“It’s quite a long story, which you will need to understand before you can accept to work with me. And seeing how your patience is dissipated, I feel disinclined to talk at the moment. Maybe another bottle of champagne would calm you down?”
That was it. I was done. I did not want to take any more of this, the way he was mocking me, lying to me, making fun of my feelings, and torturing me over and over again by telling me his side of the events. I felt sick, impulsive, and hateful.
Through whatever instinct possessed me, I picked up the butter knife and threw myself over the table and over Rhylan, catching his body with my own and trapping him under me. Then I lifted the blade pointing to his eye, keeping it only an inch away from his eyeball.
Of course, the bastard did not react, looking like he enjoyed the newly found position under me, and relaxed even more, stretching his shoulders to reach the back of his seat.
“I didn’t take you for a blade kind of woman, but I like it rough, so go for it,” he smirked and licked his lips suggestively.
I pushed my threat, even though I knew at this point, it was only child’s play for him.
“Tell me everything right now, or I will gut you like a fish.” I said, surprising even myself at my choice of words.
Rhylan snickered, not at all affected by my wannabe violence. “Saw that in a movie, did you?” The prick did not mask his amusement and started to fully laugh underneath me, making his body and face shake with the movements, so much that I had to retrieve the knife to avoid the laughter from piercing his own eyelid.
“Is there no way I can hurt you?” I asked defeated, pulling my body away from his and trying to return to my own seat. By instinct, Rhylan placed a hand over my back, needing to keep me in place, but I immediately jolted at the sudden and uncalled-for touch, so he retracted it and apologised.
I spent the next few minutes trying to clean remnants of food off my jeans, quite ineffectively. Pumpkin soup and chocolate strawberries wouldn’t just fade with a tissue, no matter how much I struggled or poured sparkling water over the stains.
“I’ll wait here until you change, then we can really talk,” Rhylan offered to my surprise. He must have sensed that another breakdown planned to come along because I could barely keep the tears from escaping.
Without another word, I headed towards the back of the jet, where a bathroom and a changing room had been installed for my mother and since I was the one to use the plane, two outfit choices hung prepared for me in case of emergencies.
I assumed that mom probably thought I would find myself in need of a dress for a formal dinner or a suit for an impromptu interview and not because I covered myself in half-eaten food while trying to attack an immortal fae, but judging by the full menu splayed out on my jeans, anything would do.
I took a very quick shower first and discarded my dirty clothes in a wardrobe bag. I wasn’t the biggest fan of private jets or showering in one, but under the circumstances, I felt grateful for dad’s insistence that I take a jet whenever I travelled overseas. Every single time, I protested and explained how much it increased the carbon footprint when I could have easily travelled in business class, but seeing how Rhylan had decided to join this time, I felt grateful for the privacy.
Ten minutes later, I appeared back in the main cabin wearing a black dress, tighter than I would have liked, and Louboutin heels. It was either this or a wavy cocktail dress. As I appeared from behind the curtains, I made Rhylan paralyse from what he was doing. I did not expect him to be sitting on the floor, along with maps and huge pieces of paper with lots of drawings.
“You look beautiful,” he uttered, unable to shift his eyes from me, but I ignored the compliment. It was not needed or desired.
“What are you doing?” I asked and stepped closer to him. It felt weird having him on the floor, almost at my feet in that situation and I could not help a sensation of pride that powdered over my body.
“I am preparing the truth, as it is and as you need to see it,” he said. “But first, I am looking at your gratified self. You like seeing me on my knees, don’t you?” He threw me that seductive look of his that had everyone falling for him in seconds.
“I do,” I admitted. I found no point in lying, especially since he could read my feelings or whatever. “It gives me great satisfaction to see you on your knees. You should try doing that before Ansgar too, seeing how it is your place and all.” I took advantage and made him squirm.
“The things you do to me, sprout...” Rhylan sighed and shifted upwards, walking towards the two seats we had occupied and grabbingtwo pillows.
He then came back and placed them on the ground, making a small nook for me before he pointed to his handiwork and invited me to take a seat.
“Is this really necessary?”
“There are a lot of maps and drawings that you will need to observe as I speak.” He pointed towards the huge world map and the other pieces of paper he had marked or drawn on. He’d made himself busy while I was away. “Don’t worry, I’ll still be on my knees, I know how much you enjoy that,” he smirked again.
I sighed and removed my shoes, placing them on the side and shifted my dress just slightly, so that I could sit on the pillow fort he had made for me. Once I found a comfortable position, I pointed to the map.
“You can start,” I said.
“To understand my purpose, and my mission, you will need to know the story of the gods.”
“I already know that there are three goddesses and they created the world, I’ve read that…”
“No, no, no, sprout. For this to work, you have to keep that pretty mouth of yours closed for most of the time.” He raised a hand to stop any words from escaping me. “Here,” Rhylan reached and found a notepad, or what remained of it since he had ripped more than half the pages to create whatever he was planning and gave it to me along with a pen. “You can write your questions and at the end, we can go over them.”
“Seriously?” I sighed, not wanting to deal with another one of his theatrical arrangements.
“Consider this one of your work presentations. I am a new company that wants to tell my story, and you have to listen and not interrupt to understand my policy,” he said proudly.
