by Ivy Asher
“Well done,” he offers, with a proud smile on his face.
I drop my magical hold on the wooden weapons surrounding him. They fall to the forest floor with light thuds, and Kallan and I both try to brush the evidence of this battle from our clothes.
“Your Elemental control has improved a lot over the past couple days, and your ability to improvise with what’s around you is excellent.”
I try not to smile at the praise as Kallan makes his way over to me. He pulls out a piece of tree bark from my hair, and we start making our way to whatever obstacle course he’s created for the day.
“What did you and Becket work on this morning?” he asks me, using his teacher voice.
“Shielding other people, sensing others, and illusions.”
“And Enoch?”
“Water, creating clouds, directing lightning, and weaponizing magical barriers.”
Kallan angles toward the house, and I look at him confused.
“It’s Sunday. Elder Cleary invited us over for dinner,” Kallan reminds me.
I wrinkle my nose in distaste and bite back the groan that wants to escape.
“Come on; it’s not so bad. All of our families will be there tonight. You missed last Sunday, and that didn’t go over too well, and technically, Elder Cleary is your guardian, so just suck it up,” he teases.
Missing the dreaded Cleary Sunday dinner last week was completely unintentional. But I need to figure out a way to do it again because I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less, than go sit and pretend to be friendly with any of the elders. Maybe getting captured by Adriel, but honestly, they’re about neck and neck at this point. The issue with my going AWOL for last week’s dinner seemed to get lost in the Pebble, lamia drama that came out the next morning.
Pebble was pulled off lead duty, and now he and his coven guard me from afar. Apparently, it was decided that I was a bad influence on poor sweet Pebble, and his coven felt protection at a distance was the best way to move forward. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when his coven came in and announced this to me the morning of his missed check-in. If they only knew what he was really up to, but the secret is safe with me. I move around under the adopted delusion that I no longer have a babysitter. At least not one I can see all the time like I used to see the ever-lurking Pebble.
Not that Enoch and the others have given me any time to myself or a chance to get away and have any kind of a life. It’s been training, training, and more training. I start running through excuses and scenarios that might get me out of this dinner, but I come up empty-handed. Fuck. Why can’t I think of anything?
“I know what that look means, Vinna. Don’t even think about it. Enoch has already told all of us that we’re not to let you out of our sight for even a second today. You are not going to get the chance to sneak off again. Everyone is on high alert, which means you are coming to this dinner whether you like it or not.”
I glare at Kallan and mentally curse Enoch and his dad.
“You don’t know me well enough to know what the looks on my face mean,” I grumble. “All I was thinking, was that I’m tired, and I want to take a nap.”
It’s as if speaking the words have magically given them some kind of hold on me because even more exhaustion washes through me. I suddenly feel completely lethargic and groggy. I pause mid-step, not sure of what just happened. My limbs feel heavy, and there’s an ache to my body that wasn’t there seconds ago. What the hell?
Kallan bends down, bringing his face even with mine. His blue eyes dart back and forth between my light-green unfocused irises.
“What just happened? You okay?”
Just as quickly as the exhaustion sweeps through me, it’s suddenly gone, and I shake off the echo of it in my limbs.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just...tired.”
Kallan’s concerned look stays etched on his face, but he gives me a nod, and we both continue toward the house. Maybe I need to eat something. All this magic use has definitely been catching up to me this week.
Another yawn escapes me, and I clap a hand over my gaping mouth to prevent the tired groan that wants to accompany it. It’s all I can do to keep my eyes open as we wait for the gates to open and grant us entry into the Cleary Mansion. I crack my neck from side to side and try to get my shit together. Elder Cleary is too sneaky and calculating for me not to be on my toes. I need to be ready for whatever he’s going to throw my way.
I just need to shake this exhaustion. Magic seriously has been taking its toll on me this week. I swear I haven’t been this tired since I started training to fight with Talon when I was fifteen. Maybe not even then. Talon’s face pops up in my mind, and I find comfort in his familiar and strong features. I’ve been working hard to see this version of Talon when I think about him, instead of the gaunt and tortured memory of how he looked before he died.
The ache I feel over his loss sits ever present in my mind and heavy in my soul. Just like with Laiken, I’m coming to accept that the sadness and pain will never really go away. I know with time I’ll learn to function with it, and some days that will be easier than others.
Enoch pulls off to the side of the colonial monstrosity, columns and all, and I release the deep breath I’ve been holding. Car doors slam all around me, indicating everyone’s exit from the car. I sit and stare out the window at the siding of the house as I once again try to come up with some kind of way to get out of this dinner. My door flies open, and Nash gives me a look that says, don’t even try it. I huff and unclick my seat belt, taking his warm hand as I step out of the car.
We make our way to the front door. I almost expect Enoch to ring the doorbell, but he grabs for the doorknob and lets himself in. I remind myself that he probably grew up here. The entire inside of the house is cream and gold, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t picture a young Enoch and his friends running through these halls. We walk into a formal living room and the noise of multiple conversations lower.
Elder Cleary and Elder Albrecht are talking to each other on one side of the room, and there are clusters of other casters spread out through the lavish room. Kallan and Becket both move further into the room and receive hugs and kisses from women I would assume are their mothers. I suppose that would make the rest of the older males in this room part of the different covens Becket, Kallan, and Nash come from. Elder Cleary’s eyes fix on mine as I walk into the room before his gaze slowly moves down my arm and settles there.
It takes me a minute to figure out what he’s staring at. But I soon realize that Nash is still holding my hand from when he helped me out of the car. Shit. How the hell did I not notice that? I yank my fingers out from between his. Nash looks over at me, but I don’t answer his questioning glance.
Fucking hell.
I can practically feel Elder Cleary’s smugness from here. I clench my teeth and berate myself for being so stupid. I can’t help but think that somehow I’ve just fucked everything up. If the elders believe there’s even a hint of a possibility that my guys aren’t the mates that I choose, then they could deny their Bond Claim. I might have just given them the fuel they need to continue to try to control me and force me into a match with Enoch and his coven. Motherfucker!
23
I take an involuntary step back from Enoch and Nash, trying to create as much separation as possible between them and me. They don’t seem to notice, or if they do, they don’t react. A short woman with strawberry-blonde hair and a burgundy dress walks in and makes a beeline for Enoch. She grabs him in a hug and then sandwiches his cheeks in both her hands.
“You look tired? Are you not sleeping?”
Enoch chuckles and pats her hands on his cheeks.
“I’m good, Mom; you worry too much.”
Her eyes scrunch up ever so slightly with concern, but she nods her head and gives Enoch’s cheeks a squeeze before releasing him. She turns to Nash, and she showers him with similar maternal affection before her eyes land on me. I’m not sure
what to do exactly, or what I really expected when it came to Enoch’s mother. I figured she’d be a lot like Elder Cleary; cold, calculating, worthy of only mistrust, but first impressions lead me to believe she’s quite the opposite. I almost find that even more unsettling. Why would a female like this be with someone like Elder Cleary?
“Mom, this is Vinna. Vinna, this is my mother, Isla Winifred.” Enoch offers.
Isla’s smile brightens, and she stretches her hand out to me. I take it, and she places her other palm on top of our joined hands and gives a gentle squeeze.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Vinna. You’ve been quite the talk of my mates since your arrival, and I’m thrilled to be able to put such a beautiful face to your beautiful name.”
Her words make me pause ever so slightly before I smile back and tell her it’s nice to meet her too. I know casters are polyandrous, and I have no idea why I thought the Elders would be any different, but I did. I pictured Enoch in this stuffy pristine house eating quiet and awkward dinners with his scheming, power-hungry father and his equally thirsty and grasping mother. I’m starting to realize that I couldn’t be more wrong.
A familiar face walks into the room, and his presence brings a reassurance that’d I’d been lacking up until now.
“Ah, there’s one of my mates now. I believe you two have met already?”
I stare at Isla Winifred and just barely manage to keep my jaw from unhinging and my mouth from falling to the floor. Paladin Ender saunters into the room and makes his way to over to us. He snakes an arm around Isla’s waist and kisses her cheek affectionately. She beams up at him, and I’m completely floored by the interaction. I turn to look at Enoch with my best what the fuck look. He shrugs and goes back to scanning the room, unfazed by the affectionate display. Isla is bonded to an elder and the leader of the paladin. Damn, who else is in her coven, Dumbledore?
“It’s nice to see you again, Vinna.” Paladin Ender gives me a friendly nod. “It will be nice to get to know you better and under far friendlier circumstances than last time,” he offers.
I give him a noncommittal hmm, and my eyes find Elder Cleary as he floats around the room speaking to his other guests. I bring my attention back to Paladin Ender and give him a bland smile.
“Friendly would be a nice change, but I’m not holding my breath.”
He chuckles, which for some reason makes me like him even more. I suddenly realize that I’ve just insulted Isla’s mate, and I turn to her ready to receive a glare or some other offended look. I’m surprised when she doesn’t seem bothered at all by my comment. Maybe she didn’t hear me. She’s chatting with Nash about something I don’t follow, and her arm is settled around Paladin Ender’s lower back.
“Thank you for your assistance the other day with my escape,” I tell the scarred and grizzled leader of the paladin.
“It was the least I could do after what happened. I am sorry about what went on that day. It was not the right decision, to do what they did.”
The light of the gilded chandeliers gleams off his snow-white hair and deepens the tan of his skin.
“How are you his compeer? I don’t get any of the same manipulative prick vibes from you that I get from him. Are you just better at hiding it?”
Nash elbows me in the side, the movement a clear warning. I’m not sure when he tuned-in to the conversation, but apparently, he caught enough of my question to decide I need his censure. Paladin Ender chuckles, and he rubs the hint of five-o’clock shadow on his cheeks.
Before he can offer an answer or tell me to mind my own business, a man in an ascot and tails appears in the doorway and announces that dinner is served. The large group begins to stroll toward the formal dining room, and I find myself once again surrounded by Enoch, Nash, Kallan, and Becket.
I’m guided to a spot just a few seats down from the head of the table, and Kallan pulls out my chair. I sit and watch the twenty-five or so, other guests all settle in comfortably in the enormous dining room. Enoch sits to my left, Becket to my right, and Kallan and Nash bookend our grouping. I watch them sit and adjust their chairs closer to the table and wonder why they aren’t sitting with their families?
I glance around the table again and realize that each of the female casters now sit in the middle of their mates. Isla is seated at the end of the table, Paladin Ender on her left and Elder Cleary on her right. Another man sits next to Paladin Ender, and he and Isla are laughing about something. Nothing about the seating arrangement is lost on me, and I look for a distraction from my rising frustration. I lean toward Enoch and whisper harshly.
“At what point were you going to tell me that Paladin Ender was your second dad?”
He looks down at me, and I can’t tell if he’s feeling chagrin or amusement.
“You didn’t ask,” he merely supplies.
“So, let me get this straight; I’m supposed to supply you with every detail of my existence, but you can’t be bothered to tell me who your family members are? Cool, good to know.”
“It’s not like that. I thought you knew. Everyone knows who my family is.”
Enoch’s statement and the arrogant tone that accompanies it makes me snort.
“Oh, well, sorry. I’m not in the know of who’s who in Solace. My bad.”
“You didn’t ask about us after our run in at the lake?” Becket asks me, inserting himself into the conversation.
“No, I didn’t. Why would I be interested in finding out about a bunch of assholes who just stood by and watched their friends behave like dicks? You think I saw that display of cowardice and thought to myself ooohh, I bet they’re fun to hang out with; I wonder who they are.”
I attempt to sound as shallow as possible as I finish my rant. I take a sip of water from a pretentious crystal goblet, and all I can think about is that I would love to shatter this thing in the middle of the table and walk the fuck out of here. But as much as I hate this situation, I still have to live in this community, and temper tantrums sure as hell aren’t going to solve anything. Elder Cleary stands, and a crescendo of tapping on crystal moves around the table until everyone falls silent.
He smiles, and it’s as if I can see the charisma wafting off of him.
“I speak on behalf of my coven when I say how honored and pleased we are that all of you could join us tonight. This is a rare treat, and we’re thrilled that we could all come together to celebrate our incredible children. So let us raise a glass and toast. To them and their bright futures; where, together, the hope and possibilities are endless.”
Crystal goblets rise all over the table and chants of here here work their way around. A glass of water is held firmly in my hand, but I don’t bring it to my lips. That would feel too much like surrender, and that’s just not my style. Light chatter sprinkles the table as servers flood the dining room with plates of fancy food. After a couple of courses have come and gone, I’ve concluded that I am not a fine dining kind of girl. I am dying for something that looks edible. If I’m handed one more plate with more artful dollops of reduced whatever the fuck than food, I’m going to lose it.
“So, Vinna. How are you finding Solace? I’m sure it must be quite the adjustment from, where was it again…”
The platinum blond woman, who I’m pretty sure is Becket’s mother, turns to her mate and gives him a questioning look.
“Nevada. Las Vegas, to be exact,” he supplies with disinterest.
“That’s right, Las Vegas.”
She looks over to me and offers a smile. There’s nothing warm or friendly to be found in its depths. It looks like I might not be the only one unhappy with this arrangement, but that seems strange since if she is Becket’s mother, then one of her mates is Elder Albrecht. I glance around her and spot him a couple of seats down from her.
“Yes, quite the adjustment,” I offer vaguely, and equally as cool.
“Shame, that business about your uncle. It’s been quite the shock around town.”
Her murky blue eyes
give a spark of delight, and I know I’m not going to like wherever she’s going with this.
“And what business would that be?”
Everyone around the table is watching the exchange. There’s a mixture of tension, disapproval, and excitement floating about. The whirlpool of emotion in the room makes it hard to pinpoint who disagrees with what she’s trying to do, and who wants to see me brought down a peg.
“Well, between the crumbling of the coven and his rank being stripped.”
She pauses mid-sentence and looks to her mates and the others around the table. Some meet her eyes, mirroring her amusement. Others maintain blank facades, not offering her the validation she’s so obviously seeking. She lets out a little, amused huff.
“It’s no wonder he’s gone into hiding. I wouldn’t show my face either.”
Bitchy Witch Barbie gives me a smile that’s meant to look innocent but misses the mark by a mile.
“Well, with a face like that, no one would blame you if you wanted to spend more time indoors.”
Nash chokes on the wine he’s drinking and Becket tenses beside me. His mother’s face scrunches up indignantly, making her even uglier than her personality alone accomplished. Becket’s lucky he got his looks from his dad.
I gesture in her direction with my fork, keeping it classy and mature. “See, that face right there. No one should have to live with the nightmares it must cause.”
She begins to turn a deeper shade of purple.
“That’s enough,” Elder Albrecht chastises, as he turns to his ever-reddening mate and mumbles something in her direction.
“I’m sorry. I’m confused. I thought we were starting the shit-talking portion of the evening. Don’t tell me she can dish it, but she can’t take it?”
I meet his glare with a blank face and a slight tilt of my head. Enoch slaps Nash’s back a couple times as he tries to reign in the coughing fit caused by the aspiration of his wine. Becket’s mother throws her napkin on her plate and shoots a murderous glare my way. Her chair scrapes loudly against the marble floor as she stands dramatically, and stomps out of the room. None of her mates move to join her.
