I took a deep breath, my fists clenched so tight I could feel my nails digging into my palms.
'Xavier, you're not focused. Your punches are too weak, too predictable. I don't need any heightened senses to know what you're thinking. Concentrate and try to land a good hit,'
I said, relaxing my hands at my sides. Turning around, I slowly walked away from him, knowing how easily it triggered him.
A loud swoosh by the side of my head, and another in the opposite direction. His feet shifted, losing balance as he continued his futile assault. After ten more punches that missed their proposed target 'my face' his feet finally gave way, and he crashed headfirst into the concrete tiles, leaving a massive dent.
'Fuck!'
he cursed angrily, not necessarily at me but at himself. Expecting to beat me in a fight was futile; I was much faster and stronger than any of them. But knowing what was coming, he and the others had to be able to land a decent punch.
'You did well, Xavier. Don't get worked up about it,' I said rather flatly. Normally, I didn't encourage sloppy behavior, nor did I praise mediocrity. But I tended to bend my rules for Xavier – it was the least I could do after all the pain I'd caused him.
'That was awful, Simon,'
he scoffed. 'I couldn't even get close enough,'
he hissed, his fingers digging into his hair. I stood there, silent, unsure whether my words would ease his feelings of failure or make them worse.
'To be honest, you did a lot better yesterday. You're not concentrating. Your mind seems to be far from here,'
I said, knowing exactly what troubled him what troubled all of us: Serena.
He took a deep breath, shaking his head slightly. 'She isn't Olivia. I'm sure of that, Simon,' he said, his eyes fixed on the dent in the tiles.
'I know she's not,' I replied. The girl might be an exact replica of that traitor, but there was something about her – an innocence not known to Olivia that she possessed.
'Do you plan on killing her as well?' Xavier asked coldly, his eyes now fixed on my face. He'd never been a fan of the way I aligned the others, but he failed to understand the reason behind my actions , a reason I wasn't willing to share.
'If she's in any way a threat to Eldermere, then without hesitation,' I said flatly. I didn't need to pretend; I was given a charge to protect this town, and that's what I'd do, no matter who got hurt in the process.
'But what if—'
A loud beeping sound interrupted him. I picked up the small, flat device – a cellphone. 'What is it?' I said to the person on the other end.
'Trisha's in. Everything went as planned,' she informed me.
'Well done, Rebecca. Return immediately. We'll be awaiting you.' I turned to Xavier, who looked utterly consumed by his thoughts.
"The plan is in motion. Tisha is in. Now we move to Phase Two," I said, already walking toward the exit.
"I understand you don't want to inform anyone about whatever the fuck this plan of yours is,"
Xavier replied, his eyes still fixed on the dent in the tiles,
"but I think I deserve at least a little insight just in case I need to be prepared to lose another person I love. Don't you think so, Simon?"
"Hmm. You'll know when I need you to know," I said flatly, deliberately disregarding the intense pressure radiating from him.
"Why don't you just fucking kill her?" Xavier snapped. "Come on—we know nothing about her. Let's end her, just like we did the others."
He screamed the words, eyes blazing with rage as he paced, tracking my every movement.
I took a slow breath. Feeling uncharacteristically merciful, I decided to tolerate his foolish delinquency and grant him a response.
"No,"
I said coldly, my fingers tightening around the door handle.
"Really, Simon?" he yelled.
"But it was so easy for you to slit her neck clean open because she went against you. I thought you'd show that same undiluted rage toward her fucking reincarnation."
The aura around him darkened. He had much to learn about self-control, though being trapped in the body of a beast for one hundred and twenty-one years would do that to anyone. He hadn't been good at it even before.
I sighed, loosening my grip on the door.
"You're right, Xavier. I don't know anything about this girl. And yes, I ordered the execution of the other reincarnations of Oliver. But there's something different about this one. Even her scent—something about her sits neatly in our fucked-up world. There are loopholes in her life I want filled before I rip her pretty little head from her body.
"Olivia, on the other hand…"
I turned fully to face him, locking my gaze with his to ensure every word struck true. A faint smirk curved my lips.
"She didn't serve her purpose. I had no use for her still breathing just as I have no use for failures."
His eyes darkened.
In less than a second, his hands were at my throat, fingers digging tightly into my neckline.
"Fuck you, Simon," he snarled. "Fuck you. You are the monster everyone thinks you are. You act like some invincible, emotionless demon, when deep down you're just a lonely, dead creature whose own mother used him for his abilities. You don't have the right to blame her for what happened. It's not her fault you couldn't beadecent being to your own fucking brother."
I could hear his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
"Are you finished?" I asked quietly, the anger I'd fought so hard to suppress finally crawling to the surface.
Realizing he'd gone too far, he released me at once and staggered back a few steps, his gaze dropping to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Master Simon," a voice called from behind the door. "Rebecca is back, and I've summoned the council for your meeting."
It was Ileus. He knew better than to enter the training section—the aura emanating from both of us would kill a human outright.
"You would do well to remember," I said coolly to Xavier, "that if you ever repeat what happened in this room, I will most graciously send you to meet your beloved Olivia in the most gruesome way you can possibly imagine."
With that, I stepped out of the room his words replaying in my mind like a never-ending tape.