by Laney McMann
Kade glanced toward the French doors. “He flew?”
“He did. Bird’s eye view gives one an incredible scope of what is actually happening on the ground. Here, go get changed. I think you’ll like it. Cole picked it out.” He held the bag out to her.
Taking it, she glanced toward the balcony again, hoping to see the falcon sitting on the railing. No such luck. Uneasy about Cole’s absence, Kade headed upstairs to her room. She placed the bagged dress on her bed, went into her bathroom, undressed, threw on her robe, and stared in the mirror.
In no mood to get ready for the opera, she crossed the bedroom to her French doors, peering out the glass so she could see the first floor balcony angled below. She waited, holding her white-webbed palm in her hand, until finally, the wide expanse of slate blue-black wings caught her sight in the distance. She watched the bird soar through the air, tilting its body to the side as it veered downward. The falcon landed with a combination of speed, grace, and a slight cry on the wrought iron railing of the downstairs balcony that overlooked the river. It disappeared from view as it flew into the villa.
“Is Kade getting dressed?” she heard Cole ask, accompanied by the sound of his unmistakable footsteps on the stairs.
“She is,” Heru answered. “Your bag is hanging on the door.” Kade thought Heru was in the kitchen by the distant sound of his voice.
“Okay.” The turn of a doorknob, followed by the closing of a bedroom door, signaled Kade to open her own door a crack, making sure Heru wasn’t coming up after Cole.
Silently, she crossed the hall and opened Cole’s door without knocking, closing it soundlessly behind her.
He stood with his back to her, shrugged off his shoes and his shirt, all the white scars in stark contrast to his golden skin, and turned around with a huge smirk on his face. “I could feel your presence in a crowd of billions.” His crystal eyes darkened as he took her in. “Nice robe.”
“Thanks.”
Cole’s head angled to the side like it always did when he tried to see her better. “I was hoping you snuck over here because you couldn’t stand not seeing me for the last couple hours, especially since you wore that,” he gestured to her mid-thigh-length satin robe. “But … what’s wrong?”
Kade held up her hand, showing the white vine-like lines on her palm. “This.”
Cole crossed the room. “Mine, too.” He showed her.
“Cole?” Her fingers traveled up his forearm, following the webbed marks to his bicep. “What the hell … ?”
“I …” He averted his eyes.
“How haven’t I seen this?” Her fingers trailed over the muscles on his bicep.
“I usually have my shirt on,” he answered in an apologetic tone. “And it was dark last night when I didn’t, and you’d had some wine, so …”
“They’re … Cole, they’ve gotten—“
“Worse.” He rubbed his forehead. “I know. Last night, before the tracker arrived, I noticed they were white. I’m not sure what’s going on. Do yours still burn?” His thumb lightly touched the center of her hand.
“Yeah, a little, but that feels good.”
“No flirting while you’re wearing that.”
She dropped her chin. “What’s happening to us?”
“I don’t know, Sparrow.” His thumb continued drawing on her palm, tracing circles. “I don’t know.”
The dress Cole chose for Kade was deep red and fitted snugly through the bodice and waist before billowing slightly and falling straight to the floor. Her shoulders were bare, and she wore a thick strip of red ribbon close around her neck. She’d fussed with her long hair before finally giving up on it and letting it fall like a curtain down her back.
Fidgeting, she made her way down the steps, trying to keep her balance on her high heels, and stood at the foot of the staircase waiting for Cole. She heard Heru rummaging around in the kitchen, likely looking for more chips. A bag crinkled, and the unmistakable crunch of potatoes followed. He’d obviously found the other bag Cole had hidden.
The clap of dress shoes against wood refocused her attention. Cole stood at the top of the stairs, staring down. He wore a white button-down collared shirt with the top two buttons undone, gray dress pants that weren’t tight but definitely weren’t loose, black dress shoes, black belt, and a cocky smile on his face. He looked like he’d just stepped onto a runway for a male modeling show in Milan, Italy. It was hard not to stare.
“Like what you see?” His grin widened as his own gaze raked Kade’s body. He skipped down the steps and put his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. “You look so hot, my god,” he whispered in her ear, kissing her neck. His mouth traveled down to her collarbone, and Kade sucked in a breath at the warmth of his lips and the sweet, spicy scent of fresh laundry and fire.
“So do you,” she said just as Cole’s mouth found hers, soft and tender, his hand cupping her jaw, the warmth of his tongue sweeping across hers.
“We could stay here if you want,” he whispered.
“I think,” she said against his mouth, her hands trailing down the sides of his body, “we don’t have a choice, as much … as I’d rather stay.”
At that, he kissed her harder, backing her against the wall in the foyer. She yielded to him, molded against him, his kisses becoming intoxicating. His hand traveled up her thigh over the satin material of her dress, and he caught the fabric, drawing it upward, exposing her bare leg, and slipping his hand underneath her dress. Kade’s breath caught.
She felt him smile against her mouth.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Mm hm.”
His hand traveled further upward to her bare hip, bunching the fabric of her dress, and came to rest over the lace of her panties. She tried to clear her ramble of thoughts and speak. It was so hard to concentrate with his hand there. His thumb grazed her skin as his lips trailed down her neck. “Sure you’re sure?”
“For someone who wants to take this slow,” she whispered, “and knows I have less willpower in this particular area, you sure are pushing a lot of my buttons.”
He laughed and some of the heat went out of his body. “Point taken.” Slipping his hand out from under her dress, he gazed at her.
“Heru is in the kitchen,” she breathed, heart pounding, “just so you know.”
“I liked it better when we were alone,” he whispered, his eyes dark, full of desire. Heat poured off him, and the energy that always traveled between them sizzled in the air. Supporting his weight against the wall with his hands, he caged her in. “You ready to go?” He barely kissed her before he drew back.
“Are you?” She stared up at him, inches from her mouth.
He shook his head slowly, watching her, and bit his bottom lip.
Kade reached for him, hands in his hair, drawing his mouth back to hers, and kissed him hard. Cole responded with an intense, aching kiss that sent her reeling. His hands cupped her jaw. Kade balled the fabric of his finely pressed dress shirt in her fists and pulled him closer. Cole’s hands slid down the curves of her body to her hips, and a moan escaped her throat, just as he pushed away from her with a huge smirk on his face.
Kade stared at him, breathless and hot, her lips swollen and raw. “You did that on purpose.”
“Did what?”
“Kissed me like that.”
“Just making sure we’re playing fair.” He turned toward the front door. “We have to go, remember?”
“Fair?” she asked incredulously.
“Mm hm.” He reached for her coat off the rack near the door and held it up for her to put on. “I’d hate to think only one of us was strung out with wanting while the other one wasn’t.” He was still grinning that cute-ass smile Kade loved—the real Cole.
Stepping forward, she slipped her arms into the warm wool peacoat. “So, you’re strung out for me?” She leaned into him, his heart pounding against her back.
Cole wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’ve never been so
high,” he whispered and let her go. “Heru, you ready?” he shouted as he pulled on his suit jacket.
Kade stood, smiling, a little unsteady at Cole’s words.
Heru emerged from the kitchen licking salt off his fingers. “Ya.”
Opening the front door onto the dark, chilly night, Cole held out his elbow. “My lady. May I?”
Kade grinned like an idiot and slipped her hand around his arm. “You may.”
The three of them walked down the cobbled steps and into the Italian night.
Chapter 20
Space was quite beautiful, Caelius mused to himself, staring out through the clear walls of his prison cell. Black, yes, and some may consider that kind of darkness bleak or lifeless when the cosmos seemed to go on forever, but the brightness of stars and planets and comets lit up the darkness like a lively tapestry.
Caelius’ tray of food sat beside him on the hard, sterile cot, untouched. He had never trusted Elder Cato. The man was always too concerned with power and had effectively removed Elder Hadriana, the Warden’s mother, from her seat as Chancellor of the Eldership Council months before. So, considering Cato had brought the food, with a contemptuous sneer on his pale, narrow face, Caelius had refused to eat it.
The rattle of keys pulled his focus from the beautiful view, and the door to his cell swung open. He sat up.
“Mother,” the Warden said with a surprised smile. “I was afraid you were Cato. Have you come to gloat? I was just admiring the view. Lovely really, once you get past the idea of seeing it from prison.
‘Nay peace: behind my prison’s blinded bars / I do possess what none can take away / My love, and all the glory of the stars.’
Oscar Wilde, you know. At Verona. A lovely poem.”
“Oh, hush it with all of your poetry. It’s freezing cold and dark, nothing more.” She moved inside the tiny room with grace, her robes skirting the shiny floor, and closed the cell door. “Here, eat this. I won’t have my only son starving to death over something so …”
“Trivial?” the Warden suggested.
“Uncalled for.” She set a new tray down on the cot and removed the uneaten food with the other hand.
“But, Mother, you confuse me,” Caelius faced her. “You summoned me here.”
She made a scathing sound. “To be questioned, not to be thrown in a cell like one of the Devil’s Children.”
He grinned. “You do not care for Elder Cato?”
“Care for him,” she scoffed. “You know better. I’d rather he be sitting in here than you.”
“Mother, how long has it been since we were on the same side?” He reached for half of the sandwich she’d brought him off the tray.
“We have always been on the same side,” she hissed, brows arching. “Now, I have to go before Cato asks what I’m doing. Your trial is in the morning.”
“Will I be attending it?” He took a bite of his sandwich.
She faced him. “What of the Anamolia? The truth.”
“She is a child who is gentle and innocent, not a monster. She is a pawn who we, thanks to your great-grandson, have rescued from a horrible fate.” He placed the sandwich back on the tray and brushed his hands together. “And instead of an Anamolia being in the hands of the Daemoneum, whose purpose with her was to destroy the Araneum and all Primordial in the process, she is in our hands, and in love with your great-grandson. I took her under my wing because she needed a guardian—a home. She is just a girl, Mother. Nothing like what we pictured an Anamolia to be. ”
“So, she is with Colson?”
He didn’t answer. All of that pertinent information, he thought, and she asks whether Kadence is with Cole.
“You know he never comes to visit,” she snapped.
“Would you?” Caelius smiled. “If the tables were turned?”
Hadriana made a scolding noise. “He is the brightest we have, yet he is risking it all by chasing demons.” She flipped a hand through the air. “And now he’s dating this girl?” she scoffed. “He could get killed at any second.”
Caelius rubbed his temples, willing himself to be patient. “Kadence will not be killing Cole, Mother.”
“How do you know that? How does he? And look at what he could have had—” she gestured to all of Stella Urbem, “a fine future here that he doesn’t want. Why isn’t he dating that other girl anymore? A fine pair they made, and her father is up for a promotion within the Ward, correct?”
“That is correct,” he said with a groan. “His daughter’s name is Tiffany.”
“Tiffany. That was the one. Pretty girl, too. Just the right upbringing for someone like Colson. A fine match.” She tossed her hand up again. “But no, he has chosen a demon girl who was raised by Dracon. My great-grandson of all people. Look at all of this, Caelius.” Her hand gestured toward Stella Urbem again. “All Colson’s if he wanted it.”
“He enjoys his job within the Ward and has no complaints,” he responded in a monotone voice. “He has a future there, as well. And besides, this place,” Caelius gestured to the endless cosmos through the clear cell walls, “would have destroyed him. He is too good for this.”
She shrugged with clear annoyance, folding her hands together.
“You said yourself it’s freezing and dark. The opposite of what Cole is. He is pure light.”
“Pure light who is dating pure dark!”
Caelius sighed. He too had kept Cole away from Kadence in the beginning, told him he wasn’t allowed to date her. He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake by giving them his blessing, but what else could he have done? They would have simply sneaked around behind everyone’s back. No, he had made the right decision. Sending Kadence away with Cole, as well. They were with Heru, away from the Star City, and that was of utmost importance.
“Is he safe?” His mother gave Caelius a quick glance. “Wherever he’s run off to?”
“He is as safe as he can be, yes.” He bowed his head. “You know, Mother, my mission in life has always been quite straightforward—protect the Planes. It is a Primordial’s only calling. I have refused many an opportunity for the cause. Why would I harbor anyone who could effectively use her power to destroy us? Or Cole?”
His mother’s lips tightened into a straight line. “Eat your dinner.” She walked out of the room and locked the door behind her.
With a sigh, the Warden turned toward the stars.
“How are we even doing this?” Giselle griped as they drove toward the Kinship.
Danny eyed his sister. “You act like we’re breaking some law. We are driving—“
“Somewhere you’re not supposed to be …” she checked her phone, “at any time, unless it’s Ward business. And you’re in Cole’s Jeep.”
“First of all,” he downshifted as they drove up the mountain, hearing the gears grind, thankful for a moment Cole wasn’t in the car with them to complain, “first of all, no one should see me. Second, if someone asks, it is Ward business. Cole’s missing. Not like someone from the Kinship is going to question me, anyway.”
Giselle rolled her eyes. “Beta. Forgot.”
“What is your problem with that?”
“No problem. Just pointing out your Primori superiority in this regard.”
“Whatever, G.” Danny turned the corner and slowed to a stop a few yards before the Kinship’s main driveway. “I’ll wait here so there’s less risk of being seen. That better?”
Unfastening her seatbelt, she mumbled under her breath about how had she ever gotten involved with all of this and had gotten no sleep, exited the car, and shut the door, stomping up the road.
Expelling a frustrated breath, Danny rested his head against the seat.
Lindsey’s much taller frame loomed a few yards ahead within a minute. Giselle sulked beside her. Lindsey threw her backpack in the Jeep and climbed in the back. “Where to?”
Danny put the Jeep into the first gear and pulled away from the Kinship. “The Leygate to Italy.”
“Sweet.” Lindsey crossed
her legs, resting a hand on her red high top Converse, and leaned forward between the seats.
“What’s sweet about it?” Giselle griped. “You’ve been to Rome a thousand times.”
“We’re going to Rome?” Lindsey eyed the side of Danny’s head. “I thought you meant somewhere good.”
“I did.” Danny gave the Jeep more gas as they climbed the steep mountain road.
“Do we have a plan?” Lindsey looked between them.
“Ha!” Giselle laughed. “No. The avian mastermind here is hoping to locate Cole by way of … what was it again?”
“What the hell is your problem?” Danny said with a lot of force behind his words. He shouldn’t have, he knew what the problem was, but taking it out on him wasn’t the solution.
Giselle scoffed. “I don’t have a problem.”
Lindsey leaned back in her seat.
“What?” Giselle asked. “What was that?” She glowered at Lindsey over her shoulder.
“I have nothing to do with this.” She put her hands up like she was calling a truce.
“Just drop it. We have work to do.” Danny stopped the Jeep in a wide field and cut the engine. “Get your stuff.” Climbing out, he walked to an open, circular patch of grasses whose tops all swirled in the same direction. Resting his fingers over the hawk’s wings on the side of his throat, he tapped once. Nothing happened.
Giselle stalked toward him, staring. “What are you doing?”
“Hang on a sec.” He tracked out of the circle. “I’ll be right back.” Walking a few paces, he stood behind the Jeep in the dark and placed his fingers over his wings again, concentrated on Cole, and tapped three times. The wings fluttered underneath his hand, breaking free from his skin, before calming and stilling again. Making his way back to the circle, he locked the Jeep and shoved the keys in his pocket. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Lindsey said, but Giselle gave him a dirty look.
He ignored her and reached for her hand.
“What are we doing, a seance?” Giselle snatched her hand away.