My Soulmates are IDOLS Books 2+3 | 18+ [SoulBond Series]

282: strange

They arrived through automated gates and a heavy-duty security team, to a home nestled deep in a forest to a backdrop of mountains—no doubt land that belonged to his family and would be used as hunting grounds for whatever pheasant, deer or bear they wanted to eat. Casper confirmed that fact and said it was a yearly event.

The trees, bled with the colour of autumn, parted to reveal a mansion that hummed yellow with heat in the cold blue. A lake stretched before the home, catching the droplets of stars and the buttery yellow moon upon its mirror-esque tranquillity. Their ride stopped before a fountain that roared with money, huge, richly lavished and made of exquisite marble that featured a black dragon snaking through the sky.

She strained her neck to look as Casper helped her out of the car, almost missing the stone steps that hovered over water that held thousands of gasping koi. The steps that loomed before them after they passed the 'moat' seemed comically inconvenient for someone as rich as Casper's grandmother. It stretched high up through columns and pillars towards an enormous door that towered far and high.

"This seems strangely inconvenient," she whispered to him and Casper shrugged.

"Don't see the point too, there's a travelator to another door," he pointed to the carefully concealed walkway and she had to hide the awe on her face when the world melted into classy velvet warmth as they entered. The walls were marked by twists of extravagant gold and edged with green jade, hanging with glowing crystals. The previously broke Amber screamed at the luxury.

"Everything is a ridiculously costly purchase."

"Nothing's expensive for my family."

Butlers bowed as they approached black doors, which opened revealing hoards of people dressed as if it were a red carpet event and this was the Oscars. Her eyes flickered dancing over the suits and the glittering jewellery, taking in the coiling scent of expensive perfumes and heady cologne. Fuck, rich people didn't talk like teenagers at a party too, and their voices carried low and rumbly. Women giggling in musical notes and the men chuckling in the lowest octave they could manage.

A crystal chandelier dripping with hundreds and thousands of stars hung breathtakingly high over their heads in a room constructed from jade, velvet, mahogany and gold. It stretched, far and wide, halted by the occasional pillar and entrance to the next overly wide room, each decorated with tapestries and marbled statues of gold.

"What's with all the space!" she whispered hastily to Casper. "Got to be hard to clean."

"It's the only reason why they can have so many guests over and we aren't all chest to chest," he chuckled, guiding her across the room and passing groups of people deep in conversation.

They didn't seem to notice them, their eyes flickering and then dragging back as if they were nothing. It was a surprise considering Casper's fame and Amber's supposed notoriety in the family. It made the whole shy act easier for Amber, who stuck herself to Casper's side like a parasitic limb.

The only people that truly noticed were the servants that seemed to flicker into existence to wait on their every need and want. A waiter paused beside them offering a tiny little dessert that seemed more like food from an alien planet, and a glass of champagne each. She took one, not before another waiter appeared with hot towels for their hands.

"We're not going to be here for long," Casper reminded her gently as she popped the appetizer down—identified as crispy sourdough bread topped with balsamic vinegar and richly drenched with olive oil along with some kind of foaming buttery goodness that flooded her tongue with mint. "I'll look for my grandmother." He checked his phone, shifting on his feet.