Free Web NovelChapter 262: _Momzilla
[Well, that was a disaster if I’ve ever seen one...]
’Aura, not now.’
[What? You basically outed yourself to the homophobic mother of one of the males you’re supposed to create a soul-binding permanent link with. I’m being realistic.]
’No, you’re being a distraction.’ He was currently outside Tristan’s house, dialling Devon’s number.
Soon the S-Rank picked. "Finally, you called." Devon nearly yelled. "Rose, where the heck are you guys?"
"Canada. I thought I told Viktor that."
"Yeah, you did," The snark was hot enough to melt off the rest of Earth’s ice caps. "But you didn’t tell me not to mention it was impromptu."
"Well, never mind that. I won’t be here for long."
"Never mind that? Rose, I swear—"
Ambrose pressed the phone’s speaker against his chest. He squinted as his enhanced hearing picked up parts of the conversation being had in Tristan’s living room.
A little more concentration and he could hear everything.
"Mom, can you quit making this a big deal? Jesus." Gabriel’s voice filtered in.
"Jesus?" His mother snapped. "I bet he’ll have a lot of things to say about... about that heathen you’ve brought into this house."
"Mom!"
"He’s gay, Gabriel. As if that ain’t enough he said something about having multiple boyfriends."
"He only said he’s calling ’one’ of his boyfriends."
"Yeah. Which implies multiple boyfriends."
"Mother!"
"He’s promiscuous and a homo. Is this the kind of people you surround yourself with now?"
Ambrose drew in a deep breath.
It was taking everything in him not to storm in there and give that woman a piece of his mind.
"Hello?" Devon’s voice blared through the speaker despite it being blocked. "Did you even catch any of that?"
Ambrose brought the phone back to his ear. "Not really. I’m kinda in the middle of something here."
"... Do I even want to know?"
"Don’t worry. I’ll catch you up once I get back," the Guide sighed. "Where’s Valentine though?"
"He left shortly after finding out about the whole permanent link thing."
Of course.
Looks like the universe was once again proving to him that he couldn’t catch a break for even one fucking day.
"I’ll... I’ll be there soon. Okay? Please, I promise I’ll explain."
"Rose—"
"I love you. Bye."
He hung up, raising his head until he was staring blankly at the porch’s ceiling.
"Come on, Rose." He inhaled through his mouth. "It’s just a momzilla. You’re good with handling those."
[Except Viktor’s mother wasn’t preparing exorcism materials for you... as far as we know anyway.]
With one final calming word to himself, Ambrose opened the living room door.
Silence welcomed him.
Pressuring.
Suffocating as hell.
Gabriel was standing.
Tristan was as well.
Their mother was sitting on a chair in front of them. While Adriana sat awkwardly on the couch opposite Mrs Silverstone.
No one said a word or even breathed too loudly for several seconds. They just stayed in the overwhelming silence as though someone died.
That’s until Adriana cleared her throat, adjusting her sitting position.
"Uhm. I made pie, by the way." She cut each of them a hesitant look. "Does anyone want pie?"
★★★★★
Phoenix Flight HQ
Next stop for Loki that day was Ambrose Hale’s former Guild. Just stepping into the lobby alone they were able to feel how much different it was compared to Steel Falcon.
The place was crawling with B and even A-Ranks. Not exactly impressive to them.
Not why they were here anyway.
"Did you hear about Guide Han Jae-won?" Someone whispered to his friend while Loki walked past.
They wore a female disguise this time, blending in as a random Hunter in the Guild. In this form—named Delilah—Loki had already gotten loads of prolonged stares.
And oh, was she loving the attention.
Anyway, she listened in on the conversation while pretending to be on her phone.
"Yeah. God, if it’s true that’s terrible."
"Terrible would be an understatement. Guide Han Jae-won was easily the most formidable A-Rank Guide in the country."
Delilah arched her brow.
Looks like this Jae-won guy was more important than the pantheon originally thought.
"I heard the Guild master is going to give an official statement soon. Y’know... to address the loss."
Delilah got so caught up with listening that she barely noticed the person in front of her. Until it was too late.
"Oh. I’m sorry." She gasped dramatically, placing a hand on her forehead. However, the corner of her eyes wrinkled when she took in the guy she bumped into.
At first glance, she knew he was S-Rank. Other than that he was also around the same height as her—in heels—and had a lustful glint in his eyes that she immediately noticed.
"The apology is all mine to make," the S-Rank grabbed her hand softly, pressing a kiss on her tender knuckles. "The name’s Augustus. I assume you should know of me since I’m one of the Guild’s disciplinary officers. But you seem... new."
Delilah was about to withdraw her hand and move on with her mission. But she noticed something... odd about the guy. Something intense.
Not to mention she was bored out of her mind.
So—
★★★★★
As expected, Delilah didn’t have to speak much for Augustus to take her to his suite. The moment he opened the door he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in.
They began kissing wildly, the S-Rank’s hands roaming her body.
Internally Loki couldn’t help but think: ’Not a bad kisser...’
"Fuck, I’ve been so distracted," Augustus grunted into her painted lips, struggling to take off his shirt. "Between normal Guild duties and searching for clues to burst that suspicious C-Rank, I’ve been too occupied for this. For fun."
Delilah’s brows knitted at that.
Wait a minute.
"Mm, mm... sorry." She pulled away, her frown deepening. "Suspicious C-Rank?"
Her charm aura was more than enough to get the man talking. "Pfft. He’s called Ambrose Hale. Before that bastard Jae-won died he led me to find out there was more to the Guide than meets the eye."
He leaned in with a proud smirk. "I’m talking about a potential second reawakening. Hidden in plain sight."
The Delilah mask almost instantly slipped.
Loki had heard enough.
They pulled Augustus into a kiss, their fingers digging hard into his shoulders. The latter kissed back—but noticed too late that his eyes were getting unusually heavy.
"W–What are you doing—"
Augustus fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Loki shifted back to their base form, staring down at the S-Rank with disdain. And a little bit of curiosity.
"Looks like I’ve found yet another suspect." Their lips curved. "Just my lucky day. Basically delivered himself to me."
