บท 71: Espionage (Ⅲ)

Shakily, I mumbled, ignoring the slight sting in my own eyes.

"I love you, Lila. Please, just hold on a little longer."

Before I could remove my head from there, I heard her mumble. Despite it being a whisper, I could hear it. After all, while I was born with no Arcane Art, I could still use Arcanum.

Her tone was soft now but the hurt was still there. "Just come back to me, Eric. Don't let this…whatever it is, destroy us. The promises we made. Come back before it's too late."

I didn't reply. It wasn't meant for me to hear. She was talking to herself. I focused away from the bath, feeling as if I was intruding into her privacy.

With a heavy heart, I walked out of the room, the small hall and then the main door. The cold air outside hit me like a slap as I stepped outside. Despite it being just evening, it was so pitch black that if it wasn't for the street lights, I wouldn't even be able to see my own hand.

Without Arcanum, of course. If our life was a story in a novel, Arcanum for sure would've been the major plot device for every convenience we enjoy in our limited, sad life.

Sad, in a way that the moment we – or at least the heirs – are born, their hearts are filled with hate, contempt and ways of treachery against the others of the Syndicates. And despite the looming threat of the merger, we are still divided. Instead of joining hands with each other, I am sure everyone is leaning more towards getting in cahoots with other species from Eden.

As I walked, my hand subconsciously went into my pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes.

"Faen. FAEN." I breathed out, cursing. "Jævla kjerring..." The curse that rolled immediately afterwards from my tongue made a shiver run down my spine as I immediately got rid of that thought…memory. I couldn't just let it sit it in the back of my head.

If I wanted to live, that is.

The sky was light dark, softly illuminated by thousands of lights scattered across the city. It was December already, and hence the amount of lighting had increased considerably when compared to the rest of the year due to the approaching Christmas.

The click of my lighter was light and a tiny spark of warmth came to life right afterwards.

The flame flickered bravely against the chilly breeze that had slowed down now, casting a playful shadow against my cupped palm that shielded it from getting snuffed out as I carefully brought the flame to the end of my cigarette.

The tobacco ignited with a subtle crackle, the ember glowing brightly against the ambient light.

The smoke curled upward, mingling with the city's myriad scents—distant car exhausts, the faint aroma of street food, and the crispness of the winter air.

Buildings, all around me, stretched into the night, their windows reflecting the city's life. The click and hiss of passing cars mixed in with the soft crackling of my cigarette as I took a deep drag, feeling the warmth spread through my throat.

Looking upwards, I exhaled slowly, watching the smoke dissipate. Slipping one hand into my pocket, I walked in a straight line, along the pavement. Taking my phone out, I opened the app to book a cab and after a few moments it arrived.

Opening the door, I sat in the front seat.

"God kveld." He greeted, "Where to?"

Ah, I forgot to add the destination.

"God kveld." I greeted back as I pulled the seatbelt and locked it into place. "Just drop me at the start of Sandviken."

The man had a little shocked look on his face before nodding. The engine whirred to life and before long we were moving.

Our house – mine and Lila's – was located in Nordnes which is situated south of the city centre of Bergen. It is basically a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides, providing waterfront living. I had bought this house since it was quite close to Sandviken, where the Olvasens' main residence was and because after Sandviken, it was the most beautiful.

And affordable.

It might sound strange for me to talk about wealth when my father might be richer than the richest man in the world, but the benefits of that wealth were restricted only to the family head and the heir.

I would've walked to our family house but I don't think I have the ability to do that right after I have been blue balled.

Good grief.

The melancholy still clung to me, and it was only accentuated by the realisation that I was just as sad about not being able to have sex as I was about hurting her. The phrase 'men have their brains between their legs,' might hold some weight after all.

Well. As I was saying, while Nordnes was still expensive, I got the house for cheap. So, it was a win-win.

The reason why the driver had such a reaction to me telling him to take me to Sandviken was because it is almost the richest place one could find to live in Bergen. It had quite a few stunning views that overlooked the fjords—which are long, narrow, deep inlets of the sea between high cliffs typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley—and harbours.

It's also ideal for mom in particular to live, since it is famous for its quiet surroundings. Since she is known to lose it in presence of excess noise. And the bar for 'excess' in her books is quite low. Obviously, even if I don't know the full details of it, it's surely because of her Arcane Art.

After just a few minutes, we were right by the border, the area where Sandviken started.

However, something felt odd. It wasn't that I couldn't put it into words. I could tell exactly what was wrong. But the words – the notion of that felt too absurd. And as much as it sounded absurd – outlandish even, I came to terms with it just as quickly.

The only ones pushing this possibility into oblivion were gone. It was long due…and we had it coming. But the sheer panic of something else gripped at my heart.

Taking my phone out of my pocket, I dialled a number.

The phone rang, a few times. And after a while, it died out. I tried again…and again.

Damn it, Lila, pick up the phone.

I cursed, mentally.

My heel tapped impatiently against the floor of the car as my phone suddenly chimed. Looking down, I saw a text message.

╭─━━━━━━━━━━─╮

Not right mow, I am busy.

╰─━━━━━━━━━━─╯

It was concerning. But at least she replied. Which means Lila was okay.

"Stop the car." I spoke as I let out a soft breath.

"Right here?"

"Right here."

Pulling the lever of the indicator (or turn signal for the yanks) he parked it to the side.

The road was lit with street lights but there were no cars. As expected of the place, it was eerily quiet. Taking out my wallet, I took a few notes out of them and handed it to the man. He looked at them and then at me for a few moments before looking ahead.

Is he expecting me to give him more?

Oh hell no.

Getting out of the car with a plethora of emotions, I waited for the car to drive away. Once it was gone from sight, I slowly started my stride towards the main house. However, instead of going through the main route, I decided to take a shortcut.

There was a place where there were still houses to be constructed. If I ran in the middle of it, then the other side led directly to the edge of Sandviken which overlooked the Fjords.

Putting on the burners, I dashed. The sky was cloudy, and it was bound to rain – or even snow any moment now.

The house was now visible from here. However, there was still some considerable distance given how the rest of the area was a convoluted alleyway after the end of this open field.

Just as I stepped into the alleyway, my senses flared.

Not on reflex, but just a sudden twitch moment made me jerk my head to the side. The all-encompassing sound of gunshot reverberating in the stillness of the evening sky reached my ears a few fractions of a second after the bullet whizzed past my ear.

I stopped as the bullet lodged itself into the wall.

I could feel my eyes go wide. Long shadows extended from the turn right ahead and the squelches of boots in mud reached my ears from the back.

"Damn it. How did he dodge it from his blind spot? I thought we had the element of surprise."