Page 77 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
"This is your fault," Bella seethes, a murderous expression on her face. For a moment, I think she's aiming it at me, but the venom has a more logical place, and she looks behind me.
I turn to see Bastian lingering in the doorway.
Bella is on her feet in seconds and hits his chest, a couple of times, crying and accusing him of something I'm not entirely certain of. Bastian doesn't react, which is almost as much of a surprise as the rest of the situation.
"Bella," Lord Fallmartin says sternly.
I look between the three of them and realise I'm the only one who can step in. I take a deep breath and wrap my arms around Bella, pulling her away from my brother. To my surprise, she turns in my arms and starts to sob loudly. I rub a hand down her back. I want to tell her that it will be all right, but I'm not sure I can. I don't even understand what happened. I was talking to Thomas just a few hours ago. We were talking about breakfast, and what it would be like now that I'm no longer living in the House Rothorne apartments.
Pain lances through me. I may only have known him for a few months, but he'd been nothing but kind to me, and had explained the way certain things at court worked.
More than that, he was good to Bella. And I hate to see my cousin like this. Her sobs have subsided a bit, but she doesn't move out of my embrace.
"What happened?" Linc asks when no one has said anything for longer than is ideal.
"I'm not sure," Lord Fallmartin responds, his gaze slipping to Bastian with a look that I can only describe as frustrated contempt. Whatever this is, it has something to do with my brother, and there's no getting to the bottom of it while Bella is crying like this.
She pulls away from me. "Bastian is what happened," she spits out with more venom than I've ever heard. "If it wasn't for him, Thomas would still be alive."
"I don't know why you're bothered," Bastian says. "He was beneath you."
Bella snarls at him, her fangs descended and her eyes wild. She tries to leap forward, only to be stopped by Linc.
"Beatrice, would you take your brother out of here?" Lord Fallmartin suggests. "Perhaps get him some more blood."
I frown, mostly because I want to know more about what's happened here.
"Now," Lord Fallmartin says.
Linc looks as if he's about to argue on my behalf, but I shut him down with a shake of my head. I don't think now is the right time for either of us to pull rank, even if there's a part of me that wants to.
"We should go, Bastian," I say, making my way over to my brother and putting a hand on his arm.
He shakes me off immediately. "I don't need to be treated like a child."
"Then stop acting like one," I mutter, pointing to the door. He's acting strangely. I'm not entirely sure why he's reacting like this. He should be telling Bella that it isn't his fault, and insisting on his innocence.
And there can only be one reason why he isn't.
TWO
I shouldn't be nervous about being alone with my brother. I've known him for my entire life, and yet, there is something off about tonight. There's something off about him.
A whisper in the back of my mind tells me exactly what it is, but I don't want to believe it.
I push my thoughts to the side and head over to the pitcher of blood waiting in our sitting room. It's not just Bastian who needs some. The shock of the situation is having me crave blood, which probably isn't helped by the fact that I haven't had any since Linc drank from me.
I reach for the pitcher, only for Bastian to grab hold of my arm, pulling me to the side and ignoring my wince of pain.
"Let go of me," I half-snap, pulling my arm back. "What's gotten into you?"
"You know this isn't my fault, don't you, Bea?" Bastian asks, a frantic note in his voice.
I look up at my brother, trying to find the right words for what I think of the situation. I have no idea what happened to Thomas, or how my brother fits into it. As far as I know, Bella could just be blaming him because he's the easiest person to lash out at for her.
But there's a chance that's not why she's doing it.
"I don't know what happened," I respond.
