Celian

Frank's fingertips slid over Dante's skin. "Where did you get those?" he wanted to know, referring to the scratches on his back. "Alice.", Dante answered curtly, kneading his pajama top in his hands. He really just wanted to curl up in the warm bed and sleep; his nose felt like he was getting a cold. "How-" "Do you really want to know that much?", Dante interrupted him, and the warm fingers disappeared. "No. Actually, no, I don't," Frank muttered and, moreover, took a step ba

I love non-couples bicker like that ❤️ Next chapter gives some answers. And that maybe-tracker might be a problem sooner or later...

The St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was a tight labyrinth made of marble, sharp angles and way too many angels overlooking it. A dangerous hiding place, making him feel watched. A handful of people were still around and Darryl hoped it was enough to keep the Butcher from shooting. He could hear a woman giggling, dirt crunching under shoes, Siren trying to control his breath. “There are three of them, maybe four,” Siren whispered. “Visitors or pursuers?” “Hrmph. Pursuers, moron.”

They are best friends since early childhood, but yes, Sarah loves Matthew. He chose back than Anne Stone, and heartbroken, Sarah went for Daniel, the brother of her female best friend Nika. She cares about Daniel, deeply even, but it's not the same love she still nurses for Matthew. If Sarah marries, whether Matthew or someone else, Daniel would still remain her personal slave and first caregiver of his children. Since he fathered a daughter, Sarah's firstborn, he has a good standing within society. No, Sarah doesn't have that much money. All she has is inheritance from her grandmother, since she has no own income. I toyed with the idea, for both Britney and Carolyn, but let it go. Britney because she's a bitch, Carolyn because... well it could easily spoil some fun and I wasn't feeling comfortable writing her. Sarah is a very sweet, sensitive woman, a dreamhead and flower girl, a good mother. I don't want to say she is naive, but she's always searching for the good in people. She wants the best for the ones she loves and cares for. But, like so many others, she's even a bit scared of her mother. She wants Matthew to be happy and worries about his mental health, so giving him back the guy that was his best friend and brother would be for her the easiest way, even while not liking Tom herself. Whether she does this, or whether Carolyn allows/accepts this, is another question. Kyle is a neighbour, he's helping Matthew. He got mentioned a time or two before, Alice told Dante the story of the family. Yes, of course she could. Without a will, the farm would be devided between all the female heirs, meaning Britney, Sarah, Alice, Maisie and Jessy. But Carolyn would never be so stupid or naive to believe this could work. Since neither Sarah or Alice are interested and Jessy has clear ideas about becoming a priestress, she could write it in a way that Britney would be a placeholder/keeper for Maisie, with strict rules etc.

The ruins of a freshly burned house looked sad, like tragedy. The ruins of a house burned down already more than ten years ago, got crowned with loneliness and melancholy. The boards with which the windows were boarded up had become rotten, graffiti could be seen here and there next to vines. A grimy sign advertising the property for sale peeked out from the high snow in the front yard. The protective paint of the wooden fence had been worn away by wind and weather, and the wood underneat

"How bad can it get?" belongs straight into the category of Famous Last Words. Frank grew up in this society, with those somewhat strange rules of the North, and he knows his sister. And to a lesser extent Matthew, of course. Who says there aren't more who saw or heard more than they should have, like Flynn? Her ultimate revenge will be something... That remains to be seen. Now that Alice is away, there's lots of room for any type of desaster to happen. Maybe it won't even be nessessary in the end anymore...

Frank actually losing it would have been something, though the consequences might have been... harsh. Attacking a woman, whether lethal or not, is a severe transgression. Typical case of "fight or flight? nope, freeze". Another very good question. Thing is, right now he's not exactly doing much to actually get it. I promise it will.

From one moment to the next, Dante was wide awake. It was so quiet around him that the darkness and the feeling of being alone made his pulse skyrocket until he heard a faint sigh. Mistress Alice. As he turned to her, the scratches and marks she had left on the back of his shoulders called to him with a subtle sting. He ignored them, there was nothing else he could do. Instead, he snuggled up to her, kissed her shoulder, and glanced at her glowing alarm clock. A few more minutes.

You are not wrong, Blaise is twisting the reality to fit his dreams and fantasies better. How he remembers the accident is therefore a good question, although he was probably the one claiming his innocence and accusing the other driver (Henry's uncle). Dante... we need to remember, that this is seen through the lense of Blaise and that Dante indeed knows what happened and that he's playing a game for time. On the other hand we know how Dante saw a reliable fatherfigure in Blaise, something he was searching for. And in general, Dante has a bit of a difficulty setting boundaries regarding himself, because let's be honest, he's doing this game because Tom and Frank thought it to be a good idea to keep Blaise occupied for another while, not because he believes in this plan. As a third point, we shouldn't forget that Blaise is hitting a bit of a sore spot when it comes to Dante's sexuality, we will see more about Dante's thoughts on all that next chapter.

That's it exactly. (I haven't been able to write more than those two chapters for Blaise because, well... his mind is not my favorite place.)

Blaise scowled at the papers in front of him. How in the world was it possible that a farm - a farm, not a big company - produced so much paperwork? The words blurred on the paper and he rubbed his eyes. Much rather than this, he would have liked to talk to Dante right now. They had talked a lot in the last few days. About why Dante had been considered impotent. About Tom and how uncomfortable Dante had been with his subliminally demanding nature. They had talked about Sawyer and, bran

All very good questions, @drsawzall. Just, our two wannabe-lovebirds are not assassins, just agents with the license to kill THEY are the assassins and would count as criminal organization.

True that. So many possibilities, so many of them could be great. That remains to be seen for now Well, as Darryl said, this was supposed to be a friendly exchange. (Both their agencies, or rather their bosses, don't like/trust each other. That's why they normally meet on neutral ground. More on that later on.)

The jazz in New Orleans wasn’t just music. Some said it was the heartbeat of the city, its pulse, others said it was downright written into its DNA. Darryl had no real opinion on that, other than jazz being a nice change from the boring everyday radio mix. Like that, him waiting at Mary’s Jazz Hall had at least a positive point. He leaned against the bar, a glass with bourbon in hand, and slightly moved to the music the live band played on a small stage. Outside a humid heat pressed down

During the course of this story keep me updated on whether I meet your suspicions or not 😝

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee, sweet pastries and drizzle after a week of exceptionally hot days filled the little café with a unique type of coziness. London during summer was something else. But for Darryl—or “Orion”—every guest in this room was a potential target or a deadly threat. Or at least a possible casualty. He didn't touch his black coffee, merely stirred in it to not sit motionless. His attention was focused on the window and what lay behind, the second-grade bustling on a stree

Two liaison officers, supposed to exchange information, documents and data, while maintaining professional animosity. Seven years go down well. And than one whisper out of script seems enough to put everything in a dangerous tilt...

Sounds about right. Or at least highly likely. I mean, for saying that there must have been prior happenings... Such a log would have been helpful, I agree. Not sure I agree with the shark image, though. Because without knowing the truth as Frank told us, he seems like a nice guy. How much of a spoiler you want my answer to be? 😅 Or is a simple yes/no enough?

He had at least the thought and will... Well, we're following closely Dante and of course he doesn't know everything that's happening. But yes, it's a really good thing. ❤️ There's no black or white characters, and he especially is a pretty shade of different greys. You're allowed to feel sorry for him. It doesn't mean you (or we) are excusing what he's doing. Ooooooooh, you are right with the last part. This will blow up ugly and big. Whether Alice knows or not, we will have to wait and see. For all that she sees and hears, she might be blinded by Frank's mask just like everyone else...

Mistress Alice was finishing up a phone call when Dante stepped to her desk and put down the packet of printer paper she had asked for. "I'll email you the data tomorrow. Okay, until then." She looked up briefly. "Thanks." And then she muttered, obviously reading a message: "Of course you'll catch Kyle with food, my goodness." "Who is this Kyle, exactly?" Dante wanted to know. He'd been mentally chewing on the name for a while until he'd remembered that Frank had called his childhood imagin

Officially no. But in reality people don't care much, as long as it's f/f or m/m and therefore there's no risk of a baby. There was for quite a time a brotherhood/cult worshipping the demigods Dante and Deimos, who are full brothers or even twins and who have according to not so few interpretations an intimate relationship. They were actively encouraging relationships of all kinds between brothers especially. And while the scriptures are full of sex between the devine half-siblings (all of them), the autorities drew a line here. Brotherhood/cult fordidden and laws stricter.

To be fair, those kind of age gap concerns like we have here, don't exist in Yorkwell (in Arkjon they do, but that's another topic). As soon as someone is 20 and therefore of age, it's all game. They do protect minors and incest is forbidden, though. He must be aware of it somehow, because otherwise he wouldn't make such a secret out of it. On the other hand, the way he grew up thought him different views of family. He will tell Dante more about that at some point. ❤️ I was just waiting for a comment along those lines 😅❤

A smile played around Blaise's lips as Dante walked past him. The boy had been humming to himself all day, getting on the others' nerves, but Blaise himself thought it a sacrilege to dampen good humor. Besides, Dante wore a fine smile on his face as he did so, and it was extraordinarily pretty to look at. "I'll break his neck in five minutes," Tom growled, and then grunted since Sawyer was hitting him on the arm. Dante, on the other hand, who had heard the remark, now began to sing.

Snapping at her is still a different thing, though (at least in my opinion), but for the timing you are absolutely right 🤷‍♂️ he needs a kick in the ass, probably a very real one.

I guess this is a kind of level of being proactive that he's not used too. And, well, it's a sensitive/difficult/important topic... Let's hope and pray, I would say 😬 I had just once a small (coin size) burn on the arm (from the oven) but it hurt for ages. I don't want to imagine anything bigger... Given that most men are slaves and therefore can suffer all sorts of punishment anytime for anything and therefore get humiliated at a womans snap of the finger, this is a thing a man can naturally dish out and take some control back. Like Tom had some status as Blaise's lover, Flynn and Chris got marked as last among equals. They don't have much otherwise. Not to say that this is okay, hell no, it's more of a "turn against your own and you will see that our wrath is worse than the mistress' one". Absolutely true! ❤️