99: The tea shop

“So why can’t I come with you?” Sebastian asked. He was hardly as intimidating as he wanted to be, wearing a white linen towel draped around his hips. I feared that if he argued too much then it would fall right off of him.
“Because I said so! Nathan wanted it to be just him and me. Bringing Demetri along is just pushing it, not to mention you. Your loyalties lie with the palace.”
“My loyalties lie with you! They always have!” And although this should have been an intense moment between the both of us, Sebastian’s towel fell down.
I expected Sebastian to pick up his towel and wrap it around his hips again, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked towards me, very very slowly and very very seductively. Admittedly I was feeling very turned on just looking at him while he was naked.
“Could I maybe convince you to change your mind?” He asked huskily. Before I could even shake my head, he had me pinned up against the wall. I could feel the nakedness of his body against mine and between my legs, I could feel the heat grow.
“Anyone could walk in at any moment!” I gasped as his hand gripped at my thigh. His fingers wandered under my skirt and danced across the surface of my warm skin.
“Xavier and Liam already went out for the day to obsess over the bargains in the flea market at the edge of the city… and Demetri will *never* enter my room.”
Or at least that was what Sebastian thought, because as he leaned in to kiss me, his door burst open, revealing the devil himself. Sebastian immediately turned around in shock and Demetri’s eyes immediately moved down and settled on his exposed crotch.
“Demetri what the fuck are you doing in here!” Sebastian yelled. His face had become a shade of red and he now placed his hands against his crotch in an attempt to cover up. I hid a soft giggle behind the palm of my hand
Demetri rolled his eyes before saying, “Ugh hush up, it’s not like I haven’t seen your junk before you dumbass!”
He then turned towards me. “Phoenix, ready to go?”
“Whoa whoa! No one is going anywhere without me!” Sebastian yelled.
“Like hell we’re not. You’re not invited.”
“Neither are you!”
Their argument continued for a good ten minutes, and while it did, I began to collect my coat which was sprawled against Sebastian’s bed.
“Right, I’m leaving.” I said curtly before barging past Demetri.

***

Nathan was reluctant at first, but eventually he agreed to let Demetri and Sebastian join the both of us in searching for the silver drug.
“So how come you haven’t searched for this drug before?” Sebastian asked.
Nathan took in a deep breath before explaining, “I have no interest in exploring rumours. I’ve learned that more often than not, they are just that. However, now that Phoenix brought David up… it gives me an opportunity to test whether or not the rumour about him is true.”
“You don’t seem to like him very much,” Demetri said. Nathan’s tone was much more relaxed when he spoke to Demetri. “Oh, definitely not! He’s a shady one.”
We walked for a few more moments before we arrived near a quiet area in town. The streets were almost deserted and almost none of the stores were open… except for one. It was an old tea shop. It was lit dimly by a few yellowish ceiling lights and the wooden floorboards which we stepped on were old and creaky. It reeked of a mixture of earl grey, green tea, chamomile flowers, cinnamon and warm milk. All-in-all, the place was cosy and decorated strictly according to a vintage theme.
“Armana! It’s lovely to see you!” Nathan said as we neared the front counter. The woman he spoke of, Armana, was beautiful and young. She had beautiful green eyes, dark curly hair and was short and curvy. The moment she saw Nathan, her eyes brightened, and a beautiful smile decorated her face. It fell, however, when her eyes landed on Sebastian. She immediately cast her gaze down to the teapot she’d been brewing.
“Don’t worry Armana. This one is Phoenix’s pet.” He said mockingly. Sebastian clenched his hand into a fist but immediately let go of it when he caught my death-glare.
“Ph-Phoenix Ackerman?” She gasped before gaping at me. Immediately she straightened her tea-stained white apron and smoothed down her hair before extending a hand towards me.
“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m a big fan!” she said before pulling the neckline of her apron down and exposing a ‘Team Phoenix’ shirt. Glad to see I had a few more people on my team.
I took her hand in mine and shook it gently before saying, “The pleasure’s all mine.”
“What can I do for you Phoenix? Can I get you a chai tea? A Ceylon with texturized milk? A red espresso? A-”
“We didn’t come for tea, Armana.” Nathan said.
She gazed at him confused before asking, “Then what did you come for?”
He raised his brows before nodding his head to the wooden door behind the counter.
Her eyes brightened for a moment, and she nodded before casting her gaze once again to Sebastian.
“You, Phoenix and the werewolf are welcome to come, but I don’t want that one near my back storage room.”
Sebastian was about to protest when I placed my hand up and shook my head at him. “Stay here.”
And as we walked towards Armana’s back room and Demetri passed Sebastian, I heard him snicker. Sebastian reacted by stepping on Demetri’s toes and in turn, Demetri was about to react, but I tugged him by the arm. Having the two of them in the same space was exhausting.
Armana’s back room was stuffy and the smell of all the different bags of teas overwhelmed my senses and stung at my nostrils. She grabbed a hold of a bag of peppermint rooibos tea leaves and then moved it aside, revealing a safe in the wall. She then turned towards us and shyly asked if we could turn around as she adjusted the combination on the lock.
“Okay, you can look now.” Once we did, we were greeted by an open safe filled with vials and syringes and pills and bottles.
“Apparently David injects himself with something silver.” Nathan said.
Armana’s brows furrowed in confusion before she shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t deal in anything like that… but I do know someone who does. Basson. He works at ‘The Elderflower’. Unfortunately, he only deals with people he knows.”
“Well, who does he know? Maybe I could ask someone he knows to help.”
“Darren and Kyle Ryan, Rory Hendricks, Mara Tate, Gary Lawrence and Riley Gale. I’m sure that there are more, but those are the only few I know of.”
I didn’t know anyone on that list… except for the first two people and they didn’t particularly like me.
“So, we’re fucking back to square one!”
That’s what I thought the entire time as we walked back to the hotel… but just as we passed by the memorial, I caught sight of a pair of blonde heads. But I wasn’t sure that I knew who they belonged to until Darren turned around and stared at me. And next to him stood his brother and next to him stood another familiar blonde. I realised that it was Samantha when she turned towards Kyle, teary eyed and then wrapped herself into his arms. And in that moment, I was compelled by more than just the need for them to help me to get to Basson. Instead, it was the tears on her face that had really gotten to me. Samantha and I didn’t hate each other, quite the opposite and I felt compelled to go to her as she stood there and mourned the loss of her siblings.
And so, I let go of Demetri and Sebastian’s hands and rushed towards the three of them.
“What are you do-”
“Phoenix!” Samantha yelled before throwing herself into my arms. It was unexpected and so for a moment, I just stood there frozen before leaning down and wrapping my arms around her.
“I’m so sorry Samantha…” I whispered to her. The moment I said this she cried even harder than before and so I pulled her closer towards me.
Kyle and Darren stared at the both of us, shocked. They were soon joined by Nathan, Demetri and Sebastian. Sebastian was about to say something when I shook my head at him.
“Can you stay with us? J-just for today… and away from where the nobles usually hang out. I don’t want my parents seeing me with you.” I chuckled before agreeing. There were, however, protests coming from the men who were gathered around us.
“Fuck off you two! Can’t I just have a day to mourn my siblings in the way I want?”
“And you want to spend it with a filthy hybrid?”
She pulled away from me and turned towards Kyle before saying, “No, I want to spend it with my *friend*. And if you’re my friends, then you’ll stay too.”
Kyle sighed before shrugging. “Fine.”
“Do you want to stay Phoenix?” Demetri asked. I nodded. Sebastian was about to protest when Demetri smacked him on the back of the head.
“Do they usually act like five-year-olds?” Nathan asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“Great, I’ll make sure they get home safe. I’ll see you around Phoenix.” He said with a smile. I returned it and bid them all farewell. I’d have to find another way to get my hands on those drugs and to get them to Demetri as well. From his previous behaviour I could tell that he had a sneaky suspicion about what we were dealing with.
Once they were gone, I turned back to Samantha and the twins. Kyle still had that disgusted look on his face, but Darren, who had been silent this entire time, just stared at me curiously. I couldn’t say I felt uncomfortable, instead I felt a little self-conscious and so I straightened my skirt a little and resorted to an old habit of Phoenix’s- playing with my fingers.
“Why don’t we sit down somewhere?”
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Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love and Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁💝