ste
od, but the air in the dining room was th
possible. Dorian sat diagonally across from me, methodicall
itory disputes. They mentioned Dorian's name, but never mine. They s
asting, each sw
, trembled and spilled a few red drops o
. She set down her fork
napkin, and for the first time that evening, his eyes l
eceptively calm. "This house is use
ical blow. He was talking about the w
plate. Alaric lifted his gaze from h
morning's cruelty, sharpening it into a
of triumph. "Celeste, you should learn from Dorian," she said, her voice dripping with fa
ze was heavy, assessing me as if I
hair, a specimen for
to look up, to meet Dorian's gaze, searching
nd on
t stray because you recognize your own kind-creatures with no bloodline and nowhere they truly belong." His e
ra
urse. He wasn't just talking about the cat. He was talking about me,
pression hardened as he looked directly at Dorian. No one spoke. Even in the Carlisle hous
nto the faintest smile. She looked from Doria
to Dorian's face, his lips still slightly par
hair scraping loudly ag
es wer
I might bear," I said, my voice trembling bu
ed and strode out of the dining roo
oment I was out of their sight. I burst out of the main
blindly through the manicured grounds of the
ran before I found mysel
held the few things I had from before I came to the Carlisles, and a few sm
real home if I tried hard enough. Now I understood that effort c
last time, and then packed it all away again. I pushed the box d
as
antasy of this "family," and done with an
givi
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