The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (79 page)

Ragnar noticed the change in my body language and frowned. The car stopped and both the front door a
nd car door opened simultaneously
. That
’s
when I saw Libby’s desperate face first, followed closely by Justin’s exhausted spirit. Hilary really did know how to crush the soul into one of misery!

Then there she was, all five feet and eight inches of fake smiles and cruel comments.
She had changed her appearance but that wasn’t anything to be shocked at, she was always dyeing her hair, finding new fashions styles but all were just as slut
t
y as
the next and
what she wore now
was no exception
.

She was tall and very skinny, painfully so if you asked me. She had straight, platinum hair down past her shoulders that
she styled
into a flick
at the sides.
She had evil looking green eyes that reminded me of a snarling cat. She had an oval face with small tight lips that always wore to
o
much lipstick
. Her short
denim skirt barely covered her thighs but I was surprised that she
was even
wearing tights with it. The hot pink halter neck top matched with the tiniest cardigan
that
didn’t scream winter chic that was for sure
,
but the whole outfit reminded me of something a fifty year old cougar would wear.  

I mustered all my mental strength and got out of the car, which was a mistake but one I had no choice in committing.

“Kizzy Cat!” She squealed and squawked
out
the nickname I loathed.
I tried
to smile but it felt almost so
fake that it would fall off. She was running towards me and pushed my sister out of the way making her nearly lose her step. Luckily Frank was close by and helped steady her. It was one of the very few
times I had seen hate in Frank
’
s eyes, so finally one
car
ride had convince
d
him
round to our way of thinking. Of course
,
having his pregnant wife nearly knocked to the floor
w
as enough for Frank to scowl at anyone.

She reached me and gave me a
n
insincere kiss on each cheek like she was continental and I cringed when she combined it with ph
ony kissy
noises. She took a step back and took one look at my clothes and then her eyes scanned the car that was behind me.

“Well
,
hasn’t somebody found themselves a Sugar Daddy!” She smirked at the insult and I could almost hear her congratulating hers
elf in her head. I just released
a lack lustre laugh and looked back at the car. I saw Ragnar getting out and it took me a minute to realise that nobody
else
could see him. The car started to pull away and we all moved towards the house to give it more room to turn round. As I walked
,
Hilary eyed me and then turned to face me at the steps.

“Well you look better than I thought you would and the extra weight is only to be
expected…all things considered
, well you know after…” She
stopped and then
made a slitting wrist motion
making
a “Eekk” noise with it
,
which I didn’t understand but I was too fa
r gone in my fury I didn’t care. T
he only noise I wanted to hear from the bitch was the sound of
agony and restriction as a result of my hands round her throat!

She turned and went in the house and left everyone standing in disbelief staring at me like I was a firework about to blow!
Ok...
ok, I had to get a hold of myself. I had to think logically. If I resorted to murder then that wouldn’
t look good for my future and I couldn’t imagine Draven visiting me in priso
n. Besides what was I thinking?
I was forgetting the most important part about my relationship and how it could help me here…

After all, I was dating a half Demon!

Chapter 35

Heartless Hilary

I finally managed to breathe and calm my actions down to just a growl in my throat. The rest looked at me like
they were scared of what I was going to do next.
I walked up the steps past Frank and Justin and was about to walk past Libby when she caught my arm and stopped me. She was about to ask if I was ok but I beat her to it.

“I’m fine
,
” I said without any emotion in my voice. I hated Hilary with a passion and the idea that she hadn’t changed a bit was not only upsetting but infuriating! I had been living with
the
spite and bitterness of that girl’s personality for years and one of
the bonuses about moving here wa
s that I was finally rid of her. And now here I was, only being here for little over three months and she had already
invaded. It was too much to bear
.

I closed my eyes and mounted the remaining steps feeling li
ke all hope was lost. I would
have
to be
one of those people right now, one of those who can ignore
nasty folk
and their degrading comments
,
but I wasn’t and I hated to admit that it had take
n her all of two minutes
to insult me and for that insult to have struck me
so
deep
this early
,
only added substance to my growing dread
.

I heard Justin asking Libby if our cousin realised that it was winter and she merely replied
,

“Oh yeah, she knows
.
”

The house was immaculate and everything
smelled of lavender and furniture
polish. There
,
at the club
,
I had been trying so hard with my appearance and here Libby had been doing the very same thing, only instead of her looks it was the pride of her home that had enforced such an effort to be made. I wondered why we both deemed it necessary to go to such lengths for someone we hated. She was clearly going to find fault whatever we did.

I took off my jacket and instead of joining my cousin in the lounge
,
I diverted to the kitchen. I heard the front door shut and knew everyone else had gotten over their shock and was now putting on their fake, happy voices.
Libby was the second to escape and she joined me in the kitchen. I had clicked on the kettle but then decided tea
just wasn’t going to cut it, so
opted for something stro
nger. I found an opened bottle of
wine in the fridge and poured myself a glass…A very
, very
large glass.

“You’ve got the right idea… man if I wasn’t pregnant then I would have finished it off by now!” A
s
soon as she said the words I downed it and poured the rest of the bottle into my wine glass that really wasn’t big enough for the job. I
had to slurp at the edges so that
the wine wou
ldn’t spill. I didn’t speak for
fear of screaming, I just kind of stood there, staring at nothing, waiting for this nightmare to end b
ut every time I heard that screech
ing voice of hers
,
I just let out a shudder.

“I was kinda hoping you would turn up with Dominic
,
then that would have shut that poisonous little mouth of hers! I can’t believe she had the nerve to say that to you…I have a good mind to tell mum!” I held up my hand and shook my head. It was like school all over again.

“What’s the point Libs, she’ll never believe it and even if she does
,
there’s no use in upsetting her. Besides, her
sister
’
s little princess can do no wrong…remember
?
” Libby understood it all to
o
well as we had both had our fair share of the little hell cat, as Draven had put it.
Just then Frank came in and looked both scared and annoyed, I soon und
erstood why. He feared his wife’
s unhappiness and hated the reasons behind it.

“Umm…I don’t know how to say this but….”

“Just say it Frank
!
” Libby snappe
d and then felt sorry for it, so
smiled at her husband as way of an apology.

“Hilary isn’t happy with her room and wants one with a view
.
”

“WHAT! Why that ungrateful
little bitc
…”
Fr
ank made a face like “Shut up or
she’ll hear you” and Libby never finished her sentence
but I wasn’t at a loss to know what the last part would have been.

“We don’t have any rooms with a view available, the other spare room is full of stuff for the baby and
…
” Frank looked uncomfortable again and he shifted his weight making the floor boards creak under the strain. For such a big guy he sure did look cute as a button when he did that!

“What is it Frank?” Libby asked not keeping the strain out of her voice.

“Well she’s got her eye on another room
.
” His eyes looked up and we all followed like we could see through the ceiling.

“She wants Keira’s room
,
” he said sheepishly.

“What
!... N
o way
,
out of the question!” My sister defended my honour well
,
but I just want
ed
to give up and pray that I would last the duration.

“Its fine Libs, she can have it
.
” I mean of course she wanted my room, she wanted everything I owned
,
so why not my room.

“No she can’t!” Libby was putting her foot down and Frank was torn between us two. He looked at me and then back at his wife and th
en back at me. He looked like somebody watching Wimbledon
.

“Lib’s
,
really it fine, I won’t be spending the nights here anyway
.
” At this Libby whipped her head round and scowled
,

“Oh no
,
you’re not bailing out on me, if I have to endure the
cow, then so do you!”

“Libs
chill!
I just mean I won’t be sleeping her
e
, you can’t deny me that, I do have a boyfriend and just because she’s here it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up every pleasure in my life!” Libby’s face softened at the remark.

“I know
,
I’m sorry, it’s just that I don’t want to be alone with her
.
”

“And you won’t, look I still have to go to college and you’ll be working in the day so that rules out the days…right
?
” She nodded and didn’t look so deflated with the idea.

“And
in the evenings I will take her to the club and she can amuse herself with the poor souls there. So by the end of it, h
opefully we will hardly see her.
” I don’t know who I was trying to kid, my sister or myself but at least my little speech had worked on someone, because Frank
’
s face lit up and Libby even smiled.

“Excuse me, is someone going to tell
me where I can unpack my stuff?
”
A voice came from above and there was nothing holy about it!

“Go tell her that I need to move some of my stuff first
.
” I said to Frank and he walked out looking a bit happier than when he had first walked in.

“What a …”

“Yeah
,
I know
, but if it makes life easier the
n
it’s worth it” I said in a deflated tone. Just then Justin hurried into the kitchen looking like
Steve McQueen out of the ‘The Great Escape’
. He closed the door behind him and leant back on it while letting out a relieved sigh.
For the first time since being home I wanted to laugh.