MENA
No one needs this right now. Not me. Not Ash. Certainly not John, and especially not Evan.
“This is such a waste of time,” Aurelia grouses as she shrugs into a black suit jacket to cover the loaded shoulder holster under her right arm and spine holster at her back. “You know how this is going to go,” she complains as she adjusts her black silk tank to cover a bit more of her generous bosom. She fiddles with the jacket at the point of her shoulder and the pin-tucked ruffle at her back. Aurelia’s long, black hair is pulled up off her neck and secured in a full topknot with several deadly-looking metal spikes, and her makeup is done up to full smoke, highlighting the paleness of her pupilless eyes and the sharpness of her cheekbones.
She moves to re-secure the throwing knives in her boot and then flips the wide leg of her black trousers over the holster. This is the third time she’s checked her weapons, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was nervous. But I do know better. She’s not the least bit nervous; she’s pissed. She’d rather go on an assassination mission than sit and play politics with someone she plans on killing anyway.
“You know the last time I wore a suit around you, shit went awry,” she grumbles to Evan. “This time will be no fucking different. Bad shit is coming, Evan. Bad, bad shit.”
“And that is why I need you armed, but you need to look professional, and your weapons need to be concealed. You have to represent your people. I can’t find Nicola; she isn’t answering us, and headquarters has gone silent. I can’t find Kyle anywhere, and I haven’t seen him since he left with her before the house was attacked. We are on the brink of a major shit storm. I need to feel Voyt out. Dad needs to know what we’re dealing with to buy us some time to diffuse the situation. I can’t just lop his head off and say ‘nanny-nanny-foo-foo.’ I need to be diplomatic - until diplomacy shits the bed and then I can make him die slowly,” Evan explains, and her voice has taken a lively quality that I hadn’t heard from her in the last week.
She dusts imaginary lint from her dark wine-colored evening gown and adjusts the beaded sleeve. I admire the design of the dress; the bodice is a high crew neck, but mostly see-through mesh with slashes of beading that protects her modesty. One sleeve is the same fabric of her long flowing skirt, but the other is the mesh and beaded design of the bodice. What tips the sexy scales is the hip-height slit that exposes one shapely leg and one of the five-inch, suede, platform peep-toes adorning her dainty feet.
We abandoned the cabin in Grand Lake for the cliff-top house two days ago. In that time, I have procured funeral clothing, an extra black tailored suit, and an evening dress that remarkably covers me from neck to wrists to toes and still makes me feel beautiful. Today, I get to wear the suit. Evan and Aurelia said these clothes were necessary for the coming meetings. Other than the one today, I’m unsure of what other meetings I’ll need to attend and don’t know why I even need to go to this one.
“And I have to be there because?” I ask for maybe the hundredth time in the last six hours. I don’t need to be here, I don’t think. I have already helped as much as I am able.
After Ash awoke, I did what I needed to. After a full twenty-four hours of sleep, I gave some of my energy to Olivia and John. I didn’t even need a spell – not that I couldn’t cast one. I’ve heard the spell roughly a million times in the last fifty years. All I had to do was touch their hands, and their bodies hungrily pulled the excess from my bones without the agony of draining me dry. It felt organic, and I relished a use for my Aegis besides destruction. Olivia’s eyes opened for the first time in a week and John’s color came back. It won’t sustain them, and I didn’t cure them, but it will stave off death for a little while.
I just wish I could do more.
“We need you as a show of strength. You and I both know that it’s likely that Voyt’s men are the ones who attacked Asher’s house,” Aurelia says as she adjusts the jacket of my suit.
While her suit has a bit more coverage so she can conceal her weapons, my jacket has a deep v neckline prominently displaying the lightening bolt Aegis marking on my neck. I think showing my mark would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull, but what do I know? The suit also displays the relatively minor scarring on my chest, but I actually don’t mind it, mostly because of the nude beaded camisole I’m wearing underneath. I feel sexy in this outfit. My jacket is a slim cut with exposed velvet pockets on the front, and the ankle-length trousers showing off my height and the four-inch, thin-heeled, pointed-toe pumps.
“We want him to know you are alive, and you’re strong, and you support us. You do support us, right?” Evan asks as she fidgets and then masks it by smoothing her already meticulously coifed hair styled in a delicately messy chignon.
“You know I support you. You know Ash does too. Don’t ask dumb questions. You may not know me as well as my twin, but on the real stuff, our beliefs have always been the same.” Evan looks from me to Aurelia, and Aurelia nods in agreement.
“What she said. Quit being dumb. Okay, I’m ready. I’m going to find my husband, kiss him and see if there is any other prep we need to do,” Aurelia says as she opens the bathroom door and flounces out of it. Evan goes to follow her, but I gently clutch her elbow. I’m not shocking people anymore, and that scares me as much as it makes me smile. I worry I won’t have enough in me to be an offensive weapon. That I cannot protect them.
“A little red-haired birdie told me a very long time ago that you would be instrumental in taking Iva out. She told me I had to do whatever I could to help you. So that’s what I’m doing.”
Evan nods, raising her eyebrows and asks, “Nicola?”
“Yep. So if she can’t be reached it is either because she has a reason or they have done something to her. She wants you to be Queen, she told me herself.” Evan inhales a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “How are you doing?” I press.
“I’ve been better, but I’m standing, right? I’m doing better than my Dad and a fuck ton better than my Mom. And I love a man who will not keep me. Even if marrying me – a woman he claims to love – means saving our race from that evil, twisted, murdering son of a bitch. So, I’m super,” she says sarcastically with a half shrug and a bitter smile.
“I have no advice to give you, Evan, but I can say this: you are a survivor. It may be the worst time in your life, but you will survive this. I promise. Even if I have to kill everyone in that room myself,” I say waggling my eyebrows at the last bit. Evan huffs out a laugh and gives me a wan smile.
“Let’s go, Short Stuff.” We link arms and head from Evan’s opulent bathroom through an equally sumptuous bedroom down a posh and regal hallway all the way to a sitting area filled with heavy furniture, crystal lamps, and priceless Ming vases. It is also filled with large men in very sharp suits. My eyes immediately go to Asher, and I release Evan to go to my husband.
Husband.
Who would have thought I could have this much, this quickly? Ash is everything I ever wanted for myself, and I need to keep him safe. To keep him safe, I need to present a front of a leader, even if that is the last thing I am.
“You look beautiful, Princess,” Ash murmurs in my ear as he dips his head to kiss the tender spot right underneath my ear. With my heels on, I’m eye to eye with him, and I love it. I run my hands over the arms of his suit jacket, admiring the way it clings to his broad shoulders and highlights his slim waist. I want to peel him out of it, but I refrain from doing so by a very thin margin. “I love this suit. I’m going to have a grand time taking it off you later,” he murmurs in my ear inciting a shiver from me.
The ring of the doorbell comes before I’m ready, and I feel a horrible chill steal its way down my spine. John steps into the room before the door opens for our guests and takes his place, sitting in a large, cream linen wingback chair. Evan positions herself in the seat at her father’s right; Asher leaves me to stand behind John’s chair, and Cam joins him. Aurelia and I take the loveseat to John’s left with me sitting closest to Ash. Rhys stands behind Aurelia and West behind Evan despite the irritated purse to her lips. Ian moves to the shadows and Aidan goes to answer the door.
Here we go.
Three men stalk into the sitting room behind Aidan, and I can tell already how this will unfold. One man is leading the trio of newcomers. His perfectly coifed dark hair is swept back from his angular face. He has the face of a model, all sharp cheekbones and full lips, thick slashes of eyebrows highlighting pale eyes. He’s tall, taller than Ash, and I dislike him on sight. It’s not just the horrible timing of his visit or the almost forced politeness I see on his face – it is the underlying expression, the one behind the fake remorse and false loyalty. It’s the hunger. Either for the throne or power – it’s there.
He looks like an asshole.
The two men trailing behind him are both dark haired and dark eyed, looking similar enough in features that they could be brothers or close cousins. They share the angle of their cheekbones and square of their jaws. Both dressed in dark suits, the one on the left is only marginally distinguished from his counterpart by the long hair pulled back from his face into a low ponytail.
Asher told me that news of John and Olivia’s condition started filtering through the Wraith community about a month ago. Just whispers at first, and that is how John knew there had to be either eyes in the house or eyes on it. That’s when they started to move, and he hid Olivia away in a house even Asher had no idea where it was located. Her Guardians were left in the dark, sent to the far reaches of the earth to find a cure for their mistress. After Javier had taken Aurelia, it was clear who the eyes belonged to, but unclear how far his reach was.
John stands to greet Voyt, reaching to shake his guest’s hand before retaking his seat. Voyt sits in the wingback opposite John, his minions standing at his back, mirroring Asher and Cam. Even though the room is tense, every person seems to be lounging in their seats or standing idly waiting for this farce to begin.
“Voyt, I have some people I need to introduce you to before we begin our discussion of succession.” He gestures to me first, “This is Mena Constantine, the last living full-blooded Aegis and rightful leader of the Phoenixes.” I let my Aegis free for a moment waggling my sparking fingers at our guests. He then gestures to my sister, “And this is Aurelia Constantine, the last living Seer, the only Aegis hybrid, and the woman who turned Iva to ash.”
Then, John stands.
“And I’m sure you’ve met my wife,” he says as Olivia strides into the room.