Chapter 107 - Chapter 107: Birthday Masquerade (Part 5)

🕯️Content Warning:

+ toxic relationship dynamics 

+ emotional manipulation

+ controlling partner behavior

Nyxara

I gave the dance-off my best attempt, but Raine decided to cheat, so I lost by a good margin. He cultivates Sanguine Remembrance,the art of consuming memory from blood. When he consumed a few drops of Sänti's blood, he gained a portion of Sänti's game experience. I hadn't thought anything of it when Sänti and Raine angled their bodies away from us right before the match. I assumed Sänti was giving him last-minute advice. In a way, he had been—I just hadn't expected it to be cheat-level assistance. Aspen and Keirexplained all of this to me after my loss. 

I punched them and Elias in the gut—making them wince. I was getting stronger after all—for not warning me of this possible loophole. But they said some things I had to learn to look out for on my own. 

I opened my mouth to call foul, but Sänti—already clocking how I function—shut me down by pointing out we hadn't set any rules excluding the use of the blood affinity. Since he was unfortunately right, I let it go… this time. Should they decide to continue their petty games with me, they will discover I have no problem returning the favor. 

As I made my way back to my seat, I gave the two conspirators the stink eye. I however, saw that Lux had taken my seat. I had expected something like this, but I was still surprised to be right. Seeing me pause, Sänti quickly bypassed me and jumped over the back of the sofa, landing behind Zen. Which conveniently left Zen's other side open for Raine to slide into. I stared at them unimpressed while they looked back at me with innocent smiles.

I had no idea how my smart best friend wasn't concerned about the three of them surrounding her like a pack of smug wolves. To my further amused concern was that the trio's scents had begun to mesh together around Zen like a subtle scent barrier of black cypress, myrrh, and old paper. It was cute to see three such serious-looking men go soft for my best friend.

No matter how cute and amusing their behavior was, I was not amused that Lux had distracted Zen from noticing their foul play. I could see Zen's confusion and surprise that my match was over and that I had barely escaped being crushed. I watched as Zen first congratulated Raine with a drunken hug that made him freeze up, his hands hovering awkwardly in the air before he hugged her back. The hug was brief due to her immediately throwing herself into my arms to comfort me. I did have a sad look on my face after all. 

Zen was a very silly drunk. I combed my fingers through her hair as she told me Lux kept her cup full and Sänti brought her any snack she wanted during my match. She truly warmed my heart when she whispered loudly that despite how sweet Sänti and Lux were for keeping her company, she liked me best. She was sad that I lost but happy Raine won because he really wanted to do better this round. I pulled her onto a two-seater sofa with a smug smile that had the boys glaring at me again while Keir, Venus, Aspen, and Elias chuckled at our silent Zen tug-of-war.

After a short intermission, it was Sänti and Elias's turn. They were stepping onto the platform when a commotion by the entrance made them pause. We all turned to see Líma holding back a man who would have looked identical to Sänti if he weren't so beefy-looking. He looked like he was on steroids, the kind of exaggerated bulk that made him oddly unattractive.

 I glanced at Sänti's slimmer athletic build, then at the man being effortlessly contained by Líma. Yeah, there really isn't competition in the looks department. The man looks like he is competing in a Hulk competition. He is so swole.

 My focus turned to Zen when I noticed her posture had become guarded. She was staring at Byron like she had already disconnected from this moment and was waiting for it to be over. I pinched her arm, snapping her out of her daze. Our illusion masks had run out of juice, so the two of us looked completely like ourselves in white and gold empire-waisted princess gowns. We had decided to go with Princess Serenity-inspired looks. 

Zen sighed as she got up from the sofa. She first checked her pockets, then headed in the direction of the whining man-child who was half in, half out of the wall. I grabbed her hand before she got too far. I surrounded us in a sound bubble via a glyph embedded in one of my rings so the others would not be able to hear my words. "This is your chance to decide if you want to keep trying or if it is time for you to let him go. You aren't a fool, so you know you have options. Go try. If you require extraction, just send me a message. I'll extract you from the situation. I will also immediately have Líma schedule a meeting with your dad for us."

My words of support brought the spark back into her eyes. She blushed when she noticed her options watching her and side-eyeing the man-child who was still fighting with Líma. From what I could hear, Lux and Sänti were quietly updating Raine on the basics of Zen's situation. Look at them already strategizing and bonding. I look forward to Lux informing our parents that he has found potential Kaelin unexpectedly. Based on Aspen's expression, I have a feeling Lux will not get the chance to ease our parents into the knowledge. 

I couldn't resist shaking my head at the incoming mayhem that would descend upon us once Nimra gets into matchmaking mode. When I felt the warmth of his body close to my back, I didn't have to turn around to know it was Elias. The subdued but sharp shift of his scent let me know his mind was focused. There was no warmth to it, nor was his aura relaxed anymore. He was battle-ready for any confrontation.

Zen straightened her shoulders, then approached the commotion at the door. "Líma, if you will let me pass, I will take my boyfriend to the buffet tables." With a polite smile, Zen straightened Byron's attire then linked arms with him. 

"Byron, you declined when I asked you to come with me to this celebration. You shouldn't just show up to events; you weren't invited to. You are lucky you were let in. Let's go to the buffet table so you can get something to eat." Zen had her noble lady mask on, and she wore it well.

Líma bowed, letting Zen walk out with the waste of space I hoped would soon be her ex. I felt very proud of her right now. I was 99% sure of the outcome, especially after witnessing his disrespectful behavior. "Well, that first actual impression sucked," I commented mostly to break the trio out of their impromptu strategy meeting. "And he wants to do a year transfer in our paramilitary? He would be chewed up and shat out in the first day for his arrogance alone."

Aspen, Keir, and Venus had begun straightening up, so the clean-up would be easier for the clean-up crew. Elias had come to stand nearby me in a resting guard position. I didn't know why, but I didn't question whatever weirdness he was up to now. 

"He wants to do what now? Säntiägo is your brother, even worthy of that honor?" Lux questioned Sänti with a raised eyebrow. Sänti sighed, rubbing his temples. "He had been given a mission objective to do a stint in your paramilitary for a year after completing his Sentinel training. I believe the Salgrave house head has submitted a request to that effect to your paramilitary director. That is all I know about it. Is he strong or skilled enough? Based on the graduates of your Institute in our region who have joined your paramilitary, I would say he meets the minimum standard."

I had to admit I was impressed that Sänti gave such a genuinely impartial response. He is going to make an amazing diplomat when he finishes his training. Keir, who had been putting all our cups on a cart, answered the unasked question about the request result. "His request was denied two months ago. His personal letter that was included in the request asked to be trained only by Alphas, to be placed in an Alpha-only squad, and to only be assigned missions worthy of an Alpha."

"The letter itself and the tone of it were strong indicators that Byron Ivy is an Alpha supremacist. We don't tolerate toxicity like that. It goes against everything we stand for. So I decided not to invite that headache upon myself."

Aspen, Lux, and I gave him a thumbs up for his good deed. Keir playfully puffed out his chest while we all chuckled. We jointly decided to put the dance competition on hold for now, so we were just hanging out until we had to return to the party. While Sänti and I listen as Raine spoke about his role in his clan's enterprises, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Keir was subtly playing with Venus under a blanket. Venus caught my eye, then winked with a finger against her lips.

I turned away from the two with rosy cheeks. It didn't help when I made eye contact with Elias when he shifted to block my view of Keir and Venus. Needing to calm down from my thoughts, I considered shifting the general conversation to when we could continue our tournament. I opened my mouth to speak when I received a call from Zen. —Come get me away from this idiot before I stab him with a steak knife.—

Wordlessly, I immediately left the dimensional space. Elias and Líma were already moving to follow me. The rest followed almost immediately after, all asking where I was going.

I spotted Zen and Byron at the buffet tables but I hadn't expected to see Byron ranting while piling food onto his plate. Zen was following behind him, holding two additional plates that were also piled high with food. My instincts prickled the moment I saw her expression. Her smile was polite and controlled. Her eyes were saying she was two seconds away from stabbing the man who was now her ex. He just didn't know it yet.

I whispered to Líma what I needed her to do. She went to handle my request. Elias definitely heard my request, but he said nothing. He appeared to still be in guard mode for some reason. I ignored him since he wanted to act weird now. I turned to the others and gave the the only answer I had time for.

"I'm preventing Zen from murdering Byron."