Chapter 142 A Past Better Forgotten (1/2)

Rassa stalled for almost an hour after the designated time that Ebony had given him. He ran circles around the island, ducked in and out of shadows, anything to escape. But he ended up right back in front of the door to the small suite that had been given to Apple Star Trading. He'd hunted just so that when he walked through that door, if his anger got the best of him, which he knew was entirely possible, he'd be better able to contain the gluttony that rose within him every time it did.

With a sigh that carried the weight of a past he had thought he'd left behind him, Rassa raised his fist and knocked.

The man who answered the door was clearly not Falla, but he seemed to be expecting Rassa.

”Come in,” he stated.

Rassa decided not to hesitate further. If this was going to be a business deal, it'd be pretty submissive of him to do so. That was all business had been in Rassa's experience, a series of shows of dominance to see who bowed under pressure first.

Falla was seated with a pile of documents before her, a pot of tea to the side. She looked up as Rassa entered the room, then stood, surprised. She clearly had not expected him to come. Rassa hadn't expected to come either, but Ebony was right, they needed this.

”Thank you, Layn,” Falla said in a soft voice, ”That will be all for tonight”.

The man who'd opened the door was hesitant as he glanced at Rassa, but Falla simply nodded to him and he returned it with a respectful bow before he exited the room, leaving Falla and Rassa alone. For a moment, they simply stared at one another, trying to decipher the look in one another's eyes for a moment too long. Falla gasped, seeming to realise the atmosphere was getting rather awkward, and then she turned to the tea on the table.

”Would you like-” she stopped, glancing back at Rassa, ”Right, never mind, take a seat, please”.

Rassa could remember how she'd appeared the last time he saw her. When the carriage tugging his cage had pulled out of Cordon and he'd seen her through the bars. All he'd seen then was fear in her expression, fear and a sense of betrayal. It was all he'd been able to think about since he'd smelt her scent on skewer street upon arrival in Port Cresh.

But now, as he assessed her, as he scented her emotions...fear was not among them.

Relief, uncertainty, resolve...regret? It wasn't an emotion he'd smelt often. He'd first scented it surrounding himself in Jerrica, but it had been faint amongst the blood. Then with his father as he died. Regret was not looking to be a good emotion to have in Rassa's presence.

”I thought you were dead,” Falla spoke into the silence, ”We all did”.

Rassa knew who she meant by all, and he turned away to look outside, a view of the moon visible out the window. After a moment, he spoke, the first time he'd spoken directly to her since all those years ago, ”There were times I wished I was. But even in death I couldn't escape my fate”.

”I...” Falla clearly had no idea what to say. Rassa didn't either. What do you say in a situation like theirs?

”I'm sorry”.

Rassa looked up at her words, eyes narrowing. He didn't know why the apology made him angry, but it did. With no one to hold him back or remind him that this was technically a business meeting, he didn't bother with niceties, he unleashed upon her with his words. They would hurt her more than his claws and fangs and shadows ever would.

”Sorry?” asked Rassa, ”You're sorry?”