Chapter 10
"You did what?!"
At Olivia's shrill scream, Anya only stared at the angel with wide, innocent eyes.
"What?"
"Let me get this straight," Olivia said, doing her best to remain calm. "Not only did you send Little Gilly out of this realm for a date, but you also sent William after her, knowing full well he's barely hanging on..."
While everyone – and she meant everyone – who occupied the castle stared at her, Anya simply smiled, buffed her nails, and said, "That's right."
With fire in her blue eyes, Olivia started to rise from her seat – presumably to attack Anya – but Aeron reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Angel."
That was all it took and she was back in her seat.
"Explain yourself, Anya," Aeron demanded.
"What is there to explain?" She asked. "Everyone here knows that Gilly has been ga-ga over Willy for a year. And unless you're completely blind, you might've noticed that William isn't exactly immune to those feelings?"
No one said a word. Anya almost laughed at the mixture of expressions facing her. Most of them had shock written all over their faces. The more observant members of the household just looked at her like she'd opened up a can of worms – or Pandora's Box itself! Ha!
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
The voice that bellowed out at her came from Maddox, the keeper of Violence. A lesser woman would have shrunk at the menace in his tone. But not Anya. She straightened her back and gave him her coolest stare.
"Listen. Gilly is determined to move on from everything bad that happened to her. Would you rather it be with some boy who can't protect her or William, someone who would die to do so?"
"You know as well as everyone here that his death is certain if he falls in love with her," Maddox reminded her.
"He can't avoid love forever. It's time he finds a way to break the curse. In all these centuries, he's never even tried. All I've done is give him a reason to do so." It was all part of her master plan. She adored Willy, and she wanted him around. Few understood her quite like he did. Plus, it was really fun kicking his ass at Guitar Hero.
Olivia wasn't ready to accept Anya's reasoning. "I have been looking after Gilly for years, Anya. You know everything she has gone through, but you don't know what it has done to her. You don't know how vulnerable she is-"
"I know full well," she snapped. She was losing her patience. "Just as well as I know that she needs William almost as much as he needs her. Love doesn't make sense. It doesn't always happen when you want it to – something that most of you have personal experience with, you know. Who are you to deny them happiness?"
The room went silent. Just then, a loud thump came from upstairs. Anya smiled.
"See? They made it home safely." Then, she looked at the group seriously. "I'll do everything I can to help William break his curse, okay? I'll stop toying with his book. Will you help me?"
One by one, everyone in the group agreed to help her except for Maddox who had slipped away amidst the argument. Anya felt her stomach turn to lead. Oh, no.
Where had Violence gone?