| |
I remember a woman standing in front of me, giving me her back. A wind blew her dark hair every which way, and still she stood strong. I remember how rigid her body was, the way her hands were clenched at her sides. She was facing something, protecting me. Putting herself in danger to keep me alive.
—Nyssa’s Journal
Landus found a dress for me to wear. How he had a dress that fit me perfectly made my hackles rise. I wasn’t one to dress up, and I didn’t like others buying me clothes. I looked at myself in the mirror and any annoyance I felt toward Landus melted away. I looked fricken awesome. The dress dipped low in the back, giving everyone a nice view of my skin. Straps tied around my neck to hold up the front end, which showed just enough cleavage without risking me falling out. There was also the tease of some side boob action if I moved just right. After checking for five minutes, I came to the conclusion that it was only a tease. They’d never get to see the real deal.
“You’re beautiful,” Landus said, coming in while trying to fix the cuffs around his wrists. He was absolutely breathtaking, and I took a moment from wiggling around in front of the mirror to examine him. The suit was tailored to fit his frame. The fabric looked soft and very expensive. I sauntered over to him, letting my eyes devour him before helping him with the cufflinks.
“You know women’s clothing very well.”
He just returned the smile. I shrugged it off, burying my curiosity, and went downstairs where Slade was waiting, in his own suit.
“You look grumpy.” I laughed. He looked so uncomfortable in his suit. Slade was truly a man of jeans and t-shirts. Even when he went to the art gallery, he dressed down, wearing black jeans and a nice button up shirt, but today he was completely decked out in a three-piece suit.
“I feel itchy.” He pulled at his tie, wanting to loosen it and knowing Landus would probably only make him tie it tighter if he did. “Why did you have to choose the most expensive restaurant for this meeting?”
“Because no one wants to meet each other and that was the only place willing to risk money to get even more money. They’re going to make a fortune off of us tonight. Besides, I kind of want to see everyone trying to outdo each other. Should be fun.”
“You’re acting like you’re an outsider.”
“I don’t care about how the groups feel about each other. Not my business.”
“So you don’t care about us at all?” Slade challenged with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t care about the groups. Now individuals are a different story. I like you and Landus. I like Cecil and even Maura on her good days. I even like Mr. Sharo, Jamal, Aaron, Mage Thomas. As you can see, I like someone from all the groups, but I hold no allegiance to any of them. I only hold allegiance to myself.”
“So why are you so determined to play nice and meet with everyone.”
“Because even though I like you guys, I love Cecil, and she’s barely alive. I selfishly want to get Baron and tear him apart for what he’s done to her. Otherwise, I would wish you guys good luck or charge you for my services. I could be making a small fortune off of all you with the way things are.”
Slade shook his head. “You’re kind of unbelievable,” he muttered.
“I feel the same way,” Landus said as he came down the stairs, even more decked out than Slade. His hair was slicked back away from his face, and a red cloth hung from his chest pocket to add a splash of color. Yeah, tonight was definitely going to be fun.
After some arguing, I got Landus to let me drive myself to the restaurant. Afterward, I wanted to head over to check on Cecil anyways and wasn’t a fan of him playing chauffeur. I was sure the Alpha of Teragona had more important things to do than drive around a sweetie.
Holy shit. I was a sweetie.
My insides boiled with the thought, a weird mixture of happiness and trepidation fighting with each other. I had never been anyone’s sweetie.
I shivered and shifted in my car seat, uncomfortable with the thought.
The parking lot was full when I pulled in and parked between Landus’s massive truck and a Mercedes-Benz. Apparently, the shifters weren’t the only ones who spent money on pointless things. In fact, the whole parking lot was full of Benzes, Lincolns, Ferraris, and other over-the-top cars. My little car stuck out. Definitely not my kind of place.
After getting out of the car, I let out a breath as Landus came over to meet me. He pulled me up against his side, his hand on my lower back as we headed towards the restaurant.
“You see that man in the black outfit and golden vest?” Landus pointed him out.
I nodded and Landus smiled.
“Well, at these places you’re supposed to drive up to the spot like that car there and give him the keys. He takes and it parks the car for you.”
I furrowed my brows trying to understand what he was talking about.
“Ah, valet parking. I’ve heard of it.” It finally clicked. I just shrugged my shoulders. “Well, in my opinion, that is dumb. Why must I park my car in front of him only to have him move it someplace else when I could save everyone time and do it myself?”
Landus broke out laughing as we entered the building. I really didn’t get it. Cecil told me about it once, but I never had the misfortune of coming across such a lazy custom. Besides, I liked knowing exactly where my car was in case of an emergency.
The lady who greeted us was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and she eyed Landus like he was a prime steak. My lip curled up into a sneer as hot jealousy unfurled itself from within my stomach. I was ready to smack her when Landus’s hand moved to my waist as if he felt my emotions. He gave me a reassuring squeeze that barely kept me from doing exactly what I wanted to.
Goddammit. This whole mate thing was going to destroy me. It turned me into something ugly and disgusting. Into a little green monster.
“Nyssa?” The woman finally turned her attention to me.
I nodded and she broke out into one of those greedy smiles with dollar signs in her eyes. She knew she was about to rake in the dough as our host.
“Excellent. We are still waiting for some members of your party, but your room is all set. If you will follow me.”
She winked at Landus as she came around her desk and sauntered deeper into the restaurant, putting a little extra swish into every step. I giggled as I pictured what it would look like if she fell on those three-inch heels.
Landus looked down at me with a question in his eyes, and I only shook my head. The woman stopped at large oak doors and opened them. She held them open and waited patiently as we walked through.
“My name is Nora. If you need anything, please let me know.”
I nodded and waited until she closed the door before turning to greet the people. The few who were there were already sitting at a large table set up with fancy dishes, cups, and a crazy abundance of silverware. I couldn’t even fathom why someone needed three forks. One would do just fine.
Leon and his human servant, Jamal, were whispering to each other. Leon was a wonderful high-ranking vampire who got kidnapped a couple years ago as an attempt against the vamps. I had rescued his cute ass. We’d been good buds since. Mage Thomas sat near them, leaning back with his arms crossed as he scowled at Maura who sat across from him. Slade sat next to her with a slight smile on his lips but with dark eyes as he glared at Leon. I would need a chainsaw to cut all the tension in the air, and we hadn’t even started yet.
“Ladies and gents,” I smiled, my arms wide as I stepped away from Landus and settled into a chair an attendant pulled out for me. After I settled in, the attendant stood off to the side, ready to help us at any moment.
A moment later, Nora came back in with the rest of my party. Aaron came in with a smile on his face as he looked at me. He sat down next to Mage Thomas, filling in the space between him and Leon. Behind him was the last of our party, a witch I didn’t know. She settled in next to Maura, her soft brown hair falling over her face. She pushed the strands back and looked down at her plate. I could feel her magic and knew she had a lot of it. She had to be someone important and yet she looked so young and scared. A prey in the middle of all the predators.
I only allowed each faction to have two representatives. I didn’t need them starting a war with each other. They all had chosen wisely. I hoped.
“Now that everyone is here, let’s get this party started.” I grinned and leaned back, waiting for the fireworks to get started. Really though, it didn’t take long at all.
After an hour passed, I leaned forward and rubbed at my face. This was fun for all of half an hour and now it was just tiring. I didn’t understand the full extent of the deeply rooted bitterness among the groups until then. They went for the throat the minute we began and hadn’t stopped since. It really wasn’t a wonder why nothing got accomplished around here.
“Please,” Jamal snarled. “The last time we tried to help you guys, you got three of our vampires killed.” He glared at Landus with blood in his eyes. If he were more than a human servant, his eyes would have turned red and his teeth would have lengthened. For once, I was glad he was only a human servant.
“They wouldn’t have gotten themselves killed if they knew how to follow orders.” Landus leaned back with a smirk on his lips and a spark in his eyes. He was baiting the vamps and winning.
Jamal was on his feet, practically hissing at Landus. Leon placed his hand at the small of his human servant’s back as if he were a lover. Jamal tore his eyes away from Landus and looked at his master. They had a moment of silent conversation before he finally let out an annoyed breath and settled back into his chair.
Landus still smirked, and I gave him a harsh kick underneath the table. When he turned his eyes to me, I ignored the warm fuzzies in my stomach and gave him my best back off glare. His stupidly handsome smirk widened, and he turned to look back at the Jamal.
They really, really, hated each other.
“We should get back on target,” Maura said in a bad attempt at getting everyone to stop throwing murderous glares at each other, if only for at least a moment. No one looked at her, still ready to tear apart the other person with their eyes. That would have been a useful ability to have.
Why the hell did I think getting four kinds of beings together in a meeting was a good idea? Everyone hated someone and this just turned into a cage match of barbed words. After coming up with my own point system using complicated calculations, I determined the shifters were winning, with the vampires close behind. The mages and witches got the brunt of the damage, not as good at the game as the other two factions were.
“I bet Baron is only doing this because of you,” Mage Thomas said, deciding to put his own opinion out there to fuel the already boiling water. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he aimed it at the witches. They had been the quietest of the bunch.
Maura’s face darkened and her magic thickened, making my tongue tingle. Her emotions added to the heavy-duty cocktail already being mixed in the air. Her companion, Yena, finally peeked out from underneath her hair to look between the two who were now butting heads.
I shifted, uncomfortable with all the energy and magic filling up every space in the room. It was very smart of Nora to put us into a private room instead of a space that only pretended to be private.
“Enough,” I finally spoke for the first time since I started the meeting. Their bickering was fun for a while, but I was over it now. Break time over. I was about to repeat myself in a louder and probably more pissed off voice when they all surprisingly settled down. All eyes turned to me and waited.
Okay then.
Landus hooked his ankle around mine to let me know he was still there and I drew comfort from that reminder.
Looking everyone in the eye, I gave each one of them a personal warning of an ass whooping if they didn’t get their shit together. If I had to do it for them, they wouldn’t like it. I even allowed some of the hot anger that was deep within to peek through. Mage Thomas grew fidgety when I got to him. Maura looked away, a little red tinting her cheeks. Leon nodded in acknowledgment when I looked at him, and Landus managed to look sheepish when I turned my glare to him.
I unclenched my fists and placed them on the table in tightly controlled movements before I lost my own shit. I was just on edge as they were.
“I will kill Baron.” I let my statement sink in for a moment before continuing. “I want him dead because he nearly killed Cecil. I don’t care about your groups and what Baron wants to do to you, so you guys can sit here and continue to talk through your dicks for all I care. I’ll just leave you kids behind to bicker while I hunt the bastard down. I don’t mind taking the hard route to find Baron because eventually, I will find him. Even if it is too late and he already managed to wipe you all out,” I fibbed. I needed them. I knew that. I needed them because Cecil didn’t have long. She needed to be healed yesterday. “I thought that maybe everyone could swallow their fucking pride and actually get shit done like working together for five minutes to track this fucker down before he killed you all. Apparently, it was only wishful thinking on my part.”
I stood up, still glaring. The dark, hot anger inside of me shifted and my eyes were the window to that madness within. Everyone stiffened, not knowing how close to the edge I really was. All that kept flashing through my mind was Cecil’s body, dying. I couldn’t let her die and I wasn’t about to let them get in my way. I wasn’t going to fight against them if they weren’t willing to work together. I didn’t have that kind of time.
“We will take a short break and when I come back, you can let me know if you’re willing to help or not. I refuse to waste my time with you guys if you are just going to bicker. I want Baron dead. That’s it.”
I walked out of the private room, cursing my dress and wanting to go hang out in the Woodlands for a few days away from everyone. If it weren’t for Cecil, that was exactly what I would have done. I’d have stayed there until Baron was done with everyone. Maybe not even bother coming back.
I made my way toward the bathroom, aware of everybody in the building in a paranoid way. I walked down a small hallway and through a set of swinging doors into a large and clean bathroom that branched off two ways. The right side had a row of sinks and stalls with an attendant waiting patiently. The left side looked like a lounge with red furniture and a coffee table with magazines spread over it, their glossy covers begging for attention.
“Bad date?” the attendant asked.
“More like a bad meeting.” I sat down on a couch and rested my head against the back with my eyes closed.
There was a moment of silence. The attendant’s curious eyes stayed on me. She must really love her job, getting the juicy gossip while hanging out in the bathroom all day.
“Don’t be too long or they’ll think something happened.”
I waved my hands, dismissing her. “Let them think I’m taking a shit. I don’t care.”
She laughed and went back to her duties of bathroom attendant and cleaning up after everyone.
Ten minutes passed before I decided they had had enough time to either settled down or kill each other.
“Good luck,” the attendant said with an understanding smile.
I smiled politely and went out the door. I took two steps before I realized Maura and Leon were standing off to the side. By the way they straightened when they spotted me meant they wanted to talk to me.
Great.
Giving them my classic I don’t give a fuck stare, I waited for them to say whatever the hell they wanted to say.
“You did what no one else was able to do,” Leon finally said, not taking his eyes off of me. He ran a hand through his blond hair.
“What? Take a shit?” I looked back at the bathroom. “Really not that hard.”
He frowned and Maura sighed.
“No, you stopped us,” Maura said. “You have something about you and while all we can do is bicker, you easily put a stop to it. Otherwise, we would have just continued as we have, poking at each other until someone finally snapped back. We had tried meetings like these in the past. Nothing ever comes of them.”
I opened my mouth to say something but Leon shook his head. “This is good. We talked briefly and believe that if it is you, we can do this. We can hunt down Baron together without trying to destroy each other.”
I furrowed my brows, trying to understand what he was saying. I was a smart cracker. When I came out of the Woodlands, knowing nothing, I spent weeks devouring every piece of knowledge I could get my hands on. But for the life of me, I couldn’t connect the dots to where he was getting at.
Maura reached over and grabbed my hand giving it a squeeze until I pulled away from her. She just smiled, not offended that didn’t want her touching me. “What we are saying is if you lead us, we will be able to put aside our differences and do what needs to be done.”
“Wait, you want me to take the lead on this?”
They both nodded and I shook my head. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Maura frowned. “Nyssa, we can’t help unless you lead us.”
“Why?” I snapped. “Why does it have to be me?”
“Because you aren’t us,” Leon answered. “Because you aren’t a vampire, a shifter, a witch, or a mage.”
He stopped talking and I crossed my arms, glaring at him. “I’m still waiting for the end of this bad joke.”
He frowned, not understanding.
“Nyssa. We have bad blood between everyone. We aren’t able to work together because we hold onto that bad blood. If Leon takes control, Landus will pull out and the witches probably will too because we are close with the shifters. If Landus takes control then Leon pulls out and the mages will follow because of the same reason.”
“Then you can lead or Mage Thomas.” She shook her head.
“We may not have as much history as the shifters and pires do. We don’t have their long lifespan to create that kind of history, but we still have bad blood between us. The same thing will happen. Besides to have a lesser powerhouse in charge is just asking for trouble.”
“But you,” Leon interjected. “You aren’t part of any of our groups. You’re neutral. We can create this... council... if you lead us. We will work together if you lead us.”
“I’m not neutral.”
They frowned.
“I’m fucking Landus.”
They both flinched in unison, and I found some entertainment in that. For such an old and powerful vampire, Leon was extremely expressive. But in my experience, the most expressive vampires were the most dangerous because they had a way of sneaking underneath your radar until it was too late and you were dead.
Maura cleared her throat and shifted, trying to come up with a response.
“If you are just fucking, then I don’t see why you can’t stop,” Leon said.
“No.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “So it is more than just fucking. You’ve only known him a couple of weeks if my calculations are right.”
“No, you’re right.”
He shrugged. “Then I don’t see the problem. Besides, Landus agrees with us. If you lead, he’ll follow. And I know the mages will too.”
Pain pinched within my chest. “Landus said that?” I asked.
He nodded. “He thinks you’ll do well to take the lead.”
I opened my mouth but then shut it. What could I say to them? If Landus thought this was a good idea, then did he also think along the same lines? That we were just fucking and nothing more. My reputation with men was not the best. I played with them. Only played with them. And after a short while, I was done with them. Maura and Leon knew that. Landus did too. I didn’t do relationships. At least until Landus, and whatever we were was so new that we hadn’t had a chance to put a name to it. Is that why he thought I didn’t want more from him, that I was playing with him?
I couldn’t say anything. My words froze in my throat and my response died before it ever found a way out. I couldn’t tell them Landus was my mate, not when I wasn’t even acknowledging it or completely sure. And Landus? He really thought me taking the lead was a good idea? He had to know what that meant. He was a smart guy. He wouldn’t have agreed if he thought that whatever was between us was something more.
My stomach tightened but still I didn’t say anything.
“See, no problem.” Leon turned and went back to the meeting.
Maura looked me over slowly, questions all over her face. Her motherliness came out, and I wanted to spill the beans but something held me back.
“If you do this for us, we can get Baron. I know we can. We can finally win and you won’t have to worry about him getting to Cecil again. Time is ticking,” she said softly, the pain in her eyes deep. “Cecil doesn’t have that much time either. Not for you to do this on your own and not for us to figure out how to get past our resentment with each other. You in the lead will make this faster. It’s the best chance we have for Cecil.”
Those words alone pulled me apart. They wanted me to lead, to push Landus away, and in return I got Baron. My hot anger bubbled up. I wanted him badly. I could taste the need on my tongue. I needed to kill him for what he did to Cecil.
But Landus. I needed him. He helped me breathe now, even if I wasn’t able to admit it out loud. Why couldn’t I keep Landus and be team captain at the same time? Why were they trying to force this on me? And why did Landus agree?
I shook my head. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. The pain was already rising.
Maura touched my hand and her magic probed at me. I scowled and yanked out of her grip, death in my eyes.
“Do not touch me.”
“Why is this so hard for you? You said it. You will kill Baron.”
“And I will.”
“And we will help you.”
I shook my head.
“You know if we help, we can get to him faster. You can kill him faster. We can end all this turmoil.”
“But at what expense? We form this ‘council’ as Leon put it, but I’m not stupid. It won’t end with Baron. There will be another big baddie, and you’ll all need to work together again.”
“And you can lead us.”
“No. I don’t want that kind of responsibility.”
“You are an adult, Nyssa. You don’t get to pick all your responsibilities. Some of them are just there.”
“Is this your way to tell me to act like an adult?”
She nodded and I laughed. It was an ugly laugh that had her wincing.
I cut the laugh off and leaned toward her. “No fucking way. You are calling me out on acting like an adult. Well, this, you guys, are not my fucking responsibilities. I will not act like a fucking babysitter because you all can’t swallow your fucking pride. You cannot put that on me.”
She paled and jerked back as if I smacked her. She knew I was right. We were in this shitty situation because of them.
“Like I said, I can and will find Baron on my own. I don’t need you all to do it, so I won’t let you push me into a position of power that I don’t want.”
Maura’s eyes filled up with tears and I swore inwardly. “Please, Nyssa. We need to find Baron. He has the answer for Cecil and he needs to die. And I have the feeling you are the only one powerful enough to do it. My group is defensive only. If they break through our wards and use those elite soldiers you guys fought against, they will slaughter us. They will make what happened to Cecil look like child’s play. They already proved they can get their hands on the mages, and the pires’ defenses are weak during the day. Even the shifters have their weaknesses; we aren’t able to set up the same kind of wards around our coven around theirs, not without Cecil. Baron will find a way in and kill everyone, including Cecil. He will win. I don’t want him to win.”
My heart hurt hearing her words, her plea.
“But I can’t sleep with Landus.”
She shook her head. “You’ll be biased. You can’t. You need to stay neutral. And I know you want Baron. I can feel your anger every time his name is mentioned. You want him so bad that it’s eating at you. We can help you. We can use our talents to set some kind of trap. To pull him out and take him down. We can help you. But we won’t if you don’t lead us. You are the only one able to get us all to follow directions. Everyone likes you.”
I snorted. “I don’t see why. I’m not that special.”
“We both know how untrue that is.”
She grabbed my hand and yanked me back to the meeting. “Please lead us.”
I took a step, then another, the choice made.
She smiled. “You’re making the right choice.”
Then why did it feel like my heart was breaking?
