“See that you do.”
“How long will this visit be?” Aidan asked, hoping for more than their usual two days.
“Not a visit this time. I need you to work with your Syntrophos, bring her up to your level and together, you will take charge of my army.”
Aidan rubbed his chin to hide the smile he couldn’t contain. There was a time when Marcus would have Rowan and her Syntrophos lead his army, but over the last year, Aidan had usurped her position.
Aidan allowed himself to relax the tension in his shoulders. He wouldn’t have to say another heartbreaking goodbye to Naomi. But his happiness was short lived. Marcus wanted Naomi performing at Aidan’s level and he wanted Aidan to train her. He should have seen this coming.
“How shall I train her?” Aidan asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“The same way I’ve trained you. Teach her to push herself. Teach them all the lessons I have taught you. I want to see progress when I return next month.
A month? A whole month without Marcus was music to Aidan’s ears. But how did he expect Aidan to teach his students the lessons it had taken Aidan and year and a half to learn?
“I don’t expect a miracle,” Marcus added as if he could see Aidan’s thoughts. “Do what you can with them. Rowan and her girl will help you motivate them.”
“Of course, sir,” Aidan said miserably.
“Don’t go soft on me again, Aidan. You know how that angers me.”
“You can count on me, sir.” Aidan forced a confident tone. He would have to do it. There was no way around it. “Will we be making a move on Soma soon?”
“That is why we are here. You’ll be leading my army against Soma very soon.”
“May I ask, sir, what is the point when you already own Soma?”
Marcus sat his papers aside, removing his reading glasses to give Aidan one of his meaningful stares. He wanted Aidan to answer his own question.
“Right.” Aidan glanced down at his hands. “Well, you already have the Chief Justice in your pocket so staging a coup that could get them reelected would benefit you. But it can’t be about just that.”
“That’s the obvious agenda. Keep digging,” Marcus said.
Aidan thought about the man before him, wondering what could possibly motivate him to spend so much energy on what amounted to a PR stunt.
“There’s the matter of the next election.” Aidan struggled to swallow. “It’s coming up in just a few years and a second Chief Justice will be elected at that time to fill Ashar and Kassandre’s seat.” Since their assassination eighteen years ago, the Immortal government had operated with just Sarah and Charles Madison occupying two of the four seats meant for the Chief Justice branch of their government.
“Very good, Aidan.”
“You want to fill that position,” Aidan said.
“It’s the only way to ensure I have complete control of the International Senate.”
“What about your wife, sir? Voters will expect her to sit beside you to complete the role of the Chief Justice.”
“I will bring Porcia home soon. She deserves to enjoy her perceived freedom for a little while longer.”
“And when you have taken the Senate, what will you do with it, sir?” Aidan didn’t expect an answer. He liked to think he’d earned Marcus’s trust over the last year but the man was judicial with his secrets.
“Do you really want to know?” Marcus gave him a level stare.
No.
“Of course. I want to help,” Aidan said, leaning forward to convince Marcus of his sincerity as much as his interest.
“Once I have the Senate, I will occupy a place within every stronghold of our world. As the child of prophecy, you are one of those strongholds, Aidan. The Senate is the last piece of the puzzle.”
“And then you intend to make a move against the mortal world?” Aidan had suspected that was Marcus’s ultimate goal, but he’d never come right out and said it.
The mad glint Aidan recognized all too well returned to Marcus’s eyes. “I intend to destroy it.”
Aidan’s pulse quickened as the limousine eased down the long drive toward the Milan Initiative. He leaned forward, his hand on the door handle, waiting for the car to stop, so he could escape into the arms of his Syntrophos.
A heavy hand pushed him back into the seat.
“You will see her later. We will address the team first. You may see the girl when I am done with you.”
“Of course, sir. Whatever you wish.” Aidan suppressed his anger seething just below the surface. Marcus never used Naomi’s name. He had no respect for the woman who made Aidan more valuable to him. Marcus believed Aidan was the child he’d sought for millennia, and on top of that, he was the most powerful of his generation and a Syntrophos. Marcus had turned Aidan into a weapon and his pride and joy, yet he despised Naomi simply because she was a woman. Marcus had very little respect for the female gender. He blamed Queen Alísun for the fall of Indriell and the rise of the mortal population, and seemed to fault all women for her weakness.
Let him hate Naomi. Let him underestimate her. She was safer that way. Aidan wanted her left unscathed by the evil sitting beside him. Yet, what of himself? So many times, Aidan found himself wanting to please Marcus. Not to keep him happy or to keep him from questioning Aidan’s motives, but because on some sick, twisted level, the darkness inside Aidan craved Marcus’s approval. It was time Aidan distanced himself from this cruel man. If Aidan was going to salvage the man he wanted to be, then he could not let Marcus continue to mold him. This reprieve from Marcus could not have come at a better time.
Aidan waited patiently as the driver came to a halt in front of the massive building. He waited for permission to leave the car, like the well-trained dog he was. But he wasn’t, really. With a nod from Marcus, Aidan stepped out of the car, buttoning his tailored suit jacket. Marcus Servius might think he’d trained the perfect loyal lapdog, but Aidan intended to bite the master where it hurt the most.
“And Mr. McBrien.” Marcus took a step toward the entrance. “Do not disappoint me.”
Aidan’s gaze lingered on Naomi as the Syntrophos pairs lined up on the training field. She looked so lost, standing there alone. He wanted to close the distance between them so badly he could barely restrain himself. But that would only anger Marcus. To him, the constant need to be near his Syntrophos was Aidan’s greatest weakness.
But Marcus equated any show of love as weakness. He even refused to complete the Complement bond with his own wife, claiming it was an unnatural flaw that kept the Immortal race from flourishing. He was from a time before the Great War when the most powerful Immortals married their equals to produce even more powerful offspring. In his time, Complement bonds were for the lower class. The one thing they had to make their lives bearable.
So Aidan stood on the dais, mimicking the cold, arrogant look on his mentor’s face, and ignoring the other part of himself standing just across the field, begging him with her eyes to come to her side.
“Greetings.” Marcus pasted on his fake diplomat smile, raising his hands as if to envelop them all in a warm embrace. Aidan had seen this transformation more times than he could count. On the short walk up the front steps, Marcus changed from the indomitable, dark and mysterious man Aidan knew all too well, to the bland, harmless and forgetful version of himself he presented to others.
“I am pleased with your collective progress. Each of you has proven his loyalty to the Milan Initiative this last year. It pleases me to say that not one of you has failed in his assignments.”
It rankled Aidan how Marcus, a relic of the past, still used the collective male pronoun for every situation. He had little use for women in his endeavors and constantly underestimated them. Wherever there was a strong woman, Marcus begrudgingly saw her, but inevitably attributed her success to the men around her. It was going to bite him in the ass someday, and Aidan couldn’t wait to be there to see it happen.
“I am both excited and remors
eful to tell you the task you all have been training for these last years is finally at hand. Excited because I know you are all prepared to support the Senate in this endeavor, remorseful because it has to be done at all.”
Marcus, the supreme bullshitter, ladies and gentlemen.
“The entity known as Soma is a threat to our government and the future of our great race. Our children are precious and deserve a safe place to train and hone their gifts. Soma is not that place. It is a corrupt slave market, and it must be stopped.”
That’s rich coming from the guy who created it.
“This has been our dream since the inception of the Milan Initiative and the rediscovery of the Syntrophos bond. Yet someone threatens that dream, has gone so far as to seize Sterling Tower from its leaders in the name of some long forgotten branch of Indriell nobility. I am here today to ask you to put a stop to this once and for all. I humbly ask those of you who are willing to step forward and march against Sterling Tower to negotiate the surrender of this terrorist cell and bring them to heel.”
Aidan was the first to step forward. Marcus would expect it. But Aidan trembled with fear. In the name of some long forgotten branch of Indriell nobility? It screamed Allie. But she wouldn’t. She’d never reach for that kind of power. Not the woman he loved. But nearly four years had passed since he’d last seen Allie. Aidan liked to envision her life as a happy college student, but it was silly of him to think that time had stood still for her. Allie was no longer the girl he remembered, but he couldn’t fathom a version of her that would seek any kind of recognition or authority. It must be her family leading this endeavor with Soma.
One by one, Naomi and all the other Syntrophos pairs stepped forward. They all knew this was the pinnacle of their plan. Taking Soma was their way out of the Initiative and out of Marcus’s reach. Once they were safely inside, Aidan intended to seize Soma for himself and his students, and damn the consequences.
Marcus beamed a fatherly smile at the children before him. “I am proud, so proud to see you all stand at the ready to do your duty, but we have enemies within the walls of Sterling Tower, so we must proceed with caution. Half of you will go, and half of you will remain.”
Aidan’s blood ran cold. He should have anticipated this.
“A Syntrophos pair is a rare and valuable thing. We must protect it from those who would use it against you. The safest course of action will be to split the pairs, ensuring the enemy cannot be tempted to use your most trusted partner against you. For the moment, we seek to parley with these usurpers. We will strike soon, but first we must attempt the diplomatic approach. And if the usurper refuses, we will seize Soma by force, in the Senate’s name.”
Aidan saw through the fancy speech. Marcus wasn’t ready to fully trust him yet. This parley was a test. A test Aidan intended to pass. Marcus didn’t want a peaceful surrender. He wanted a battle. And as long as Marcus and the Chief Justice were in control, Aidan had to play along. But for the first time, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
Aidan ran along the empty corridors to the rooms he shared with Naomi, desperate to see her. After hours in a private meeting with Marcus, Cleo and Genevieve, Aidan was finally free. At least for a time. Marcus left without a backward glance, and Aidan wasn’t sad to see him go. He hoped he’d never see him again.
“What are we going to do?” Naomi blurted the moment he stepped into their living room. It appeared as if she’d spent the last hours pacing a hole in the floor.
Aidan crossed the room and pulled his Syntrophos into his arms, desperate for the closeness they shared only with each other. She clung to him as tightly as he did to her. For once, their bond settled, rooting them to the spot and calming the chaos of their minds.
“That’s better.” Aidan pressed his lips to her forehead, breathing in the floral scent of her hair.
“I hate this.” She murmured into his chest. “I hate the separation.”
“I have to leave for Soma soon, but when I return, we’ll have at least a month together,” Aidan whispered, their bond practically purring with contentment.
“And what does he want from you during that month?” Naomi asked, leaning back to search his face for answers.
Aidan took Naomi’s hand and led her outside to their private garden. He wasn’t certain how private it was, but it was better to talk outside. Less of a chance for Cleo to overhear them.
“I have to train you, Naomi.” He pulled her down to sit on a bench beside him. “I’m supposed to bring you up to my level.”
“In a month?” Naomi ran a hand through her curly hair. “He wants you to hurt me, doesn’t he?”
Aidan nodded. “It will hurt. But there are some benefits.” Aidan took her hand. “You’ll be more powerful.”
“Do any of us really need to be more powerful, Aidan? When is enough, enough?”
“If it helps us get out of here.”
“We need a new plan,” Naomi whispered, hanging her head. “We can’t keep waiting for Marcus to send us to Soma together. It’s never going to happen.”
“After I meet with this usurper person in a show of diplomacy, we will all be marching on Soma. I promise.”
“I’m scared about this takeover, Aidan. And frankly, I’m scared of what he’s done to you.”
“Why? This has been our plan all along. Please just stick this out with me for a few more weeks. We’re almost at the finish line.”
“This last eighteen months, I’ve watched you change. I can see a darkness in you that was never there before. I can feel it in our bond like a taint.” She clutched her chest. “I can feel him in our bond and inside you, and I don’t like it. You’ve been with him for so long, I don’t think you’re seeing clearly anymore.”
“What do you want from me, Naomi?” Aidan stood to pace the length of the narrow garden. “I’m just trying to survive this, trying to get our people out of this nightmare.”
“We need another way, Aidan. One that doesn’t involve you taking over Soma. I’m worried you’ll take it too far.”
“You’re worried I’m going to turn into him?” He could see it in her eyes, that was exactly what she feared, and it gutted him to think she worried he could be anything like Marcus.
Naomi nodded. “I don’t feel like I even know you anymore and it scares me.”
“Naomi.” Aidan knelt in the grass in front of her. “I’m still me. I’ve had to do some terrible things. Things I never want to talk about. But it’s all a means to an end.” He took her hands. “I’ve taken measure to protect my mind from his influence. I know where my line in the sand is and I’m still miles away from it. Marcus has trained me to be his most ruthless weapon and I’ve let him do it. Marcus can teach me all his tricks, but at the end of the day, it’s my choices that make me the better man. I am still Greggory McBrien’s son. I’m still Naeemah El Sadawii’s momma’s boy, and I’m still Naomi Hauser’s Syntrophos. And Alexis Carmichael’s Complement. I’ve held on to those truths every day of the last eighteen months. I may be different, but I am not broken.”
“Then let’s end this and let’s do it soon, Aidan.” Naomi pulled him back onto the seat beside her. “Before Marcus has a chance to push you across that line.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Aidan
Atlanta, March
“What’s the real plan, bossman?” Neela asked, staring at Aidan for direction.
“Well, we’re not taking over Soma today,” Bennett said. “Right? I mean, we’re not leaving the others in Italy.”
“Not without our Syntrophos here.” Rowan looked to Aidan with a scowl. “This is just another of Marcus’s games.” She still wasn’t Aidan’s most loyal student, but Naomi assured him Rowan was on board for the takeover as long as she came out the other side with both her Syntrophos and her Complement, who still resided within Sterling Tower.
“No, we’re not making any big moves today,” Aidan said, still unsure exactly what they were doing, standing in Piedmont Park, gaz
ing up at Sterling Tower. He had an army behind him. His students—half of them anyway—but he also had a troop of Senate soldiers with him to increase their numbers and create a bigger show of power. They were currently busy chasing mortals out of the area, sending out vibes that would tell them this park was the last place they wanted to be today. Hell, it was the last place Aidan wanted to be. This negotiation was looking a lot more like a battlefield before the battle.
“Who do you think it is?” Pilar asked. Genevieve was supposed to accompany Aidan to Atlanta, but she’d conveniently excused herself and sent Pilar instead. Aidan was grateful for the presence of someone he trusted.
“Marcus claims a relic of some noble house of Indriell has taken Soma, but I don’t think we’re dealing with just a claim here. I think we’re about to face the last Queen of Indriell herself.”
“Queen Alísun?” Pilar gave him a surprised look. “She died ages ago.”
“No, she’s alive. I’ve met her.” Allie’s grandparents sought refuge on Kelleys Island right before Aidan left for Germany. Both were intimidating, to say the least, but they were kind and reasonable people. He had no delusions that someone like Alísun would ever back down from her claim on Soma. But Marcus didn’t want a total surrender—not today. He was testing Aidan one last time, but Aidan was confident he would pass. And then next time Marcus would send Aidan with his full army of Syntrophos.
“A real, live queen?” Pilar shuddered. “I find that prospect terrifying.”
“So what exactly are we looking at right now?” Wes asked, frowning at the bizarre gelatinous shield surrounding Sterling Tower.
“I’ve seen it before,” Aidan said. “I visited a compound in South America with Marcus last year. He had some dealings with Valkyrie Enterprise, and the whole place was protected by this stuff. It’s the dreamworld pulled into the waking world. We can’t cross it. Not without a dreamwalker.”
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