Page 134 of Stormhold

“Didn’t tell me he’s a simp for you, Belle-chan?” Shouma-kun grinned when he finally found us. And from the crumpled state of his clothes, it looked like he spent his time sleeping soundly.

Arkane sent him a glare, but didn’t bother moving away from me. And I didn’t bother either.

It didn’t take long for us to get to the town center. We did get a few odd stares—who wouldn’t when I had two large men with mean expressions on their attractive faces following me around.

“Call me if you need anything. I’m gonna go explore the local scene.” Shouma-kun said, an eager gleam in his eyes as he eyed a bar. We had just walked through the town, which wasn’t much, but it was still as quaint as I remembered.

“But…” I started to protest, but he simply grinned, walking away, leaving Arkane and me alone. From the look on his face, I could tell he was doing this deliberately.

Arkane frowned, watching him disappear. “How are you going to call him?”

“I have a pager.”

His frown deepened as he followed me. “Why didn’t I know that?”

“You never asked,” I muttered, eyeing the area. “Are you going to be fine?” I couldn’t hide the concern in my eyes. It was a quiet Friday afternoon, so many people weren’t around. But if word was out that Arkane had left the Twins and was unprotected in a middle-of-nowhere town, men would be vying for his head. And the last thing I wanted to do today was fight.

He noted the look in my eyes, and a smile tugged at his lips. “Don’t worry, my men are around.”

“Really?” I turned, narrowing my eyes at the surroundings. I couldn’t see one familiar face. Arkane wouldn’t go anywhere without Mikhail, so where was he hiding?

“I’ll be fine.” His breath touched my ear, and his arms circled my neck from behind.

A shiver swept through my body before I could stop myself. The warmth of his closeness made my chest heat, taking me back to that night. Swallowing, I tipped my chin and shook him off.

“Let’s go,” I said, trying hard to ignore the way he was making me feel.

Arkane took my hand in his as if everything was fine between us, and this time I let him. “Lead the way,” he said, smiling as he laced his fingers with mine.

I nodded.

Hand in hand, my feet took me to the one place my heart wanted to go. Home. And it was exactly how I last saw it.

There wasn’t anyone in sight in this part of the town. Our home was at the end of an empty driveway, with the forest as our backyard. The smell of fresh pine and clean air took me right back to my childhood. We used to run into the woods in search of a small stream that became our family’s secret spot. The same forest we ran to save our lives.

I had no remains to bury, so I put a small memorial up at that stream for the four of them. We quietly walked up there, and I whispered a small prayer in the air, leaving white tulips by Mother’s name. Her favorite flowers.

“Do you want to go inside?” Arkane asked, gesturing to the house on our way back.

“Yes,” I said despite the hard memories it held.

As soon as I entered, I noticed how some things had been moved around. Even though the Valerians warned us not to return here, I secretly made many trips. “Did your men search this place?” I asked Arkane.

He nodded grimly. “Sorry.”

My eyes landed on the same spot where my family took their last breath. The wooden floor was now charred, with a layer of dust covering it. I gave it one last look before I ventured upstairs. Most of the upper half of the house was just the same as that night. Almost as if time stood still. No one in town wanted to be bothered with a cursed house that ended an entire family.

“Was this your room?” Arkane asked softly, eyeing me as I walked inside what used to be my childhood room.

I nodded. “I shared it with my sisters.”

“Let me guess,” he said, pointing at the bed under the window. “That one’s yours?”

“Yes.” It wasn’t hard to guess. It was the only part of the room with books and a photo of my mother and me on the nightstand. I didn’t take anything from this house. I wanted to leave behind both the good and the bad memories because they no longer belonged in my new life.

He picked up a Nancy Drew book from under the bed. It looked wet, covered in cobwebs and dust. Something glinted in his eyes as he held it up. “This yours too?”

“Yes,” I muttered dryly. “Am I that obvious?”