Her lip lifts in digust. Pretty sure I’m not up to snuff either.
I carefully pull myself back up to a seating position again, mindful of my throbbing temples.
“Don’t suppose you can grab me some water, can you? I tried to get it myself, but the room wouldn’t stop moving long enough for me to make it across the room.”
She pours a glass of water and brings it to me without any sound, vocal or otherwise. This makes me wonder if she can speak.
Sitting down next to me, she watches me greedily gulp down the water. I have never enjoyed attention; in fact I have gone to great lengths to fly under the radar. Maybe her scrutiny would have bothered me a week ago, but I just don’t have it in me to care.
“I can’t believe we are all placing our lives on the line for you,” the girl says, more to herself than me.
Ah, so she can speak. I wish she didn’t if this is the kind of shit she spews.
“I don’t know what you want me to do with that.”
“I’m going to help you get ready. My father wants to meet you. He has put together a dinner in your honor.” She sneers, but I get the feeling it isn't directed at me. “There will only be a few people in attendance, given your half-bound state.”
“Care to tell me who you all are and what you want with me?”
“My father will explain everything to you.” She stands and starts to turn away, before looking back over her shoulder. “I will tell you, though, nothing is as it seems.”
Wonderfully cryptic. Great.
She dresses and primps me for this dinner I am to attend. I try to engage her in conversation a few more times, but she doesn’t respond. It’s as if I didn’t speak at all.
She dresses me in a sleeveless, light-blue sheath dress that falls to my knees. It’s much better quality than anything I have ever worn before. If it weren’t for the situation that I find myself in, I would have loved wearing it.
Looking her over, I realize she must have gotten ready before coming to me. Her hair and makeup are already done, and she has a similar dress on, only hers is pale yellow, giving her a false sense of cheer.
“Time to go.” She opens the door, and there are two women waiting for us. Not any that I have seen before. There must be a unit of women soldiers in this faction.
Is this in preparation of the Mazza, or just part of their culture to have so many trained women? I kind of hope it’s the culture, because I would hate to think that my kidnappers are the only ones that are so progressive. I want the other Fennin women to be badass too.
We stroll down the winding staircase, past a wall of portrait paintings. The first few have wide, ruffled lace collars and slashed sleeves. The paintings get noticeably modern with corsets and breeches, then swords and lapdogs. Close to the bottom of the staircase, the people are dressed in modern clothing and painted in brighter colors. I study them in case I recognize anyone in the dining room.
We come to arched wooden double doors that are way more ornate than the rest of the house. I’m pretty sure one has an engraved scene of Noah’s Ark, but I don’t exactly get time to examine it. They throw the doors open and stand back for me to make my entrance.
The last hour, I spent recovering from shock. I was numb to all emotions, going through the motions as the girl got me ready. Here on the precipice of finding out who my abductors are, a trill of nerves shoots up my back, straightening my spine. I take a deep breath, fold my hands in the skirt to hide the trembling, and step inside.
I TRY HARD to hide my shock at who I see inside, really hard. I don’t think I quite manage it, though. With a herculean effort, I pick my chin up off the floor while taking note of each and every attendee. Three I have met before.
The man standing at the head of the table is new to me. He is tall and slender, sporting light-brown hair and brown eyes. He has a jovial expression and a relaxed posture, but the positioning of everyone else in the room places him as the leader. He opens his arms in welcome, a corresponding expression on his face.
Next to him is Rand. This makes sense. The girl who tended me said her father wanted to meet me. Rand’s father is the face of the faction that wants to conquer the human realm. So this girl and Rand must be siblings.
Rand looks devilish in a gray suit, white button-down, and no tie. His hands are stuffed in his pockets as he spears me with a look. He is trying to convey something, but I’m not sure what. I’ve always sucked at reading people, but I wish now that I’d tried a little harder to learn.
Mehki stands on his other side, still a mountain of a man, though the jolly demeanor he sported when I met him at his house is gone. He radiates displeasure as he leans against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He isn’t looking at me, though; all his attention is on Rand’s dad.
On the other side of the table is Lucia. She is as gorgeous as she was the other night. More even, dressed up with her hair twisted into a sophisticated chignon. None of the emotions I saw that night are playing over her features. No, right now she is trying to kill me with her hate glare. Such burning hatred in her eyes.
The last attendee, other than Rand’s sister, is a woman at the foot of the table. She must be Rand’s mother. He is the spitting image of her, only from the masculine perspective. She doesn’t look kind. She looks pretty evil, actually.
Well this is fucking dandy. Sage’s ex, a could-be enemy (maybe ally), and a close friend of my LL are all present. Does this mean they have been plotting against the guys for years?
Damn. My head starts to throb again.
“Isolde! I have heard so much about you.” Rand’s dad strides over to me and pulls my hands up to clasp them together as if we are old pals. His hands are dry and cold, making me want to offer him some lotion or water. Dry mountain air will get you every time.
“I appreciate you coming down to dine with us. I hope Ralina was courteous and helpful.”
This man is trying to be charming, but he comes across as an oily car salesman. This is Rand’s dad? Ew.
I have a couple ways I could play this. I could get straight to the point and demand to know why he brought me here and what he did with Jari. If I do that, I could lose any potential goodwill he might throw my way by showing him I see through his bullshit. Or I could play along. Let him think I want to be here and to know what my options are, lead him to believe I wasn’t with my LL by choice. He would be an idiot to believe it, but if he does, I might learn information I wouldn’t get otherwise. Play along it is.
“She was wonderful.” I give my best I’m so glad you chose to bring me here smile.
“Fantastic! Fantastic. I am Rainer. Allow me to introduce you to our attendees.” He loops his arm through mine and gallantly leads me around the room. He is the only one who seems in the mood for a dinner party. Everyone else looks like someone stole their breakfast.
He stops before Rand first. Up close, I discern one emotion in his eyes. Heat. Desire. Because of my unbonded state?
“This is my first born, Rand. Rand is a strong and capable member of House Janer. If you should find you still need a Janer mate, eh. Eh?” He cackles at his own joke that makes neither of us smile.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Rainer.”
Rand steps forward and kisses my cheek, lingering a bit longer than appropriate.
“Pleasure to meet you, Isolde. If you are free tomorrow, I would love to take you on a tour of the estate.” His voice is too smooth to be taken as anything other than what it is. An invitation. An interest.
Okay. Now this is intriguing. No one knows we have met before. I glance at Rainer from under my lashes, and he doesn’t look the least bit suspicious. I lock eyes with Rand again.
“I’m sure that would be lovely. Come get me whenever you are ready.” I bat my eyes and tilt my chin down to peek at him through my lashes. I try my hand at coy, not sure how successful that is.
“Oh, Miss Isolde,” he drawls. “Now you are just teasing me. Better be careful, or I might take you out
tonight and keep you to myself until I’m forced to give you up.” His rich voice deepens, and he takes a step closer.
“I will be ready at all times just in case.” I beam. This is it. I know, deep in my bones, that Rand is the ally I need in my camp to get out of here.
Rainer sports uninhibited glee at our exchange. He wants us to hit it off. Probably to make sure I’m under his thumb by bonding with his son.
Rainer leads me to Mehki next.
“I believe you have already had the pleasure of making Mehki’s acquaintance. Right, dear?” Rainer’s tone is so condescending I could nut punch him.
“Of course. Pleasure to see you again.” This time my smile is considerably less warm. I need to watch Mehki to see if he is playing us or playing Rainer. At this point, I don’t have enough information to make that call, and it bothers me. Mehki pulls uncomfortable emotions from me. I’m betrayed on my guys’ behalf, but I don’t even know if he actually has betrayed them. Disdain bleeds into my tone anyway.
Mehki gives Rainer one last, scalding look before straightening up and stepping up to me.
“Miss Isolde. I wish we had met again under better circumstances, but nevertheless, it is always lovely to see such a beautiful lass.” Some of the kindness I saw before tonight seeps back into his gaze. But only a little.
I don’t think Rainer is happy with his greeting and swiftly whisks me to greet Lucia.
“I don’t think you need to introduce her to me, Rain.” Lucia curls her lip and does a great job at looking down her nose.
I know this is Lucia from the other night. She looks like Lucia. Sounds like Lucia. But that Lucia and this Lucia are like two different people. This is who Sage has loved for so long? More like her evil twin.
Rainer belts out a jolly laugh. “No need to be that way, Lucia. She isn’t going to take your precious Sage. Not if Rand has anything to say about it.” He puts his hand on my back and leans in close to Lucia and me conspiratorially, almost as if he is deigning to share some great secret. “I think he’s rather taken with her. Don’t you think, Isolde?” He winks at me.
I don’t want to come across as too eager, or Rainer will know I’m faking my compliance here. I also don’t want to offend. So what do I do? I fucking smile like a lunatic.
Smooth. Real smooth. I internally roll my eyes at myself.
“You may think you know Sage, but Sage values bonds and history. I’m sorry to say, you just don’t have that with him.” She gives a delicate sniff and walks away.
“One last person to meet, and then we can sit down to dinner.” Rainer acts as if Lucia’s behavior isn’t odd or rude. This must be the real her?
“Lavi, darling, meet Isolde, the answer to our problems.”
Whoa. I don’t like all the responsibility Rainer is heaping on my shoulders. They aren’t that wide, and he’s going to be pretty pissed when I drop it like a hot potato. Because this guy is straight up cray-cray.
He leads me to Lavi, who must be Rand’s mom. She is as warm as the arctic, friendly as a cactus, and about as welcoming as a pissed-off house cat. She doesn’t smile, offer her hand, or anything that would be courteous. She simply takes my measure by running her gaze over my attire and ends by peering down her nose at me.
“This is Lavi, my better half for the better part of fifty years. We have built our life on our dreams, sharing all we have with those who are close to us. If you and Rand hit it off like I know you will, you and Lavi will get along splendidly. I can tell.”
“Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow, Isolde? We can get acquainted.” Even Lavi’s voice is monotone, and a little grating if I’m honest.
Again with the smiling like a lunatic.
“I would love that. Rand has promised to spend the day with me, but I’m sure he can get me back in time.”
A bell rings somewhere in the corner, and everyone ambles to the table. Rainer and Lavi take the ends. Or is it heads? I never learned these things.
Rand directs me to the seat next to his father and takes the seat next to me, with Ralina on the other side. Mehki sits across from me, and Lucia in the open spot next to him.
Anyone looking in would think this was a fun family gathering. Upon closer inspection however, they would see the nasty curl to Lucia’s lip, the tense lines of Mehki’s shoulders, the frown tugging the corner of Lavi’s lips down. Rainer is the only one who is ready to wine and dine me.
“So, Isolde.” Rainer snaps out his napkin before laying it across his lap. “What have those boys filled you in about so far? Have they given you any history lessons or anything of the sort? Training perhaps?”
Servers file into the room with salads, and the clanking of silverware on plates is the only sound for a few long moments.
“Not really. They wanted me to get to know them first before taking on anything heavy.”
Rain looks offended on my behalf.
“You didn’t grow up in our culture, and Nato has already bonded you. Why wouldn’t you want to know more about the world you are entering before selecting your bondmates?” he asks incredulously.
He’s trying to make me feel like an idiot for bonding to someone so soon after my discovery. He doesn’t know that I didn’t choose Nato of my own volition.
I won’t be sharing that anytime soon, either.
“What can I say? I have always been a sucker for romance, and Nato swept me off my feet.”
“Well, he’s had enough practice. Nato has bedded every single Fennin woman I know and many I don’t. Who knows what he’s accomplished in the human realm. What makes you think that he is going to keep it in his pants?” Lucia says condescendingly.
Mehki also made reference to Nato being a lady killer, but it still gets my goat. Under the table, Rand lays a warm, dry palm on my knee and squeezes reassuringly. Even though I’m not completely confident in my assessment of his loyalty, his palm on my leg provides comfort and goes a long way toward calming me down.
“Lucia,” Mehki growls. Mehki had made his comment in good fun, but is obviously bothered by Lucia putting Nato down.
“Stop trying to rile up Isolde, Lucia. You’re just jealous because Sage dropped you as soon as she came into the picture.” Rand’s deep voice rumbles with displeasure.
“Oh shut up, Rand. Like you are interested in her for anything other than what powers she could bring to your father’s side.” Her eyes flash with fire as she leans toward Rand.
“Lucia! Enough!” Rainer bellows. Guess he doesn’t like Lucia trying to spoil the plot.
Rainer takes a deep breath before turning to me.
“Isolde. I apologize on behalf of Lucia. She has been a beloved family friend her whole life, and I thought she would be a better representation of who we are than she has. I was mistaken.” He lets his displeasure come across loud and clear as he glares at her.
“I believe you owe Isolde an apology,” Rainer demands.
Lucia pouts for a few beats before turning to me. I’ve never been a woman hater, ever. But I hate how beautiful she is when she is acting so ugly, showing her true nature for all to see. I guess it’s true, beauty really is only skin deep.
“My apologies,” she says stiffly.
“Now, Isolde. Tell me what you know of our people, and I’ll try to fill in the gaps.”
This’ll be tricky. I don’t want to show my cards, but I don’t want him to think my guys told me nothing. Or maybe I do?
He is obviously trying to build trust with me. By playing dumb, I’ll know if I can trust anything else he says, if his information matches up with what I’ve been told.
“That’s pretty easy. That I have the blood of the Fennin people and one mark from each of four houses. I need to take a mate from each house to bond, or I won’t get any Fennin powers. They said Mazzas only come around every so often, and…oh! That the Fennin people are of the human world but left a long time ago to live in another realm. That’s really about it.” I shrug.
“And they expected you to bond
with such limited information? Let me guess, they probably told you they were your fated mates and how they knew you were meant for them?”
Actually, that is kind of what they said. At least on some level from Nato and Egan.
Jari! Oh no! How could I forget about Jari for even a few minutes? It’s time to up my game to see if I can learn where they are keeping him.
“No, they just wanted to spend time with me and get to know me. They wanted to give me the same opportunity. Well, except for Nato, he’s a charmer for sure. I just couldn’t resist.”
“Well, here is a history lesson for you. There have been attacks in Fennina for close to thirty years. After the attack four months ago we are now up to our thirty-third attack. There is no rhyme or reason to the attacks, and no patterns that we can discern. We can only assume they have come from the human realm.
“Everyone here at this table has lost someone in the attacks.” He pauses for dramatic effect.
“Did Nato or any of the boys happen to tell you about why Mazzas pop up in our history?”
I shake my head, letting him know that he can continue.
“Mazzas are extremely powerful once they have become fully bonded. They are so powerful that they often are the catalyst for great change. Or they are the deciding factor in brutal wars. Isolde, right now, we are in need of that power to stop the attacks.” He looks at me gravely.
“We here at this table, among many others, believe the humans have found a way to attack the portals. We are working on a plan to take over all large governing bodies of the human realm so we can have access to their intelligence agencies. Then we will know if the humans are really behind the attacks.”
I do my best to look curiously confused.
“If you aren’t sure humans are behind the attacks, why would you want to take over the human realm? Wouldn’t that result in wasted lives?”
Marks of the Mazza: Reverse Harem (Mazza Series Book 1) Page 14