by J. L. Weil
I felt a flicker of annoyance. “Did you just shush me? I haven’t seen you in weeks and you come busting in here, demanding everyone leave.”
His grin grew as he shook his head.
I glowered. “How about I shush it right up your ass—?”
His finger pressed to my lips, promptly shutting me up. “Let me just look at you for a moment without you getting your panties in a wad. You’re wearing them, right?”
“What? Yes, I wearing them.”
“I’ve been thinking…”
“About my underwear?”
He laughed, deep and throaty. “Dear God, princess, I missed you.”
“You have a funny way of showing it,” I muttered. “You know today is the coronation.”
“I know. But it was worth it. You’re worth it. I don’t want you to marry Zander.”
Holy Houdini.
I stared at him, his striking features highlighted in the waning light from the window. I’d been waiting the entire summer for him to say those words. “Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?” In less than thirty minutes, I was supposed to accept my crown and announce my engagement.
His eyes sparkled as deep and endless as the star strewn sky. “I know.”
“What took you so long?”
“I needed to see you one last time before you officially became the queenie of reapers.”
I scrunched my nose. “Don’t even think about calling me that.” Princess was bad enough. “I still can’t believe it.”
The smugness stretched across his lips. “It suits you.”
“I’m glad you came back. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say those words.” The three other big words would be nice too.
“You misunderstood.”
My eyes snapped to his. “But, I thought—” My voice caught.
“I don’t want you to marry him, but it doesn’t change the fact that you will marry him.”
This was not how I thought our reunion would go. Sure he’d swept me off my feet, but only to crash to the ground. “What makes you so sure I will?”
“There is no other choice.”
“That’s because you’re not willing to believe, to take a chance. I know the truth. About you. Do you think it matters to me that you’re not a pureblood? I don’t give a rat’s ass if you’re a goddamn zombie. I love you.”
He took one step forward, which put him in the same breathing space as me. “It does matter, princess. If it didn’t, you’d already be mine.”
I wanted to hurt him, to obliterate him into space, hoping when he fell back down from the sky, he’d hit his head hard enough to realize what a jackass he was being. “Why are you here then? To torment me?”
“It feels that way. And I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Piper, but no matter what I do, someone gets hurt.”
“I don’t want to marry Zander. I don’t want to run away with Parker. I should want to do both of those, but I want—”
Zane’s hand flashed over my mouth, silencing me. He was shaking his head, eyes pleading with me. “Don’t, Piper. Don’t do this.”
He was a step ahead of me, knowing what I was thinking before I did. By the time I caught up with him, I knew what I wanted, what I was going to do. Although, I had no idea how it was going to turn out, it was worth a shot. I’d been flying blind through this banshee business. Why stop now?
I placed a kiss on the inside of his palm and watched the heat ignite in his dark eyes, mirroring what I was feeling throughout my body. “I know you want this.”
“It changes nothing.”
The house could crumble around us, but neither of us would notice or care. “It changes everything.” I’d been told over and over again that my voice was a power of its own. Time to test the theory. If there was a chance I could change my destiny, I had to try, or I would always wonder. I wanted to live from this point forward with no regrets.
“Piper…” His voice faded, losing some of his resistance.
With my mind made up, I took a step back and let my blood fill with white bolts of power. It sizzled off my skin, and the room was washed in light. I thought he might try to stop me, tackle me to the ground or something, and when he didn’t, I knew this was what I wanted. A relief went through me. Deep down, whether he admitted it, Zane wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with him.
In a voice steadier than what was happening inside me, I said the words I hoped would dissolve the contract and give me my freedom back. “I renounce my oath to Zander, for he is not my match. Not in my heart or my soul.” Thunder cracked outside the window, and my skin glowed as bright as a full moon. I took it as a sign—though I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it worked.
But it felt good, finally making a choice. In my mind, there was no going back, and I wanted Zane to know it.
Standing in the middle of my room, he was watching me with a mixture of awe and disbelief. I froze for only a moment, and then his hand caught mine, fingers tightening as he pulled me forward.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rose on my toes and brushed a kiss to his mouth. He crushed me close, and his lips were cool against mine. I weaved my fingers through his silky hair. “I love you, Zane,” I whispered.
His hands shook slightly as he framed my face, softly brushing his thumbs along my cheeks. Expression guarded, he said, “That was so stupid, Piper. The consequences—”
“Screw the consequences,” I interrupted. I was sick of worrying about everyone else. For once in my life, I put my wants first. Truthfully, I hadn’t been thinking about anyone else but Zane.
Screw them all.
He must have had the same sentiments, for he was kissing me, meshing our lips together in a toe-curling kiss. A burst of light erupted across the room.
Softly he pulled back, and my gaze was drawn to our joined hands. Our marks were interlaced—his crow with my raven—one black as night, and the other as white as clouds.
“Now what?” I asked, mesmerized.
“You tell me, princess. This was your play. And if it weren’t for the merger of our marks, I wouldn’t have believed it possible. I only hope one day you don’t look back at this moment and regret your choice. There are so many things I can never give you.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “This isn’t good,” he murmured, curiously shaken.
I leaned my hands on his chest, feeling the steely muscles under his shirt tremble. “I know.”
“The sectors are going to flip a lid.”
I glanced away. “I can’t go down there now.”
His fingers slipped under my chin, tipping my face upward. “Yes, you can. And you will.”
“What if they know? I can’t embarrass Zander that way. What do I say?”
The pad of his thumb rubbed alongside my cheek. “The truth. We owe him that. We’ll tell him. Now. Before the coronation.”
He was right. I did owe Zander that much. My guess was he wouldn’t be surprised. My feelings for his brother hadn’t been a secret. “No. It should be me. I’ll do it. Alone.” It was going to be awkward enough. I didn’t need Zane adding to the tangled mess I’d made.
He tapped on his bottom lip, a lip I was well familiar with, and unfolded his arm from around me. “You’re about to get the chance. He’s on his way up.”
My eyes flicked toward the open door. A lump formed in my throat and my body went numb. I wasn’t ready. Not only did I not want to let Zane out of my sight, I was still glowing from his kisses. I needed a few minutes to collect myself, but it was time I didn’t have.
Zane paused at the doorway, twilight shadowing half of his face. “I came here to wish you well and tell you good-bye, but I think inherently, I wanted this—wanted you all along. You look beautiful by the way.” Then he was gone.
I plunked down in front of the vanity, a mash-up of feelings. There was no way I could get in front of all those people, not when I could barely keep my lip from trembling. More than a thousand times I’d played over
in my head what would happen when I saw Zane again. As much hot water as we might be in, the real thing exceeded my dreams. And I couldn’t wait to get through this night. I wanted to spend time with Zane without the guilt lingering over our heads.
A creak in the wood floors interrupted my thoughts. My lashes lifted, and Zander’s face appeared behind me, a nervous smile on his lips. He cleared his throat. “Wow. You look amazing.”
I’d actually completely forgotten about the whole makeover I’d been forced to endure. “Thanks,” I mumbled. My foot started to tap on the floor.
“He was here, wasn’t he?” Zander asked, no beating around the bush. It was one of his stellar qualities.
I nodded.
“Shit,” Zander swore under his breath. “I thought I felt him. Are you okay?” He knelt down in front of me, his hands covering mine. Before I could open my mouth, he turned my wrist around, revealing my mark…except it was no longer a solo white raven. There was a crow’s black wingspan, shadowing behind mine.
“I need to tell you something,” I said, because the silence was torturing me, but by the wounded expression that sprang into his eyes, he already knew what I had to say. “I know the timing really sucks, but it just happened. I didn’t plan for it. I’m sorry.” A lump formed in my throat and my body went numb.
He took a deep breath. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I knew in your heart, this was what you longed for.”
“It doesn’t change that I was engaged to you.”
Standing, he took a seat on the edge of the window seat. “We can both agree you were never really mine. Not in the sense a fiancée should be. Everything about our engagement was forced and ass backward, but it’s the reaper way. Kissing you was sort of like kissing my sister’s best friend.”
My lips curved. “So it wasn’t just me?”
“I think we’ve known all along we’re nothing more than friends. I’m proud of you, but…I don’t think the sectors will share my opinion.”
I rolled my eyes. “That we can agree on.”
“It might be wise to keep this on the down low, at least until after you’ve been officially sworn in as the White Raven.”
“You’re suggesting we continue our engagement?”
“Yes, for the time being. It will allow us to figure out how to prevent sector-wide rebellion,” he said.
I was glad to still have Zander on my side. He had a strategic mind that would be an aid in this battle. “You’re right. But I can’t ask you to do that.”
He propped his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “You didn’t ask. I suggested. And it is your responsibility to do what is best to keep the balance.”
As logically as his proposal was, I felt as if I’d already taken advantage of Zander. I didn’t want to continue to use him, but what choice did I have? “And they aren’t going to figure it out?” I asked.
“Not unless you flash that mark on your wrist.”
Searching the vanity, I found what I was looking for and slipped it over my hand. “Nothing a bracelet can’t hide,” I replied with a soft smile.
“Exactly.” He fumbled with something in his hand. The lamplight caught a glimmer of silver. “I guess we won’t be needing this,” he said, holding a delicate ring between his fingers.
“Is that—?”
He nodded. “It’s been in my family for centuries. And even under the circumstances, I want you to have it. It’s fitting as I have a feeling you’ll be a part of my family one way or another. It’s nothing elaborate,” he added when I opened my mouth to protest.
Standing up, he dropped a small, silver ring into my palm. The metal was cool and pulsated with energy. It wasn’t a normal ring, but I shouldn’t have expected one. Turning it over in my hand, I noticed there was an inscription on the inside. The letters weren’t a language I could read. “Zander, I can’t—”
His fingers clasped over mine, closing my hand over the ring. “You can. I want you to have it. The idea of you being my wife scared the ever loving crap out of me.” Inhaling, he raked a hand through his hair, shoving it out of his eyes. “But you being my sister-in-law, that has a certain ring to it.”
I held the ring between my thumb and pointer, twirling it as it caught the soft light. “It’s beautiful. What does it say?” As I stared at the metallic gleam, my choice began to sink in.
“It translates to circle of infinity,” Zander said.
“This is meant for your wife. It would be wrong of me to take this.” I handed the tiny yet intricate ring back to Zander. He was reluctant to take it, but I insisted. I could be just as stubborn when it mattered. As sweet as the gesture was, I would never be his wife.
He tucked the pretty bauble back into his pocket. “Have it your way. You ready?” he asked, looking at the clock.
It was time. The coronation. Ugh. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” The dread I was feeling quadrupled. No matter how many ways I told my mind I could do this, my body screamed no, no, no.
He sensed my reluctance. “I’ll be by your side.”
“Someone’s going to have to keep me from running,” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “Try not to set anything on fire or start a riot.”
“I can’t make any promises.” Knowing how my life was going lately, anything was possible. “You know, it’s not too late to change your mind about going forward with this risky plan. I don’t want to put you in any danger.”
“I wouldn’t think of it. Besides, I could use a little excitement in my life. Zane doesn’t get to have all the fun, you know.”
It was arguable that I had too much excitement.
Chapter 25
A glowing, blue-white ball hovered overhead, illuminating the room and the occupants that filled it, the elders from each sector along with the overlords. Roarke was there with Zane and Zander at his side.
I walked into the circular room with stained glass windows, reminding me of a church. Conscious of each step, I told myself not to trip. In the center of the room was a raised platform. A wooden stand was sat on top with carvings—a bird from each sector.
Clop. Clop. Clop. My heels clattered against the floor, echoing in the room as I walked to the middle of the raised step. I twined my fingers and waited, unsure what to do next. It wasn’t like I’d had a dress rehearsal or anything.
Then a man with a withered face turned to me, a frail smile on his dry lips. “Piper Brennan,” he spoke as he glided up the stairs, two ghastly bodyguards following behind him—the divine. He regarded me like a spider eyeballing an insect in its web.
My unease shot up ten notches. There was something almost frightful about his voice, and I didn’t understand the need for the goonies, unless of course they were there for my protection. But I wasn’t so sure that was the case.
At the sight to the two guards on either side of me, Zane stiffened. I sensed his muscles coiling beneath the skin and his power drawing to the surface. It put me on edge. Something had spiked his alarm, but I didn’t know what it was. I peeked to my right as inconspicuously as I could and glanced at Zane. It was like reading a blank page, nothing but hard lines and wariness.
Keep your wits, I told myself. Something must be amiss.
I drew in a quiet breath as my stomach contracted with apprehension.
The divine’s soulless gaze peered at my face. “You are the last bloodline of the Raven and have rightfully returned home to take your place.”
I kept a straight face when I wanted to wince. There was a scary texture to the divine’s skin that had my heart pounding. He cleared his throat, and I realized he was waiting for me to do something. I stepped forward, feeling completely out of my element. There was so much history and power standing before me. I felt like if I made the wrong move, someone would shank me in the back.
His thin mouth pulled into a smile. “Meas a thaispeaint.”
I blinked at him. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “What did you say?”
The divine sighed and, for a moment, lost
his formal tone. “Still so naïve.”
The divine frowned at Zane, looking momentarily indignant. “I trust you will teach her better in the future, Death Scythe.”
“Here we go,” Zane mumbled.
I glared.
“Pay your respects to the divine,” the guard beside me hissed in my ear, giving me a small push forward.
Zane moved closer, drawing weary looks from the guards. “What she might lack in understanding, she makes up in power by tenfold,” Zane said, masking his anger beneath.
The guards regarded him gravely.
The divine wasn’t amused. “Watch yourself. Step out of line again and you’ll be escorted out.”
“I’d like to see your goonies try.” Zane leveled a flat sneer in the divine’s direction.
I swallowed, and under the stark gazes of the overlords, I approached the podium. It was like third grade all over again when I was supposed to give a speech before the school auditorium. Unlike the third grade, running wasn’t an option. I didn’t know what to say or what to do.
I dropped into a clumsy curtsey and prayed it was a satisfactory custom.
“The Sectors welcome you, Piper Brennan, daughter of Rose,” the divine said in a stiff, formal voice.
I blushed under the eyes of the most influential reapers.
“We are here to ensure the Raven legacy continues, and it falls to you to keep the longevity and purity that the Ravens have had for centuries. Do you agree to uphold the rules? Do you understand your actions will be held by the accountable?”
The divine made me jumpy and uncomfortable. “Yes,” I squeaked, thinking I might hurl.
“By the order of divine, the sectors, recognize you as their supreme,” he rasped. “And in doing so, it is your duty to keep command among the reapers.”
I drew in a sharp breath. This was it. There was no going back. There was, however, a brief flicker of fear, but also hope and longing. I actually wanted this.
Shock of the century.
The divine approached the podium, suddenly solemn. His eyes momentarily met mine, before he picked up a golden pen. Not any ordinary pen, a horn of light beamed from it. With a quick flick of his wrist, I watched as he scratched over the paper. The ink glowed a vibrant red, cooling only slightly when his hand lifted from the page.
