Fear What Fiend

Behind me, Saturn lets out a short triumphant cackle. 

“Now, you’ll unlock your shit and hand it over, or I promise you, these girls will drag you straight to Dad Griffin. And we both know how quickly he’ll get this sorted before throwing you to the wolves.”

Facts! Pure facts. And extremely unfortunate.

I hadn’t fully considered the implications of anyone else finding out about my relationship with Hunter. But Saturn has it all figured out. The girl’s smart, I’ll give her that.

“Dad Griffin’s rules are ironclad, you know. Having any relationship with commoners is a blunt no. In this case, baby girl, you are the commoner. You’ve seen him dole out harsh punishments for far less.”

Hmm, true. Still―

“You can’t be certain I have a relationship with Hunter,” I say. After all, the girl only saw a picture. Anyone would suspect I’m fangirling and I won’t fault them for that. What does a wealthy public figure have to do with a servant anyway? I’m sorry, Hunter.

“Dad wouldn’t ask for evidence now, would he?” Saturn lets out a laugh. “He only needs my word, girl—a White’s word against a mere servant. How’s that?”

I can’t help the disgust forming on my face as I snarl under my breath, “Bitch,” putting more smiles on the girl’s face.

Fine, she wins. It’s just a couple of messages after all—kidding; Saturn wouldn’t scroll up past last month's chats before she’d begin to wonder if I have the globe’s entire conversations recorded in my phone.  

That’s better than risking finding out what Dad Griffin may do to me. 

If there’s something I want even more than my relationship with Hunter, it’s leaving the long sword Dad Griffin has kept between us since I became a servant. It has been my only shield from his fucking bloody talons.

Saturn emerges from the bathroom, her eyes amused as she points to the floor. 

“Sit,” she orders. On the damn floor? Oh, well.

Water’s dripping from my soaked bonnet, stinking of disinfectant—and maybe that’s what causes the dull ache in my head. Or it’s probably from the fall earlier, or the struggle with Saturn, or the fact that I haven’t fucking slept for two days in a bloody row!

Saturn is preening in front of the mirror, her face displaying a bright, taunting smile as she glances at me. 

I roll my eyes and look away, but the girl doesn’t seem to mind.

She settles on her bed before scrolling through my phone. “Big brother did take these past years to live out some grand adventure, including dating an outcast.” She spares a glimpse at me, grinning. “Imagine his face when he finds out that the girl he’s been texting these cheesy things to is just a failure who’s his slave all along.”

The room is silent, save for Saturn’s occasional giggles as her fingers dance across the screen, perusing my damn privacy—I and Hunter’s actually.

“He’s quite the romantic, popular too. How did I not come across his profile before?” She reaches for her phone and types something into it with a drawl under her breath. “At… General… Yosvolec.” Then she acts a dramatic pause before looking at me with a questioning expression. “What kind of username is this, anyway? Is he obsessed with VR or something?”

He’s your fucking brother. Ask him.

“You’ve gotten what you want. Can I go now?”

“Oh, have I? I didn’t realize.” Saturn chuckles. “We still have something else to take care of.” Her eyes gleam with mischief as she watches me. I know that look, she’s expecting a reaction. But I’m giving away nothing. “Don’t you think Hunter deserves to know who you are?”

What―

“―the fuck?” I snap, and Saturn smirks. Lesson learned. Don’t let your ‘enemy’ know your weak spot. The girl knows mine as well as she knows those words will get a rise out of me. “I’m not doing that shit.”

But I don’t think it matters what I’ll do or not, as Saturn shrugs. “That’s only if you have a choice. Meanwhile, I have this…” She waves my phone, then nods toward the maids. “And I have them. So, it’s your call: go quietly, or with a lot of noise.”

I fall silent, the weight of my situation pressing down on me.

I can’t bring myself to appear in front of Hunter again. Not while I’m looking like a sheep beaten by rain.

But Saturn’s patience is wearing thin. “Grab her,” she orders the maids, who immediately haul me to my feet.

No!

I try to resist, but there’s no fucking way I can wiggle myself out of three larger girls’ grip with my sloppy combat skills.

“Fine. I’ll walk on my own.”

Still, Saturn signals the maids to proceed. 

They drag me down the stairs and through the hallways, past maids and guests who all turn to stare.

As Saturn leads us down a winding staircase into the dim and musty basement, the air grows thick with the mellow, earthy aroma of wine. But thicker with the imaginary smoke filling my lungs.

Inside a large space, towering racks line the walls, and their dark glass bottles shimmer faintly in the low light.

At the end of the room, Hunter moves slowly along one of these racks, his back turned to us. Dad Griffin, however, sits on a wooden stool, leaning casually on a bar counter as his gaze follows Hunter.

His cold, scrutinizing gray eyes shift toward us when we make our chaotic entrance, his gray Verdi beard and furrowed brows painting him a formidable image.

His stare lingers on me for a moment before moving to Saturn. “What’s going on?” he utters in a tone that sounds like a rumbling threat.

I watch Saturn greet him with a smile. “Don’t worry, Daddy. I just forgot to introduce our former family member to Big Brother.” Her gaze turns to Hunter. “Brother, you probably haven’t met Heidi, formerly Heidi White.”

She drones on about my subsequent failures at White Cosmetics. Meanwhile, my agitated eyes follow Hunter, who—with his tuxedo jacket removed—reveals a taut, white shirt defining his muscular frame, his high-waisted pants emphasizing his torso curves.

His movements are composed, giving the impression that he’s either engrossed in his task or knowingly ignoring everything else. And despite him being over there, it feels as if his shadow’s crawling up behind me, whispering, ‘Fear what Fiend has a disguise of person.’

I don’t know what that means.