by L. L. Ash
“I need money, first of all. We’ve got equipment to buy and it’s not cheap. Second I want access to all your agencies. CIA, FBI...”
“We can’t just...” The vice-president-come-president said with a sigh.
“You will,” Calix shot, turning fully to the man.
He stiffened in his seat and nodded like a rebuked child.
“Now. I’ll leave you to discuss the details of how you may be of best help to the general.”
With that Calix turned around and put his hand out for me to take. Blood soaked his appendage up to the elbow, but I didn’t hesitate. My strength reflected his strength.
My hand was a little slippery in his as we walked, his jacket slung over my other arm.
“Stay,” Calix stopped at the door next to Thomas. “Listen. Inform me come morning.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
With a sharp nod we continued, the door opening for us before we stopped again.
“General,” he called, looking over his shoulder.
The large man turned and I saw his ice eyes.
“I expect a full report.”
“As you please, my king.”
With that we were going up the stairs again with our entourage.
Once in the limo, Calix let out a deep sigh.
“I killed the vlakas bastarde...” he sighed. “There will be repercussions for this.”
“Could you have done anything else?” I asked, trying to hide the shaking in my voice as I took a bottle of water and spilled it over my hand.
The blood didn’t want to come off.
“He was blatantly challenging me. I don’t see if I could have done it differently. Skata...”
“Then don’t think about it again.”
He sighed, looking over his bloody hand as if it were a mild inconvenience.
“We’re going home,” he said eventually. “I insist our chores be over for the night.”
I nodded, fisting my bloodied hand in my lap as we went.
We sat in silence for a while before Calix looked at me.
“I’m sorry I got blood on you,” he said in a gentle voice. “I know you don’t like the feeling of it. But thank you for not shying away from me. You put up a brave front tonight and I am humbled with your courage.”
“I just did as you asked. At least, I tried to.”
“You did well, Antheia Mou. I am proud of you.”
The praise hit me in the chest and warmed me as we drove the rest of the way home in silence.
Calix headed in a different direction with Leon after getting to the main room in the castle. I was left to go to our room and shower under water so hot it nearly scalded me.
Out of the shower, I crawled into bed naked and wet before falling almost instantly to sleep.
Chapter Nineteen
I woke to a body next to me. No breath, no warmth, no beating heart.
Calix’s eyes were closed for the first time in probably two days and I was glad. He was exhausted, though he would never say it.
Slipping out of bed, I pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt from the closet then snuck out of the room, giving him some time to rest.
It had been many hours since I’d checked on my siblings and I felt like a first class loser sister. Somehow Chrys had gotten mixed up with Nyx and maybe even Alexandra too, and Maggie was going to get her heart broken by Ariston. I stopped to see Chrys first cause I knew Maggie was going to need to talk.
“How’re you doing?” I asked when he groggily opened his door to me.
“I’m fine. Worn out,” he said with a yawn.
“Hello Lily!” came a lilting feminine voice from inside his room.
I scowled at him and he looked down, almost ashamed.
“What is Nyx doing in your room?” I whispered to him.
“Come inside sweetums so we can chat,” she called, ignoring my brother all together.
Fine. I would chew Nyx out, then.
“What the hell are you doing in my brother’s room?” I growled at her.
My sister bear was coming out strong.
“Relax, darling. I am treating Chrys well. Don’t worry for him.”
“He’s my brother! How can you treat him like one of your little slave boys?” I almost yelled.
“He is a human, Lily,” Nyx told me as if I didn’t know. “And he was eager for female flesh.”
“He’s seventeen freaking years old! Of course he is!”
“So? Then I have been doing him a favor. He is much more skilled just in the hours we have spent together. And Alexandra is a gifted teacher.”
I turned to Chrys and he was red as a tomato, but he was grinning ear to ear.
“You seriously want this, Chrys?” I asked him in a soft voice.
“I’ve been loving it, Lil. Please don’t… don’t make me stop like mom would.”
I bit my lip.
“Fine. But don’t let her push you around. When you’re done, you’re done.”
“Are you afraid I’m going to take advantage of your little brother?” Nyx laughed.
“You already have. And I’m mad at you for it,” I told her before seeing myself out.
The door was barely closed before giggles filtered through.
Moving a few steps forward I knocked on Maggie’s door.
Nobody answered.
Heading down the hall, I checked the dining room and the gathering hall but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Have you seen my sister?” I eventually asked a couple of older vampires that passed me.
“The servants will know,” one said before they headed off again.
Catching a servant carrying fresh linens, I touched her arm.
“My sister Maggie. Have you seen her?”
“She’s with Prince Ariston,” the woman said softly as if frightened by me.
“Where is he?”
“In his rooms, Mistress. Do you wish to see him?”
“Show me,” I told her and followed as she took a sharp turn.
Stopping in front of a door, she pointed, bowed, then almost ran off, booking it out of my sight.
Frowning, I knocked.
“Come,” Ariston called from inside and I opened the door, unprepared for what I found.
My sister was wrapped up in his bed, shoulders bare and arm wrapped around his chest.
“M-M-M-M-Maggie?” I stuttered.
Maggie sat up quickly, nearly losing her sheet.
She whispered expletives under her breath as she looked for something to cover up with.
“It is nothing shameful,” Ariston told her quietly and stroked her wild curly hair off her face.
“Nothing shameful?” I shrieked.
“Calm yourself,” Ariston said, getting up stark naked to find his clothes on the ground.
I may have seen that body before, but the suddenness of the exposure still shocked me.
My eyes drifted quickly to the ground until he had pants on.
“We didn’t want you to find out this way,” Maggie whispered.
“Find out what?” my eyes widened in horror.
“We are mates,” Ariston said clinically, without emotion.
My eyes blinked rapidly, at first to process, and then to cry.
“Oh no… Oh no!”
Maggie looked shocked at my reaction.
“Aren’t you happy for me, Lil?” She seemed confused.
“No!” I cried before stepping forward and slapping my hand across Ariston’s face.
He didn’t move. He just took it. So I did it again.
“Lily! Stop it!” Maggie cried as she stumbled out of the bed with the sheets wrapped around her precariously.
“Did you tell her?” I shrieked.
“Tell her what, Lily?” Ariston crossed his arms over his newly pale chest. “That we were lovers for an exceedingly short time? It was insignificant and meaningless.”
“Fuck that! I’m asking if you told her what happens if she becomes a mate! Did he tell
you, Maggie? Or did he just take your virginity and leave you clueless?”
Maggie’s eyes widened as she looked to Ariston to explain.
“You can’t have her.” I clenched my teeth, taking Maggie’s arm.
I marched her out of the room, sheet and all down the hallways until we got to our rooms. By then Maggie was demanding to know what was happening.
“Stop this Lily! What the hell is going on? What do you mean? What will happen?”
The door to my bedroom opened and Calix stood in the doorway, shirtless and delicious as always.
“No...” he said quickly, understanding immediately.
“What?” Maggie finally shrieked.
“Can we undo the mating?” I asked Calix but he shook his head.
“It’s too late. The seed is planted, the bond is made.”
I clenched my eyes closed as tears dripped out.
“Lily, you’re really starting to scare me,” Maggie whispered, fear radiating off of her.
I opened my eyes and pointed her to her room.
“Go inside, I’ll explain in a second.”
She went and I turned to Calix.
“Please tell me there’s something I can do… She won’t survive this fate, Calix, and she will not be the loved one.”
He shook his head again.
“There is nothing I can do besides destroy my own brother. And I know you are upset, but I will not do that.”
I bit my lip so hard it bled.
“Oh, little one,” he hummed quietly, taking my lips in his, sucking the blood off of it.
I pulled away. Now was not the time to get distracted by kisses from him.
“I have to tell her everything...” I told him. “She will be devastated. I’m devastated for her.”
A moment of silence.
“Would you like me to stay for you?” he asked in a whisper as he took me into his arms.
“No. You’re busy. Though, if you want to talk to Nyx about my brother...”
“Your brother will be better than fine.”
I frowned but let him go. Calix looked back over his shoulder, almost as if checking on me before he winked.
Stepping into my sister's room, she was dressed and sitting on the bed as if ready to be scolded. A scolding was the last thing she needed with the bomb I was about to drop on her.
“Ok. Get your whole speech over with.” She sighed, her legs folded up against her chest, chin on her knees.
“I’m not going to scold you,” I whispered, tearing. “I’m going to freaking kill Ariston, but I’m not mad at you. The selfish idiot didn’t tell you what the mate bond is.”
“You keep saying that but don’t explain.”
She looked like she was starting to get mad.
“Mags, when a royal finds a mate, they are their mate for the rest of their lives. There is no divorce or leaving him. The bond is strong whether you like him or hate him.”
“What’s so bad about being with someone forever?”
I gulped.
“Because you won’t be the only one.”
She raised an eyebrow, confused.
“He will take other mates, Maggie.” I inhaled, waiting for the explosion.
“No he won’t.” She grinned, sighing as if she was relieved. “That’s all you were worried about? Do you mean that Calix has other mates?”
“Not yet, but he will.”
Maggie frowned.
“I’m sorry, Lil. I can’t imagine how hard that would be.”
She didn’t seem to understand.
“Maggie, he will take other mates. He has to. He’s a royal.”
“He loves me, Lily. He won’t want anyone other then me.”
“Did he say he loved you?” I asked, suddenly feeling hope.
“Well...no. But I can see it in his eyes when we make love,” she said dreamily.
Or she can see the deep lust one mate has for another.
“Maggie… I’m sorry but...”
“He won’t,” Maggie told me sternly. “If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”
“Fine. Let’s talk to him.”
Going out of the room, Maggie led me right back to the room Ariston occupied in my mate’s castle. She held her hand out to me to keep me back as she entered.
“Ari?” she called but there was silence.
“The shower’s on. I don’t think he can hear me,” she said, letting me into the room.
No, he could hear. He was a full vampire now. He was simply ignoring her.
She went and peeked into the bathroom door and called his name again. I didn’t hear the reply but she left and sat beside me on the bed. As the realization of everything sank in, I stood up. I couldn’t sit on the bed that he’d shared with my sister. I still had feelings for him and the whole situation left me feeling sick again.
The water turned off and not even a minute later Ariston stepped out of the bathroom in low-slung jeans.
He always looked good in jeans…
I shook the thought from my head as his eyes caught on mine and I folded my arms against my chest, glaring at him.
“What is this about?” he asked, shimmying his arms into his t-shirt before slipping it over his head.
“It’s about you bedding my sister and making her your mate, asshole,” I told him and he flinched.
“And what about it?” he countered.
“I just explained to my sister that you will have to take on multiple mates. She doesn’t seem to think you will. She thinks you love her, that you won’t want anyone but her.”
Ariston sighed, his shoulders drooping.
“I will take on more,” he confirmed and my sister gasped. “And I never said I loved you, Magnolia.”
Her jaw dropped and quivered, eyes watering up.
“Why in the hell did you take a virgin after the ceremony then, Ariston?” I growled. “You know it’s a possibility when...”
“Because I wanted to get back at you,” he growled back, shoulders lifting again, in defiance. “You think I wanted to take a mate? I’m fucking one day old! I didn’t think there could be two of you in one family, and she was the closest thing I could have to you! I’d barely popped her cherry when I knew. By then it was too late.”
Maggie was sobbing now, running out of the room with her hand clasped over her mouth to choke down the cries.
My jaw worked back and forth, back and forth as my teeth ground against themselves.
“You did this for revenge?” I snarled, arms unfolding.
For just a second he looked afraid.
“Don’t act the martyr here, Lil. You’re the one who became mated and then made me fall in love with you.”
“You’re a fucking child!” I roared. “You just ruined my sisters life because you were throwing a tantrum!”
His hand slapped to his chest as if I’d dealt a physical blow.
The door opened and none other then Leon stepped into the room.
“What goes on here?” he asked in a gentle voice. “I came to check on you, Ris and heard you arguing.”
He looked between Ariston and I as if expecting an explanation.
“Go ahead, Ris. Tell your brother what you’ve done,” I taunted.
Ariston tightened his jaw before turning to his brother.
“I am fine, thank you for your concern. I’ve drank heartily, thanks to my new mate.”
With that, Ariston gave me a triumphant look.
My ire heated all over again.
I lunged toward him but Leon’s arm stopped me, pulling me into his side as he hummed.
“Who is this mate of yours?” he asked his brother.
“None other than Magnolia. Lily’s sister.”
“I see,” Leon said, sighing and stroking his thumb down my arm. “And you are not happy about this?”
I growled again.
“He did it to spite me,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Did you?” Leon looked to his brother.
Leon’s body stiffened.
“You should have thought about that before bedding a virgin. She is yours now, Ariston.”
“Yeah I know.” Ariston sighed as if put out.
“We did this too soon,” Leon said. “You are too immature to have this responsibility.”
“Fucking too late for that,” he spat out, turning around to grab his wallet and some socks off the dresser.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Leon let go of me to press a hand against Ariston’s chest as he tried to slip past us.
“Get off, Leo.”
“You have responsibilities. Where is your mate now?”
“How should I know? She ran off somewhere.”
“Sobbing her eyes out,” I added.
Leon huffed.
“And you intend to leave her in distress?”
“I intend to go party, try to get as drunk as I can and find something else to fuck.”
I gasped, his coarseness uncharacteristic for him.
“You may not love your first mate, Ariston, but you will respect her. You will find your loved mate eventually...”
“No I won’t,” he shrugged. “I’ve already fallen in love, and I can’t have her.”
“What do you mean?” Leo asked confused.
Ariston looked toward me with a purposeful stare.
Leon groaned.
“Riiiiis,” he whined, his accent making it sound like Reese. “You know there is no...”
“Yes Leon, I know,” Ariston interrupted with a growl. “My chance at happiness has been stolen away and there’s nothing anyone can do because the woman I love is mated to my king.”
At that Ariston shoved past his brother and left the room, snatching up his shoes on the way.
“Fucking hell,” Leon groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Is Calix informed of this?”
“He knows they’re mated. He doesn’t know about...this.”
“Will you inform him or will I?”
“How about we both go?”
He dipped his head and put his arm around me, leading me out of the room. We quickly made our way to Calix’s office.
When we went in, Calix immediately grew concerned.
“What is it, Leo?” he asked as he looked at me.
“Ariston. We might have been too hasty in turning him. Evidently he wasn’t through sowing his wild oats.”