Chapter 12
Ezra
The human body wasn’t meant to lie still. Muscles seized. Sores opened. Skin broke. The body ate itself to survive.
The first time my lover went under, I panicked. That was days after we took this castle. Seven years later, I had this down to a science.
I placed Xan’s leg back into its resting position and sat at the end of the bed, rubbing his toes. The door opened without a knock. Only one person was bold enough to enter the Architect’s rooms.
“You know, we have a medic who works with him twice a day.” Morgen’s dry voice carried in the too-silent room.
A medic, but not one with my lover’s skills. And unconscious, he couldn’t heal himself. Not even his abilities as a mentalist, which didn’t rely on his magic or Majekah, helped him now.
I let my gaze unfocus.
My lover was always moving, talking, pacing, turning pages.
Not this stillness. I closed my eyes, and Quinn rose to the front of my thoughts.
The half-dead woman who had somehow made it to our coliseum, who had yet to explain how she accomplished the feat, was the same woman who ran from her past so fast, it was a miracle I’d caught her before she splattered against the thousand-year-old castle walls.
She was the first woman to make my heart race and my cock ache.
Morgen cleared her throat. If I’d been capable of blushing, I would have. Fortunately, I’d banished such frivolous reactions long ago.
I released my lover's toes and turned to the bent, pink-haired, self-named chancellor, though she could be whomever she wanted. That was our deal when we came out of the tunnels.
"What do you want?” I asked.
“An Adler Michelson showed up at our gates,” Morgen stated.
I turned. Despite our age difference, we worked well together for this reason: blunt, to-the-point communication.
“We have him entertained at the Happy Rooster,” Morgen continued. “But he’s asked to join the new trainees. His very late request comes with a chest of gold.”
I reached out, squeezing Xan’s ankle. I needed him awake. Our family needed its Architect. I couldn’t make these decisions. Requests piled up: money, alliances, threats wrapped in politeness. My lover’s annual Mixer was a few months out, and I was drowning in the workload.
My lover was the planner, the visionary. I was now, and always would be, his loyal soldier, supporter, and assistant, but never more.
Morgen sighed into the silence. “Forty-two, three now, if you count the Adler Michelson, new trainees. The most we’ve ever had.
Many from families we never expected to hear from.
At least half of Grady Hall consists of spies, sons from families who will vanish once they’ve gotten the information they want.
” She chuckled. “Spies imply importance. I’ll take it. ”
I nodded. “We’ve outgrown our castle.”
“When are we taking The Mile?” Morgen asked casually.
The Royal Mile was the highest road in Edinburgh, connecting our castle with our Abernathy allies at the bottom. Commerce and housing there were necessary. Our aggression wouldn’t make us friends, but it would anger everyone equally.
“When it’s ripe.”
Morgen smiled, showing me every one of her blindingly white teeth. Her lips cracked with brown bark. The monster living under her skin hovered close to the surface.
“And what of the Adler Michelson?” Morgen asked a second time.
“Place him." I looked at my sleeping lover. Would he want that? "Spy or not, keep him close."
Morgen narrowed her eyes. “You’re aware of the situation with the Lawson family? Their oldest is here, going through our training. The first time one of their own emerged from their family compound.”
I grunted. “The connection to the Adler Michelsons?”
“Nonexistent. I don’t believe the Lawsons have allies anywhere, as you are well aware.” Morgen leaned against the doorframe. “The Lawson, Cayden, and our mystery woman, Quinn, were both in my imagination testing today. They sat together for the full four hours.”
I frowned. “How?”
“I’m assuming they both bent their knees and lowered themselves down.” Morgen laughed.
I didn’t respond. Morgen was the last person who should know I had feelings for Quinn.
I took a deep breath. My feelings aside, one thing about Quinn was crystal clear: she knew nothing about this world.
One of my men reported her defending Everly, saying, ‘She shouldn’t have your magic forced into her. ’
Someone had hurt her. Then my introduction had only added more. She stepped away from my touch, so different from the trust in the sauna. I clung to my lover’s unconscious ankle, where he’d gripped Quinn to save her life. I needed him. I wasn’t good at this.
Morgen pushed off the door frame. “Whatever guilt’s eating you alive, I suggest you face it.
Alexander bound his life to Quinn. As his loyal dog, yours as well.
” The pink-haired chancellor narrowed her eyes, and her resting bitch face slipped back into place.
“Would he let you put a child in her stomach as well?”
I rushed to my feet. “Get out! You know that’s not why he acted.”
“Do I?” Morgen laughed again. “He’s a mentalist, and she’s power. Old power.” Her eyes flashed. “Their children would be gods.”
“Get out.” Power edged my voice. The shadows in the room leaned toward Morgen.
In response, she grew taller and thinner.
Her skin cracked and grew into textured bark.
One knotted fist burst out of her black robes.
Her claws dripped pink power as they sank into a shadow.
She squeezed, and the pot it clung to shattered.
“We made a deal to escape those tunnels.” Morgen hissed. “But do not forget, a deal is only as good as the people who made it. Do not threaten me because of your own insecurity.”
She shrank back down, her skin once again pale and smooth, and exited, slamming the door behind her.
Anger shook me. Morgen’s words struck too deep. I trusted my lover. His intentions were only to save a dying woman… except she was everything Morgen had outlined and more.
“I need to understand.” The words slipped out before I could pull them back, a crack in my faith. The first chip in what I thought unshakeable.
But my lover didn’t stir. His chest rose and fell as time knitted his magic and mind back together.