Chapter 15: Chapter Thirteen—Impulses: Part I

“This looks good, right?” Chloe asked, spinning in her black slacks and beige silk blouse with a few buttons undone before leaning on the couch in the living room.

The formal office wear shamefully piqued my attention. She wasn’t wearing a hat, and the ears added to the cuteness. Chloe was easy on the eyes. I enjoyed just taking in her unique features, and I often got lost in thought of her beauty since I first saw her. The oval shape of her eyes had an exoticness to them. Her dark, full lashes made it seem like she was wearing eyeliner when she wasn’t. She didn’t have a drop of imperial blood. Her whole appearance was foreign to me.

I stared at her rolling up my dress shirt’s white sleeves. “Can you meow?”

Chloe frowned, “Seriously.”

“Just give me a little one,” I said with a smirk, sliding my hands into the pockets of my slacks.

“Cyrus…” We stood there in the middle of my living room, staring at each other for a minute before she shook her head, “meow.” She said unamused.

“You didn’t meow. You just said meow,” I frowned, trying to hold my amusement in.

“No.”

“So, you can. You’re pretending you can’t.”

Chloe walked over, gesturing for me to bend down. I obeyed as she put her lips to my ear. “You gotta make it past first base for that,” she whispered, continuing past me and picking her black brim hat off the counter. “Ready?”

I let out a suppressed laugh before escorting her to Edwin’s office.

***

We stopped at the door as she nervously rubbed her nails. I put my knuckles up to the door. “Are you ready?” I asked, and she nodded. Edwin was quick to tell me to enter after knocking, and he didn’t glance up once as we approached his desk. This made me slightly uneasy.

“Yes?” he asked, continuing to write on a paper. He had been swamped lately, and I was unsure of why. This, however, was going to benefit me.

“I need you to give my friend a job that pays her a human wage,” I said, and he looked up at me before glancing over at Chloe.

“Nekoami and Sunbourne, interesting. You have no human in you, correct?”

Chloe froze in place, “I do not. How did you—”

“I’ve visited the Sunbourne capital, and you are very Sunbourne,” Edwin interrupted, moving his attention to me. “Would the law demand that she gets paid correctly if she is illegal?”

“Shit,” Chloe mumbled, glancing over at me, worry and fear evident in her face.

“She is not human, meaning she is an unauthorised Sunbourne and we are at war with the Sunbourne,” Edwin said, staring intensely at Chloe. “Are you a spy?”

The air became thick as I lifted my hand to static arcing to different fingers. Edwin’s face was locked onto Chloe, as I could sense his anima pouring out, and time appeared to slow. I felt like I would need to step back from the pressure coming off him.

“I… am… not,” Chloe stumbled out, shaking her head quickly, on the verge of trembling from how nervous she felt.

The pressure stopped in the snap of a finger.

Edwin’s head swiftly rotated to me like an owl, “tea or coffee.”

“Coffee.” I fired back, knowing he’d test me.

“Dammit, it didn’t work on you,” Edwin murmured, turning back to Chloe. “You’re telling the truth.”

She nodded, still shaking from the experience.

“Edwin?” I said, staring down at my hand, “something different happened this time around, it wasn’t you trying to make me tell the truth.”

“Like what?” He asked, pulling out his pen and a notepad.

“Your anima had pressure, and everything slowed. Then, my element started reacting to something, and my hand sparked.”

Edwin stood up abruptly, slamming his hand on the desk, making Chloe jump. “Your element thought you were in danger!” He blurted out.

I stared blankly at him. “How did you get that from what I told you? Stop being so excited. It’s weird.”

“The Divinity has this characteristic where if someone with high anima uses too much around her, the element activates, causing her to hyper heal, becoming immortal in the absolute sense,” Edwin said excitedly, “but you dropped so much anima in front of her on that roof, and she didn’t react.”

“Did you ask her that?” I said, a little unconvinced. Edwin liked to piece things together, and he was extraordinary at making unrelated things fit. While he sometimes found this in his favour, he was reaching most of the time.

Edwin smiled, “I did, and she said no, the hyper heal didn’t happen.”

“So, The Divinity sees me as an ally.”

“Connecting all these things answers the question. You definitely hold the element of darkness. However, I still have no clue what that means entirely,” Edwin said, standing up, “But it needs a better name. We just don’t call Divinity the element of light or energy.”

It’d stay as The Darkness.

“Um, guys. So, if I’m going to be imprisoned, I’d rather get it over with,” Chloe said weakly, waving at us, “And I never heard what was just talked about.”

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“Did you not want a job?” Edwin asked, sitting down and going back to his paper. “Can you read? Count?”

“But I am here illegally,” she questioned, glancing over at me.

Edwin put his pen down. “Did you not think I would check your residency?”

“I have a fake residency card, but… it’s of no use now since you know that I am not part human,” Chloe said, mumbling the last part.

Edwin sighed. “I will get you citizenship, but your Sunbourne side is only 1/4, understood?”

Chloe nodded quickly, “Yes, sir.”

“You will help me sort my documents for prioritisation,” Edwin said, scooting a paper towards her. “Write what you want your name to be and give me your age.” Chloe took the forms quickly and pushed it back to Edwin before he read it, “Chloella Aylvan. 20,” he nodded.

“I go by Chloe,” she said shyly, working herself behind me now. I understood her fear; Edwin had an intensity at times, but I had overgrown it. Edwin hated it, but I enjoyed aggravating him occasionally. He was the big brother I didn’t ask for.

Edwin gestured at me as he gave me a severe expression. I sauntered over, getting ready for an ear full. “Do not spend that much again without telling me,” he said in a low tone as he stared at me in the eyes.

“Sorry.”

“It has nothing to do with the number but the fact a native student has that buying power at the school,” he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You owe me after this.”

“Owe you?”

“If I need a favour, I’ll ask. Favour for a favour?” Edwin said, and I nodded, knowing it would not be just a favour. I hope Chloe was happy because I just sold my soul.

Edwin explained how this will work in meticulous detail before we left the room. As we came out, Chloe squealed, jumping around. She gave me the biggest smile. “Is it too soon to say I love you?”

“I would wait for Edwin to be his insufferable self before you lip those words,” I chuckled.

We travelled back to my room in some awkward silence. Edwin had asked her to stay at my place until tomorrow. First, he had to get an apartment, not in the maid’s quarters. Then, he had to erase memories of Chloe from the maid staff on top of getting the citizenship. Luckily, she kept to herself, so that wasn’t as big of a deal as it could have been.

As we came to the door, May stood in front. I knew this would happen at some point, but I didn’t expect it to happen this soon. May turned around to me, and I saw a mix of worry and anger on her face. I had told her there wasn’t any other girl, yet there was another girl. The question of whether Chloe and I were platonic was coming up, and I was still deciding how I wanted to navigate those waters.

“Am I interrupting?” May asked, folding her hands in front of her in her school clothes.

“No, what’s going on?”

“I came by a couple of days ago, and you were missing,” she said, averting her eyes from mine.

Thank god, she didn’t come by yesterday. It was Edwin for sure now who took care of the clothes.

“I’m sorry, I might have been sleeping,” I replied, glancing over to Chloe, who was just frozen in place. I think even more so than with Edwin.

“Can I spend the night?” May asked, which made Chloe huff and May glared over at her, “Yes, Animal? Share with the class.”

Chloe put her palms towards May, “Nothing. Sorry,” she said, submitting to May’s glare.

“What the fuck, May?” I shouted, wholly shocked those words left her mouth.

May looked at me, confused. “It’s an animal, and it thinks it can seduce you. It’s disgusting.”

“She’s human,” I said, highly irritated. How dare she say that to her.

“It’s a house cat at best, Cyrus,” May snapped, shaking her head at me with an expression of aversion. Her face slides into a look of shock. “Cyrus, you’ve done nothing with it, right?”

I pointed down the hall. “Get the fuck out of my way,” I commanded as my finger shook; I was beyond angry.

“Are you serious?” May said as fear took over. She had never seen me raise my voice like this, and I don’t think I had ever been this infuriated.

“Yes. You stepped over the line with my friend. Human or not, I enjoy her company, and you don’t disrespect her. Go be a cunt somewhere else.”

May looked over at Chloe, still looking at the ground. “Fine, Cyrus—I’m going on a date tonight,” she said, giving me her intense glare.

I said nothing to that. She didn’t deserve a response if she were that petty, and I would not give her one.

She just nodded her head at me. “You don’t seem to be distressed over it.” She stormed off.

Chloe tugged the bottom of my shirt. “Go tell her not to go on the date.”

I shook my head at Chloe. “What… why? She just insulted you.”

“I don’t want to be the reason you stop being friends—your heart started beating fast at the word date,” she said with a look of desperation. “Don’t mess this up, Cyrus,” Chloe pleaded as I ignored her, walking into my apartment.

Chloe followed meekly into my apartment as I spent the rest of my day in my room, and she stayed in the living room. It was childish to throw a tantrum, but I was devastated by how May acted. She showed some true colours there, and I didn’t like it. She had never talked down to someone like that before. I was so embarrassed by her actions. Her hate took away from my character because she’s a friend and someone I care for.

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