by Ivy Asher
She watches them, pure amusement seeping out of every pore. “That view isn’t so bad either,” she declares, her eyes fixed on Ryker’s ass. I don’t know if I should cover her eyes, high-five her, or hurry my guys out the door. I decide on stepping in front of her to block her view and mouthing run to the guys. I wait until they’re all out of sight, and turn around to find Getta laughing her ass off.
“Is that tea going to fuck me up too?” I ask, resisting the urge to drop my hands in solidarity with the guys and cover up my nonexistent boner.
“Well, you won’t grow a penis, if that’s what you’re asking,” she teases.
I snort out a laugh and shake my head.
“Your clit will thank me later,” Getta adds, and I’m simultaneously mortified and intrigued by her vague statement.
“This Q and A isn’t over just because you drugged my Chosen,” I tell her with a finger wag.
“Next time, you’ll have to fight me for it,” she challenges, and I laugh.
“Fine by me. I’m a mimic, so everything you did last time is now in my repertoire,” I tell her.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not going to hand you your ass again,” she retorts.
“Maybe, but eventually you’ll run out of tricks, and it’ll be your ass in the trough.”
“Careful, girl, don’t make me neuter those big lady balls you have.”
I crack up, not able to help myself.
Goals. Getta is goals. It’s official.
I turn to leave, but I’m stopped by a strong grip on my arm. I turn expecting to see Issak’s hand, but instead find Getta’s. “My Issak’s mate will find herself at a crossroads. Both options will suffocate her slowly. I need you to show her the path here,” she tells me.
I study Getta for a beat. All traces of humor have left her lined face and her light gray eyes. I can feel in my bones that whatever she’s telling me right now is very important.
“Okay, but how will I knew who she is?”
“Oh, you already know her.” And with that, Getta’s head lolls, and a tiny snore comes out of her open mouth. Issak rises from the floor and picks Getta up out of her chair. I brush hair off her forehead and once again marvel at how deceivingly fragile she looks.
“I’ll send her your way, Bond Weaver,” I whisper to her, and Issak lifts an eyebrow in question at me.
“Yeah, I figured out who she is. It was the way she touched my rune the first time I met her...” I explain, skimming a finger over the rune on my palm that showed up when I marked Siah. “And what she told us today made it all click. She’s one of the last, isn’t she?” I ask him, and he stares at me for a moment before giving me a small nod.
“Don’t worry, her secret is safe with me,” I tell him softly, and then I turn and follow my Chosen out the back door.
25
Heavy breathing and light snores serenade me as I unwrap Siah’s arm from around my waist and push off Torrez’s hand from my chest. I pause when Torrez grumbles something about cock chi and rolls over. I shake with restrained laughter when he buries his hand in Valen’s hair and purrs that it’s soft before smacking his lips a couple of times and falling back into a deep sleep. Looking around at the night soaked room of our castle suite, I try not to feel weird about the fact that we’re here again instead of at Tok and Marn’s house. Slipping out of my place on the mattresses that have been pushed together on the floor of the large room, I tiptoe to the bathroom to shower.
I pull the levers on the wall that get the water flowing. Steam wafts from the downpour after a couple minutes and I check the temperature of the water with my hand. I adjust the levers to make it even hotter and step under the steady stream. Heat envelops me. As I stand under the sweltering torrent, I hope it will sap the restless energy slithering through my veins, but it has the opposite effect. I’m now even more awake.
I dry off, get dressed, and shake my limbs out. Even though I’m tired, my body and mind won’t shut down long enough for me to get any amount of rest. I’ve been up all night, listening to the deep breathing of my Chosen as they sleep. Images and voices swirled around in my head as I relived everything that happened today. I rub at my chest and the unease I feel there. I’m anxious, and I can’t figure out exactly why.
It could be this situation in general, or maybe something happened back home. I fucking wish my phone had service so I could call and check in with everyone. I’m itching to hear the sisters’ voices and to hear from Aydin and Evrin what’s going on there without us. I need to hear Mave’s laugh and check in on Cyndol and see if she’s ready for a new circuit.
The door to our room creaks as I open it, and I pause and quietly wait to see if it woke anyone up. No one stirs, so I squeeze out and shut it behind me with a soft snick. I move silently to Sorik and my dad’s room. I open the thankfully silent door and peek in. Vaughn is asleep in the bed, or I assume he sleeps. We tell him to close his eyes and sleep, but I don’t know if he actually does. Sorik is passed out in a chair, a book in his lap. I smile at the sight and back out of the room.
I move to the room my Shields claimed and slowly twist the knob and push it open. It gives a tiny squeal of protest, but the knife now being pointed at my throat is what makes me stop in my tracks. Nash realizes that it’s me and breathes out a sigh. The short sword disappears, and he takes a step back.
“Why are you sneaking around at three in the morning?” he demands on a whisper.
He pushes the door open wider to let me in, and I see Enoch, Kallan, and Becket in chairs that are positioned in front of the large fireplace in their room.
“I was checking on you guys,” I whisper yell back as I step into the room.
“How do you know what time it is, anyway? I can’t find a clock to save my life.”
“The fairy light flickers the number of the hour when you look at it,” he tells me casually and shuts the door behind me.
“Really?” I ask.
I turn to the wall sconce just by the door. Sure enough, it flickers three times. Well, shit, that would have been nice to know before now. I move toward them and perch on the arm of the chair Kallan is sitting in.
“How the hell do you know that about the lights? And what are you guys doing up?”
“Sauriel told us about it when he stopped by yesterday evening,” Kallan answers.
My brow furrows. “What did he want?”
“To talk to us about Suryn, and he sort of just wanted to get to know us, I guess,” Enoch tells me with a shrug.
“Oh,” I respond, a little surprised.
I look around at all of them, scanning the situation again. Becket is tense and so is Kallan. Enoch is leaning forward in his chair like he was listening to something with rapt attention or maybe communicating something passionately. Nash looks relaxed, but he always looks that way.
“What’s going on here?” I ask again, my tone this time more suspicious.
“We were just talking,” Enoch tells me as he leans back in his chair, defeat radiating in the sudden slump of his shoulders.
“Oookay,” I respond, unsure.
“Why don’t you fill her in, Enoch? I mean, ultimately this does affect her too. Shouldn’t Vinna get a say in all of this?” Kallan asks Enoch, and the anger in his tone takes me by surprise.
I study Kallan for a minute and then look expectantly at Enoch.
What the hell is going on?
Enoch runs a tired hand over his face. “Sauriel thinks the tribunal will vote against the Sovereign’s order to have us all killed.” He pauses and then doesn’t say anymore.
“And that’s a bad thing?” I ask, perplexed as to why there’d be an issue with that.
“No, of course not. But once that happens, we have a decision to make,” Enoch goes on, and a light bulb goes off in my head.
“Ah, okay, I get it.”
We all go quiet, and uncertainty and tension settle at the nape of my neck. I open my mouth to say something and then close it, Getta’s words from earlie
r resonating in my mind. I stare at the flickering fire for a minute and swallow down my feelings about the situation. Kallan’s right in the sense that this does affect me, but he’s wrong when he says I have any say in the matter.
“Have you guys pro-conned it?” I ask quietly.
Becket snorts and leans his elbows on his knees. He cradles his head in his hands and chortles. “That’s pretty much what we’re doing now,” he informs me, and I give him an understanding nod.
“Should I go?” I ask them awkwardly, getting the impression that I might not be welcome in this conversation. I feel like I’m intruding, and this is now uncomfortable as fuck. Part of me wants to know just what pros Suryn could possibly have in their eyes, but the logical side of me is screaming that it’s none of my business. I push off from my armchair perch and stand up.
Enoch jumps up out of his chair at the same time. “No. Kallan is right. We should be talking to you about this too. Don’t leave,” he implores, and I’m stuck between listening to him and bolting for the door anyway.
We stare at each other for a moment, and then I slowly sink back down onto the arm of Kallan’s chair. Oddly, Enoch doesn’t look relieved. He does, however, look seriously fucking nervous as he also sinks back down onto the cushions of his chair. Nobody speaks for a bit, and I’m left looking around at all of them, not sure where it’s safe for my gaze to land.
“Why does this feel so fucking weird?” I ask in an effort to lighten the mood and gauge what’s going on.
Nash and Becket both give me a gratuitous amused snort, but Enoch and Kallan both just sit there staring off at nothing.
“Because it’s all like some fucked up arranged marriage, and none of us can agree on what to do,” Becket supplies, and this time I give him a humorless chuckle.
“Well, we’re all adults here. We’ve been through some shit together, and we all care about each other. So just get it all out there. This room is officially a safe space, and what’s said in here will stay in here,” I offer.
“Fuck, this is weird,” Kallan admits as he breathes out a sigh. “Okay fine, we’re all adults, and we can be mature about this shit. We’re split fifty-fifty on whether to stick with you or jump ship and go with Suryn.”
“It’s not jumping ship, stop calling it that,” Nash irritably growls.
“Maybe not to you, but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to feel that way,” Kallan snaps back.
“Okay...” I interrupt, seeing why things felt so strained when I walked in here. “I’m assuming Becket and Nash are for Suryn and you and Enoch are for me?” I query in an effort to get the lay of things.
They all go quiet again, and it’s clear I just got the split wrong.
“Becket and I are for you. Nash and Enoch are for Suryn.”
“Oh,” I chirp, surprised by that information. I look at Becket, who kind of just glowers at me, and then to Enoch, who won’t make eye contact. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Enoch was so insistent before that he and I were something, and I’m shocked that he would choose Suryn over me.
“Are you pissed?” Enoch asks me as he stares at the fire.
“No...I’m just confused,” I answer honestly. “You’ve been pushing so hard to convince me that you are my Chosen…” I trail off.
“Yeah, but you’ve been telling me that it doesn’t feel that way for you. I can stay with you and be on the outside of what I want forever. Or go with her and...who knows?” Enoch replies.
“And who knows?” I parrot back quietly. “She thinks you're filth. What the fuck kind of relationship do you think you’ll have with her?” I ask him, suddenly irritated and trying to understand why.
Why is this pissing me off?
“Are you pissed because you care or because you don’t like someone else playing with your toys?” Enoch snaps at me, and I reel back.
“Watch it,” Becket warns Enoch.
“When the fuck have I treated any of you like toys?” I demand. “I don’t play with you and set you down. I don’t string you along.”
“You sure were quick to mark us as your territory though,” Nash tells me.
“I was protecting you. She tried to kill us! How the hell did I become the bad guy in this scenario?”
“You’re not, but I don’t understand why you’d want to keep us tied to you, knowing that we aren’t your Chosen. We could never have what you have with your guys if we commit ourselves to you,” Enoch explains.
“I am not trying to force you into anything with me, Enoch. But if you think Suryn is going to make you Chosen, I think you’re delusional. She hates us.”
“Sauriel thinks she will come around,” Enoch defends.
I scoff, “Oh, does he now?”
“What does that mean?” Enoch demands.
“Look at the fucking source there. You’re going to blindly trust Adriel’s brother?”
“They’re nothing alike, Vinna. You don’t know Sauriel, and you know nothing about Suryn,” he defends.
“And just what the fuck do you know about her, other than she can get you where you want to go faster than I can?” I growl at him.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“What the fuck do you think it means, Enoch?”
“Both of you stop! This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Nash orders.
“Well, where the fuck did you want this to get you? Do you want my permission? Fine, you’ve got it. Do what you want to do, but let’s not pretend it’s something that it’s not,” I snap as I get up and move toward the door.
“And just what the fuck is that?” Enoch snaps back.
“A power grab,” I state simply. “You weren’t getting it from me, and this opportunity is just too good to pass up, isn’t it, Enoch?”
I don’t wait for him to answer. I slip out of their room and have to stop myself from slamming the door. Our suite is quiet and peaceful, which is the exact opposite of how I feel inside. I’m fucking pissed, and I storm out the front door without a second thought. The halls of the castle are quiet, and there’s a sleepy quality to the air as I silently navigate away from the rooms. I feel like I can’t get away fast enough.
I want to scream and pound on something. Knox was right all along about Enoch. But even as I think those words, they feel wrong. There’s more here, and I’m just not seeing it. I retrace the path that Suryn took us the first time. If I can get back down to the throne room, then I know how to get out of the castle. From there, I can get back to that training facility. Maybe they’ll have replaced the poles I broke last time, and I’ll have something new to break again. Worst case scenario, I’ll find a tree and just punch the shit out of that.
I turn left and right, the way that I remember, but instead of finding the flight of stairs that I expect to be there, I find myself in a dark corridor. Was this here last time? I keep going. Maybe it all just looks different at night. I walk silently and swiftly until the area starts to look somewhat more familiar, or perhaps this place has oil paintings similar to the other parts of the castle that I know.
I trek on for another twenty minutes before finally accepting that I’m lost. I huff out an irritated breath and turn around to retrace my steps. I pause when I notice a ball of fairy light slowly moving in my direction. My first thought is that it’s Enoch or one of the other guys chasing after me, but I quickly realize that they don’t know how to make fairy light and wouldn’t be using it to guide their way.
Unease flares inside of me, and I slink back into a corner and activate the runes that increase my hearing, vision, and smell.
“Only another day or so, and then their deliberations will be complete,” a male voice explains.
“And will they do the right thing?” a female voice inquires.
“The outcome is not as sure as we would like. She is close with members of the old Houses, and with a tainted in the tribunal…” the male trails off.
“So it will be up to us then,” the female declares, and the man gives an a
ffirming grunt.
“Arrange it,” she orders, and goosebumps prickle up my arms and neck.
“And your niece?” the male asks.
“I’ve made our position clear, and she’s agreed, but maybe it’s time for her to go too. We could always blame it on the vermin.”
They get closer, and as I make out the Sovereign’s face, rage begins to percolate in my soul. She’s going to try to kill us regardless of what the tribunal decides. She unties her dress at her shoulders, and it falls to pool at her feet. She’s completely naked in the middle of a corridor where anyone could come across them. The male, who I don’t recognize, hums his appreciation and licks his lips.
“On your knees,” he commands her, and she titters out an annoying little giggle.
The Sovereign does as she’s told, and the male unties his pants. He starts stroking his cock as the Sovereign reaches between her thighs and starts playing with herself.
“Did I tell you to play with that filthy cunt of yours?” he asks her, annoyance ringing in his tone. “Move against the wall. I’m going to fuck your face. I want fingers in my ass at all times, do you understand?”
The Sovereign nods excitedly and opens her mouth. The male grumbles, “Good girl,” and then grabs her hair roughly and shoves his dick down her throat. I look away as she reaches around and shoves her hand between his cheeks. I look down the hall in the direction I just came from and wonder if I keep going, will I find my way out or just end up in a worse situation than listening to the Sovereign gag and moan around this guy’s dick?
I look back and cringe. He has a hold of her hair, and he’s slamming into her mouth so hard that I can hear his balls slap against her chin. It looks fucking painful, and I have no idea how she’s not puking with the amount of gagging she’s doing.
“Fuck my ass harder,” the male demands, and he pins the Sovereign against the wall and hammers into her mouth.
She must do what he says, because he starts moaning and talking about her tits and her dirty cunt and all the things he’s going to do to them later. He lasts for another minute, and then the telltale grunts that indicate he’s coming fill the hallway.