“Can you stop by later?” I asked, considering how this was the first time I’d ever requested him to visit.
There was some shuffling on the other end of the phone, some papers rustling I thought, then Dad said, “I can be there after class.”
“See you then,” I said, then hurriedly, before he could hang up. “I love you, Dad.”
There was silence, no more rustling papers, then Dad said, “You too, Savvy.” Then he hung up.
“Can you contact Hadrian?” I asked Rowan after closing my phone, but not putting it away. I needed to call Benn next.
“Hadrian?” Cyrus asked, poking his head over the back of the couch he’d occupied the moment we jumped from the ‘realm. He looked exhausted. I wondered when the last time he slept was.
Nodding, but not offering any explanation, I flipped through my cell phone calls list and selected Benn’s number.
“You can’t be saying you wish that Devil to be one of your advisors,” Cyrus’s face looked stretched, almost like he was afraid.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I said, and pressed send.
Benn picked up at the first ring. “Are you all right?”
“Still breathing. Can you come over?”
“Be there in ten,” he said instantly, and we hung up at the same time.
Sliding my phone into my pocket, both Rowan and Cyrus were staring at me like I was insane. I ignored their looks.
Walking over to the counter, I swiped Dmitri’s talisman from the place I’d stashed it after class the other night. “How do you work one of these things?”
I banged it against the counter a few times, shook it, then squinted at the little, metal pawn. Rowan stepped over to me, putting his hand on my head, sliding it down the length of my hair, almost as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it. It felt incredible.
“Speak the demon’s name.”
I stared at the chess piece, eyebrows drawn in, and told it, feeling mildly stupid, “Dmitri.”
The little chess pawn burned my fingers for a second, then returned to normal. I shrugged, putting it down, assuming it worked.
“Razer?” Rowan asked in my ear, and when I nodded, he kissed my temple.
“Unless there’s some kind of demon mercenary for hire section in the Yellow Pages, I’m going to need some of your full-caste contacts. Can either of you get in touch with Hadrian, or someone who knows him?”
Cyrus nodded, and I got the impression he was getting ready to jump away, to do as I asked, but he looked so tired.
“No, Cy. Rest first. It can wait until tomorrow.”
He nodded again, settling back down on the couch gratefully, then asked, “at least tell me why.”
“When he lifted my glamour, he said the highest bidder wanted me unhidden. In what reality would the highest bidder not be the Royal?” With lifted eyebrows, I waited for them to disagree with my reasoning. Neither did. “It wasn’t Iliana. She didn’t want me unhidden. She had no intention of the ‘realm finding out about me.”
“How do you know for sure?” Cyrus asked.
I would tell them about the waves of emotion I felt someday. But for now, I answered, “Trust me, I know.”
“Then who hired Hadrian? Who wanted your glamour lifted?” Cy asked.
“I don’t know. But Hadrian chose to do it, even though he could have taken their offer to Iliana or Astor and profited from it. There’s no way they could have out-paid a Royal or an ancient, former Royal, no matter who it was. There’s compassion in Hadrian.” I thought. Unless I was way off. But I couldn’t waste time thinking like that. The demon part of me didn’t protest the decision, so I’d already committed to it.
I also had no other option.
Turning away from Cy’s suspicious gaze, I admitted, “but besides Grayson, I don’t know any Tempters.”
Yes, you do. The telepath came from outside the store.
Eyes of light brown and blue focused on me as Holly entered The Bookstore.
At first, I didn’t believe her. She was lying. Of course she was. So what if she could telepath with me? If she were a Tempter…okay, it would explain Benn’s reaction to her. And why she didn’t believe Jake could love her. Because he was a human. But then, why would she hate me so much? No, she couldn’t be a…
Her hazel eyes flashed black-out silver.
“All right.” I swallowed my shock, focusing on what was most important. “I know another Tempter.”
Her glamour was the best I’d ever seen. I had no idea. There was no silver, or grey in her hazel eyes. There was no tinsel on the surface of her skin that I could only barely detect.
“Look, half-caste. I don’t like you. You’re Scion? Who gives a shit? You had a gift. You had anonymity. And now you’re the second most public demon in the universe. You’re weak, and will never survive. Half-castes are less than demon. I doubt you’ll live to see your mother’s reign.”
I probably should have been mad. But instead, I cackled uncontrollably. “Please, tell me how you really feel.”
Acting like she didn’t hear me, Holly continued. “On the off chance you do stay alive through the Blooding, it seems…prudent for you to be bound to Division.”
“Did Director Pakala send you?”
“The director doesn’t know what I am. And you will keep it that way.”
I mulled it over, and my demon half scrutinized the female, her pugnacious expression, her determined, hazel eyes. If nothing else, I wanted to know why her glamour was so flawless, why I didn’t get any waves of emotion coming off her. Not even faint, tainted ones like I got from Reapers. And if she was disgusted by half-castes, how could she stand working for Division?
Not to mention, why was she working for Division incognito anyway?
And my demon instinct whispered, if she stepped out of line, I could always use Jake and Director Pakala against her. My human half thought watching her and Jake’s pseudo-romance play out would be entertaining too. There were worse sights in this world than seeing those two with each other.
But I knew I may not see them together. There was no reason any of these demons would bond with me, and stick around and be advisors after the Blooding.
Maybe they didn’t have to.
Perhaps it was better that they didn’t have to.
The decision was made. None of the demons I chose to bond with would have to be anything to me after the fact. I’d make sure that was clear. It wasn’t fair to force them to serve me. I needed them. They did not need me.
“Are you certain?” was Rowan’s soft, concerned question. Somehow, he suspected what I’d been thinking.
I reasoned it through. I’d be bound to six demons, all with different agendas. All with loyalties that potentially bound them to an agency other than the half-caste Scion. And in a way, I’d be connected to those agencies through them. Division through Holly who hated me. Faction through Connell who cared about me. Iliana’s court through Ivy who might betray me, whose loyalty was supposed to be only to her Reaper Empress anyway. Unsavory mercenaries through Hadrian—if we could find him and get him to agree—who might kill me if someone paid him enough. Dmitri, who I was willing to bet would be the only demon compelled to be all allegiency with me, who would no doubt give Iliana the same, unquestioning allegiance.
And my Warrior, who was all mine.
“Savannah, are you certain?” Rowan repeated, putting his hand against the side of my neck with his fingers tangled into my hair.
“I think it fits.”
Nikolai’s advisors consisted of high-brow demons that came from money, even the demons that were considered part of the lower-castes were wealthy and well-respected before they were made advisors. They were all loyal only to the monarchy.
“We’d be nothing like them.”
“And this is a desirable trait?” he asked, but there was amusement in his eyes.
The idea of being Scion, of being a leader to anyone was still pretty unbelievable. But there were thi
ngs I understood. Division did a good thing. Faction was a good place. There were probably far more poor demons than rich ones who Iliana and the other Royals favored.
It wasn’t right that half-castes were being kept as catatonic slaves by Iliana, simply to amuse her. It wasn’t right that Tanis had been held hostage to keep Grayson in line. It wasn’t right that Apollo, Greta, and Stratton still had something dear to them being held captive.
It wasn’t right that any of the six castes were treated as less, like Hammers were. Why did they have to forfeit eight years of their young lives to another caste? Why couldn’t Mischief demons be unglamoured if they preferred to be? Who said being glamoured, looking mostly human was the only acceptable way to look?
“Yes.” I rose on my toes, hands pressed against his chest, and planted a light kiss on the side of Rowan’s neck. He growled, and my toes curled as I eased off them. “We’re already as different from any other Scion council there has ever been. We should embrace it.”
Rowan hugged me then, his arms around my waist, and lifted me off the ground without any effort. “Council?”
“Better than advisors?”
“I like it,” Rowan said, but didn’t put me down, nuzzling his face into my hair and running unglamoured claws along the length of my spine, making it impossible not to think about what that would feel like if I weren’t wearing anything at all.
“Are they always like this?” Holly asked behind me, I supposed to Cyrus. I’d forgotten they were there.
“Usually,” Cy’s voice confused, kind of embarrassed, and oddly worried, “they spit and snap at each other. I don’t know exactly when this happened.”
I looked at Rowan, who didn’t seem to be listening to them. His eyes were glowing intensely, pure white gold with only specks of champagne. He looked so erotic, dangerous in a sensual way. Scraping my nails along his shoulders, I had to fight not to wrap my legs around his hips. There were other people here. I had to keep repeating the fact inside my head.
But before we had to return to the ‘realm, we were going to be alone.
CHAPTER 38
“That still leaves one caste,” Rowan said after Dmitri was out The Bookstore front door, his promise to be the Razer in my council of demons vehemently expressed. Though he’d taken more than a day to respond to that burning talisman thingy, he’d been downright eager—as eager as stoic Dmitri could probably be—to bond with me.
But I hadn’t expected him to say no. It was Hadrian I was worried about.
Cy left with Grayson and Tanis earlier in the day, after what everyone said was a ragged and restless night of attempted sleep. The three of them had jumped away to Grayson’s home downtown to better care for Tanis.
She was weak, and hadn’t said anything at all since coming Up Above. I worried for her. We didn’t know what she went through in Iliana’s court. I had an awful feeling she wasn’t always kept in that catatonic state, being left alone and unharmed.
Cyrus, before he left, said he’d track Hadrian down. We expected to hear from him any time, which was the only reason I wasn’t asleep. I think the heaviness of everything that had happened, and all the sleepless nights caught up to me. To all of us. And it didn’t look like we could expect some down time anytime soon either.
After a visit from Ivy—thanks to Grayson for getting the word to her—last night, and Holly as my Tempter, I was doing better than expected when we got back yesterday.
Rowan came around the side of the couch, expectance on his face, and I asked, “Hum?”
“You have one caste left to choose,” he repeated, and I realized how lost in my thoughts I had been to not respond to this. Or maybe I was surprised he wouldn’t know I’d already chosen.
“No,” I lay down on the couch, and stretched lazily. “That’s all six.”
“You have yet to choose a Hammer. I know of several—”
My head shot up. You’re my Warrior, Rowan. I won’t accept another.
My Sentinel bowed his head, and there was a wave of such intense emotion in the air, it made me shiver. “You honor me.”
“I trust you,” I laid my head back down. “And I’m crazy about you.”
After a few more minutes of bowed-head silence and turbulent emotions in the air, Rowan joined me on the couch, slipping under my feet, then placed my legs on his lap. He removed my boots and socks, and massaged my legs as if it weren’t the first time he’d touched me there. My eyes rolled back in my head.
Tomorrow was the last day. The last night. We had to leave early the next morning to assure we’d make it to Iliana’s palace on time. Demon traffic would be heavy, Rowan had told me. The Gate would be overrun. So we had one more day.
“Bennett seemed to take everything well,” Rowan said, and I felt a stab of guilt. My best friend had been here yesterday, just as I asked him. With the parade of demons coming and going—Holly, Connell with Yan and Flora, and late in the night, Ivy with three, equally sad looking Reaper females—I wasn’t able to give him my undivided attention.
But he came back today, supporting me with his presence.
“He’s an amazing person,” I said, my eyelids getting heavy.
As promised, Dad visited after his class last night, but I lost my nerve. I couldn’t tell him about what happened, what I agreed to, or even that I met my mother. So instead, I introduced him to Rowan and showed off the improvements to The Bookstore. He left after about an hour, looking confused.
“You should Mark him and Victor before the Blooding. In case—” he snapped his jaw shut, and wouldn’t look at me.
It was something we had yet to discuss. We knew the possibility of me not living through the Blooding. Astor had said it. Holly had said it. Even Grayson had a sense of regret whenever he looked at me, as if each second he saw me would be the last.
“Will it make them any safer to be Marked by both of us?”
“No. But you got Iliana to agree to it. You should follow through.”
“Mmm,” I agreed, letting my eyes close as Rowan’s warm, strong hands kneaded my calves. “Tomorrow then.”
As I watched Rowan’s fingers work my legs, something else took up exhaustion’s place as the dominant feeling in me. And as usual, the moment I realized how turned on he was making me just by touching any little part of me, he stopped.
“I should go,” he said, tracing each hand along the length of the top of my lower leg, from knee to ankle. “You need sleep.”
My eyes shot open, trying to will myself not to look exhausted. I didn’t want him to leave me. Ever.
“Cy should be calling.”
“I can take care of it. I’d prefer you not meet with Hadrian anyway. I’m still not convinced he can be trusted.”
I chuckled, mostly from giddy fatigue and a little from my body’s reaction to Rowan’s touch. “He probably can’t be trusted. But we need him. And I’m meeting with him. Whether you like it or not.”
He gave me a crooked, almost boyish grin. “I suppose it was a long shot.”
“Mm,” was all I could manage.
Though I didn’t think Rowan realized it, his hands got considerably higher on my legs. Nimble fingers stroked above my knee. The other rubbed the inside of my thigh. Each touch made me grasp the couch cushion tighter and tighter.
The moment he noticed, whether it was my elevated heartbeat or my slight squirming and the excited intake of breath that tipped him off, he snatched his hands away, and rested them on my ankles.
Not blinking, I stared, allowing disappointment, and an invitation to project into the air.
Rowan shook his head. “Stop that.”
There was no reason to be shy. Not anymore.
“I don’t want to.”
Rowan sighed, his big chest lifting and falling, drawing my eyes, making me wonder what it would feel like for that chest to be bared, pressing down against mine.
“I wish you weren’t Scion,” he admitted suddenly, and I ripped my eyes away from his chest. “Then we c
ould—”
Instantly understanding hit me. This was it. The talk.
“We can anyway. Why should it—”
“Because it does. Because there’s no—”
“There are no rules here. No allegiances. No archaic—”
“You may not care for traditions, but others—”
“Do you see any other—?”
“Not at this moment, but there will…be.”
We stared at each other, surprised by the velocity and passionate frenzy of our conversation.
“So what if there will be demons who disapprove?” Inhaling, I attempted to keep the franticness from my words. “Why does anyone else get a say in our business?”
“All of my life has been these rules, Savannah. These archaic traditions, as you call them. If you have seen what I have seen of what becomes of demons who do not follow the order of things…”
He trailed off, and I had no retort this time. I didn’t know why he was still resisting. We had something. It had seemed like he’d accepted this. Rowan had been so generous with his touches, so near me at every turn, blatantly, unflinchingly displaying care for me since we returned, I’d stopped considered the possibility of losing it. Again.
Then, I suspected I knew why he withdrew now. I might be dead in thirty-six hours. We both knew it. Was it better to never know what might have been?
No.
“A week ago, I was nothing,” I said. He tried to interrupt, but I wouldn’t let him. “No!”
“One week ago, I was nothing. Now I’m Scion? Holly has the right idea. Who gives a shit? I spent my whole life a shadow of what I should have been. With you, I feel more than I thought possible. I want that. And I’m not giving it up because of a chance of birth, of my mother’s ambition. She already took too much away from me.” She does not get to take you too.
I settled back down, my head sinking into a lumpy pillow, and let silence fall.
“You’re beginning to sound like a ruler,” Rowan finally said, but my focus was on his knuckles playing along the inseam of my jean-like pants.
Defying Instinct (Demon Instinct Series) Page 25