In complete silence, I prepared something to eat while listening to the Christmas music that was faintly echoing from the radio.
I decided to make potato gratin because everyone loved this dish. At least me.
My thoughts kept flying to Gabriel and the fact that he wasn't my father, but since I'd only been around Devin for the last few years anyway, it didn't bother me too much.
When I then took the gratin out of the oven and prepared a cucumber salad with it, I heard the car pull up outside.
Even though we had a fight, I was really happy to have him back here. I could even understand his outburst of anger. After all, something really bad could have happened, but my feeling wasn't wrong and everything had gone well.
"Hey," I heard him then and looked lovingly at the door, where he came towards me smiling.
"Hey," I replied, embarrassed, biting my lip at the sight of his tight white shirt until I saw Viola come in behind him, looking utterly exhausted with her blank stare.
"I hope it's okay if she stays here for a few days?" Silvan asked, stepping close to give me a soft kiss on the cheek while my eyes still fell on Viola, who was behind the door closed.
"Of course," I replied and then turned to him. "What happened then?"
He glanced at the food and then back at me.
"Stress with my father. Nothing serious."
Was there anyone who didn't have any stress with him?
"Thank you for your hospitality," Viola said softly and sat down on one of the stools opposite me, only to stare at me for a long time. It was almost uncomfortable, but despite her suddenly so friendly nature, a very oppressive feeling crept over me. As if she had a plan to do something bad.
"I'd love to," I smiled playfully and then took three plates out of the cupboard to put something on each one.
We ate in peace and I listened to Viola and Silvan talking about school. When the name Mr. Handsome came up, a little longing spread through me. I knew that I wouldn't be allowed to go to school next to Silvan, especially not with the lower classes, but I still missed it.
After the meal, the two of them sat down on the couch and I cleaned the kitchen again in peace. I didn't mind at all, but her presence here bothered me.
"Silvan?"
I put the last plate in one of the cupboards and then looked over at him.
"Is it okay if I go into town. I wanted to buy some decorations."
I looked at him questioningly and of course I didn't want to buy any decorations, but he didn't need to know that.
"Of course. I'll call Igor. He'll accompany you."
He pulled out his cell phone, spoke briefly to Igor and then got up to come towards me.
"He'll be there in five minutes. Would you like me to walk with you?"
"No, take care of your sister. She looks pretty beat up," I whispered to him, then stood on tiptoe to kiss him gently.
"When you're back, we'll talk," he said, looking at me intently, whereupon I just nodded in agreement.
"See you later."
Satisfied that everything went according to plan, I put my shoes on and left the house. Igor was exactly the person I had a serious word with and since Silvan now had enough to do with Viola, I finally got the opportunity to speak to our human alone.
"Well you," Igor greeted me with a slightly trembling voice while I briefly looked at the gray sky from which snow was still falling. If it didn't stop soon, the snow would be up to my waist for sure.
"Well," I replied to Igor and we walked side by side down the street to town.
"Tell me, what was wrong with Viola?" I then asked curiously into the silence and waited for him to finally look at me.
"Silvan and his father had argued about Bene. It was all too much for Viola. She said she felt lonely because everyone seemed so self-absorbed."
He turned his gaze back to the road, but Viola didn't strike me as the type of person to let it get you down.
"And you believe her?" I asked further and watched him in his thick, dark green coat as he unknowingly shrugged his shoulders.
"She came across as very honest to me."
Then, when we were almost at the small shops in town, I stopped abruptly and grabbed his arm.
"What did you want to tell me last time?" I asked him seriously, but he smiled half-heartedly and rolled his eyes.
"Nothing special. It really wasn't important," he tried to excuse himself, but I put everything on one card. My gut had been telling me for a while that I could trust him.
"So you don't know anything about the fact that Silvan's father killed Lisanna and that his mother had two mates?"
He looked at me in shock and grabbed his arm.
"What are you saying, Jade. You could be cast out just for saying it."
I shook my head and looked at him intently.
"Igor! That's not an assertion and I know that you know it too. I was in the forest because I felt I had to go to the hunters. And who was there? Gabriel, my father, or maybe not. ... no idea. Anyway, he told me the whole truth! Silvan's mother is also his mate and Lisanna was his daughter!"
Igor looked at me as if I hadn't got all my cups in the cupboard anymore, until he suddenly gasped in shock and put his hands on my shoulder.
"That's it!" he said, completely taken aback and shook me as if trying to wake me up. "I overheard Silvan's father telling Viola that everything would soon come out if they didn't get the mother under control."
"That means Viola knows it too and Silvan's mother probably knows the truth too and that's why she lives so isolated," I murmured to myself and suddenly recognized all the connections. I finally understood what Viola wanted from us. She wanted to stay in control and probably find out how much we knew about everything.
"What are we going to do now?" Igor then asked and I immediately looked around, irritated.
"I have to go to Kaidan. Somehow I've been having epiphanies and strange thoughts lately. First of all, I have to know how far I can still trust myself. Everything else can wait. As long as Viola thinks we don't know anything, she will too keep their feet still."
After Igor nodded to me, we made our way to the small bistro to pay Kaidan a visit.
****
"Is it always so busy here?" I asked Igor, with whom I arrived at the bistro's full parking lot.
"It's only because of Kaidan. For a little tip, he lets even the most desperate visitor go home feeling good."
My eyes fell on the bistro again and I had to admit to being a little jealous of his gift. What could be nicer than making the person you love feel only good?
"Can we please come in then?" I heard the big one next to me shivering and trembling and immediately nodded apologetically.
The poor guy. It must have been below zero on this cold November day.
I threw open the first of the two glass doors and hung my brown coat on the wardrobe, while Igor didn't even think to take off his coat.
He politely held the second door open for me and with a grateful smile I stepped through it and looked around briefly in the hall I knew, where everything appeared in shades of red like last time.
"I'll sit back there while you guys are talking," I heard Igor and then looked over at him nodding towards the bar. I followed his gaze and immediately recognized Kaidan, who was casually leaning against the counter and playing on his mobile phone.
"Okay," I replied to Igor and then walked purposefully towards the pierced black-haired man, who looked fascinating as always, with all that bling.
"Longing?" he whispered, grinning, without taking his eyes off his phone, while I sat down on one of the red stools.
"No, but I need to talk to you."
He put his phone away, looked me straight in the eye for a moment, and then let his gaze drift down my face. When I then felt the tingling in my stomach, I immediately growled at him, quietly but decisively.
"Don't even think about it," I warned him, but it only seemed to amuse him.
"Sorry," he grinned, then adjusted the burgundy tie he was wearing over his black shirt. "Sometimes temptation is stronger than reason."
Annoyed by his charming manner, I rolled my eyes and then looked at him seriously again.
"How did you find out you had a gift?" I then asked bluntly as he placed a small glass in front of me and pulled a bottle from the cupboard behind him.
"For every question, you drink a tequila," he then said and was about to fill the glass, but I held my hand between them, shocked.
"Why should I? I can't take hard alcohol!"
"Why should I give you answers for free?"
"Because you're a nice person?"
"Who says that?"
He looked deep into my eyes and seemed serious about all this, so I had no choice but to withdraw my hand and watch him smile as he filled the first glass.
"Drink," he then demanded, but I wasn't fooled that easily.
"First the answer."
He carefully leaned a little further on the counter, making his face so close to mine that I immediately nervously tried to avoid his penetrating gaze.
"I started seeing colors," he then said, clearly amused at my nervousness, but that wasn't the right answer for me... I raised an eyebrow and waited for something else to follow.
"When I look at you, you appear white to me, which is quite rare. Most appear to me with a veil of green or blue, which are the colors of dissatisfaction and sadness."
"And what does white mean?"
He pointed a finger at the glass, which I then emptied in one gulp, rolling my eyes. I grimaced in disgust and only seconds later felt a pleasant warmth in my stomach.
"White veils are found only on pure souls. You seem to be a gift bearer yourself, and a good person who often acts selflessly."
I watched him fill a second glass, amazed at his words, and then thought of ways I could learn more without asking questions. If I wanted to know everything, I would surely be dead drunk within the next twenty minutes.
When my eyes met his again, he raised his brows in amusement, apparently waiting for our little game to continue.
What else was left for me...
"But I don't see any colors," I murmured and took the small glass between my fingers. "How else am I supposed to tell?"
Again I drained the glass in one gulp and waited anxiously for his answer, but he seemed lost in thought.
"Kaidan?" I tried to get his attention, but he silently looked past me and when I followed his gaze, I saw Igor sitting alone in the corner.
"You trust him, don't you?" Kaidan snapped me out of my rigidity and I immediately nodded to him. "Well, there you have your gift," he then smiled and poured me another glass that I looked at with a wrinkled nose.
"So my gift is blind faith?" I asked and drank my third glass, which hopefully would also be my last. I didn't feel the alcohol, but I was getting warmer and the taste was biting on my tongue.
"Of course not. I'm a giver. That's what they call people like me who can give others feelings. You're a seer, which means you can judge people from the first second. If you meet someone who has evil intentions, then you feel it immediately. Just like in certain situations. Someone like you senses whether a situation ends well or badly."
"Aha," I mumbled casually, trying to understand it all. Of course I had a good feeling with Bene and Igor right from the start, but I just thought it was a good knowledge of human nature. The fact that I didn't feel afraid when I went to my father in the forest was probably thanks to my gift. It all kind of made sense, even though I found his gift way cooler than mine.
"Do you want to know anything else?" he then asked with a grin and already had the bottle ready, but I immediately shook my head in disgust and hurriedly got up from the stool.
"That's all. Thank you, Kaidan."
"I'm always happy," he grinned, but before I could turn away, he suddenly grabbed my arm. I looked at him questioningly until he bit his lower lip in embarrassment.
"If you ever feel lonely, I'm here," he winked and only got a roll of my eyes from me before I walked over to Igor.