Adrian slowly moved towards Simon, saying, "You manipulate my sister, betray the goodwill of my wife, and threaten my child."
Simon retorted, "But they're still alive, isn't it? Unlike Steven, who you left to die!"
"You called me here to talk, isn't it? Let them go and we'll discuss."
"Blood for blood, lord!" Simon yelled. "I called you here," he explained, "to allow you to negotiate over which of the three you love the most will die tonight."
Adrian smiled. "You do know we are far from human, right? Alyssa didn't put that display for show."
Simon shook slightly, the memory of Alyssa's bestial features returning to mind.
He took a deep breath and said, "You expect me to believe that one in the head won't kill you monsters?"
Alyssa gestured to Erica, who got up with Aether, and they made to leave the restaurant.
A shot rang out, and a bullet lodged itself in the wall, missing Erica's head by a wide margin, but they got the message.
"Nobody leaves till one dies," Simon said.
Adrian finally recalled the man's reiterations about his brother.
After a while, he said, "You're Steven Bourne's brother. I liked that one."
"Yet you allowed him to burn to death? You promised to help him and left him in the dirt! You protect your family with all your strength but I'm not allowed to avenge my own?"
Suddenly, Adrian was right in front of him, and Simon felt a tight grip on his shoulder before flying into another set of tables.
He coughed out a little blood, his grip on the gun tightening.
"I never let Steven die, you idiot! Yes, I didn't help him sooner, but that was because he used my name without my consent! But I did not cast him away! Tell me, did you ever find his body, or you hugged the closest corpse you found?" Adrian yelled.
...
Houston Fire
The house had been guarded by four men tasked to ensure that Steven would not escape.
Adrian arrived just as the house was about to fully be engulfed in fire.
The fire brigade, for some reason, hadn't come yet, and he had a suspicion it wouldn't.
He had killed the men and cast their corpses into the fire, then rushed into the living room, where Steven's coughing seemed to be coming from.
He was bound to a chair, flames licking the ceiling to the right, smoke causing his eyes to water.
Adrian called, "Steven!" as he neared the room.
"Help!" Steven called feebly and almost inaudibly.
The ceiling partially fell just as Adrian arrived, and he leapt to the floor, the falling flames narrowly missing him.
The smoke clouded his vision, and his eyes glowed red.
He found Steven, who was falling unconscious.
"I'm here, let's get you out."
Adrian carried him out, but hadn't gone out of the house completely before the gas pipes melted and the house blew up, violently expelling the men from the building.
Steven landed on a broken plank, piercing his abdomen.
Adrian had three of them lodged in his leg and chest.
He gritted his teeth and pulled them out with a suppressed yell of pain.
"Steven!" He crawled over to the dying man.
Steven whispered, "My brother..... help.... him..."
Adrian asked, "What's his name?"
Steven couldn't answer, blood welling up in his mouth.
He became lifeless.
Adrian gritted his teeth. " I promised to help you, and yet here you are. I broke my word, but I promise you this. If I ever find your brother, I will help him."
...
"I buried him myself," Adrian concluded. "I waited for the brother to come to me, but he never did. And now you stand in front of me, threatening the lives of my family."
"Lies! You make up a story to portray yourself as righteous so I feel mercy for you?" Simon indignantly tried to get up, only to fall back down.
"I could show you the grave."
"Fine," Simon said, "but if what you say is true, then why didn't you do anything about it? Why didn't you go after Rick Colton, the man who started all this!?"
Adrian replied, "I can't just do anything, Simon! He'd have to be arrested, and there was no tangible evidence to link him to the fire!"
Simon visibly calmed. "You really went after him?" he asked.
"I did, and I'm sorry," Adrian replied.
.....
Alyssa and Erica had snuck out and gotten to their car.
"Stay here with Aether," Alyssa said. "I'm going back for Adrian."
....
She came back in, and saw that the two men seemed to have de-escalated tensions.
"Aren't you two fast friends," she said, walking over.
Simon got up, and Adrian caught him before he fell again.
The man trembled, prompting Adrian to ask, "Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...." Simon said as he raised the gun and shot Adrian in the chest.
"No!" Alyssa screamed, and made towards Simon, to feel a searing agony as a bullet lodged itself in her left leg.
"I'm so sorry, lord," Simon said over and over again to Adrian, who lay on the floor, hand on his chest, breathing lightly.
Every deep breath pushed a shard of his ribcage towards his lungs.
Alyssa spoke one word, "Why?"
"Colton came to me after my brother died. He...he said he would restore to me the business he had destroyed, the one Steven had, and he'd give me 12 million to support me. All I had to do was kill Adrian so the Graystones' business empire would fall and allow him to take a significant share of it.
" Of course, it sounded horrible, but I had nothing to lose, Steven was already dead, and I hated Lord Adrian so much I took the deal. So I got close to Erica, so I could use her as leverage to get a little something from you lot before killing you and getting my reward. Then I saw the baby."
....
Erica sat in the car, listening to the conversation, tears falling down her face.
Aether raised his hand to her face, and she kissed it.
'Can't believe the baby's the one comforting me now.'
"Aether, I want you to stay here, okay?"
She put the baby in the car seat, and got out, picking up a broken piece of wood.
"This was never about your dead brother, was it?" Alyssa asked, fuming.
Simon replied, "This has everything to do with him! Right now, I will avenge him, and regain what he built!"
Alyssa tried to crawl to her husband, and Simon yelled, "Don't go near him!"
Adrian groaned in pain, lying still as his shattered ribs came back together.
In a few minutes, he'd be able to pry the bullet from his chest without endangering his life.
"You've suffered long, I'll end it quickly. I'm really sorry, lord." Simon pointed the gun to Adrian's head.
An object whistled through the air and shattered the window from outside, punching into Simon's chest and sending him to the floor.
Erica jumped in and rushed to her brother.
"Adrian! Are you okay?"
Alyssa pulled the bullet out of her leg and crawled to her husband, then extricated the bullet from his chest.
Adrian got up, held up by the ladies, then went over to Simon, who lay dying.
"Thanks to you, I've realized that I've become too soft among humans. Your death, meaningless as it is, heralds Colton's own demise. Enjoy the flames of Hades, Simon."
Simon's eyes glassed over, and Adrian got up, wrapped his arms on the shoulders of his wife and sister, and limped to the car, where Aether slept peacefully.
Adrian sat next to the baby and smiled.
"By the gods, nothing will harm you, little wolf. Not while I live."