by Marie Mistry
I was so concerned about her that when one of the unruly missiles arrowed straight for her, I noticed. My power flew outwards instinctively, raising a shield that barely stopped the missile in time. The bolt of PK slammed harmlessly into the wall beside her instead.
Gilly squeaked in fear but it was barely audible past the sound of battle. I didn't think anyone noticed my interference until I caught Rutia's suspicious gaze. I stared back, daring her to say anything.
She looked away just as Gilly realised the identity of her saviour and executed a shaky curtsy in my direction. I didn't acknowledge it, because I could once again feel Rutia's eyes upon me, judging me with an intensity that was making my wings itch. High Chamber demons weren't supposed to even notice the unshown, let alone defend them. I turned my gaze back to the fight, fixedly ignoring her.
I got the sense that Delaroza was getting tired of Rixon but he kept going until the audience started to fidget in their seats. Even when Rixon came at him with both axes, he knew enough about how to use that sword to deflect them gracefully. He was playing the showman, waiting for the right moment to deliver Rixon's death blow. And it would be Rixon's death blow. Everybody could see the Low Chamber Lord was running out of power. A slow kind of madness dripped into his eyes as he slowly came to the same realisation that the audience already had.
He was going to lose, and Delaroza didn't seem to have any intention of making it a quick death.
The instant Rixon's shield flickered, Hannibal summoned a tiny laser beam of power, bursting a clean hole through his abdomen the size of a penny.
Rixon cried out but Hannibal did it again and again and again, punching seemingly-random holes through him until the larger man collapsed to his knees, dropping the two hand axes.
Delaroza raised his sword.
I looked away and caught Vendra's savage smile as the crowd roared with applause.
Delaroza had been right; she'd been testing him. There was no disappointment in her eyes at the loss of her 'champion.' In fact, she looked pleased to be rid of him.
I shuddered but managed to conceal the motion a little by taking a small sip of my wine.
Hannibal's swearing in went off without a hitch after that, although the body remained on the glass platform until a few brave unshown fetched a ladder and carried it down. As soon as it was gone, the platform also disappeared and all the damage to the room slowly undid itself. By the time the Speaker announced that the Assembly was adjourned, the hall was as pristine as it had been when I arrived.
I knew, logically, that I should mingle. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was tired, irritable and my wings just wouldn't stop itching. Leonie must have felt the same, as she didn't object as I beelined for the stairs.
The night air was cool and soft against my skin as I strode out of the park toward the waiting limo. The sight of Blaze standing there, holding the door open for me, made me want to launch myself into his arms and never leave. But the red uniformed guards watched like hawks and I knew I had to hold it together just long enough to get inside.
I sank into the seat with a groan but I barely had time to enjoy it before I was being lifted and pulled into Aeron's lap. He held me close, breathing me in as Blaze clambered in next to him. “Who's driving?” I asked, breathlessly.
“Leonie.” My Wrath mate stroked up and down my arm soothingly. “Nelly's riding up front to grill her on all the things that happened and give you some space to decompress.”
“And I'm here now,” Kain piped up, appearing from the shadows on the seat opposite us. “I'm taking us all out for dinner.”
Blaze just rolled his eyes, but Aeron's arms tightened on me just the smallest fraction. “You've become insufferable since that damned assassin started teaching you to flick in and out of the shadow realm,” he informed Kain.
My Pride mate rolled his eyes and gently grabbed my feet, slipping my shoes off and starting to rub the soles in a way that made me moan.
“You can make more sounds like that when your mother-by-mating isn't in the front seat,” Kain whispered, conspiratorially. “But for now, dinner.”
I smiled. “There might be the small issue of my wings and horns to work around…”
He winked at me. “We're not going anywhere humans will see. The restaurant is demon-owned and exclusive.”
I failed to hold in the next moan as his thumbs rubbed a spot on the instep of my foot and I felt the way Aeron hardened beneath me at the sound. “Fuck dinner,” he muttered against my ear.
My stomach picked that exact moment to rumble loudly.
Kain snorted. “I think her stomach disagrees with you.”
I blushed and grinned. “Food first.”
Aeron gave a reluctant shrug and settled back with a confident smile. “As long as I get to put you on the table and eat you out for dessert, I won't complain.”
I must have been scarlet when we pulled up on a quiet London street and got out of the car. Nelly and Leonie waved away my offers to join us, instead choosing to drive the car back to Vice for us since Kain would be bringing my mates and I back through the shadow realm.
The restaurant was a classy establishment but the moment the maître d' heard Kain's name and saw my sigillary, we were whisked through to a private room. The service was impeccable.
We finished the main course and when Aeron waved away the dessert menu and locked the door behind the waiter, I knew that I was in trouble.
But it was Blaze who spoke first.
“Get on the table and spread your legs for us, Sweetness.” His voice was gravelly with want and I smiled as I slid from my seat and hopped up.
I was deliberately slow about opening my legs and he raised a single brow as he closed in on me. “You sure you want to play this game?” he asked.
I just grinned in answer.
He prowled over and plucked me off the table but exactly what he planned to do to me, I never found out.
My Gluttony mate appeared out of the shadow realm, his eyes darkened with heat for just the barest second before his expression shuttered. Down our bond, I felt a pulse of relief so strong that it nearly brought me to my knees.
“As much as I'd love to watch,” Enzo drawled, eyes roving over the scene with interest. “There is the slight matter of your exploding car to attend to.”
The others straightened instantly but it took me a few seconds to process past the haze of desire that had been building.
“What happened to the car?” Blaze demanded. “It's supposed to be halfway back to Vice by now.”
“Aerokinesis was used to explode the tires, followed by a pyrokinetic blast to the fuel tank when the attackers realised you weren't inside.” Enzo shrugged, as if unimpressed. “They clearly aren't professionals. If I were going to—”
“Are Leonie and Nelly alright?” I interrupted.
Enzo raised a brow. “The attack wasn't aimed at them. Nelly had time to shield so they're both alive and being taken to Vice for the healers to care for them.”
Relief crashed through me. “We have to go to them.” He'd said alive, but not unharmed. Visions of the kind of damage an exploding car could do to a person cycled in my mind as I bit my lip.
The men locked gazes over my head, silently conversing, but I held strong. They weren't leaving me behind when my friends were in danger.
“They'll be at Vice in under an hour. It might be best for you to go there and wait for them.” Blaze was attempting to be diplomatic. “Kain can take you back. Enzo, Aeron and I will go and examine the crime scene.”
I hesitated and Blaze pressed his advantage. “If you come with us and the attacker is still in the area, he might attack again and put more people in danger or jeopardise any clues he might have left.”
I didn't want to agree with him. I wanted to track down the bastard who put my friends in danger. His sensible words infuriated me and my need to be included beat against the desire to try and help Nelly and Leonie and keep everyone safe.
&nb
sp; “I promise I'll update you on everything that happens,” Enzo added. I finally caved because I knew that my assassin mate wouldn't shield me from the details like Blaze would. Enzo didn't believe in keeping me in the dark to protect me.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But I want to know the moment you find anything. And you better all stay safe.”
Blaze gave me a mock salute, followed by a kiss which I deepened until he fisted his hand in my hair and took over. His mouth slanted over mine, his tongue dominating our movements till I had no doubt who was in charge. When he broke the contact, he gave me a look full of heat.
“We'll deal with this quickly. Then, when I get back, we'll deal with your insubordination.”
I smirked as well as I could through my panting breaths. “We'll see, Sir.”
Aeron turned me around and locked me into his embrace. His lips crashed on mine in a wordless conversation. “If this drags on and I don't see you again before term starts…”
I pressed my finger over his lips. “I love you,” I whispered. “It doesn't matter how much time passes, that won't change.”
He kissed my finger and pressed our foreheads together for the briefest instant before releasing me. Blaze was staring at the two of us with a pained expression but I looked away and pretended I hadn't seen. I wished I could say those words to Blaze, but I couldn't risk it.
Enzo raised a single, quizzical brow and opened his arms. I fell into his kiss, tasting the danger contained within him before I broke away for my own self-preservation.
I took one last look at the lot of them. “Stay safe,” I ordered, once again.
Kain's embrace was comforting even against the chill of the shadow realm, as he whisked me away to safety.
Chapter 10
If not for Nelly's quick thinking, both she and Leonie would have died. As it was, they only suffered some minor bruising in the attack. But as my worry about them abated, frustration that we knew nothing about this new attacker began to gnaw at me.
There were no answers, despite everyone doing their best to track down the culprit. The Knights were vicious about protecting their own, especially when the signs pointed to the attack being aimed at me.
Maddox looked a little more exhausted every time I saw him, as he spent his free time chasing up every possible lead. My men and I helped as much as we could but all we had was speculation that it was the Syndicate responsible. But with most of the evidence destroyed in the fire, there was no way to prove it.
What followed was a month of silent paranoia, broken only by Bane's continued efforts to win me back. Though he was a kleptomaniac, he seemed to be using his skills to deposit more items in my pockets than he took. Raw gemstones which happened to be the birthstones of my mates and I, tiny artisan chocolates, an iPod filled with love songs and recordings of my mates reading poetry, even adorable enamel pin badges with quotes from my favourite books on them. Each gift was as sweet as an apology and a total surprise.
I knew he was stepping up his efforts to try and earn my forgiveness but I said nothing. I had seen too many people buy gifts, instead of gifting sincerity, and a tiny part of me was prepared for Bane to do the same. But he kept going. As stubborn as he'd been in denying our bond, he was relentless in trying to persuade me to take him back.
At one point, I left my bedroom window open to find that the roses he'd grown had invited themselves inside, sprawling up and around the bed frame and surrounding me with the sweet scent as I slept. Not only that, they'd changed from a bright blue to a deep, velvety red, which matched the ones in the terrarium necklace that stared at me every time I opened my jewellery box.
As crazy as it was, those sweet little gifts were all the indication I ever got of his presence outside of the group eating lunch and dinner together. We were never alone together in the month before term began again and I wondered if it was Blaze's doing. My Wrath mate was still as serious about punishing Bane for his actions as my Greed mate was about making up for them. Their silent war might have become less intense since Daron had a go at them, but I could still feel it whenever they were in the same room together.
I disliked drama in general, but combined with Bane's gifts, it was enough of a distraction that I forgot the threats looming over my head and the problems staring me in the face, even if it was only for a moment.
Of course, the first day of term brought those problems into sharp focus. Chief among them was the fact that over eighty first-years had arrived the day before. Even now they were probably filling up the Great Hall as I hovered in front of my mirror, nervously adjusting my uniform as Kain patiently held the door open for me.
Professor Saxon hadn't mentioned anything about my tendency to trigger the showings of demons in their awaiting, and I suppose she didn't need to. With how distracted I'd been, I'd completely forgotten about it and now, the instant I stepped into that hall, I was going to set off a chain reaction. Short of never leaving my room, there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I was sick of having no choice but to go into situations because I wasn't in control of my own destiny.
Even if, by some miracle, none of the first-years died today, I still had an Advanced Theology lesson to sit through. If the priests kept true to form, they'd offer the class a blessing for the new year, and that meant I'd be struck by another vision from the Strange God.
In a strange way, I was almost looking forward to it, because I would know what the Syndicate were up to. But I didn't want him to drop another bombshell like the ones that had twisted my life before. My last vision had led to Bane tricking me into mating him. Whatever the next one had in store, I was keeping it to myself until I knew better.
Onyx and Ivory were buzzing protectively around my head like angry bees in response to my tension. There was no point in trying to calm them when they responded to my feelings and I felt like a coiled spring. All I could really do was shrug on my invisible armour and make for the door. The imps stayed with me as Kain's arm came around me protectively, stroking my shoulder as we left the tower.
“You've got this, Sunshine,” he promised, as we approached the castle. “No matter what happens today, you can deal with it.”
I smiled softly and leaned into his warmth. “I'm glad you think so.”
“I know so.” He dropped a sweet kiss to my forehead. “My girl's got power and guts.”
“And my own personal cheerleader.”
“Ugh, it's too early for your sappy shit,” Rina complained, jogging up behind us.
It was the first time I'd seen her in days and I frowned as I took in the deep circles under her eyes. “You look awful.”
“Jeez, be subtle about it, why don't you.” She rolled her eyes and marched toward the front doors. “Anyway, you're late enough that nearly every first-year will be in the hall waiting to collapse in agony at your presence, so let's get this show on the road.”
Kain frowned at her and it was a strange expression to see on his usually easy-going face.
“Are you alright?” I asked her, softening my tone.
“Fine,” she retorted. “I just haven't been sleeping well.”
Something told me it was more than that but I knew pressing her would get me nowhere. Rina was more stubborn than all my mates put together and that was saying something.
Fortunately, I didn't have to think of a response because we were finally in the doorway of the Great Hall.
It was as if hundreds of heads turned just at my presence, their eyes following me like flowers turning toward the sun. I ignored them, striding straight for my usual table as I braced myself for the screams to start.
Silence.
I sat down and dared a glance behind me under the guise of looking for something in my bag.
None of the first-years had so much as twitched. I don't think they'd even breathed. All of them were watching me as though they were waiting for the hammer to fall.
Beyond them, Professor Saxon stared down at the scene with a mixture of incredulity
and anger written all over her face. Usually, she was the very definition of hard to read but today, I didn't even need to bother checking into my pathokinesis. Beside her at the teachers' table, Aeron looked as worried as I felt. Down at the end of the table, I could see Lulu waving away one of the other scholars as she also watched me, concern in her eyes.
Had I somehow lost the ability to make demons go through their showings? Tentative relief had my shoulders relaxing slightly and Onyx and Ivory finally settled on my shoulders, as a tiny portion of my tension eased.
I mechanically took the first bite of toast that Jin pushed toward me. It tasted like cardboard but the motion was normal enough to jar the rest of the room into action. Once they were all occupied, the rest of my table started exchanging looks and glances.
“What the hell is going on?” Rina whispered from across the table.
I shook my head silently. “I have no idea.”
“Did you do anything before? Anything that could have triggered it?” Daron asked, in full detective mode.
“I don't think so?” I shrugged. “Perhaps this is a good thing?” At least no one could die this way.
Nearly everyone at the table shook their heads. Only Jin reserved judgement, and even he seemed uncomfortable with the situation.
“Lilith, competition to get into Vice this year was extreme.” Bane cast a glance around the room. “People were desperate to have their children in the college which could guarantee them a showing. Some of the richer families paid exorbitant amounts of money to secure a place. They won't be happy if that money was for nothing.”
“But Professor Saxon would just arrange another gathering of all the ones in their awaiting at the end of the year anyway,” I countered. “Why did they even bother?”
“Professor Saxon only managed to get that meeting before the other colleges knew what was really going on,” Bane explained. “Once they had to deal with almost double the usual number of students continuing to the next year, a lot of them regretted the decision. It caused major upheaval, especially in Barren. More of their students developed gifts as well, which only added to the strain on their resources.”
