that manners are a bad thing?”
She hesitantly shook her head, frowning as she did so. “No, they aren’t. Have you prepared yourself for tonight?”
“Of course, I have. I know who he is and what he looks like. I plan to win him over and then deal with him as instructed.”
“What then?” she asked, as she had previously. I did not answer, ignoring the way my stomach flipped when I thought about Max and my purpose here. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, and I wasn’t sure I cared.
When Pat said nothing else, I began to close the door, but she stuck her foot out to prevent it from shutting.
“Yes?” I asked.
“The car will be here at five to pick us up. Be ready,” she stated and spun on her heel to leave me alone.
Gently, I closed the door and leaned against it, listening to her footsteps fading away down the hall. “You can do this, Lorde. Maximillian Lux is your destiny,” I declared, pushing away the thrill those words created.