Chapter 154: Welcome to the Stiles home

Noah’s POV

We arrive at the Stiles home’s gate, and my feet are suddenly cold. The car is silent but packed with tension, even Kai puts down his phone, and straightens up.

Goddess, I swear I’ll give my future firstborn to you, if you bring us out of this without making a mess.

The gigantic black gate with gold decorations that leads into the house is already open, so our driver moves in without getting permission from the Stiles employees.

I may no longer have romantic feelings for Roman, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s important to me. Roman is still a dear friend to me. He’s still the first person to make me think of romance.

Our driver slows to a stop a bit too close to the house, and I bite down on my bottom lip out of worry.

This is bad.

This is really really bad.

"Here we are, babies. Everyone be on your best behavior, especially you, Malachi" Lucas says cheerfully. He whistles loudly as he opens the door and gets out first. Kai goes down next and I follow, still praying to the goddess for mercy.

I just know Roman is going to hate me forever if anything goes wrong during his father’s burial.

"It’s oddly silent here" Kai says and I nod in agreement.

It’s easy to understand why it’s silent. It’s already late, the sun already sank in the sky hours ago, and the wind is blowing softly.

I wrap my arms around myself and look around. I spot three huge men coming in the direction of our car and I freeze; they seem to be curious about why we’re parking right in front of the dead governor’s house.

And as they approach us, from the corner of my eyes, I see Kai reach for his gun.

’Oh, Goddess. I guess we really can’t have the Deus meeting people without someone dying, can we?’

I shut my eyes briefly to ward off the headache building up.

"Hey! Who are you and what do you want?" one of the men asks and Lucas steps forward with a friendly look on his face. "Hello, we are friends of the governor’s son. Roman is expecting us" he says and the men look at each other.

"We aren’t aware of that" the one who spoke first says aggressively.

"Tell him Noah Deus is here to see him" Lucas says and I cringe at the name. I keep forgetting that I’m a Deus now. I wear Elias’s ring, yet I keep forgetting that I bear his name.

"Deus?" the one in the middle echoes the name like it’s a mysterious word, and Kai lifts his head to show his face. "Deus as in...the Gods?" the guard asks with realization.

"We don’t want any problems. I just need to see Roman" I speak up and they all turn their attentions to me. Their eyes take a moment to scan me before they look at each other again.

"You can go in" the one who has been silent all along says and I give him a thankful nod.

Phew. No dead bodies...yet.

Thank goodness this hurdle has been crossed. Kai puts his gun back into the holster and we continue our walk to the big white building.

I look to the side of the compound to find the cherry blossom tree with pretty pink flowers, but it’s gone.

It’s not just gone; it looks like it was cut down with a chainsaw. There’s still a stump left behind and it looks like the person left it behind intentionally.

"See what I did there, Wigglytuff? That cut was fucking clean" Lucas says as he puts his arm around me and I slam my elbow into his side.

"Ouch. What was that for?" he hisses and I give him a side eye.

"That was my tree" I snap.

"Elias gave the order and I simply followed through. I swear I’m innocent" he says with a grin that feels like he’s telling a big lie. I don’t even know why I bother with these people. They’re all insane.

Someone opens the door for us and we walk in together. As soon as we get closer to the living area, we get greeted by Roman’s older sister, Lily. A philanthropist and mother of two.

"What is the meaning of this, Deus?" she asks with raw anger in her tone.

"Visitation; etymology..." Kai responds as if he’s a dictionary, and just like I did outside, I move forward to speak for my team.

"Lily. They brought me here to see Roman" I say and her eyes fill with tears.

"They told me you’re now one of the Deus family members...I didn’t think it would really be the truth" she says with bitterness in her tone and I bow my head in shame.

"I just wanted to give my condolences and see my best friend" I whisper and she laughs briskly. She sounds like she doesn’t believe me. It hurts to get this kind of reaction from the same woman who treats you like a baby brother.

"You came with them the last time they attacked my family. Are you happy with yourself?"

"Lily Stiles" Kai says her name dryly, and she growls at him.

"We have been driving for over ten hours, and I am irritable" the youngest Deus says and Lily looks at him with utter disbelief.

"We came for one burial; I would hate to add one more body to it" he says and she shakes her head slowly. Her mouth is hanging open, and I know she’s wondering how it’s possible for a kid to be this...evil.

"We’ll prepare the guest rooms for you" she says after a second of considering what to say in response.

"What about Roman? Where is he?" I ask the important question, and she gives me a cold look in response. "My brother is in mourning. I’d appreciate it if you stay away from him" she says and walks away.

I watch her swaying ponytail and let out a heavy sigh.

Yup, she hates me now.

The three of us wait quietly till three maids join us. They help us with our things, and I get to have a guest room that’s right between Lucas and Kai’s.

Once I’m all alone in the big room, I fall into the soft bed and sigh. I’m exhausted in every way

I know I should take a shower, but I wish Elias was here. If he was here, he would have carried me into the bathroom. He would one hundred percent say something rude, but he would definitely help me with washing up.

A sudden buzzing noise fills the room, and I sit up.

Buzz.

The sound comes again and I frown in confusion. What on earth is that noise?

I get out of the bed and trace the noise till I stop in front of my own bag of clothes. My heart is racing and my palms are starting to sweat. Is it a bomb? Is this how bombs work? Am I dying here?

The buzzing finally stops and starts again after a few seconds.

"Oh" I whisper with relief as I realize what the buzzing is similar to.

It’s a phone, not a bomb. I breathe a short laugh and start to search in the bag for the device. When I pull it out, a smile stretches across my face.

Kai snuck his phone into my bag and now, Elias is calling.