UNLEASH | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 6)

[ 23 ]

Aine sat in silence. Her eyes were still reddened from crying and she stared listlessly at the small photograph of her parents in the locket she found back home. She focuses on her father's face alone, still struck with the shock of the unspoken secrets of his life. When she thought about it even longer, tears threatened to spill again.

Elliot's diary was still cradled in her arms as she held onto it as if like a lifeline, her current source of reason to keep going. To persevere forward, all in the name of the love she had for the people she loved; her family, her loved ones, her people. 

There were no emotions on her face, it was all dried and drained off along with her tears. But her heart remains in tatters, aching so much that Aine thought she was going to pass out from the pain. 

It took her a while to notice the indistinct knocks on her door. Startled by the realization that not only she was still visibly distraught from uncovering the truths, the pieces of vital hints she smuggled back here were all scattered openly for everyone to see, she flinches. Immediately, she was forced to put herself together, picking back the fragments of herself.

Her mind was still jumbled up and she was on the verge of breaking apart again. A shaky gasp left her quivering lips and she sniffled, wiping away the traces of tears and snot that hinted she was crying earlier. She didn't want herself to be seen as being vulnerable, particularly in front of those who were her enemies. Her head whipped around her messy table and she waved her wand in haste, quickly hiding everything in plain sight in cabinets, drawers and shelves until nothing was left besides an ordinary book that Hermione had gotten her for Christmas all those years ago.

"C- Come in," Aine said calmly, her voice still weak and she cleared her throat. She checked herself in the small mirror nearby to make sure she had appeared fine before the knocking on the door stopped, and the handles rattled down. She remains seated in her chair, poised and apathetic, determined to keep up the facade of an unbothered and confident being while instilling the ability to intimidate others. 

The door creaked open and standing awkwardly at the entrance was a face Aine never expected to see again. She rises from her seat, mouth hung open in surprise but words fail her. She wasn't expecting to see him here, and his presence had completely caused all of her previous attempts to frighten whoever was on the other side of the room to be tossed out of the window. And at the same time, distorting the mask she had played well to keep for a brief moment.

"Hey..." the man said sheepishly, giving a stiff wave of one hand before he recalled who he was talking to. He swallows nervously before keeping his hands behind his back, strictly altering his brain to remember to keep his manners. He continued with a subtle smile, one that seemed forced.

Aine's words were caught up in her throat and she found herself gawking longer than she needed to be. She mirrors the smile of the young man with the blue highlights in his hair, both gladdened and tensed to see him again. "Cyrus," she breathes out a greeting, masking her astonishment. "Um... Here, c- come in..." she added politely, gesturing him to a nearby seat close to the balcony. 

Cyrus Azuli lumbered towards the chair, his fingers fidgeting nervously as he sat down.

Aine silently watches his movements as she plops down opposite him, literally eyeing him like a hawk. She waved her tray of tea over before offering him, "Would you like some tea, Cyrus?" she asked. She was unable to believe her eyes that a close acquaintance of both Draco and hers was not just at the Malfoy Manor at present, but sitting across her. But nothing was more shocking than seeing what was branded on his bare arm.

The Dark Mark.

She narrowed slightly at the serpent and skull tattoo on his skin, his polite decline of having tea muffling out of her ears. Naturally, Aine puts up her guard upon the revelation of Cyrus being a Deatheater like she is now. However, she pretended not to see the Dark Mark and sipped her tea before setting it down. "I must admit seeing you here has astounded me," she tells him with honesty.