Chapter 99: Aching Relief
Xavier leaned back in the hovertaxi seat, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded as the skyline of Astraeus blurred past. The city pulsed with neon and filth, but for once, he felt... light. Not happy—fuck no—but light.
He muttered under his breath, "It’s ’cause I hated Leonardo the least... that I killed him first."
He tilted his head to the side, staring out the glass as towers zipped past like frozen lightning bolts. "Guy didn’t even have a hobby. No spine. No real ambition. Just a parasite, clinging to whoever was climbing fastest. And when that person stopped climbing...? Jump to the next. Snake. Leech. Fuckin’ disgusting."
A chuckle escaped him. He closed his eyes for a second, replaying the expression on Maximilian’s face—the shock, the betrayal, the horror—and then Dominic’s too, standing there like his world was crumbling apart. Xavier’s grin widened.
"Not gonna kill Maximilian yet," he whispered to himself. "He’s my golden pig. Still got some juice left in him."
A while later, the taxi touched down at the drop station near Nexus Tower. The sky was already dim, city noise pulsing below like a mechanical heartbeat.
Xavier made his way to the second floor of the old apartment. It was dinner time, and he expected the place to be empty like always, with Lilia and Lyra probably busy at the restaurant on the 10th floor. But when he opened the door, he found them inside.
And not just them—Eamon was there too.
Xavier blinked in surprise. Eamon—the old man who rarely came home and barely had time to breathe between metro shifts—was sitting there, sharing food with them. It wasn’t a fancy dinner or anything, more like a cheap one-minute snack Eamon had probably picked up on the way. Still, it was something.
Eamon looked like shit. Tired, worn down. But he came home today. And even brought food.
Xavier couldn’t help but respect that.