by LJ Swallow
Is this the moment he announces my crime?
Instead, Mattias disarms me as he holds out a hand.
“A pleasure to meet you.”
I take his hand and he closes strong fingers around mine. An energy flows through and wraps around my chest, squeezing out my breath. I snatch my hand away. How dare he use magic on me, again? But Mattias's lips purse, and he flexes his long fingers, as he studies me harder.
The grip on my chest doesn't leave, and my heart struggles to beat as my father guides me away. I glance back and Mattias continues to watch me for a few seconds before he blinks, pulls back on his game face and smiles down at the next girl.
What is his game?
Declan lounges on a sofa with his feet on a low table, top button of his shirt now undone and bow tie loosened. A strand of slicked hair drops across his brow. He salutes me with his glass as I approach.
“Hyland boys. Hot or not?”
“I was right about Alaric. He's creepy.”
“And his brother?”
I grab a half-empty glass from the table in front of him. “They're both weird.”
“What the hell did you say? Your father passed me a few minutes ago, and I thought he was about to explode he was that pissed off.”
“I accidentally insulted Alaric.”
“Ah. Whoops. “
“He put me on some kind of list.”
“Probably one with girls he wants to spank for misbehaving in front of him.” Declan waggles his eyebrows.
“Ugh. Really?”
“Yeah. I bet he has all kinds of... tastes. Bet they both do.”
“How could you possibly know?”
“Because he's powerful and power hungry. He can do anything and everything he wants.”
Lucky escape for me, then.
“Did you see them yet?” I ask. “The brothers.”
“Not yet, all you girls are crowded around. What's a boy to do? I'll take a look in a minute.” He fans a hand in front of my face. “Well they obviously had an effect on you. You’re very flustered. I haven't seen you this pink and heavy-breathing since the crush you had on whatshisname from school.”
“I am not heavy-breathing.”
“And perspiring. What's happening?” He clamps a hand on his mouth. “Oh crap. The list. Are you worried? I was kidding.”
As I drink my wine and watch proceedings around, I struggle to keep up with what happened. Mattias, Othala royalty, did... whatever… last night, stole my notebook, and now—what? Why was he at the bar last night?
“I don't give a crap about the list, the Regents, or any of this. I want to leave.”
This evening is a big deal, to my family and to my future. This isn't a soiree for people to mingle and lie about how fabulous their lives are while hiding what really rests behind the family doors. This isn't even the meat market I expected it to be. This is a step back into an Othala tradition I attempt to deny, one I intended to fight against, and now I'm unsure whether will lead to my arrest in the next five minutes.
For the first time, I'm faced with the whole Senate, every family, the sheer power in the room. Individually, most families' magic is strong, but gather them in a room and the energy hums around. “I think I've made enough of an impression for tonight, do you think we can sneak off?” I ask.
“I doubt we'll be allowed to leave.” Declan inclines his head to the large double doors where two men stand chatting.
“Wow. Nobody leaves?”
“Or enters. It's because of the Hylands, extra security.”
I lift my legs and flop them across Declan's knees. An older woman passing raises a brow at the less than decorous action. “Security? Why?”
“Royalty, Cora. Silly.”
“They could blast anybody into next week who tried to touch them now they're adults.”
“You think? Everybody has a weak spot.” He gestures around him. “You don't seriously think nobody in this room is like you.”
I choke. “No. I doubt anybody here is like me.”
“What I mean is, not everybody is happy with the regime. Like I said, some people aren't happy that Alaric took the Regency. He's traditional.”
“Alaric wants to bring back the good old days, hey?”
“Forty years of kinder rule has helped the world, he wants to turn things back to the regime we had before. Take away rights from the humans. I think the Senate will deal with the human issue somehow.” He leans in and whispers. “What if Mattias agrees to step in?”
“I can see that ending well....”
“Alaric might be powerful, but he'll still be one man against the Senate. Their united power would more than match his.”
I smile. “So the Senate is falling apart, huh?”
“I wouldn't call it that. Instability is never good. Who knows what could rise from it?”
I poke Declan. “So serious. This could give our sector friends a chance to have input, or even make changes.”
Declan shoves my legs off him and seizes my wrist as my voice rises. “Shush!”
I open my mouth to speak, and he drags me to my feet, eyes darkening. Without a word himself, he pulls me to the corner of the room, towards the doors leading outside. Couples stand in the semi-darkness, chatting or touching, and he pulls me to a quiet corner.
“Declan! This is unexpected,” I say with a laugh.
“This is serious.” He stands stiffly, not releasing my arm. “You don't talk about any rebellion in a room full of the most powerful people in the world. Especially not with your name connected.”
“Nobody heard, and I was kidding! How do we know if anybody we met on our trips to the sector even want to?”
“I know that, but we're not supposed to go to the sector. This is too serious, especially if you were overheard.”
“You'd better not be seen with me, then,” I retort.
“Recently, I wonder.”
I blink. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“I know you’re planning to leave. Don’t deny it.” I tense at another reminder of last night. “I can't rock the boat much more, Cora. I'm already under the same marriage pressure as you are and have to deal with explaining the reasons I can't and won't. If I'm linked to discord too, there's no chance my family will understand my other issue.”
“It's not illegal for you to want a guy instead, but—”
“Cora!”
Heads turn and Declan steps away crossing his arms. “Why can't you understand where we are right now? There're no secrets in this room, whether we're overhead or not. It's freaking big brother at its most potent. Think about the last two things you've said to me in the last five minutes.”
“I didn't think... didn't realise.”
Declan leans closer. “I don't know much, but I do know things won't stay the same. For us or anybody. Don't screw up. And don't drag me into things I don't want involvement in.”
“I'm sorry, I—”
“Time and place, Cora. Not here.”
Declan turns on his heel and heads back into the party. I stare after him. Is this the reason I've avoided Gatherings? Because I'm confronted with a new reality, even worse than the one I hid from amongst my books.
One encapsulated in the member of royalty who knows all my secrets.
7
I can't find Declan to apologise. With nobody allowed to leave, searching for anybody is impossible amongst the noisy crowd.
For the next hour, I throw myself into that throng, making small talk with people I barely know. Each time anybody remotely resembling a Senate member, or men I don't recognise, approach, I sink further into the crowds. I keep a close eye on my father too, watching for people approaching him. My father could be the one who suffers for my subversion. No. They wouldn't...
My choices here are limited. I attempt to talk to Rachel, a girl from school. One thing I am discovering from those I chat to is that some other girls aren't interested in the “marrying off” tradition. But by the time we've st
ood in awkward silence for a few minutes, she excuses herself and heads to a different group, grateful to leave me.
My anxiety peaks as the fourth pair of suited men scan the crowd, and pass. I can't leave the building but hightailing out of here is a possibility. Are the other rooms in the building locked? I could wait in Brandon's office until people begin to leave, then blend in. The two men blocking people leaving remain close to the entrance. I hesitate at the elevators up to Brandon's office, tapping my foot in time with the numbers counting down. Finally the doors open and I step into the small box offering me more breathing space than the large room I left. The noise from the party fades as the elevator doors swish closed behind me.
Then open again.
Mattias holds a hand against the metal doors to prevent them closing. Despite the heat and the attention he's been under for the last hour, he's immaculate, smoothly shaven tonight. This time there's no smile or sparkle in his eyes. “I need to talk to you.” I nod, throat and stomach tightening. “Come out of there.”
I step out, careful not to brush against him. He releases the door and they clunk closed. With a whir, the elevator leaves without me.
“Do you have anything to say to me?” he asks.
I shake my head, eyes on his shiny shoes. Deference. That will work. “I didn't realise who you were.”
“Look at me.” His voice commands authority, and I do as he says. He inclines his head to a nearby door. “Get in there.”
The dark room lights up as he flicks a switch. Nobody else waits inside. No men rumoured to make people disappear, and I relax. As one of the meeting rooms, there's a long table surrounded by chairs. Runes are painted on the walls, ones most humans don't understand. Ones in my book.
The chair at the head of the table is bigger than the others, high backed, and carved with the Hyland crest. Mattias sits in it and gestures for me to take a seat opposite. I sit upright, fists folded on my lap, and fight the desire to run screaming from the room.
He shifts and dives a hand into his jacket pocket. “I have something of yours.”
I bloody knew it. Mattias carefully places my black notepad onto the table between us. I stare at the time bomb in front of me. No point denying this is mine.
“Thank you.” I reach across to take the book, and Mattias rests a hand over mine before I can pick it up.
With the touch, the sensations from yesterday flood into my system; my body's craving reignited by the simple gesture. This really isn't helping the breathing and nervous perspiration issue. I attempt to drag my hand away, but his remains firm.
“What is this book?”
“Nothing much.”
His expression says the words for him: liar.
“A book of curiosity,” he replies and pulls the book from beneath my palm. The pages rustle as he flicks the book open and leafs through the pages. “Why did you write all this?”
“I like history,” I blurt. “Books. I copy parts that interest me. Always did. Have books of quotes from when I was a kid.” The words stammer from my mouth, half truths.
“History?” he continues to read the book. “But this is a list of spells.”
Oh crap. “Umm. Like a diary?”
“Unlike any diary I've ever seen.” He closes the book and places it between us. “You've copied spells and identified them. Tell me. Are you a human sympathiser, Cora?”
“I am human. Pure human.”
“I mean, the lower caste in the sector. You were there last night.” He runs a tongue along his teeth.
“Last night?” I ask. “You mean when you seduced me and didn't finish the job?”
Mattias's jaw tightens. “I'm not here to talk about what happened.”
“Are you here to arrest me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He shrugs. “Tell me why you help them. He didn't want to help you, that sector boy.”
“I'm not helping anybody, I—”
“Then why are you copying magic. Secrets?”
“To protect myself. I don't want my life constrained.”
“Your life isn't constrained.”
“I'm a Scion. Of course it bloody is!” He arches a brow, a silent gesture I shouldn't speak to him in this way. “I will be when I'm married. I want the freedom to make my own decisions. I told you this last night.”
I blink and shake my head, unable to stop the words coming. He taps his fingers on the table, and I glance up at the runes. I don't recognise some. Is magic forcing the truth from me?
“Who is teaching you magic?”
“Nobody. Just me. On my own.”
Mattias tips his head, and his look switches from stern to confusion, as if for the first time, I'm a girl with her own personality and desires, and not a problem or someone who needs rescuing.
“On your own? Not the witch boy glued to your side tonight?”
“Declan? Not anymore. When we were kids—” I slam my hand over my mouth. “Are you making me talk somehow?”
He smiles. “In a way. So you do this alone?”
“I don't want anybody in trouble for helping. I need to do this for myself. To help myself.”
I jerk back as he leans over, elbows on the table. “Stop what you're doing.”
“Okay,” I lie.
“The life you want will be short if you don't stop your stupidity. Humans using magic is illegal.”
Who is this person? This isn't Ty, the man whose hands and mouth spun me away from the world I'm weighed down by, who treated me as an equal. This is Mattias, Othala prince, talking down to me, angry. But he knows I'm not the same as other girls here.
Mattias stands. “As you're young and don't understand what you're doing, I'm giving you a second chance.” He picks up the notebook and tucks it back into his jacket.
Shit.
“And if I don't stop?”
“I'll make sure you're punished.”
I stand too and lick my dry lips. I don't care. I'm leaving, with or without Sam's help. “Oh.”
“Do you expect me to say or do something different? Save you like I did last night?”
“Save me? Is that what you call it?”
Mattias is a different man to the one I met last night, the tension in him palpable. He still avoids acknowledging what happened, but can't avoid the fact the crackling energy between Mattias and Cora is exactly that as between Ty and me.
“Uh huh. You were planning on leaving that bar and walking into a trap?” His face darkens. “You will kill yourself. So yes, I saved you.”
“And then kissed me? Hyland prince taking advantage of a Scion, then knocking her unconscious? Changed your mind at the last minute did you? Who do you think you are, treating me like that?”
“Careful, Cora. You don't speak to me like this.”
“I don't care who you are. Don't touch me again. I don't know what you did, but it wasn't fair.”
Mattias moves closer, catching me in a show of power, adding warning to his words. He reaches out a hand and strokes my cheek. Whatever crosses the space between Ty and me now isn't magic, but something strange. The heat from his body, fingers brushing my skin sets my blood flooding to my cheeks at last night's memory.
“There's something curious about you,” he says. “Not just the choices you make but more.”
“I've been told before I'm a handful,” I pull his hand away. “And nobody is changing that.”
Mattias flicks a look to my mouth. “A handful. I suppose you were.”
I step back from him. “Don't play with me.”
He shakes his head and digs his hands into his trouser pockets. “For all your bravado, you are a naive kid, Cora.” I narrow my eyes at him. “I'm not telling anybody about what you've been doing, or about your time spent amongst the sector.”
“You wouldn't, would you?” I whisper, leaning towards him. “Because you weren't supposed to be in the sector either.”
Mattias’s expression switches out of Hyland and into
amusement again. “Smart, curious Cora.”
“It's true, isn't it?” I whisper. “Nobody knows you leave the Enclave. But now everybody has seen who you are, you can't go there anymore.”
The atmosphere in the room ices. “You know nothing about what I do with my time, but I know what you do with yours. Keep your mouth shut. I'll be watching you.”
I can’t equate this man with Ty. This guarded Mattias is playing his role in a world that takes our destinies from our own hands. Is he trying to change his too? Is that who Ty is? “Can I leave now?”
“I think that would be a good idea. Go home. Think about what I said.”
I walk unsteadily to the meeting room door and my palm slips against the metal handle as I pull it down. The door opens inwards and I step through. Air rushes into my lungs as I breathe deeply.
“Have you seen my brother, girl?”
Alaric walks along the corridor, a tumbler of brown liquid in his hand, and he halts. “Wait. You're the one he knows.” Despite being younger than his brother, his heavier brow and square jaw add years. His hair is cut into the short fashion favoured by most men in the Enclave. Any length beyond a few centimetres is too reminiscent of the sector humans whose hair is as unruly as they are.
“I don't know him.”
“You called him Ty.” Alaric rests one hand against the wall, and I can't pass. “Only I call him Ty. Who the hell are you?”
Shit. Threatened by both brothers in one evening. In my mind, my bag is packed and ready to go.
“Who do you think she is?” Jumping as Mattias smacks my backside, I turn to throw him a filthy look. “Do you think you're the only one who has their needs?”
With a laugh, Alaric drains his glass, eyes roving my body. “She's a Scion, not a normal human. Less dispensable.” He manages to move his gaze from my breasts to my face. “Your father would be extremely disappointed in your promiscuous behaviour, even if it is Mattias you’re screwing. Do you like living dangerously?”
“It appears I do.”
