Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-One: Poachers Delight

It took a while for Sebastian to convince me to re-enter the Feldcroft residence. We sat together in the flower covered garden, morning sun shining down on us and keeping us plenty warm as it rose higher in the sky. His hand was holding mine, our fingers tangled together in a familiar comforting embrace, and I kept my eyes locked on it like it was my lifeline.

"Sebastian, I can't go back in there," I whispered, still refusing to look anywhere but our hands. I'd missed how easily his hand slipped in mine, like it had always been meant to be there. "Not after that."

"You've done nothing wrong," he whispered back, tucking a piece of loose blonde hair from my face with his free hand.

"But she's right," I said, my voice small. "I encouraged everything. You wouldn't have done any of that if I hadn't kept encouraging you."

He laughed at this, his voice full of amusement when he spoke. "Abbi, if you think for one second I wasn't already going down that path, you're fooling yourself."

I looked up from our tangled together hands, into his eyes and searched them. I needed to see that he meant what he was saying, that I wasn't the monster that pushed him down that edge. His brown eyes looked deeper than I remembered, though I seemed to be looking at them so often these days. Perhaps it was the topic of conversation and he was covering up some lie he was telling that darkened them.

He'd always been better than me at hiding what he wanted to.

"Please," he said, still staring back at me. "Come back inside."

Another pause from me. Maybe he didn't think me a monster, but how much could I take of Anne's glares? How much could I stomach to tell a girl who'd once loved me so and now hated me more with every passing day? Sebastian and Anne were a package deal, one that I used to relish the idea of joining in on. Now, the idea of facing her, after encouraging her brother down the path of the Dark Arts and following them myself, was absolutely terrifying.

I nodded slowly, and he quickly let go of my hand, standing up. He smiled at me, clearly excited I had agreed to come in again. Relieved he didn't have to choose. Anne was in there, and of course he was going to keep choosing her; I would expect no less of Sebastian. Everyone was second to her.

I stood from our flower covered bench and moved behind him, re-entering the tiny Feldcroft home as he pushed the door open for me. Anne was pacing the floor, her expression different. Rather than anger, her face showed genuine concern as soon after he held her arm across her waist, hugging herself and played with a strand of her long, dark hair.

"Oh good, you two are back," she sighed, rushing to the table.

The Sallow twins would be the death of me with their confusing display of emotions. First, her letter was welcoming, damn near excited to have heard from me. After getting to her home, she attacked me. And now, she was rushing over, concerned by my leaving her home as though she hadn't been the one to chase me out of it.

"I must admit," I said softly, backing up from her a step and bumping into Sebastian. He frowned at me, but I couldn't determine if it was from anger I'd avoided his sister or not. "I can't keep up with how quickly either of you can change your mood."

There was a hint of ice in my voice, one that made the dark magic I'd consumed by the catacomb stir slightly. I shoved it down. Anne simply sighed.

"You'll have to forgive me. There's a lot of mixed emotions surrounding the two of you. I didn't invite you here to yell at you though."

"I suppose that's fair," I said simply, still not unfolding myself from the comfort of Sebastian's warm and slightly dark aura. "Why did you invite us then?"