The Unknown // Colby Brock

~~ Chapter Twenty ~~

          I jogged down the stairs a couple at a time. My target was the library, hopefully, because there was a book I really wanted to finish before the house got destroyed by an angry God. Of course, that was the worst case scenario if Colby didn't find a queen, which was... slightly unlikely. In any case, God wasn't happy so something would likely be done in retaliation such as the possible murder of the devil or the revoking of his position as king of hell.

As I was passing through the living room, which weirdly contained everyone except Colby himself, I felt the blank look I usually had on my face had been replaced by a little smile. I couldn't explain it, but the last few days had been... better. I felt better than I ever had before and I wanted to actually smile more. I felt the need to.

Before I could open the door to the library, though, I heard a cough from behind that made me turn around.

Xepher was smirking at me as she twisted her entire body in my direction. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked in an amused tone. I felt like I had been caught doing something I wasn't supposed to.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, there's been a little smile on your face constantly for days," she pushed, standing from her chair to walk over to me. She took both of my hands as if she was about to tell me some bad news. "You know, it kinda reminds me of Colby."

"Yeah, he seems to be in a better mood too," Reggie agreed with a huge smile.

My mouth opened and closed again nervously. Fuck. Of course Colby looked happier again at the same time as I did because he'd been part of the hug, too. There was something between us that I just couldn't deny no matter how much I hated what he'd done to me. One day soon, I was going to have to forgive him. It felt right; forgetting everything about my little trip to heaven and pretending it never happened in the first place.

That would be amazing... but the people around me couldn't know anything, so my attitude escaped.

"Maybe he just pulled the stick out of his ass," I suggested, shrugging as I pulled my hands out of Xepher's. "Or maybe he stuck one up there, who knows what he likes."

"You do. You slept with him," Kevin remarked with a huge smirk on his face.

I lifted my middle finger right to his face before walking away into the library. There was laughter behind me that I ignored even when I had retrieved my book and walked passed them again to get to the stairs.

I had absolutely no intention of visiting Colby. None at all. But as I was about to turn down the hall to go to my bedroom, I heard someone lightly curse as if they'd dropped something on the floor. It came from deep in Colby's room, which meant it was likely in his office. My curiosity grew too large as it always did.

Entering his room again felt surreal as I casually passed items I hadn't seen in months. Some things had almost been broken because they'd been swiped off the table just so I could have a place to sit when Colby and I's lips were busy.

Thankfully, the office door was left open by about an inch so I could just about see inside. Everything looked normal - nothing broken - but I noticed a pile of papers lying on the floor with the devil himself cleaning it up. For some reason, I felt the need to help him, so I pushed the door open more.

It made an annoying creak that caused Colby to look up at me. He almost jumped back in surprise. "Arianna."

"Need some help?"

His eyes travelled down to the papers then back up to me before he nodded. I stepped into the room and shut the door, kneeling down next to the mess.

"What even happened?"