The Complete Chosen Trilogy (The Chosen #0)

by N. M. Santoski

  Within ten minutes, the first guard was getting to his feet, but the three were long gone.

  ***

  Michael nodded as his son and Alan Aeron finished their line of reasoning.

  “What do you need from me?”

  “We believe you should recall all numen to Caer Anglia early, for their safety,” Alan said.

  “Explain your thought process.”

  “It would only be a month early—a month and a half at the most. We need to get all possible conspirators together—make a clean sweep. Anyone who denies the early summons should be placed under even greater scrutiny.”

  Alan nodded, though his mind was already wondering if Leiani would come to Caer Anglia when summoned. “This way, we net them all. We catch the Aeroni, we punish them, and we set an example for the rest. We think we know who the teachers are that are spearheading this… we just want confirmation.”

  Michael looked pensive. “It’s a good idea. I will send out word to the Councilors. We should be able to move on this by the end of the month. Have you heard anything on your brother’s whereabouts?”

  “No, Lord Artifex, but I believe this plan assists with that, as well. Nolan is… let’s just say that the idea of someone suffering for his cause would be abhorrent to him. With so many numen there, news of the traitors’ punishment would surely spread.”

  “How will it spread if we are in lock down?”

  “You misunderstand. We will not stop numen from coming and going once the traitors have been found and… dealt with. We need them to filter word back to my brother. He will come running, I am sure of it.”

  Before Michael could tell them his opinion of their plan, there was frantic knocking at the door.

  “Lord Artifex!”

  Rebecca came stumbling in, her expression a strange combination of excited and furious.

  “What is it, Captain?” He saw her pause as she regarded Manas and Alan. “You may speak freely—we are all friends here.”

  “Aeron was in the Village!”

  Michael’s hand tightened on the back of his desk chair. “Was?”

  “Lieutenant Lamesa and his team were unsuccessful in their capture, but they have destroyed the house and put Aeron’s back against the wall. He’s back on the run, but his options are running out. We’ll squeeze him so hard he will have to take the risk and come here—then we can crush him!”

  Michael nodded. “Very well.” He turned back to his son and the oldest Aeron. “Set the wheels in motion—our time is running out.”

  Alan saw Manas swallow and turn his face away before leaving the room. Alan bowed his head and did the same.

  PART THE SIXTH

  SWORDSMITH

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Nolan did his best to hide his amazement as they climbed the stairs to Bentley's front door.

  "Who is it?" A tinny voice answered the bell, distorted by the speaker system.

  "It's me, Bentley," Pyrrhus said.

  "Pyrrhus!"

  The door buzzed faintly, and they were through.

  He welcomed them with a smile, though he was appropriately grave when bowing to Nolan, who quickly waved it off.

  "Not that I'm not happy to see you, everyone, but it was my understanding that you wouldn't return until the situation was dire. Has it deteriorated so fast?"

  "Yes,” they chorused.

  “Our old base of operations has been destroyed, and we need somewhere to rest and regroup.”

  “My home is open to you. In a way, you are lucky you came here—the American numen have all been recalled to Caer Anglia. Anywhere else you would have tried for sanctuary would have been closed to you.”

  “They’re all at Caer Anglia?”

  “By order of the Council, yes.”

  “Bentley, I hate putting you on the spot, but this must be kept an utmost secret. No one else can know we are here until we have a plan."

  "Idella must be told—she lives here, too, and to keep this from her would be impossible. Not to mention that she's been looking for you, Nolan, for quite some time."

  Nolan turned to look at the other two. “You’ve met her, haven’t you? What do you think?”

  Gia shook her head. “She wasn’t here when we came last time…I don’t know her.” She paused. “Bentley, didn’t you just say that all American numen were recalled? I thought your half-sister was American.”

  “The Sheppards are American, yes. She has ignored the summons.”

  “What? How can she do that without making herself a target?” Nolan asked. He gestured at the three of them. “We at least know that we’ve been targets for a while now.”

  “She is banking on the fact that the temporary Lord Gravis doesn’t know his Court well enough to know who is missing.”

  Gia snorted. “She’d be right about that—Angus never did pay attention to much beyond the Pride.”

  “We’ve gotten off track. Idella, Pyrrhus?” Nolan prompted.

  Pyrrhus was watching Bentley through their exchange. “We’ll need to trust people at some point, Nolan.”

  “You just said—“

  “I know what I said. Why is your sister looking for Nolan, Bentley?”

  “Do you remember our dinner conversation during your last visit?”

  “I do.”

  “Idella refuses to bow to Angus Kinnaird. Ever. She wants to know who her new Lord or Lady is, and the fastest way to know that is to ask him.” He gestured to Nolan.

  “What do you mean?” Gia frowned. “Nolan, how would you know who the new Lord is?”

  He sighed. “When Lord Gravis died, I knew. I saw a… vision, I guess is the best word… of the new Lady Gravia. The Sword told me her name and showed her to me—and she saw me, too. At least I think she did.”

  “What’s wrong, Gia?” Pyrrhus asked suddenly.

  Gia had her hand to her throat, her eyes wide. “Nolan—do you have any pictures of your grandfather?”

  “Not anymore—pretty sure the fire took care of that. Why?”

  “What you just described? That happened to me.”

  “What?”

  Gia stumbled toward the couch, sitting down before she fell down. “When my parents died, I was at home. I was…well, to be honest, I had climbed out of my window and was sitting on the small porch roof just outside. I had been warned before that we had terraces for that, but there was something about sitting out on the roof overlooking the forest—I’m getting sidetracked.” She took a deep breath. “Suddenly, I wasn’t looking out over the woods anymore. I was somewhere else. I could just see the edges of what I should have been seeing, but in the middle was an older man. He was staring at me, and I was staring back. Finally, he gave me a sad smile, and the vision snapped shut.”

  She pulled at the side of her shirt, raising the hem to expose inches of pale skin. She stopped just above the line of her bra to show them a scar. “While I was in that trance, I fell off the roof. The Court was in such an uproar over the news of my parents’ deaths, it was almost a whole day before a Medica could be brought in to heal me.”

  Nolan was staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Gia, don’t you know what this means?”

  “My brother is a faithless liar,” she said, letting her shirt settle back into place. “And apparently, I’ve been Lady Zephyra for almost a decade without knowing it.”

  “Then your brother’s disowning of you means next to nothing,” Bentley said with a nod.

  “His what? He—“ Gia froze, trembling.

  “He finally did it,” Pyrrhus said, whistling low. “I never thought he’d have the guts.”

  “It only matters in a familial sense,” Bentley corrected himself as Nolan finally crossed the room to gather Gia into his arms. “He may not be Lord Zephyrus, but he is still the head of the Disanza family. He’s made a big announcement that Lady Clara is Lady Younger Zephyra now, and that she is engaged to Angus Kinnaird.”

  Nolan frowned as Gia began to shake. As he dipped to
kiss the crown of her head, he realized she was laughing.

  “Gia?”

  “She is Lady Younger,” she choked out over her giggles. “Until I have a child, Clara is my Heir. That’s why it worked! And Angus will finally get a Disanza girl in his bed!”

  The three men stared at her. Finally, it was Pyrrhus who broke the spell. He squared himself off in front of her and knelt, taking her hand and kissing it. His solemn expression killed her laughter almost at once.

  “Lady Zephyra.”

  Bentley was hot on his heels, repeating both motion and action as Nolan stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

  When they were finished, he turned her gently. “Lady Zephyra,” he said softly, kissing each of her cheeks ceremoniously before giving her a lingering kiss on the lips. “Welcome to my Council.”

  “BENTLEY! Where are you?”

  They all flinched at the sudden noise. “That’s Idella,” Bentley said, moving to intercept her as he heard her feet thundering up the stairs.

  “I found out more infor—“

  “Idella, we have guests.”

  She stopped short, eyeing them all. “So we do. Do the introductions, Bentley, I want to talk to you about what I found.”

  “Idella, these are my friends. Pyrrhus, Lord Younger Ignis. Giada, Lady Zephyra. And Nolan Aeron, Lord Fulmen, Swordsmith. Friends, my sister, Idella Sheppard.”

  She stared. “You travel in mighty circles, brother.” She paid her respects to them all, and then confronted Nolan directly. “I think I know the name of my Lady, Lord Fulmen, but I would appreciate confirmation.”

  “Let’s move to the dining room, and we’ll see what you found,” Bentley suggested, motioning them forward.

  Once they were settled, she spread out her research and began to take them through it. “I began tracing Magnus’ line backwards to find the line with a current living descendant. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. Finally, I came up with a name. Charlotte DuBois.”

  Nolan made a face. “The name I heard was Cherrie.”

  “It might be the name she goes by, rather than her legal name,” Gia suggested. “Where is she, Idella? Nolan said it looked like an island, but that’s not much help.”

  “She’s in St. Thomas, if I traced it right… and I think I did.”

  “St. Thomas? How did that happen?”

  “About ten generations back, Lord Gravis had two sons. One was Leith’s direct ancestor, and the Lord Younger Gravis. The other was a missionary for the Moravians. After his wife died, he left Germany to attempt to convert slaves in St. Thomas to Protestantism… and left one of the women there with a little gift. Lady Gravia is descended from him.”

  “Makes sense. So now what?”

  “Now I go get her,” Idella said fiercely. “I’ll leave tomorrow!”

  “Tomorrow seems a bit hasty. How are you going to find her?” Pyrrhus asked.

  “The island is only 32 square miles. I plan on landing and connecting with the Gravis there. That should get me to her with little issue. Thankfully, St. Thomas is a US territory, so I don’t even need to have a passport.”

  Nolan nodded, his mind whirring. “We need all the help we can get. Still—you should make those connections before you leave. It won’t do us any good for you to get down there and then be wandering the island for weeks. Take the time now to make your plan as foolproof as possible. Then we’ll succeed.”

  Idella looked as though she wanted to protest, but one glance at Bentley stilled her tongue. “It’s a good idea,” she said finally, with a bit of a pout. “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”

  Chapter Sixty

  The numen began their annual exodus to Caer Anglia early that year, per the Council’s instructions.

  Leiani pulled her jacket closer around her body as Kale helped her from the car.

  “Could it be any colder?” she said with a shiver. Even though it was the end of April, the rain was ice cold, and no matter how she tried, the water insisted on blowing into her jacket every which way.

  “We’re lucky they didn’t recall us in January—the deep snow would have made it impossible,” Kale scowled, readjusting his scarf to better cover his neck. “Can’t you keep the rain off of us?”

  “I would love to, but my numina is acting up—the baby must be affecting it.” She made sure to mention her child at every possible turn, hoping to discourage Kale’s attentions. It only worked about half the time, but any time away from his sickening courtesy was a blessing. “Can’t you do it?”

  His scowl deepened, and he hustled her inside without further discussion.

  Keopelani was waiting for them in Leiani’s rooms.

  “Good morning, Leiani.” She leaned in for a kiss. Leiani allowed it, if only because she was sick enough of fighting for one day. “And Kale—thank you for seeing to my daughter and granddaughter’s well being.”

  “Anything for Leiani,” he said, taking her coat.

  “Leave us, Kale. I will have someone fetch you when we are done.”

  Once he was gone and the door was shut, the two Aqua women stood facing one another.

  “Sit down, Leiani.”

  She complied, eyeing her mother closely.

  “I wanted to speak with you about a very serious subject.” Keopelani sighed and smoothed her hands down her skirts. “Now that we are no longer at Beachhead, the rules must shift slightly. I am sure you are aware that this is heading for a confrontation with Nolan Aeron. We as Council are preparing for that inevitability, and we must have compliance across the board. I cannot deny you visitors to your rooms while you are here—too many people must have access to you for that. Mark my words, daughter—if you attempt anything while we are here and put either yourself or your child at risk, your delivery date will be the last time you ever see her. You must stay away from the Aerons—all three of them. Do you understand?”

  “I do.” Of course she did.

  “I will have your debt marker in this matter.”

  “Mother, my numina is practically non-existent. It wouldn’t be worth anything.”

  “Your word, then.”

  “I swear I will not seek out any member of the Aeron family.”

  Keopelani studied her closely, searching for any trace of deception in her face. Finding none, she nodded. “Very well.”

  ***

  “Angus?” Clara’s head poked around the door. “Is everything alright? You’re back early!”

  He motioned her inside and gestured for her to close the door. “We were asked to bring the Court to Caer Anglia ‘for our own protection.’ I wasn’t even consulted! We had one week… now, here we are.”

  Clara twisted her hands together… a sure sign she wanted to say something. “What is it, Clara? I told you, you can speak freely with me.”

  “If they gave you a timeline, it doesn’t really seem like much of a request.”

  “You’re right. This was an order thinly veiled as a request.”

  “Have you been able to get an audience with Lord Artifex yet?” Clara asked. She handed him a drink and took one for herself, sipping slowly to savor it.

  “No. Both he and Manas are blocking me at every turn. It’s frustrating.” He ran his hands through his curls and shook his head hard. “I almost understand why we abide by Pride rules when we can. It’s political, sure, but nothing like this.”

  “Would you like me to…” she paused, took a deep breath, and continued, “…to ask Arias if he knows what’s happened?”

  “Brave girl, but no. I’d rather avoid him if we can. At least until we know what this is about, right?”

  She returned his smile with a small one of her own, her relief palpable. “Yes, of course.”

  The sounds of voices coming from outside the door made them pause.

  “Was that… is that Noel?” Angus got to his feet, striding toward the door and leaving Clara to follow.

  ***

  “I hate this place,” Noel grumbled as she lugged her bags up
to her room. “Damn Council always jerking us around.”

  She perked up for a moment at the thought of seeing Angus again. He’d been strangely silent these last few weeks. She knew that his status as the new Lord Gravis, on top of his Alpha duties, had to be weighing on him.

  “Well, I’ll just have to see what I can help him with,” she said to herself as she dumped her things on her couch. She would freshen up a bit, then head to the Gravis apartments to offer her… assistance.

  Freshly made up and in her favorite dress (tan with deep orange stitching), she made her way upstairs and knocked on the door to his new apartments. A stranger answered, eyeing her with nothing less than disdain.

  “Can I help you?”

  “I’m here to see Ang—I mean, Lord Gravis.”

  “Lord Gravis is currently with his betrothed, and he’s asked not to be disturbed. Can I leave him a message for you?”

  The girl would never know just how much effort it took Noel not to incinerate her where she stood.

  “No. No… thank you for your… assistance.” She turned on her heel and strode from the room quickly, before anyone else could see her dressed up like a fool for a man who had dropped her without a word.

  “Noel?”

  She froze. Speak of the Devil.

  “Lord Gravis,” she said, turning back to see him watching her with… was that regret? Clara Disanza was standing at his elbow.

  “Clara.”

  “She is Lady Younger Zephyra now,” he said.

  “What? What about Gia?”

  “You’ve missed some things,” Angus said gently. “Would you like to come in? I’m sorry that Eva turned you away… I will make sure she understands that friends are always welcome.”

  “Friends…” she let out a bit of a laugh, then bit it off before it could become hysterical. “Friends. Of course, we are all friends here, aren’t we? No, my Lord,” she said with a sweeping bow than made his eyes narrow, “I will leave you and your fiancée to your business. I just wanted to say hello.”

  Before they could respond, she was gone, the tail end of her dress swishing around the corner behind her.