The Devil (BOOK I + II)

4 | "Long Live Robotic Tendencies"

Chapter Four
"Long Live Robotic Tendencies"

"you will face many defeats in life,
but never let yourself be defeated,"
~ maya angelou

┏━━━━━━━┓

It's been over a week since I'd been alone with Daemon in my room. Hell, since I'd actively spoken to him.

But just like me, he'd chosen to forget about the conversation, still lingering silently in the corner while I roamed the house.

Even now, watching as Vladik and I fought in the training room for the last twenty minutes.

I was frowning as Vladik targeted a hit on my lower abdomen, but I swung back and kicked his arm away before crouching down to throw my leg out.

Vladik evaded my foot before trying to punch me again, but I flipped back instead, keeping some distance between us with my arms up.

His dark hair was a mess, giving him an uncaring persona. But when my eyes slid to his blue ones, I sucked a breath and swallowed, seeing the resentment and hatred he had for me.

Ever since we started training, he wouldn't speak to me. And I didn't force it. I knew he was mad at me, and I had no excuse.

But I wanted to see that smile we used to share as kids, as selfish as that sounded.

Vladik and I exchanged blows, with me successfully dodging all of his hits. At one point, he started to appear annoyed, but stayed silent. Still, his lips were curled in determination when he tried to throw a left hook.

My head ducked the same moment I kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to stumble back.

"Come on, Vladdie, " I said with a teasing smile. "We both know you can do better than that."

His eyes narrowed, but he continued his silent treatment as he shot another fist out, more sloppily than before.

A quick deflect later, I sighed. "No emotions when fighting, Vladik."

He threw a kick, then a punch. I evaded both with a flip back before kicking him on his side. His clenched his jaw and took a step back, still not directly looking at me.

"Vlad—"

"Stop talking," he bit out before throwing a messy punch.

I frowned. "You need to regroup, Vladik. You know the other Dynasties are coming soon to evaluate your skills—and your control."

"Shut—" Kick "Up!" Punch.

I twisted to the side and avoided the hits, but felt my heart ache at the sight of my older brother growing more and more angry. His chest was heaving, and his fists were clenched on his sides, but still, he wasn't staring at me.

"I just want to help you," I tried to say soothingly as my features softened. "Let me—"

"No," he hissed, baring his teeth before throwing his fist in a cross punch. I sidestepped him, but kept my eyes on him warily as his chest rose. "I won't let you do anything."

He pointed an accusing finger in my direction. "You left me. Not the other way around. You don't get to be helpful."

For a few seconds, I just stared at him, focusing on the anger and pain he wore in his expression. It felt as though he reached into my chest and ripped my heart out.

"I didn't leave you, Vladdie. I left them," I whispered, gliding closer to him. "Please understand."

His nose flared, and for the first time since I returned home, he met my gaze head on. Because of our height difference, he lowered his chin, but the longer he stared at me, any trace of sadness disappeared as his features darkened.