The Peculiar Alchemist

69 || Puppet

The news annoyed Vincent to no end as he hurled one of the books he had at the wall. It was stupid, idiotic even, but for some unknown reason Briar had decided to ruin the best thing she had. She was at an advantage yet she was too stupid to know it.

Because she had just told him that she let Terrance Abbott and his son walk away. Just like that.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" He yelled at her, unable to keep his anger at bay. They were so close, the closest they had ever been to ending that wretched family. "How could you ruin everything?"

Vincent was out of sorts, pacing and holding his head as he muttered things he wanted to scream out loud. These Abbotts, these horrible people, killed all of his family one by one. All because they wanted something more, something better. Everyone would want that. It was normal to strive for something better, but the Abbotts were greedy.

They wanted everything all to themselves and they made sure nobody could get it. The problem is that they're very successful at it. No wonder their connection to necromancy had been kept a secret this long, they were always ten steps ahead.

It could be seen on the look on Briar's face how much she regretted it, but her arm shakily rose and she was pointing somewhere behind her. "I did what he told me to do."

Clearly she didn't know why she had listened, she was reasoning to herself that she did because it was someone Vincent had sent to her, someone that could be trusted. But Vincent immediately caught the whiff of something suspicions, and Kellen, who was standing there watching the whole thing, knew he finally slipped.

It was one tiny mistake he made, one oversight that ruined the whole thing.

He forgot to tell Briar to not mention what he did.

The disgusted look he got did not bother him, it was his mistake that did as he watched Vincent seethe. There was so much he wanted to say, he was about to implode, but he somehow kept a clear mind as he approached Kellen.

"I want the truth, and I want it now." The moment Vincent got close, he got physical and grabbed Kellen by his clothes pulling him away from the wall he was leaning against. Their height difference didn't allow for any real intimidation to happen, however, Vincent was just too angry to care. "Whose side are you on? Why did you tell her to do that?"

The most annoying thing was the impassive look Kellen kept throughout the whole thing, but then he smiled at Vincent and it unsettled him so much.

It made him feel as if he had just made the greatest mistake of his life by trusting him.

How right he was.

"Do you actually want the truth or the sweet lie? I can keep it up if you want. Trust me, it'll make things easier."

This alone was enough proof to Vincent that he had trusted a liar, and that he had been a fool all this time. After every precaution he took, his excitement at finding a real necromancer was his downfall. He should have killed Kellen the moment he followed Toby inside, but for some reason he didn't.

There was no point in regretting anything now.

"Stop with this and just tell me what you want. Didn't you say you disagreed with the Abbotts? Why tell her to set them free?"

It was infuriating how amused Kellen seemed when he spoke. "Ever wondered why she listened?"

His words made Vincent pause for a moment and think. Even Briar herself thought about it. There was no real good reason for her to free them. If they didn't provide any real use to her, the characteristic thing she'd do was to just kill and forget about them. She had killed so many that this was nothing new to her.