Amongst the Order (Watchers of the Veil #1)

Chapter 9

Leopold allowed us to spend the day in his manor before getting ready for The Collector's party. There was little known about him, other than he had a castle-like manor at the top of a hill twenty minutes from Leopold's home. After grilling both Leopold and Robert for more information, making a few internet searches and flicking through dad's, Uncle Freddie's, and Tommy Arwood's journals, I decided that researching the man was pointless and wandered the house for the next few hours, dawdling about as I searched for something to do.

Viviane's words picked at my mind like an axe as I slumped in one of Leopold's beanbags in front of the window. She had all but called me a monster then laughed when I could not live up to her words. How should I have acted? I had shown hesitation before killing her. Did that make me a weak hunter? Or more human? I cursed. She wanted to shake my confidence and I had let her. To take my mind off the witch, I picked up a book from a nearby shelf and began reading, focusing on every word to silence my own mind.

The beanbag beside me sunk. "Hey."
It was Alex. "Hi."
He craned his neck over the pages of the book and frowned. "What are you reading?"
The Art of Cooking Sublime Italian Food. "A cookbook."
"Oh. Do you cook?"
Did I hell. "Nope."
"Then... why are you—?"
"There was nothing else." I slammed the book shut on a page dedicated to carbonara. "For its size, Leopold's mansion doesn't have much regarding entertainment."
"You could borrow one of Alfie's books."
"He's probably reading them all at once. I don't want to interrupt."
He let out a low laugh. "We can't have that."

His smile faded as he watched me scan the blurb of the cookbook for the third time. "What's on your mind?"
I flipped the book over to look at the cover one more time, seeing the bowl of tomato pasta on the front, making my stomach quietly rumble. "Have you thought about what Viviane said? About the hunters?"
He chewed the inside of his cheek. "A little. It stuck with you?"
I nodded. "She said all hunters lie, kill and torture. She's not wrong."
"She wasn't."
"How does that make you feel?"
He leaned back in the bean bag, sinking further into it. "Sick at first. But then I realised something."
"What?"
"We don't do those things because we enjoy them. You proved that when you hesitated in killing Viviane. You proved that you were a human reluctantly doing things to protect people. That's what being a hunter is about, isn't it? Trusting that you'll do the right thing by following the code."

I did follow the code. Viviane was a threat that we eliminated. The hunter's would support that choice, as would my father, Tommy and Diana. What mattered is that I took no pleasure in it but did it because I had to.

"Thank you, Alex," I said. "I really needed that. The twins wouldn't understand."
He shrugged. "They're new to this. They aren't initiated yet, are they?"
"No."
"Then I guess you've got me if you ever need to talk."
"I don't like 'talking' that much, if I'm honest with you."
"Or if you ever need to sit in comfortable silence while you think things over but want some company." He gestured to himself. "I'm your man."
I chuckled. "Are you, now?"
He smiled. "I could fill that role if you'd like."
I mirrored his smile. "I might just take you up on that."

He glanced across the room, shooting me a crooked smile. "I know what might cheer you up."
"What?"

He jumped to his feet and held out a hand to pull me up. He led me across the room with a grin on his face to the deep red piano bathing by the window in the afternoon sun.
"The red is a bit much for me but the instrument itself is gorgeous."

In the shared apartment with his father, there were mounds of sheet music scattered across the floor. "You play the piano?"
"Since I was young. Though, I only had a second hand keyboard. When I was in school, I used to sneak into the music room during my breaks to play the teacher's piano. He caught me one time — I thought he'd go ballistic — but he offered to teach me properly."
That was sweet of him. "You must really love it."
He half-laughed. "Yeah. I usually don't go anywhere without my keyboard but..." He shrugged and slid onto the leather stool. "I guess I'm getting withdrawal symptoms or something."