by JL Madore
His kiss left my lips and seared a trail across my jaw to my neck. His thumb stroked and teased my nipple as his thigh parted my legs. “Yes.”
“No!” Rowan growled and pulled away. Shaking his head, he ran both his hands through his tousled bronze hair “Gods, what’s wrong with me . . . I, uh . . . that was . . .”
“Fantastic?” I traced my fingers over my swollen, still tingling lips.
A devilish smile pulled at his mouth as he sucked air into his lungs. “I was going to say it was a mistake.”
“Why?”
The look he flashed me was so hilarious I had to laugh.
“Have you forgotten your impending marriage to Zale at your sixth anniversary celebration? That’s in four days.”
I sank back, using the wall of the house to hold me up. “Never gonna happen. I say we go back to the palace, get your sister and head to the outer ring until we have a plan. You must have family there somewhere. What about that Tavas place your grandma came from?”
“I can’t, Lexi.” Rowan turned his back to me and let his head drop back. “You don’t know how badly I wish I could, but you just don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Rowan’s shoulders tensed and when he turned, a wave of emotion crashed over his rugged features, anger, pain, regret. “If I tell you, you’ll never look at me the same way again.”
I swallowed. What could be so terrible that he thought it would forever taint my opinion of him? I didn’t say a word, I just stood there and waited.
“It’s stupid to keep it from you. The whole city knows.”
“Knows what?”
Rowan dropped his gaze to the palm of his hand and scratched at nothing. He swallowed and seemed to brace himself. “To ensure that my family’s humiliation is not forgotten the Queen has made me her whore. It’s public knowledge that I’m her filthy play-thing. If I refuse, the Strati take it out on Elani.”
The tangle of emotions on his face choked at my throat.
“I’m sorry I kissed you. I had no right.” Rowan’s body was so tense he looked like he might break out of his own skin.
My mind whirled with a fury I’d never known before. Pushing away from the wall of the house, I paced and tried to form the words to make this right. The woman was horrible. She had to be stopped.
I thought about what Sera told me in the apothecary room beneath my father’s townhouse. She and Balor had given me every advantage they could . . . to ensure I grew up with what I needed—
“I see how angry you are,” Rowan said, turning toward the direction of the waterway. “I hope you can forgive me.”
I moved directly in front of him and blocked his path. “I am angry. I’m furious, but not at you. I’m furious for what you and your sister and Coal and everyone has gone through under this psycho-bitch’s rule. I’m furious that she had Tham, the sweetest, funniest man I’ve ever known, killed for no reason other than to show me that she could. And I’m furious that you thought so little of me that you expected to be judged for something that’s been taken out of your control.”
“You don’t condemn me for it?”
“For what? Enduring? Surviving? Sacrificing yourself to save your sister?” I ran my hand down the scruff of his stubbled jaw and grabbed hold of his face. “Nothing has changed. I don’t judge my friends . . . ever. You’re still the same hot Doc who moonlights as a swordsmith and can out-kiss an incubus demon on the make.”
I waggled my brow and flashed him a smile. “And I know that firsthand, by the way.”
Rowan exhaled hard and exhaled. “Who are you Alexannia Grace?”
“I’m a friend. I’m hot tempered, impulsive, headstrong . . . but loyal.”
He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “I’m not used to anyone standing with me.”
“Well, get used to it. We’ll figure this out.” I drew a deep breath and was reminded that dinner was waiting. “But first we eat.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Matera, enough. She’s full.” Terran shrugged in apology as his mother slid a third piece of her decadent fruit flan onto my plate. “She’s going to explode if you don’t stop.”
“Nonsense, it’s so refreshing to see a woman not afraid to eat. The skeletal girls you used to bring home were like little twigs. I was always afraid a strong breeze would crest the cliff edge and snap one of them in half.”
“Stop it,” Terran snorted, “they weren’t that bad.”
Terran’s mother raised a brow and set the platter down in front of me. When I caught her gaze, she tilted her head toward Terran and mouthed, ‘Yes they were.’
“I saw that, Matera.”
I laughed and pushed away my plate. “No. He’s right, Gaia, I really am stuffed. It was delicious, but I couldn’t eat one more bite.” Gaia bowed her head, visibly crestfallen and I looked at all the food still sitting on platters. “But I’m not sure where I’ll be staying when we get back to Attalos. Would it be terribly rude of me to ask for a care package for later?” Well, that fixed things. Terran flashed me a smile as his mother began buzzing around gathering plates.
Rowan swung his head around, an unattractive crease between his eyes. “What do you mean you don’t know where you’re staying? You’re returning to the palace. The Queen will—”
“The Queen can kiss my rockin’ white ass. I’m not going back there.”
Demos choked, his after-dinner drink spritzing amber down the front of his tunic.
Terran clapped his hand on his father’s back as the man’s face blotched pink. “I warned you she had a wicked tongue, Pater. She’s not like the others.”
“No.” He coughed again. “That’s why she’s eating from my hearth. I wouldn’t spare a withered prune on any of those other Noble females.”
Rowan scowled deeper. “The Queen will be expecting you back. Don’t push her, Lexi.”
“I’m not,” I said, and I meant it. “Not even the Queen—narcissist that she is—would believe I would just lie down, marry Zale and accept her killing my best friend. She’ll expect a period of resistance.”
“And you’re willing to bet on that?” he snapped.
I stood and pressed my palms flat on the table. “I teach strategic thinking for a living, Rowan. So, yes, I am.”
“And if you’re wrong?” He strode behind Terran’s chair and glanced to the floor where Coal was playing with the family dog. “The Queen doesn’t do things out of the goodness of her shriveled, black heart. There’s a reason for everything.”
“I get that.” Coal’s goofy grin ripped my heart in two as the scruffy mutt licked every inch of his dinner-splattered face. The Queen gave me custody of Coal as leverage, a weakness she could exploit to her own advantage. Or so she thought. “Do you honestly think after what happened to Tham I would let—”
An electrical charge crackled in the air.
Instinct kicked in hard and fast. In a blink, I was airborne; my blade unsheathed my focus on the little boy playing on the floor. I vaulted over the table and landed in a crouch. My Guardian sliced through the space between me and the golden mist solidifying in front of us.
No one would hurt my boy ever again.
“Lexi?” The brunette with iridescent skin fidgeted with her long braid. It took a moment to rein in the urge to kill. She shuffled back a few steps, her gaze wide, her ice blue gown swirling like smoke around her feet. “Lexi, it’s me.”
I sheathed my blade and straightened, my chest still pounding like a war-drum. “Shit, Zo, you scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?”
Her ethereal expression fell as her eyes brimmed far too glossy. “I was tending to the tapestries. Is it true? Did someone kill Tham?”
The tears in her eyes threatened to trigger mine, but there was no way I was going there. Abruptly, I rammed a mental stopper in that bottle, trapping the grief and regret for another time. My next steps were simple. Stay focused. Search out the bastard who dared to kill someone I lo
ved. Make them pay.
The tug at my belt loop brought my attention back to the room. No one was moving . . . or breathing. Right, these people weren’t accustomed to a goddess manifesting in the kitchen. Coal’s alarm was clear. Terran’s parents looked like they might faint. And Terran and Rowan looked from me to each other and shook their heads.
“Um . . . sorry everyone. This is Zophia. She’s one of the four Fae Fates. Keeper of Lives in Progress.”
Zophia curtsied low, her arm flowing out to the side with a grace that only a Fae goddess could manage. “I apologize for intruding uninvited, Sir. I shouldn’t be here at all. My only defense was my state of distraught. It’s just, Tham . . . I needed to know for certain.”
I swallowed. “It is true. He died early this morning. Was it your sisters?”
Zophia shook her head. “No. I checked each of their Fate pools before I questioned them myself. Whatever happened to Tham was not of the Fates, it was the free will of someone within the realms.”
“I figured as much.”
Zophia wiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed. “Tham was so dear to so many.”
“Unbelievable,” Rowan said, a flash of annoyance darkening his features.
“You can say that again.” Terran stepped around the table pointing. “Did you see her flip over the table? I’m supposed to be her personal guard. The woman scares me. She truly does.”
“Zo,” I said, ignoring the peanut gallery. “Tell me what you saw in the pools. Tham had no blood family and no wife, so I’m claiming the Right of Vengeance. Whoever killed him is marked for death. Just point me in the right direction.”
Zophia bit her lip, her tears falling in a steady stream. They sparkled as they rolled down her cheeks and solidified as they fell to the tile floor. Plink. Plink. So, it was true. The Fates really did cry diamonds. Well, Zo did. I was quite sure her three bitch sisters didn’t give a shit about anything or anyone enough to shed an enchanted tear.
“If I could help you, I would. You know I would.”
“Don’t give me any crap about not getting involved, Zo. You’re involved. Jade’s involved. I’m involved. Tham’s death doesn’t fall into one of Castian’s loopholes about the Pantheon staying out of it.”
“I am afraid it does. If anyone Behind the Veil found out I was here it would be bad enough, but if I help you—”
“No one will find out.”
Zophia glanced at the five other people in the room and then back at me.
“Okay, so I can’t promise that, but I’ll defend you. I’ll talk to Castian. I’ll make him see.”
Zophia accepted the handkerchief Gaia offered her and closed her eyes. “No one makes Castian see anything. You know that.”
“But you’re his favorite niece, surely he wouldn’t—”
“And he’s the God of gods, Lexi. It’s not just him. If anyone found out, they could demand I be exiled from Behind the Veil. What choice would he have? Laws are laws.”
I stopped my inner warrior from flying into a rage.
It wasn’t fair to ask her to risk her entire existence just to make my life easier. I could find out who was responsible for Tham’s death and I could do it alone. It would take me longer, but I didn’t have any travel plans until after I killed every last maggot in the manure pile. “Fine, I see that. Still . . . could you do one thing for me?”
“If I can, I most certainly will.”
“If Jade and Galan don’t already realize Tham is missing, they will soon. Could you tell them what you can about what happened? Tell them I’m sorry . . . and that I was with him when he died and that I did right by him. He was cremated in a beautiful wooded area and I recognized all the Highborne traditions I knew so he could be at rest in The After.”
Zophia’s head bowed. “I shall.”
I blinked fast and swallowed, trying to speak past the lump in my throat. “And tell them I won’t be back until I’ve avenged him. And that I love them. And not to worry.”
She sighed and took my hand. “It shall be done.”
“Oh, and most importantly, tell Julian and Reign that Haven was compromised. There was probably someone watching me for weeks before this all started. Tell them to guard Jade and the others. I don’t want anyone else killed because of me.”
“I shall take care of it,” she said.
The moment her hands clasped mine I felt the vision coming. As Zophia dissolved into a golden mist, my eyes began to dilate. “Terran . . . I, uh”
“I see, Princess.”
Slender arms led me to the living room sofa. The sounds in the room echoed and whooshed in my ears as the images began to form.
“It’s okay, Coal,” Terran said. “She’s all right. The vision will pass in a few . . .
Sitting on the back bench of the launch with Coal’s head resting in my lap, I searched the faces of the Strati soldiers in the front of the boat escorting us back to the inner City of Attalos. The three men who had ambushed, beaten and kidnapped Tham were not among them. I’d seen each of his attackers clearly in the vision Zo had given me and committed their faces to memory. In truth, I couldn’t get the vile images out of my head.
And although you couldn’t unknow something once you knew it, I had everything I needed to avenge Tham. His attackers had gone through the pond portal and found him on the forest path on his morning run. They had him from the moment their commander showed him one of the knives from my battle vest. Savage had forged the blade and Galan had custom fitted the hilt to my palm. Tham recognized it immediately.
They told him I was in trouble and he needed to come. Tham insisted on calling it in to Julian and that’s when things got violent. The only satisfying part was that the leader of the death squad was someone I was only too happy to put down.
“Constable Tasso?” Terran whispered close to my ear. “You’re certain?”
I nodded. Dull pain throbbed from the back of my neck to the small of my back. I stroked my fingers through Coal’s hair and stretched my neck from side to side. Rowan scrubbed his hand across his jaw and continued to scowl at me. If I didn’t have a child sleeping on me, I would’ve cold-cocked him by now. “What’s with the glare?”
“You’re going after them.”
“With everything I’ve got.” I tilted my head toward the soldiers at the front of the launch and lowered my voice. “This is what I do, Rowan. Don’t try to protect me. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“I’m not expecting you to forget and make nice,” he growled, “but you’re not invincible. Taking up arms against the Queen and her men is going to get you killed.”
Maybe. “It beats the alternative.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“Hook up with Zale to affect change within the Nobles’ Council and be sister wife number three. What do you think I’d have to do to climb up those ranks and have a voice?”
Rowan blanched.
“You don’t like that equation any more than I do.”
“And how do you get out of a public ceremony being held in four days. The laws are clear. If you don’t follow through, you’re derelict in your duties as an Eligible. You’ll be executed.”
“Laws-schmaws,” I snapped. “My father always said, “In any situation you can either be the hammer or the anvil.” Let me give you a hint, Doc. I’ll never be the anvil.”
Rowan gritted his teeth and sank back against his seat. “You’re impossible.”
“Welcome to the new world . . . where women fight and have brains and everything.”
“I haven’t lived under a damn rock, Lexi. I’ve had my share of strong women.”
Well didn’t that just bite me in the ass? Yep, that pretty much did it for the convo. By the time the launch docked in the market district of Attalos, the moon was a glowing white orb directly overhead. Other than a tiny part of the curve that looked like it had been shaved off, it was a perfect sphere of light. By tomorrow night it would be full.
Two of our military escort
s stepped onto the dock and secured the lines. One of the men reached down and took Coal from my arms while the other offered his hand to guide my exit against the pitch and yaw of the boat.
When we were ready and steady, the soldier holding my hand released me. “The others will take Lir-Rowan to the palace and return the launch. Ydorus and I will see you and your guard safely to your destination, Princess.”
The voice of the soldier had me taking a closer look at him and his friend. The two had matching olive skin along with dark, military cut hair and brown eyes. I’d met them before. They were part of the squad Estes had let me spar with in my exercise session in the palace orchard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you boys earlier.”
“Understandable, considering the day’s events. We’re, sorry you lost your friend like that, Princess. It wasn’t right . . . what happened to him. We’ve all been through it and it’s just not right.”
I nodded, but couldn’t go down that road. “Eury, isn’t it? How’s the rib from the yesterday?”
“I am well, Princess.” Eury rubbed his side with a smirk. “Where are you headed? We should get you off the streets quickly. There are no secrets in Attalos and with what happened to your friend . . .”
“I was thinking I could go back to Balor’s townhouse. It’s been cleaned out and—”
“She’s going to my family home,” Rowan muttered. From the shadows of the canopied launch he extended a silver key card. He kept his face well back of the moonlight, so I couldn’t see him. I could, however, still hear the tension in his voice. “I’ll have the garden gate unlocked. Go in through the back. No one has lived there since my parents were killed except our housemaster. It should be safe enough to hide her away for a few days.”
“Understood.” Eury accepted the key and slipped it into his pocket.
“That’s a terrible idea,” I said, raising my hand. “You can’t risk your sister or your honor any more than you have.”
Rowan leaned forward. In the pale light of the moon, his complexion had drained of its usual golden tone. It could have been a trick of the silver moonlight or it could have been something else entirely. “I’m tired of being the anvil, Lexi—so desperately tired. And besides, she might already know. I was called to appear at the palace a half hour ago.”
