Chapter 110: At Angel’s House [4]Cold

What was going on?

What was going on?!

As soon as the Ice King settled beside me and picked up the controller, I turned my eyes to the screen.

Why had he suddenly decided he wanted to play?

More importantly, why did his expression never change?

He was nothing like the man I’d seen on television. During interviews, he smiled and answered questions with ease. That look on his face when he rescued people... Was this seriously the same person?

Even in the photos Yukie had shown me when we first met, he’d looked different.

Now he was sitting beside me, choosing a character.

As if he’d simply finished his ice cream and couldn’t find anything else to do.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

He nodded.

I won the first round.

When the victory message appeared on the screen, I glanced at his face. Without a word, he moved his fingers to the rematch button.

Again...

I won the second round too.

And the third.

I loosened my grip on the controller in my lap.

Was he losing on purpose?

Or was I really that good?

I liked the second possibility better, but remembering who was sitting beside me made it difficult to celebrate. Maybe he’d simply been curious. Maybe he’d picked up the controller because he wanted to try the game his children were playing.

That thought helped my shoulders relax a little.

Then the highlight on the selection screen moved to another portrait.

My fingers stopped.

Long black hair.

Dark blue eyes.

The black uniform that appeared in the center of the screen, and the name beneath it.

[NIGHTFALL — LUCIAN EVERNIGHT]

My father.

For a moment, I could only stare at the screen.

The Ice King confirmed his selection. The air around Lucian rippled as the character raised his head slightly.

The edge of the controller dug into my palm.

Out of all those characters, you chose him?

I wanted to turn toward the man beside me. I wanted to ask why he’d chosen that character, to find out whether it was a coincidence.

But I kept my mouth shut.

I relaxed my jaw and breathed out through my nose.

The black uniform. The cold eyes.

"You’re good for nothing but disgracing the Evernight name."

I placed my fingers back on the buttons.

This time, you’re the one going down.

When the round began, I attacked first.

A moment ago, I’d been able to wait. I’d been able to watch for my opponent’s mistakes and choose the right moment.

Now I attacked again, trying to break through the guard that appeared in front of that face.

Then again.

The brief bursts from Storm Heart let me press the buttons on time, but they couldn’t undo a missed attack.

My health dropped.

When my final attack missed too, my character was knocked backward. Before he could get back up, the rest of his health bar disappeared.

I lost.

For several seconds, I stared at the message on the screen.

Lucian straightened his uniform in his victory animation.

I squeezed the controller so hard that its plastic casing gave a faint creak.

"Dinner’s ready! Come on."

At the sound of Yukie’s voice, I loosened my fingers.

The Ice King placed the controller on the coffee table and stood. He walked toward the dining room without saying anything, while I remained on the sofa.

That face was still looking at me from the screen.

"Hey."

A finger touched my cheek, and I turned my head.

Yukie stood in front of me, leaning down slightly to study my face.

"What’s wrong? You look upset."

I pulled my lips into a smile.

"Nothing. I just don’t like losing."

She watched me for another moment.

Then she took her finger away from my cheek.

"Come on. The food’s getting cold."

I put down the controller. As I stood, I realized my hands were still tense and opened and closed my fingers once.

"I’m coming."

---

I didn’t say much during dinner.

Yukie’s mother placed a plate in front of me. I thanked her. When she asked me something, I answered, but several times I lost track of the conversation at the other end of the table.

Cecilia was telling a story. Whenever Cedric interrupted, she protested, and their mother tried to listen to them both in turn.

Normally, I would have laughed.

Now I stared at the food on the end of my fork and forced myself to listen.

I couldn’t get that image out of my head. Lucian straightening his uniform after his victory, my defeated character lying at his feet...

Realizing I was clenching my teeth again, I took a sip of water.

Yukie glanced at me from time to time.

When I looked up, I smiled. She smiled back, but she didn’t immediately look away.

After dinner, I set my glass on the table and straightened.

"Thank you for the meal. It was delicious."

She smiled, looking pleased.

"I’m glad you enjoyed it."

"I should get going now. Thank you for having me."

"Already? Won’t you stay a little longer?"

"I’d like to get home before it gets too late."

I’d kept my voice as polite as I could. Even so, Yukie’s smile faded a little.

Cedric leaned back in his chair.

"I can walk you home, if you’d like."

"No need."

The answer came out before I had time to think.

The table fell quiet for a moment.

Cedric looked at me.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I can get home on my own."

This time, I hadn’t quite managed to hide the coldness in my voice either.

Cedric shrugged.

Yukie walked me to the door. She waited beside me while I put on my shoes, then looked at my face when I straightened.

"We’ll talk later, okay?"

I nodded.

"Okay."

I’d come here today to talk.

But once again, I hadn’t managed to say what I really needed to. And after today, I probably never would.

What would happen if the Ice King, a man who doted on his daughters so much, discovered that a man disguised as a woman had sneaked into his house?

The thought made every hair on my body stand on end.

I reached for the door handle and looked at her one last time.

"See you, Yukie."

---

By the time I got off the bus at the stop near my home, it was dark.

The doors closed behind me. As the bus pulled away, I crossed the road and headed toward the street where my apartment building stood.

I slipped my hands into my pockets.

For a while, I simply walked. I kept my head down, watching my steps on the paving stones.

Then I noticed my shoulders had tensed.

The air was cold.

A cold that seeped through my shirt and reached my skin...

I raised my head. There wasn’t even a breeze to stir my hair. Yet my fingertips were beginning to feel cold.

"Why is it so cold?"

My voice sounded clearer than I’d expected on the empty sidewalk.

I took my hands out of my pockets and rubbed my palms together. My building wasn’t much farther away.

I was about to take another step when I felt something at the base of my neck.

My whole body tensed.

Someone was behind me.

Or rather, something.

It felt as though a monster stood behind me, one that would tear me apart with a single touch if I turned around. Something that wouldn’t let me die until it had broken every bone in my body and peeled off my skin!

I didn’t think. My body had already started moving before I even realized it.

As I spun around, black liquid flowed from my left wrist into my palm. I gripped the hilt of the dagger taking shape and drove it into the empty space behind me with all my strength.

Its sharp point cut through the air.

It touched nothing.

I stopped with my arm still extended.

The sidewalk was empty.

The bus was long gone. Beneath the streetlight, there was nothing but a trash can a few steps behind me and some parked cars.

I held my breath.

Listened.

I couldn’t hear a single footstep.

"Am I imagining things?"

I lowered the dagger a little.

My heart was still racing. I couldn’t explain what I’d felt. After watching the space behind me for a few more seconds, I slowly turned back.

Before my foot could touch the ground, my body was flung sideways.

I hadn’t seen the blow coming, and there had been no time to defend myself.

The lights streaked across my vision. The edge of the sidewalk slipped out from beneath my feet, and I found myself hurled into the dark alley between the buildings.

My back slammed into a wall.

All the air rushed out of my lungs at once.

"Ghah—!"

My shoulder struck the hard ground as I fell. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t draw air into my lungs. The pain spreading from beneath my ribs brought tears to my eyes.

Get up.

I pressed my palm against the ground.

Get up, damn it!

I pulled a knee beneath me and tried to raise my head. A thin layer crackled beneath my fingers.

Ice.

I couldn’t tell when it had formed.

As the cold spread from my palm up my arm, a hand closed around my throat.

My breath stopped.

I raised my hand to pry the fingers away, but before I could even reach the wrist, my feet left the ground.

My back was pressed against the wall again.

The pavement beneath my flailing feet was turning white. Ice had filled the gaps between the stones and was creeping up from the base of the wall.

The street had frozen.

The hand around my throat was unbelievably cold.

I grabbed the fingers and pulled.

But I couldn’t move them so much as a millimeter.

I lifted my gaze from that hand to the wrist, then to the face in the darkness.

Blue eyes stared at me from behind a pair of glasses.

It was the man I’d just shared a meal with.

The person holding me off the ground by my throat was...

The Ice King.