“You have no proof she has taken them as lovers, anyway,” Colt’s father stated evenly to the House of Runes, not meeting the gaze of his son, who was looking at him with frustration. “Don’t go around accusing our sons of something when your own is practically painted in blood.”
“Because he knows his place,” Finias’ mother hissed.
I didn’t know Finias well, but from the way he was staring at King Marcelo, mixed with his reputation, I seriously felt like warning Nico’s father that he might not survive the night. Not that it would be a loss in any way, shape, or form.
It was then that Ama made the decision she had heard enough. I felt her before I saw her, my entire body shifting forward as she darted down from where she’d been waiting and watching, landing silently as King Marcelo continued to rant and rave. Something I was no longer listening to. She stretched to her full height from crouching, snapping her wings shut as she offered the man a disgusted look and strode towards him.
It was obvious how upset she was about everything she’d heard and, in part, I wished she hadn’t been able to hear the vile shit they had spewed. The room had gone quiet except for Nico’s father. She circled the man, watching him with a predatorial energy and causing him to jolt and go silent. I couldn’t lie, the woman looked deadly right now, dressed completely in black with heeled boots that were absolutely lethal looking. Beneath the tough exterior, though, I saw vulnerability and hurt.
Her bruised neck was on display, as she’d boldly chosen to wear a tank top instead of the turtle neck she had been debating over. But the downlighting cast a shadow from her chin over her neck. That, in combination with her dark locks pulled to the front, concealed the bruising ever so slightly.
When Ama pointed to the King of Sin’s seat, he practically sprinted away from her. She looked around the room, pausing on Nico for a minute, before addressing all of us. I didn’t miss the hurt in her eyes when she’d looked at the Incubus. Yeah, he was going to suffer for that admission that he had been told to seduce her.
“If you don’t mind, House of Runes, I would like to speak before you do,” she said emotionlessly as everyone watched her with equal measures of fear and awe. The awe might have been from the six of us men, to be fair. When they didn’t respond, she nodded sharply and stood in front of the podium, clearly trying to sort through what to say. Or, at least appearing to—I knew Ama knew exactly what to say.
“I had mulled quite some time over who to vote for, since I can’t vote for our own house,” she stated softly before looking at the House of Fallen. “My first thought was the House of Fallen because, despite their clear distaste for me, I can’t deny that they are fantastic leaders. I had also considered the House of Hellfire, as their military capabilities and strategy far outweigh any of the other houses. Then, of course, there was the House of Shadows, which is made up of some of the most level-headed and calm individuals I know.”
Except when I imagined stripping her bare and devouring every inch of her. But sure, calm.
“But do you know who I never considered?” She offered a tight smile to Runes and Sin. “Both of your houses, and surprisingly, it's not because of your open hatred of me. No, it's because, while you preach about purity, you dirty your hands every day. You are the ones who can’t earn anything fairly, always cheating or scheming your way into positions of power. Just like you did when you became additional houses to this realm. You were never meant to be, and you know it.”
Her eyes flashed to me, and I nodded. The words had an obvious impact, and the entire room seemed to freeze. Then Nico shifted to stare at his parents in confusion. Finias seemed unsurprised, but I could tell Damien, Drayven, and Colt were all startled by this revelation. I had made a promise to my parents to never reveal the truth, but this had been the right time. It proved one of many of the motivations for what they had done.
“Last night,” she breathed out and chuckled humorlessly, “I had thought something was off at the ball. As you know, your sons are reasonable and level-headed men, but last night, everyone’s emotions were heightened and messy because King Marcelo was trying to play all of us. Trying to make all of us look bad.”
The man didn’t deny it, which was essentially a confirmation. In fact, his smile almost made me think he was proud of his actions, and it filled me with a blood lust that had nothing to do with his magic.
“Then,” Ama pointed out, “the greatest cheat of all. The House of Runes tried to have me killed.” She reached up and pulled her dark hair behind her, completely revealing the ugly mottled bruising that showed a clear attempt at strangulation. My mother’s gasp rang in my ears, and I squeezed her shoulder in comfort, keeping my eyes on Ama.
Finias’ father stood, but Ama put up her hand, silencing him. “Clearly, the House of Sin and House of Runes have been working together, and they managed to get me alone, away from everyone else, so that an assassin could attack me in my own bedroom. All because you couldn’t stomach the idea of me winning this vote.”
Finias’ father scoffed, so nonchalant that I was absolutely baffled when he said, “You have no proof of that.”
Why weren’t they freaking out more about this coming to light?
“The assassin was from our house,” Finias countered. With a snarl, his mother grabbed his hair, yanking hard and causing him to grunt. I stood, feeling disgusted at the clear act of abuse and intending to defend Finias, but Ama beat me to it.
She was across the room, throwing Queen Ava off Finias. The woman hit the wall and slid down, offering a careless laugh.
“Do not touch him,” Ama growled. “You abusive fuck head.”
“So what?” King Roarke retorted.
“So what?” Ama hissed.
“You don’t deserve to be alive. You are not natural. You’re sick and disgusting.”
“And how, exactly, did you plan to explain how I had been killed, when your house is known for having assassins? Did you think you would escape suspicion?” Ama demanded, looking furious.
Queen Ava stood and stepped forward, bleeding from the head as she sneered. “No, you foolish girl. We just didn’t care if they suspected us. Do you want to know why?”
“Enlighten me, bitch.”
“Because no one who opposed us was going to leave this room alive in the first place.” The woman’s smile grew wider as King Roarke shouted a command. Suddenly, glass shattered and doors were thrown open.
Fuck. They had planned on killing all of us. We had read the situation entirely wrong, and now we were going to pay for it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ama
Ever have one of those moments where everything seems to slow almost to a stop while happening in a blink of an eye? I was there. I was completely in one of those moments.
The sound of glass shattering and doors being thrown open echoed through the room, alongside the screams of some of the people within. I immediately ducked down, feeling glass pelt and bounce off me, my wings defensively shooting out to shield me as my magic roared to life. I could hear shouting around me, and for a split second, I considered dipping out.
It was absolutely a selfish desire, but after everything I'd been through, the urge to flee instead of fighting was a steady pulse. After a moment, though, it was gone, and I snapped my head up when Drayven shouted my name. The panicked outbursts and sudden crashing of chairs as people tried to move away from the edges of the room seemed to fade into the background as I met Drayven's dark gaze, noting the green magic already pulsing in his eyes. The massive Reaper leapt over the table, landing next to me. One large hand wrapped around my waist and tugged me against him as his scythe appeared in the other.
I found myself caught off guard by the tension and quiet, lethal energy running through him. I didn't find many things scary, but Drayven right now was truly terrifying— and that, I found, really turned me on. So not the time, Ama.
"I'm fine," I assured him, keeping my voice firm as I placed a hand on his chest in order
to step back. As sexy as I found it, now was absolutely not the time or place for him to go all caveman on my ass and not allow me to fight. We had bigger fish to fry, and by that, I meant absolutely destroying the obvious traitors to the realm who had ordered this attack.
Swarms of Dark Elves, outfitted in all black, surrounded us from all sides, silently stepping over broken glass as they watched us with a quiet intensity. There was an edge in the air, and I could practically hear them waiting for a command from their master like a pack of dogs. Some had daggers in their hands, while others were surrounded by various forms of magic that seemed to pulse and jump from their fingers like dangerous electric storms. All of them had tattooed runes, but I noticed once again that no one had as many as Finias. Thinking back to my tutoring session with Otto, I gathered that this meant Finias was the most powerful of his house.
The full extent of the situation hit me then. Holy shit. The Dark Elves really had betrayed us. Not just me either...literally everyone. I swallowed, feeling completely lost for the first time., My gaze searched the rest of the room, seeking the men who had become so important to me in such a short period of time.
Adrien had pushed his parents behind him, shadows wrapping around them as King Victor kept his arms around Queen Adira, tucking her into his chest protectively. His gaze met mine momentarily, all previous emotion gone and fear and fury now dancing in his icy eyes instead. I wasn't naive enough to think the fear was for himself—I knew it was for his parents, and possibly even for me. The fury though, that one was far more dangerous. It was one that spelled death for everyone in this room.
My only concern was that he would get himself killed in the process.
I jolted at a low, dangerous growl. Drayven let me have a few inches of space, his gaze meeting mine before he nodded sharply. I called my scythe, the feel of the familiar metal in my hand and the power pulsating through me helping ground me, and I realized why Drayven had been okay with letting go.
Damien's massive Hellhound frame was now covering my other side as he pressed his nose against my leg, sniffing me. I had a feeling he was scenting for blood to see if I was injured. I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. Possibly annoyed, but also stupidly warm and fuzzy because Damien was once again trying to protect me. Very confusing, indeed. When he snapped his massive teeth, I froze, staring at the dangerous weapons and listening to the deep, low growl coming from his throat as he glared at the nearest threat. A few elves who had ventured far too close for comfort.
I wasn't going to analyze why I found his blatantly terrifying behavior so damn sexy.
Also, was it just me, or were there an insane number of elves filling the room? The numbers alone were terrifying, and that wasn't even considering the blatant powers they exhibited.
Colt's father slammed his hand on the table, his voice low and thunderous, "What is the meaning of this?!"
My gaze jumped to Colt, who had his body wedged between his mother and the nearing Dark Elves, a storm brewing in his gaze as he looked around, seeming to calculate what his next move was. I would absolutely love to know what he thought because I was clueless at this point. Colt might have been a frustrating bastard, but I would absolutely follow his command if he found a way for us all to get out of here safe and sound.
"Save your words," the Queen of Sin laughed, looking absolutely elated and almost manic. I could feel her energy from here, and anger surged through me. Were they going to use their Incubus and Succubus powers to influence those around us? To try to make us more pliable to their wishes? If they did that...well, I wouldn't hesitate to lose my shit.
Rather the opposite. That would give me every inch of justification to hurt them.
"No," Colt's father hissed. "You think your little plan will be successful!?"
Clearly it was. We were practically at their mercy.
"You think you can slaughter all of us and our people will bow down to you?! We might not have wanted war between the houses, but this is too far. We were being gracious when we gave you seats at the table, despite the devil himself never choosing you to represent your houses. I realize now he was right."
At the end of his statement, King Celorn’s onyx-colored wings snapped out fully, silver glinting off the edges of each outer feather, as if they had lethal blades attached to them. Wicked.
I knew I needed to stay quiet because, with how much they disliked me, I would only push people over the edge, not help. We needed a way to handle this that would ensure the least amount of blood was shed, if that was even possible. I could practically feel the blood lust radiating off the elves around me. I tightened my fist around my scythe as I looked around, trying to find something to fix this.
Nico's mother walked towards the center of the room, her head held high as she offered a smooth response. "As I said, your words don't matter to me. In fact, I would choose them more carefully because you likely won't be making it out of here alive. The men and women in this room have orders to kill you at a single command, and even more wait outside. You've lost, Celorn."
I shifted my eyes from her and nearly gagged when I met the gaze of her husband, who was leaning against the inside edge of his table and rubbing his ridiculously obvious hard-on over his pants. His eyes were focused on the bruising around my neck, and I immediately found myself baring my teeth at him, growling sharply and making my Hellhound's hackles rise. King Marcelo’s responding smile was sick and dangerous.
"Damien." A feminine voice that seemed to be seeped in warning had me glancing back at Damien's mother, who looked absolutely lethal, her dark eyes flashing with a ring of fire as her husband vibrated with tension, seeming ready to shift and rip out the throats of everyone in the room. Something I was completely not opposed to. I could tell she was worried about her son attacking the King of Sin, considering he was edging towards him, but Damien didn't move farther than in front of me, the low growling vibration emanating from his chest soothing me in an odd way.
When a high whistle sounded, I looked to Damien's father, who was eyeing the open doors and windows as if waiting for something.
"Your forces won't be coming to save you," Finias' father offered dismissively. "Convenient that the joint training exercises for the military forces this morning took place outside the Summit walls, wasn't it? You will find the entire place warded against those pathetic excuses for military options you've brought."
Damnit. They really had thought of everything. Well...except one thing.
I wasn't positive how the House of Sin and House of Runes thought they would take down the royals of each house when they were, from my knowledge, the most powerful and accomplished fighters of their houses. I eyed the forces around us, knowing that they were a rather vicious crew. I mean, assassins were considered assassins for a reason. Still, they seemed extremely confident, which had me assuming they had something up their sleeves—and that unknown factor scared me.
There was still a question though that permeated everything else and had the ability to absolutely shatter my heart. Had Finias known? Currently, he was standing next to his parents, his gaze on the table in front of him. He seemed completely emotionless and indifferent to the entire experience. I wondered for a moment if maybe he had been part of this the whole time. When his violet gaze met mine for the briefest moment, though, I saw a darkness there that had me confident not only that he was furious, but also that he hadn't expected this.
His fingers drew up his arms as he quietly spoke words I couldn't hear.
When his tattoos began to light up, each one a different color, until his entire right arm was a beautiful array of glowing art, his father growled and narrowed his eyes at him. His purple eyes turned into steely daggers as he spoke in a hard tone, "You may be our son, but don't mistake me Finias: if you interfere for that whore, I will kill you. This is the only warning you will get."
A few people in the room made startled sounds, telling me that people hadn’t been aware of what abusive assholes Finias’ parents wer
e towards him. I wasn't shocked by the words, and I didn't doubt that his father meant them. He would, without a doubt, kill his son if Finias tried to prevent him from reaching his goal.
Finias didn't move—didn't react—his body vibrating with a tension that was reflected through the room. His gaze moved across the room to where Nico stood, his entire body frozen and face filled with shock, enough so that I also didn't question whether he had known about this or not.
It was clear he hadn't.
"So, this is how it's going to work." King Marcelo stood straight from where he'd been leaning, stopping his gross assault on his own crotch, "I am willing to graciously give you an option. You can either be killed or willingly become our prisoners." His eyes fell to mine as he offered a dark smile, "I think I have a few special positions for each of you—"
A bloody gurgle filled the air as a dagger was embedded in his throat. My eyes widened.
Finias' father laughed, "Did you really think we would allow you to rule jointly with us? Or did you think us dumb enough to not know you would have taken the first opportunity you had to kill us as well?" I was listening to his words, but they were interrupted by the shrieking of Queen Anastasia as she fell over to hold her husband's crumpled form. I might have hated the motherfuckers, but shit, that was...that was something else.
"Guards!" Nico's mother shrieked as she looked around in panic.
Queen Ava offered a small smirk, "Now, Anastasia, where do you think that is going to get you? We have disposed of your people. There is no one to save you. No one can save any of you from the rightful justice and fate each one of you deserve."
Justice? Was this lady off her rocker? The only one in the wrong here was them.
Nico stared at his father, who was choking on his own blood, and his mother, who was sobbing, clearly not processing the sight in front of him. He stepped back when his mother rose to her feet and fled towards the door, clearly leaving him to fend for himself. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get very far, her foot barely crossing the threshold of where the door had been before a dagger whizzed through the air and found its mark in the back of her head.
Insurrection (Monarchs of Hell Book 1) Page 23
