Gothicana

Throat dry, Corvina waited for him to continue, her stomach leaden.

“His grandfather died suspiciously the day Vad became an adult,” Ajax informed her, his voice lowering. “Fell down the stairs and broke his neck. Except the stairs were too low and little to cause such a grievous injury. Vad became the sole and legal heir of everything since he was already an adult.”   

“Hunter,” the deep, gravel voice from the gazebo had them both turning. Think of the devil was too appropriate a cliché to not even cross her mind. Vad Deverell stood in a black peacoat, collar turned up, his streak of grey hair shining in the moonlight, his face carefully neutral as he watched them both.

“Deverell,” Ajax greeted back in the same tone. “Fu

Vad pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. “Must have been one hell of a conversation, you didn’t even notice me coming.”

“You always were good at sneaking up on these grounds,” Ajax said, his tone hard with a shared history between the two. He tilted his head towards Corvina. “Looks like old Zelda was right after all. You found your purple eyes.”

The sides of Vad’s jaw worked, his cheekbones pushing against his skin. “Let’s hope for your sake she wasn’t right.”

Ajax gripped the railing in his hand, giving Vad a cold smile. “I’m taking my brother and getting the hell off your cursed mountain tomorrow.”

That brought Corvina up short. “His cursed mountain?” she piped in, looking between the two.

“Ah, don’t you know?”

“Don’t,” Vad grit out.

Ajax gave a hard grin. “Verenmore had always belonged to the Deverell family line. It’s not common knowledge but legally, the castle and this mountain, are both his.”