"Changing the subject…" I rolled my eyes as Nova glared playfully at me. If she would've let me get her another glass, then we could've avoided that glare. "My father asked me how I felt about binding with Declan today."
Juda choked on her juice, putting the glass down while she wiped her mouth simultaneously. Her voice sounded out of breath as she said, "He did what?"
"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Kota asked, leaning back in her chair the way she always did when she didn't want to be in the middle of something. Her words said one thing, but her body language said another.
"It wasn't real then," I sighed as I sank in my chair, forcing myself to sit up straight when I realized my mother could be hiding anywhere in the ballroom ready to scold me for bad posture.
"It is now?" Deja asked gently.
"Declan brought it up when we were dancing," I answered bitterly. "He wanted to know what I thought about it. Everyone wants an answer from me, but I only found out about it this morning. There's no way I can figure out how I feel about it in that short of time."
"What's your mind telling you?" Kota inquired. "I know you don't know how you feel, but what thoughts are going through your head when you think about it?"
I listed off the first two that came to mind first: "That he's Levi's best friend and his father is a dick. He's also a really nice guy, and a troublemaker like me isn't going to make him look good."
"You think you're not good enough for him?" Juda wondered, looking at me with curious eyes.
"You're the alpha's daughter," Nova reminded me. "Of course you're good enough."
"Maybe by title," I mumbled. "But as a person he deserves better. I don't want him to be attached to me and then regret it later."
"If your father talked to him about it, then he won't say no," Kota pointed out the obvious. "He'll see it as an order from his alpha."
Deja pieced together the rest: "Which is why you would have to be the one to say no. Are you actually going to say no?"
"I don't know," I answered, my frustration creeping its way to the surface the longer this conversation went on. I glanced away, trying to forget what we were talking about, only to catch Declan from the corner of my eye. I just can't get away from him. "If I had it my way, I wouldn't have to think about this for at least another five years, but it's staring right in front of me and I can't seem to run away from it."
"You'll do what's best for you," Juda told me. "You always do, and it always works out fine."
I smiled as I looked down at the table. "I hope you're right,"
"Where are they going?" Juda asked as she turned her body to face the entrance of the ballroom.
From the corner of my eye I saw what Juda was seeing. The alphas were together, exiting the ballroom in a hurry. I stood up, motioning for the girls to join me. It didn't take much to convince them. Deja quickly finished the juice in her glass and then followed us towards the staircase.
There was no doubt in my mind that the girls were wondering why we were going upstairs when the alphas were headed for my father's study. It'd been a while since we'd used the crawlspace above the council study, but the second the girls saw where we were going, they remembered all the times we used it to spy on our fathers.
"I think we're too big to fit in there, Luna," Nova said as we came up to the door. Once opened, it looked like a closet, with all my father's formal wear for army events, but when you pushed them aside there was a cutout within the wall. I don't remember how I discovered it, but I was only ten at the time and I was curious.
I dug my nails in between the cutout and the wall, pulling it towards me and placing it off to the side. I waved towards the girls, telling them to follow me, and when I looked back again, we were all on our hands and knees, crawling deeper into the castle. My mother would be furious if she knew I was doing this while wearing my gown. I tried to make sure it didn't rip but there was no way I was going to prevent it from getting dirty. It was definitely a tight squeeze.
"I think you're right, Nova," I said as my voice echoed throughout the tunnel. "I don't think we fit anymore."
"You would say that after we're already halfway through it," Juda shouted from far behind me. I was crawling out into a small circular room when she spoke. I could hear her just fine, but I acted as if I didn't. I was too focused on finding out what the alphas were running off to. I was tired though and needed a minute to catch my breath.
"We should think about finding another way to spy on the alphas," Kota said as she leaned up against the wall just outside the tunnel. She was breathing just as heavily as I was, making me feel a little better about being out of shape. With as much training as we did, I was surprised we were so tired, but we didn't train to crawl through small spaces.
"We can work on that later," I told Kota as I started to feel around the floorboard.
"Kota needs to portal us back," Juda snapped as she appeared from the tunnel. "I'm not doing that again."
"My portals aren't stable," Kota answered worriedly. "It's not safe to go through them."
"I don't mean to threaten you Kota," Juda said. "But you better find a way to stabilize the portal or you're going to wish you didn't get out of bed this morning."
"Why do you feel the need to threaten me?" Kota asked. "If you want something from someone, you're supposed to bribe them, not threaten them."
"I'll bribe you with your life, then," Juda responded.
Kota froze. "Fair enough. Motivation found."
"Will you guys shut up?" Deja gritted her teeth together as she snarled at them. "Luna's about to lift up the floorboard, and if you're still talking the alphas are going to know we're up here."
I found the loose floorboard in the middle of the room, removing it so that we could see into my father's study. I found the argument between Juda and Kota boring. Juda could've come up with a much better threat. The entire time I looked for the loose floorboard, I worried that someone had found out about this room and fixed it. I could've sworn the floorboard was closer to the tunnel, but it ended up being more towards the opposite wall. It'd been a while since we've been up here, but I couldn't help but feel like something was off about this. I just couldn't put my finger on it.
The girls circled around as I leaned the floorboard against the wall, getting as close as they could without hitting each other’s heads. We were all eager to hear what the alphas had to say, but I didn't expect to feel claustrophobic. We were definitely too big for this room now that we weren't little anymore.
Chapter Three
All the alphas were sitting on the couches while my father leaned against his desk, facing them all. They all looked so elegant in their suits. I was so used to seeing my father in casual clothing that when we went to events like this one it almost seemed like he was a different person. My father was quiet, clearly trying to find the best wording for what he was trying to say.
Uncle Ben, the lime green-eyed and dirty blonde-haired wolf shifter, sat the farthest away from my father. Next to him was Uncle Alex, the amber-eyed and light brown-haired sorcerer. Across from them was Uncle Gabe, the electric blue-eyed and platinum blond-haired fairy, and Uncle Chris, the onyx eyed and brown-haired giant.
"What is it, Theo?" Uncle Alex asked after a long period had gone by in silence.
"Five bodies were found just outside the gates," my father answered, referencing the iron fence that surrounded the castle.
"Were they all vampires?" Uncle Chris asked, knowing it was dangerous to personally threaten an alpha or a member of their family.
"No," my father said bluntly as he crossed his arms against his chest, still leaning against the desk. "There was one from each race. It has to be him."
"How do you know that?" Uncle Ben asked. It wasn't surprising to me that he didn't jump to conclusions the way my father had. He had never been as anxious as the other alphas when it came to the prophecy. I could tell he was unsure whenever we talked about it, but never nervous.
"He carved me
ssages into their abdomens," my father answered.
That caught all of the alphas' attentions.
"He did what?" Uncle Gabe snapped, not meaning to ask a question.
"He carved 'How many more will die before you find me?' between the five of them," my father continued. "They must've been dead for at least a day. Otherwise the carvings would've healed."
No one had to spell out who they were talking about. No one else would drop five dead bodies near the alpha's property. We didn't have a name for him. For the most part we just called him the hooded assassin, but he was at the top of the most wanted list in all the territories for the murders he committed each year. Every year, just after Juda's birthday, five bodies, one from each race, would be found with the alpha’s symbol branded on their wrist. That was how we knew the threat was against us. Seventeen years had gone by and we were still no closer to knowing who he was or why he was doing this. So far, the only thing different was his start time. We still had five months before Juda's birthday.
"Why is he changing his pattern?" I heard Uncle Ben ask. "Why is he doing this now?"
"I don't know," my father answered honestly. "The murders happened here in vampire territory, so I don't expect you guys to get involved just yet. This is a problem I need to deal with."
"Theo, this isn't just your problem," Uncle Chris reminded him. "There's one of each race lying dead in the dungeons right now, which makes it all of our problems. This is more than just a murderer dropping bodies now. He's making risky moves, showing us that he's getting stronger, which means we need to start making some decisions sooner than we thought. We can't be unprepared for whatever happens next."
"If we can get the kids on board with the bindings, then we'll have more men on our side," my father said before any of the other alphas could say anything. When he said “the kids,” did he just mean my brothers and I? Or was he talking about all the alpha children throughout Medova? This plan was turning out to be more complicated than I ever could've imagined.
"That can't be our only plan," Uncle Gabe said loudly. Since he was a fairy, he was supposed to be calm, but he was struggling to keep himself under control. That was the sign I looked for when I tried to figure out how the alphas were feeling. Uncle Gabe was nervous when he started to get angry.
"It'll work," my father assured him. "We just need to convince the kids of the same thing."
"The boys will be easy to convince but getting the girls to go through it will be impossible, Theo, and you know that," Uncle Alex said, avoiding my father's glaring eyes. "We have a better chance of getting our councils to agree with each other."
"We haven't even tried," my father argued. "I brought it up to Luna today and she wasn't completely against it. She didn't say yes either, but there was a little bit of hope, which is more than I was expecting."
"Your dad doesn't have very high expectations for you, does he?" Juda asked from across the circle. I could tell she was trying not to laugh, and when I glanced around at the others, they were trying not to do the same. Laughing would've given us away, so thankfully they were able to contain themselves.
"Apparently not," I mumbled back as I tried to figure out if I should be offended by my father's comment.
"Gaining alliances is not a bad idea. I just don't think it should be our only idea," Uncle Gabe explained, bringing our attention back to the study. It was hard to see anything with all of us trying to look through the floorboard, but we could hear perfectly.
"We need to focus on tonight's threat," Uncle Chris suggested. "I don't care if this guy is insane, you don't keep the same pattern for seventeen years and then change it like it's nothing. We need to figure out what it is."
"What do you think we've been doing this whole time?" Uncle Ben snapped as he leaned deeper into the couch. "We've been trying to find them. We've even sent people in to try and infiltrate his following and we still…"
"Ben, stop for a second," my father demanded. I heard his footsteps moving across the room, but I couldn't tell if he was getting closer or farther away. I attempted to push the girls out of the way so I could get a better look into the study, but the floor moved from beneath us before I had a chance.
The floor disappeared right from under us. It was a long fall to the ground and, unfortunately, we all would survive it. We'd be able to avoid the lecture if we died.
I landed on my back, looking up at the circular opening that used to hold us above the study. How did my father know we were up there? How did he get the floor to release like that?
My father bent down and hovered over my face. "I'm going to be nice because it's your birthday. What the fuck are you doing eavesdropping on our conversation?"
"You call that being nice?" I countered, knowing I was digging myself into a deeper hole. He glared down at me, his face frozen with anger. This was not a time for me to be my sarcastic self.
“Start talking,” my father snapped. He had helped all of us up and then forced us to sit on the couch. I didn’t even notice the alphas getting up so we could take their place.
“There’s nothing to say,” I told him, sighing deeply as I rested my elbow on the arm of the couch. “We saw you leave the ballroom in a hurry and we followed you.”
“What made you think you could eavesdrop on our conversation?” my father asked again. “If we left the ballroom, it’s because we didn’t want anyone else to hear about it.”
“How can you keep it a secret when it involves the rest of us?” Juda asked before I could respond.
“Shut it,” Uncle Chris snapped at his daughter. “He’s not talking to you.”
“We would’ve told you about it,” my father answered Juda anyways. “This is how we’ve always done things. We receive information, we discuss it, and then we tell the rest of the family.”
Nova groaned as her head slammed back into the couch. “You only tell us parts of it.”
“What makes you think he’s talking to you?” Uncle Ben asked her. “If he’s not talking to Juda, then he’s not talking to you either.”
My father shook his head. “At this point, I am talking to all of them.” The girls had inserted themselves into the conversation and made just as many unnecessary comments as I had, so he was probably right.
“We tell you the parts that you need to hear,” my father continued. “If something has nothing to do with you, then we’re not going to tell you.”
“So you admit to keeping secrets?” Deja asked.
I looked back at Uncle Gabe, who was dragging his palm down his face, wishing his daughter had the common sense to be quiet. I smiled, hiding it with my own palm so my father didn’t think I was laughing at Deja calling him out. It wouldn’t be any better if I told him I was laughing at Uncle Gabe, but one was less of a lecture than the other.
“There is no reason to tell you everything if it doesn’t pertain to you,” my father answered Deja, trying to spin it so it didn’t sound like they were being shady.
“That’s just it, it does pertain to us,” Kota spoke up, surprising everyone. “All you’ve ever done is tell us how we’re destined to save Medova from this murderer, but you keep us in the dark whenever there’s any information about it. How are we supposed to do anything if we don’t know everything that you do?”
“When the time comes, you will be told everything,” Uncle Alex told his daughter. “We’ve been training you ever since you could walk.”
“Were you going to tell us that five bodies were left at the gate tonight?” I looked up at my father, looking for any hesitation.
“How long were you up there?” my father asked as he pointed to the hole in the ceiling. The floor was still hanging on to the ceiling, with the missing floorboard in the middle.
“The entire time you were in here,” I answered him. “How did you know the floor could be released like that?”
“It’s an escape route for emergencies,” my father answered. “It’s not meant for you to spy on us.”
“Well
, now that we’re all here, why don’t you just continue on with your conversation?” I suggested, trying to move the conversation away from the escape route.
My father glared at me. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“Totally understand,” I agreed sarcastically, knowing it would come back to bite me later. “But I think Uncle Ben was talking about infiltrating the assassin’s following before you rudely let us fall from the ceiling.”
Uncle Ben shook his head as every set of eyes focused on him. He looked over at my father and the rest of the alphas as if he was expecting them to tell him what to do. He was an alpha, too. He didn’t need the other alphas giving him orders, and judging by the silence coming from the others, they knew this too.
“Go on, Ben,” Uncle Chris sighed. “They’ve heard enough. If we don’t tell them now, they won’t leave us alone.”
“You said you enjoyed it when I came in to interrupt your workday,” Juda reminded him.
“That was before your sketchy ass heard more than you needed to,” her father countered.
“Anyways,” I said loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention. I turned my head to face Uncle Ben before saying, “I believe you have your own sketchiness to reveal to us.”
“Shut up, Luna,” my father muttered; his palm covered his face. He said something else after silencing me, but I wasn’t able to make out the words thanks to his hand.
“There were rumors throughout the villages that a group was forming with the intentions of bringing down the alphas,” Uncle Ben began. “It wasn’t the first time a group like this had formed, so we didn’t pay too much attention to it. It wasn’t until we heard about the leader of the group taking responsibility for the murders each year that we realized we needed to look into the situation.”
“We sent in a number of loyal guards from each territory to infiltrate the group in order to get information,” Uncle Alex picked up. “This leader must’ve known who they were because he started changing the locations and times of the meetings, telling everyone except the ones we sent in there.”
Rise of the Assassin (Child of an Alpha Series Book 1) Page 4