"She's handling it well, is she not?"
He nodded. "Surprisingly well. She's very resilient. Her upbringing made that so, I fear. It is Rafe who is finding it tougher, I believe."
"An odd one that," Isaura confirmed. She pursed her lips. "I know you don't forgive me for Chela..."
"I don't want to talk about him," Theo replied, his tone wooden now.
"I know you don't. And I'm aware you'll never forgive me but I was following the law. It is my duty to see that..." Her mouth worked. "Our numbers are too few as it is, child. Surely you understand that to commit suicide is a crime against our people? There will come a day where the Mother forgives us, and when that happens, we must repopulate. Our numbers are too few. And take your mate... she could well be the solution we have been waiting for, and because Chela is not here, he can't help us with our task."
He well understood the reasoning behind the law, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Chela had been more than a friend. They'd never been lovers, but the truth was, Chela had been more of a brother than his own kin had been. With his siblings jealous of Isaura's affection and attention, he'd never been popular among them. Chela, though fifty years older, had always been closer than a friend.
"This isn't about Chela."
If he sounded mutinous, then that was tough shit.
"No, it isn't. But my..." She sucked in a sharp breath. "My dictates have put a strain on our relationship, and I'll never be able to forgive myself for that."
He cut her a look, not totally unsurprised to hear the remorse in her tone but startled nonetheless. "What's done is done," he said, his tone heavy. "I have other things on my mind now."
She stared at him a second, then nodded. "Thalia." She pursed her lips. "What did you do the day of her shooting?"
Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and let his head hang heavy as he thought about that. "I don't know."
"Your father told me you weren't totally sure, but I thought you were prevaricating."
"Why would I? Where she's concerned, I appreciate any and all help."
"Even if it comes from us?" She cocked a brow, a knowing but sad smile on her lips. "Talk me through it," she urged softly.
He shuddered as he allowed the memories of that day to swarm over him. "I've found out who was behind the shooting."
"I'd imagine no less from my son," was all Isaura said.
He ducked his head. "She toppled an Alpha from his throne and he, and the two other Alphas Thalia humiliated, didn’t appreciate being overlooked. They decided to make her pay," he murmured.
"How very unoriginal."
That had him rearing up to glower at her. "Not you as well! Magda said the same thing."
Isaura snorted. "For we are cut from the same cloth. You are fortunate you were my firstborn, and competent as Legios, otherwise in your absence I'd have handed her the faction."
He took the half-threat with a twitch of his lips. "I'm sure." And he was. But as her eldest son, there'd never been any fear on that score.
Nepotism?
No. It might have seemed that way, but Isaura felt things differently. He wasn't sure how, entirely, just knew there was a direct reason why she was the way she was. Why she did the things she did.
As far as he knew, she didn't commune with the Gods, but she'd never said she didn't either.
"After she was shot, what happened?"
The prompt had him tensing up. "The mercury quickly spread to her bones."
"Stopping her from shifting?"
"Yes. She was trapped in that form, and it was diffusing through her system too fast for me to do anything to help."
"And Raphael? He heals, no? He couldn't help?"
"No." He gnawed at his bottom lip. "I had to use his powers."
That had her cocking a brow as she lifted the chalice to her lips. "Interesting," she murmured after swallowing. "I've not heard of that before."
He stared at her. "Me neither."
"So, somehow, you leapfrogged off his powers and healed her?" When he nodded, she smiled. "The Gods helped you, child."
"What?"
"The Gods helped you. There is no other reason to explain it. The unexplainable can be reasoned away with their interactions with us. For whatever reason, one of the Gods decided Thalia had to live that day."
Unease stirred in his belly. "That doesn't make me feel better, Mother. She's already looking like the prophecy in the flesh."
She shrugged a delicate shoulder. "Then, all the more reason for you to feel at ease. The Gods are simply looking after their chosen one." She pulled a face as she ran a finger around the rim of the chalice. "I tried a sacrifice around two months ago."
That stole the breath from his lungs. "In truth?"
She nodded. "It didn't work." She seemed to slouch deeper into the seat. "It never works. Perhaps Thalia is exactly what we've been waiting for."
Isaura didn't like that and Theo didn't have to be a mind reader to figure that out. "You said it yourself, mother. We're dying."
"I know. I hope she is the prophecy in the flesh. Truly, I do. But, more than that, I wished a contented life for you, child. If I'm..." She winced. "testy with her, then this is why."
"You mean, you think she's trouble?" He scowled at her.
"You can't think I'm wrong." Isaura's smile was sad. "My life has been struggle and strife, and it's tiring, Theodore. Very, very tiring. Your father thinks I'm a fool but he knows my birds are everywhere... he's not wrong when he says I weary of the role, but I never thought—" She broke off. "I never thought you'd be the child who'd have to shoulder the burden of the throne."
"Not I. Thalia."
She shot him a wry look. "And if you think you're not going to be as big a player in that particular chess match as she is, you're a fool, child. I never raised a fool."
****
Thalia
With a sniff, Thalia stepped into the throne room. She couldn't discern any lingering traces of sex, and the last time she'd been in here, it had been a perfume all of its own.
Cloying. Sickly. Heady.
When she had sex with her men, it didn't smell like that.
Even as she wondered if it was the possessiveness of her race that made it so, she headed down a significantly smaller aisle toward the dais upon which the throne was seated. Isaura was there, Kane too. They were on their thrones, weird ones made of a carved white material that she really hoped wasn't ivory, and they were looking bizarrely regal.
Kane was dressed in an emerald green kurta with cream pants. The neckline was lined with gems in a thin pattern that should have looked effeminate but, somehow, didn't. He looked very handsome. Handsome enough for her to see remnants of his son in him.
Isaura, too, looked beautiful. Where Kane was dashing, she looked ethereal. Especially in the large throne that was shaped to look like carved wings.
Shit, she really hoped that wasn’t ivory.
Was she nervous as she approached her in-laws?
Not particularly.
Maybe she ought to have been. These were powerful people, after all. Far more powerful than even her own fathers and grandfathers.
A thought that prompted her into dipping down into a curtsey once she was at the two steps that led to the dais where they were seated.
"Your highnesses," she murmured with her head bowed.
Though the throat was a point of weakness, and baring it was an act of submission, she didn't like exposing the back of her neck either.
Especially not to two people who were expert with a sword.
Even if there were no swords in the vicinity.
When they didn't reply, she peered up at them and murmured, "You wished to see me?"
"We did," Kane answered, and where he'd been sitting straight-backed, he slouched a little.
She took that as a good sign and allowed herself a deep breath. "May I ask why?"
Isaura, making no whisper of a noise, climbed to her feet. Her toga was swirled
around her like a meringue, but rather than look dowdy, somehow, the Queen looked like walking sex.
Hell, even Thalia would fuck her if she was so inclined.
The woman's beauty was so close to out-of-this-world that Thalia simply could not imagine her being able to walk around on Earth without gathering a coterie of followers.
Not that Isaura wouldn't enjoy such a thing.
The woman stepped down from the platform and began to walk around her. Circling her. What was it with the Fae? Why did they insist on doing that? Even Theo did it, and she fucking hated it.
With Isaura, however, it would not be wise to bait the bear, and so she gritted her teeth and let her move around her. As she did, each step seemed to charge the air, making the hairs on the back of Thalia's neck stand up.
"Why are you so in control?"
It was Kane who spoke, not Isaura.
"Should I not be?"
"Yes," he told her simply. "You're missing your She-Wolf. You should not be so..."
"You should be unhinged," Isaura replied bluntly. "You should be deranged. You should not be able to walk down the aisle of my throne room, bob a curtsey at me, and want to growl at me for circling you."
"Would you prefer I be crazed?" she demanded, wondering why, in the space of hours, she'd been asked something similar by both her mate and her mother-in-law.
"No, I'd prefer something I can understand."
"You think I wouldn't?" Thalia snorted. "Yeah. I want to know where she is too, but, I don't know." She shrugged. "I'm okay." Did she miss her She-Wolf like she'd had her left arm chopped off? Sure. But... "I could be better, but Mikkel, Rafe, and Theo ground me."
"She speaks no word of a lie," Isaura murmured, the answer aimed at Kane, not Thalia.
"Of course I don’t," Thalia snapped. "Why would I lie to you?"
"Because most people prefer to lie to the Queen rather than face her wrath."
Thalia scoffed, "Why would I fear your wrath? I beat you with a sword, remember?" Perhaps it wasn't wise to raise that particular topic, but hell, it was the truth. "I have no reason to lie to you," she repeated again when she saw Isaura's eyes flash with annoyance.
"I spoke with my son today," Isaura murmured.
"Good for you," she said with a huff. "Have a good chat?"
"Perhaps. He insists he doesn't know what he did to save your life." Isaura tilted her head, those cat eyes of hers narrowing as she stared at Thalia. "I believe I do know."
Though excitement started to roil inside her like bubbling lava, Thalia tamped it down. Isaura wasn't the sort to hand out information. "Oh?" It was hard staying cool when every inch of her wanted more information on her She-Wolf, but Isaura was a cat. She enjoyed toying with her meal before she dined.
"Indeed. I wished to confirm it for myself."
"Confirm what?" Despite herself, she heard exasperation leak into her words.
"That you were blessed."
"Blessed?" Thalia squeaked. "By the Gods?"
Isaura pursed her lips as she nodded. “I believe so."
"What makes you think that?"
"The fact that you're here at all, and that my son, a very competent wielder of the elements, has no real idea what he did to save you." She cocked a brow. "These miracles do not happen without sanction from those above." Thalia peered up at the ceiling as though the Gods were watching them at that very moment.
A notion that had Thalia shivering with unease.
It was okay to think of the Gods just hanging out, maybe watching the daily life of the humans they'd created from time to time. But constantly?
She bit at her lip. "And you think the Gods took my She-Wolf from me?"
"No." Isaura took a step back and, in a swirl of fabric, turned on her heel to retreat to her throne. "I think your She-Wolf is where she needs to be. For the moment."
"Why would she need to be anywhere else than at the forefront of my being?" she snarled, stepping forward, her agitation prompting her to act without thought.
Kane cleared his throat, and she swiped her head to the side to glower at him. He didn't appear mad, though. Just amused. "We do not pretend to know what the Gods do, child."
"No? It feels like you do. You bring me here to what? Tease me? Mock me?"
He shook his head. "Isaura wished to understand."
"Well, that's great for Isaura. But I don't understand, and I figure I'm the one who counts." She felt her nostrils flare before she took a moment to calm down. "What did you wish to understand and what do you understand now?" she asked, her tone quieter now as she forced herself to calm down. No good could come of her raging at Theo’s parents.
Even if they totally deserved it.
"I wanted to scent you."
"You've scented me several times."
"Without knowing what I was seeking," Isaura clarified haughtily. "You insist on speaking to me as though I'm a spotty-nosed teenager, Thalia. You should watch your words. I am the Queen of this realm for a reason. You might have bested me with your sword, but that doesn't mean you can best me when it comes to the true source of my power."
For some reason, Thalia heard the words not yet.
A notion that shot horror through her.
Gods, she didn't want any of this.
The responsibility, the duty, the power. She'd never asked for it. Had never craved it. All she truly wanted was her mates and her She-Wolf. Was that so much to fucking ask?
Rather than argue, Thalia just asked, "Okay, so what have you managed to discern?"
Isaura studied her, those almond-shaped eyes glinting in the bright lights that came from only the Gods knew where because the room contained no windows and had no form of illumination anywhere in sight. "You scent of nothing because that is how it ought to be."
Thalia sagged at that. "Well, that's very useful." Anger surged. "Thank you for such wonderful insight."
Isaura merely shrugged. "You'll appreciate it."
"I will?"
"Yes." She pursed her lips. "You will." Isaura flicked her hand. "You may leave."
Eyes flaring with annoyance, Thalia didn't even bother to dip into a curtsey before she turned on her heel and did as commanded.
Left.
It was either that or smack the bitch, and she really didn't fancy being thrown into Fae prison today.
That really would be the cherry on top of a shitty fucking cake.
14
Thalia
“Theo’s asked for you.”
Thalia frowned at the woman standing in her doorway. She didn’t like Magda. Didn’t like her at all. Mikkel didn’t either but that was because of her hair. It moved and swayed, and reminded him of Medusa so when he looked at her, he freaked out.
He was cute like that.
So very human, even though he was well accustomed to all things paranormal, he’d just been avoiding it his whole life.
Thalia’s dislike of Magda had nothing to do with her hair. And though she wasn’t keen on most Fae females she’d come across, that wasn’t because she was anti-woman or just hated her own sex, it was because there was something about them that made her wish she could slap the smug off their faces.
They eyed every man up and down like they were sex goddesses and walked around with the belief that every male should want to fall at their feet in thanks at having their graced attention upon them. Like Isaura, they were vain and bitchy, and not a single female had approached Thalia with the desire to make friends.
Even the female instructors Theo had arranged to teach her. They were vain too. And seriously did not appreciate her besting them in the sparring ring.
That wasn’t to say that the males were much better. Vanity, thy name was Fae, she thought drily. A belief that was compounded by the millions of mirrors that were hanging on the palace’s many, many walls.
Thalia strode over to the doorway to her suite, not appreciating how Magda hovered just on the doorjamb, entering Thalia’s territory without seeking permission. She didn
’t stop until there was an uncomfortable distance between her and the other female, prompting Magda to take a step back or for her nose to stay touching Thalia’s.
Magda narrowed her eyes as she raised her hand to curl one of those moving strands of hair about her finger. It was uncomfortably like watching a snake wrap itself around her. The hair was like a muscle, capable of clinging as it swirled around the digit.
Firming her jaw, Thalia asked, “Why didn’t Theo just come for me himself?”
“Because he’s busy preparing the house.”
Thalia’s eyes widened. “House? What house?”
“His house.” Magda’s nostrils flared with irritation. “These are his quarters in the palace. He doesn’t live here. His residence is in Trierna.”
Stupid.
Magda didn’t have to say the word for Thalia to hear it.
With a huff, Thalia started to turn away. “If he wants me, then he can come and get me. Not send an errand girl to collect me like an unwanted package.”
After their recent discussions—what she, Mikkel, and Rafe were starting to call Theo’s info-dumps—Thalia wasn’t apt to trust anyone here.
Maybe that wasn’t fair, but it was just tough shit.
And news of a house should have come from Theo’s lips, not his PA.
Magda released an irritated breath. “You’re a very annoying female. I hope you’re aware of this.”
Though she knew she ought to be irked by the woman’s audacity, Thalia preferred to keep things real. Give her honesty and truth over BS any damn day of the week.
She peered over her shoulder and saw Magda had stepped into the room. Any tolerance she’d felt for the woman’s cheek disappeared at her breaching the doorway and entering her space.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she snapped, irritated even more when Magda stepped ever nearer.
“I think I’m walking into your space to collect you like the baggage you are so I can dump you with the male who asked for you.” She made a mock curtsey. “I’m only an employee, after all. I have to obey my masters.”
The odd phrasing made Thalia scowl. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Triad (The TriAlpha Chronicles Book 3) Page 24