Drakkon

Chapter Forty-four

My eyes misted over when I saw Vita lying on the bed. There was a stump where her arm should've been and it was wrapped around with thick white bandages. In a pile on the ground next to her bed was a pile of red stained old wrappings that someone must've forgotten to throw away. Vita's expression was void of emotion and she was staring at Minos as he tried talking to her. Thera was in the back of the room assessing the situation silently, Remus was in the corner of the room staring at the ceiling, Nikator was standing a few feet behind Minos, and Atreus was glaring at the ground. The room was tense and I could practically cut the tension with my hand if I wanted to.

"Vita, we killed all of them," Minos said softly. He cleared his throat and glanced over at Atreus, who was still looking as glum as ever. Minos's blue eyes went back to Thera and he attempted to smile. "I didn't get a single drop of blood on me. Clean and pristine. So unlike these guys." He jerked a thumb at the three guys. "Remus was a mess. We had to send him to the bathing grounds immediately—"

"Minos," Remus said with a frown. Unlike the image I had seen of him earlier—with blood covering up to his elbows, spatters over his face and clothing—he was fresh and clean. He traced the floor with his finger. "I'm scary, aren't I?"

"Remus, sweetheart, this isn't about you," Thera said in a sweet voice. "This is about Vita."

Nikator rolled his eyes. "Thera, Remus is the baby of the Peccata. You can't treat him poorly."

"I'm not treating him poorly."

"You're not treating him good."

"I'm treating him just fine."

"No you're not."

"Nik—"

Vita raised her hand to halt them of their conversation. She turned to Remus, who was staring at everyone with a neutral expression on his face. He didn't look troubled or sad like he had a split second ago, instead he looked calm and curious. Vita spoke in a somewhat raspy voice. "You're not even that scary, Remus."

Remus sighed. "Yes, but I, um, did something I shouldn't have done . . . "

She cocked a brow. "And what's that?"

"Um, Lanfen saw me . . . before I took a bath. I was covered in blood. She hates me now." Remus continued to trace circles on the ground.

I winced at that information. With all the progress they were making, it was a shame that it was all dashed away in an instant. Though, knowing how adorable Remus was, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to start from scratch once more to vie for Lanfen's attention.

"Don't worry about her," Atreus ground out, annoyed. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Thera's right, we can't talk about stupid stuff, Remus. Be serious."

Remus frowned. "Why?"

"Because Vita . . . " Minos trailed on.

"Vita's alive," Remus said with a shrug. His gaze flickered from her to her stump before he glanced back at the rest of everyone in the room. "Besides, we killed the people that hurt her. Her arm is gone but Vita's alive."

"I—"

"Remus." Vita's voice was cold and cut through the thick air in the room. Her eyes were a dark shade of sin as she stared him straight in the eyes. His black-red eyes narrowed at the sight of her seriousness. "Tell me, Remus, what did you feel when you killed them?"