Bloodfire: Other Realm, Frost Family Series Book 2

Burn 22

Bren kept to himself for the majority of the remainder of his Saturday at the Winter Palace. Now it was two hours after his conversation with the Lord of Winter, after having dinner with the rest of the Frost family-minus the Lord himself, who was oddly absent for it. Bren was aimlessly walking throughout the halls, stuck in his own head, trying to process everything that had happened today. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he came to a sudden stop, the sound of a female groan breaking him out of his thoughts.

Head whipping up, he was surprised to see Nisha standing before him. Without really stopping to think, he reached out and took hold of her hand tightly. "N-Nisha...O-oh, I'm sorry..."

Nisha looked a little dazed but still managed a smile. "It's fine, Bren. But, I need to ask. Are you okay? You've seemed...distracted since talking with Jack today."

The boy tried to smile but it quickly broke apart as he sucked in a sharp breath. "...N-no," he admitted. His sea-green eyes stared directly into hers for a very long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "I...I need to know how you did it. C-can you tell me?"

A sixth sense fell over Nisha. She knew what Bren wanted to discuss was definitely not something anyone should be eavesdropping on. Even so, she was really confused by his question. Still holding onto his hand, she turned and moved through the halls. Reaching a room that was unused, she closed and locked the door behind them. The room looked like a long-forgotten sitting room, one of many. There was some furniture, but it was all covered with white sheets to keep the dust off. To the left of the door was a light switch that she flipped to on, blinking in the sudden light before moving forward. She stopped in front of a love seat and sat down, the sheet moving down with her weight along the back of the seat. Half a second later, the boy followed her example and sat down as well. Glancing around, Nisha took in a deep breath. "Alright. Now, what was it you were asking?"

Bren gulped, nerves trying to get the best of him now, but he needed to know. "I wanted to know how you did it."

Frowning in confusion, Nisha's fingers unconsciously rubbed the back of Bren's hand in a effort to comfort him. "What did I do, exactly?"

The boy looked at her with as much confusion as Nisha felt. "You convinced Lord Frost to marry you, of course. H-How did you escape the Others who would have reported you to the ORGR? How did you...a-avoid the Human Relations Department?"

Brow wrinkling in confusion, Nisha shook her head slightly. "The...Human Relations Department?" she repeatedly uncertainly.

"Yeah...The one's who control all the interactions Others have with humans and stuff?"

Eyes widening, Nisha's frown deepened. "What?"

Now Bren was the one who was shocked. "Wait...You've never heard of the HRD? Really?...How long did you live here in the Other Realm again? Aren't you on the Registry?"

Nisha coughed harshly. "W-what are you talking about?"

Blinking, Bren froze and stared into her face for a very long time. When he spoke again, he looked like he had aged twenty years in three minutes. His shoulders slumped and he let out a long, weary breath. His eyes, which had always seemed to be filled with a small amount of light, were lifeless. "Oh," he murmured in a flat voice. "You really don't know, do you? Well...if Lord Frost really does care for you, I guess it makes sense that he'd keep you in the dark. No human should ever have to know about the truth..." He let out a strangled sob. "Yet...yet I know. Isn't there some way to destroy the truth from my mind, to delete it all?"

He turned those blank eyes to Nisha. "I thought you might be able to tell me how to avoid the HRD. I thought you could let me in on the secret, so that I would have one less thing to be on the watch for and to fear. But I guess that won't be happening. If you've never even...I envy you, Nisha. I didn't think it would be possible for a human to live a normal life in the Other Realm. It just doesn't happen." He shot to his feet suddenly, looking ill. "You don't understand. I thought another human would understand. After all, now I'm stuck in this damn body forever. Stuck in this world, stuck in this life, stuck in this hellhole!" he cried out. Choking back tears, he ran out of the room.