“Damnit, I’m sorry,” I said, exasperated with myself for fucking this all up. I had completely forgotten about the plans for this evening in my excitement to make some headway on my quest. I hadn’t made a great impression on Selene so far and couldn’t blame her for sticking me with a babysitter until I proved myself. “Thanks for taking care of everything. I can see why Bennett leaves you in charge when he’s gone.” My olive branch froze and shattered under her cold stare. Well, since I was already in hot water I might as well add a log to the fire. “Can we at least talk about this formal dress thing? Shouldn’t a Kyrion be able to pick what they want to wear?”
“Kyrion Calidora loved the tradition of formal wear at dinners and meetings,” Selene explained, her clasped hands turning white with the effort it was taking to hold that calm composure. Her eyes sparked a challenge as if daring me to contradict her idol. “It’s a way of showing respect for our ancestors and those in attendance.”
“No offense, but I’m not Calidora,” I said as politely as possible. I was never going to measure up to Calidora, but I could still be a good Kyrion. There was a lot of room for change—like that stupid law about outcasts. I could do good here, but not as long as I had to live in the shadow of someone else.
“No, you aren’t,” Selene responded, her cheeks flushing with indignation. “She would never have left alone in the night with a man not her bond-mate.” Her disdain for Grayson was palpable as she scanned over his dark jeans and gray T-shirt. “Nor would she have put Kyrion lives in danger by leaving the House grounds without adequate protection.”
“Grayson is my bodyguard—er, themy-something,” I replied, my anger starting to grow. Maybe I was more sensitive because of the hell Natalie had put me through with her accusations, but I was damn tired of it. There had been enough accusations thrown my way today. And this one in particular hit a sore spot after my history of cheating boyfriends. I despised cheaters. “I would never cheat on Bennett. Ever. I had something I needed to do, and I knew Grayson could protect me.”
Selene turned to Grayson cocking her head. “You’ve taken the oath of Themis?”
“I have. I am bound to my lady, until my oath is fulfilled.” Grayson hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and gave her that boyish smile sure to melt hearts. “Would you like to see my mark, Archai?”
Selene looked startled for a moment before she composed herself and walked closer to him. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“It would be my pleasure, lady Archai,” Grayson said turning up the charm. He pulled his T-shirt off revealing a sun-kissed bronze chest of lean muscle. His symbol was about three inches tall and set under his right pec. It was the star-like symbol for the House of Chaos but with the exploding colors of a supernova that only my symbol had. Selene seemed mesmerized by either the symbol or his chest as she reached out toward him. Grayson grabbed her hand before she could change her mind and placed it on his chest. “I welcome your touch, mi flor rara.”
Selene jerked her hand away as if she had been burned. “I’m not your rare flower.” Grayson only smiled wider that she had understood him. She turned to me looking slightly bewildered before donning the Diplomatic Doll face. She waved her hand in Grayson’s direction. “I didn’t know that he was your Themis. Regardless, he can’t be in your room like this. You also can’t leave these grounds without permission from Kyrion Bennett.” I would have protested but that was likely a direct message from Bennett. It was surprising that he wasn’t here yelling it at me himself. “You,” Selene pointed at Grayson, “come with me and I’ll see if I can find you a tux. Lia, please get dressed for dinner.” Then she walked hurriedly out of the room.
“I think I am in love,” Grayson whispered beside me.
“She would chew you up and spit you out,” I warned him, but he only smiled wider. “Fine, it’s your balls that’re at risk. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now get out of my room so I can change.”
I finally made it down to the dining hall only to find Grayson still in his jeans and T-shirt. The sparkle in his eyes said that whatever had gone down between him and the Diplomatic Doll had been highly entertaining, at least for him. “Where is everyone?” I asked.
“I believe they were given the night off,” Grayson said with a mischievous grin. “We have somewhere else to be. Take my hand, my lady.”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but he grabbed my hand and teleported us away. We landed in a meadow painted in shades of pink under the dying light of the setting sun. I shivered as the cold evening air pierced right through my thin dress but at least it took my mind off the effects the teleporting was having on my stomach. Grayson slipped a robe over my shoulders, and I burrowed into the surprising heat. Snow-capped mountaintops were silhouetted against the pink sky. Piles of snow dotted the trees and the ground around us. I took in a deep breath of the crisp air, feeling freer than I had in weeks now that I was no longer confined indoors.
“What are we doing out here, Yoda-lite?” I asked, making Grayson chuckle at the nickname I had given him.
“Patience, my lady,” he said mysteriously. “All good things come to those who wait. Here let me help you along the trail.” He offered me his hand as we stepped around icy patches.
I thanked whoever had bought my shoes that they had gone with flats. Grayson filled me in on some of the history of this place as we made our way across the meadow. The first Chaos descendants to leave Sotirìa had built a small settlement in what we know today as Yellowstone National Park, but the site was attacked soon after. The descendants didn’t want to leave the comforting and power-boosting volcanic activity behind, but their enemies had found them. So instead, they moved the entire mountain. The mountain was named Mount Cronos and was relocated to what later became Glacier National Park in Montana. Prometheus was built on the peak of the mountain around 1215 BCE and the whole mountain was hidden from the outside world, much like the island of Sotirìa.
We fell silent after a while, taking in the amazing view. Unfortunately, there was too much on my mind to fully enjoy it. Every mistake I had made since coming here played through my head. Selene had made it look effortless, yet here I was feeling like a kid playing dress up. How could I convince a whole city that I was Kyrion material when I didn’t believe it myself? Tomorrow I was going to be introduced as Bennett’s bond-mate. The girl that hated being the center of attention was going to be the main focus of this show. I only hoped that I didn’t do something stupid. Please, one of you gods, if you’re listening, help me get through the ceremony tomorrow without screwing it up too badly.
“We are here, my lady,” Grayson announced, pulling me from my thoughts.
A stream flowed down the rocky mountainside and around steaming pools of natural hot springs. Groups of tall pine trees dotted the landscape, their branches heavy with the weight of snow. Something tugged at me, drawing me toward the rocky ridge above. I ignored it and stepped up onto one of the rocks lining the largest of the hot springs. “Wow, this place is beautiful. How did you know this was here?”
“I told him,” Bennett said stepping from the shadows of the pine trees near a small clearing.
Grayson wished us a good night, then disappeared.
I watched Bennett warily from my spot standing on the rocks. He held out his hand to help me down but I crossed my arms. “Did you bring me out here so no one can hear you yell at me?”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” he admitted. “I have been out here for some time.”
“Did the cold help calm you?” I asked cautiously.
“Enough to prevent the yelling at least,” he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me from the rocks. “I had planned to have a picnic with you here this evening, but I find myself reluctant to reward you for such bad behavior today.”
“I didn’t know I was playing for prizes,” I said as I slid down his body until my feet touched the ground. “I’m sorry about leaving without telling anyone. I had this idea and wanted to
follow up on it. I’m glad I did because—”
His cool fingers speared into the hair at the nape of my neck pulling my head back so that I had no choice but to look into those dark eyes that were still burning with anger. “Do you have any idea what I went through when your servant could not find you to prepare you for dinner?” His fingers tightened in my hair. “The Talosi have been combing the city looking for you. I was on the verge of sending runners out to see if there were rumors of your kidnapping. Never leave like that again.”
His lips crashed down on mine and the bitter taste of his fear filled my senses as I edged the door open to our connection. “Asteràki, I felt the warmth of your presence grow distant but could not reach you. Your mental shields were fully engaged and are the strongest I have ever encountered.” He broke away with a growl and nipped at my ear causing my breath to hitch. “I could not even reach the door to our connection to ask for entrance. When will you trust this connection we share to leave the door open to me?”
“One step at a time, wizard boy.” I turned my head to rest on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Dates first. Then marriage. Then open access to the Lia Channel.” He grunted at my poor attempt at humor, but what could I say? I wasn’t trying to punish him for initially trapping me into this bond or trying to use me for my powers. He’d had his reasons just as I had mine now for wanting to take this slow. Trust wasn’t easy for me, and everything I’d gone through these last several months had made me even more wary. I had taken the first steps by giving him open access to my powers, the rest would come when I was ready. “Give me some time to adjust, I haven’t had a lifetime of people talking in my head like you have.”
“You are right, wife,” he admitted, and I thawed a little more toward him.
The fingers of his other hand trailed along the chain at my neck. Then dipped between my breasts, following the chain until they met the ring hanging there. I leaned back to watch as he slid the ring over the tip of his pointer finger, and it lit up with a crimson color. The ring looked innocent enough as he held it up between us, but nothing in the Paldimori world was ever that simple. He pulled the chain off over my head and slid the ring onto my left ring finger. As soon as it slipped into place, the blue-black mountainous terrain under its smooth surface lit up a turquoise color. Then more colors joined in.
“The ring has never shown more than a color or two in all the time it has been with my family,” Bennett said quietly as he rubbed his finger over the ring with a satisfied smile. He was relentless about wanting me to call myself his wife and put his ring back on my finger. “You are the one we have been waiting for, Lia. The ring knows it, and so do I. You doubt yourself because you are still learning your powers and your place in our world. I know your place. It is by my side as we help our people regain our dying powers and rebuild our society to what it once was. Now that you—the Chosen—have joined us nothing is impossible. You only need to believe it for yourself.”
A frisson of worry sparked to life inside me at his words, but there was such hope on his face that I couldn’t bear to disappoint him. “You’re right. I-I’ll try harder to believe.” I forced a smile and kissed his lips. But his words echoed through my head playing on my doubts: “Now that you—the Chosen—have joined us nothing is impossible.” Was I still only a tool to him? The instrument that would be used to defeat his enemies and forge a kingdom of gods? If I joined the ranks of Kyrion would my powers even be my own any longer or just a shared pool from which all six Kyrion could draw strength?
Some hint of my doubts and fears must have leaked through our connection because Bennett sighed and took my hands. “There will never be enough words to tell you how truly sorry I am for bonding with you and not telling you what that meant. For letting Natalie’s lies color my judgment of you.” He turned my hands over and pressed a kiss into each palm. “But I will spend a lifetime trying to atone. Know that these small hands hold all of my heart.”
The doubts and fears melted away as I gripped his hands. “And I will spend a lifetime loving you, Bennett Theo Young.”
13
The remains of the picnic were scattered around our blanket nest where we had made love under the stars. I shifted under the blankets, feeling sleepily content after our night spent together here at the hot springs. “You asked about my nickname,” Bennett murmured as he kissed my naked shoulder. “It was my mother who called me Bear. She said I growled like a little cub whenever I ate, even as a baby, and had the appetite to match.” He pressed our joined hands to my stomach and pulled me even tighter against him. The heat from his naked body pressing into mine chased away the lingering chill from the night air. “Selene was the only other person I would let call me that. We have been friends for a long time. I honestly do not remember a time when she was not hopping around—like the rabbit I named her after—begging Mother for stories and stealing lemon tarts.”
“Where was her family?”
“Her mother, Millicent, was the only family she had. No one ever knew who her father was. Mother was an only child with strict parents, as was Millicent. But Millicent had fallen on hard times. I never understood what happened, but Mother must have saw something in the woman. Father was furious when she moved Millicent into our house. Mother and Millicent became very close friends as their pregnancies progressed. Selene was born two days before me, just down the hall.” Bennett was quiet for a moment before he continued, “It is not easy to have friends when you sit on the throne, but not even my father could chase Selene away. Not while my mother still lived anyway.”
“I’m glad that you had Selene then,” I said, and it was true. There was a part of me that envied Selene’s control and confidence, but I would never begrudge their friendship. It eased my mind to know that there had been someone there for the little boy he had been when his mother died. “You don’t talk much about your father—”
“There is nothing to talk about,” Bennett stated, his body rigid against mine. It seemed we both had our topics that were off-limits: the year I had run away was mine, and his was his father.
“Well, your mother sounds amazing,” I replied, thinking of how everyone still revered her even twenty-two years after her death.
“She was a kind and loving person.” Bennett sighed against my hair, the tension melting from his body. “But strong in her convictions. She worked hard to bring us technology and open up communications with the outside world. It was thanks to her that we have the runners.” He pressed kisses along my neck. “You would have liked her.”
Stars gleamed in the clear night sky above us, and I wished on every one of them that there would be more nights like this for us. Time away from the duties and training to just be together. “Is your mother the one who liked poppies? They’re all over the room I’m staying in, along with her painting.”
“Hmm, I thought Mother’s painting and the flowers had been removed from your room,” he said. “But yes, she was the one that loved poppies. You probably noticed them even on the lid of the trunk I gave you. That was my mother’s too. It was a wedding gift from her parents.”
“I love that trunk,” I gushed, thinking of all the times I had opened and closed the lid to see what would appear. “Thank you for giving it to me and bringing it here. I had forgotten all about it while we were training so hard.” At least the trunk mystery was solved. Now if only all the other mysteries in my life could be solved as easily. When the trunk had first shown up in my condo, I had thought maybe Captain Matthews—the pilot who had become one of my friends—had bought it but now I knew that even when we had been at odds, Bennett had been taking care of me. I loved him even more for the thoughtfulness of his gift. “You really do love me to give me a trunk with an unlimited supply of jeans and T-shirts.”
“I wanted you to have your own things and feel comfortable in my home. And one day maybe you will call it your home as well.” Bennett didn’t wait for me to answer before going on to explain, “The power of creati
on may have been lost to us before we found you, but there are a few among us who can imbed their will into an object to make it perform simple functions such as creating your clothes. Although, I personally prefer you without clothes.” Bennett pressed more kisses down my spine. His tongue slipped out to trace along the center of my bond mark. “Mmm, I love this spot here.”
I laughed and swatted his thigh. “Behave, you wicked wizard.”
He chuckled, his hard chest settling against my back as he wrapped his arm around me once more. “What was it you were asking? Oh yes, Mother loved poppies, and it drove my father crazy that they were all over the house. Sometimes I think that is why she did it. Father once threw an entire platter of bagels out the window because they had poppy seeds on them.” Bennett laughed at the memory. “For once, I did not blame him. We had poppy everything when we first started growing them. Now we do not use them as much for ourselves but sell them for their seeds. They make a good profit in the human world. I will take you to the fields one day soon.”
I made a humming sound in agreement. It was strange, though, about the poppies and painting in my room. Maybe the servants were confused. The painting was definitely going to have to go. Having Calidora’s reflection hovering over me every time I looked in the mirror like she was the benchmark I was to judge myself against was wrecking what little confidence I had managed to find. I had spent years burying everything that was me under my lonely highway. I was trying to be what was expected, but I would never completely bury everything I am again. “I’m a fan of purple and less floral, but I don’t want to remove your mother’s things.”
“My mother is no longer Kyrion here, Lia. You will be.” Bennett rolled me onto my back and leaned over to watch me with an imploring look. “This is your home now, and these are your people. The words that you speak become orders that must be obeyed. The decisions you make can mean life or death.” I shivered thinking about those people who had died at the tower trying to reach safety within these walls. Regardless of what the law said, weren’t they our people too?
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