Chapter 7 Kidan
KIDAN
Ever since Kidan took Susenyos’s crown, he had been slowly undressing her, taking pieces of her—a new game between them.
Kidan thought of this as she changed into a pair of brown pants and a gray sweater, fastening an Uxlay University tie around her collar.
Susenyos had never returned the tie he took from her last semester.
Or the emerald hairpin from the Acti Gala.
And the ultimate winner would be the one who possessed the mask.
Kidan made her way to the end of the front yard, where Susenyos waited, golden flask in hand. When he saw her, his eyes slid to her tie and a brief smile came over him. Kidan fought the urge to adjust it and walked on. His gaze always seemed to burn into her, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
Wind ruffled their clothes as they took the path to Faris House, the smell of rain-soaked leaves and dirt in the air. His burning-wood scent drifted over to her.
When they brushed shoulders, Susenyos took in sudden air, face twisted like he was in pain, and stepped aside. Kidan tried not to let it bother her. He wasn’t her enemy but that did not mean he wanted something more.
Though during Cossia Day he’d definitely been interested.
Susenyos took a sip from his golden flask, frowning slightly before putting it away. Aunt Silia’s blood. Kidan was surprised it hadn’t run out.
“Why does the dean want to see us?” she asked, wondering why he wasn’t asking for her blood.
“No doubt to discuss the status of Adane House. How we both could potentially inherit it. It will be a House Council meeting. All twelve houses will attend.”
His eyes blazed at those words, enhanced by the blood, and it was a little distracting. His jaw was set with determination, hunger for power etched on his angular face.
She remembered his words, both desperate and honest.
If I fail—though I’ll fight like hell not to—you will be ready. You will change the current law and craft one that’ll return far greater than what I lost.
Kidan wanted Susenyos to gain his immortality back, wanted Samson dead, but that did not mean he was on her side. Because if he succeeded, if he mastered the house first, what would he need her for?
He was already beginning to push her away.
“There can’t be two inheritors. It will only tear a house apart,” she said, thinking slowly. “Sign it over to me.”
A cruel curl formed at the corner of Susenyos’s mouth. “I’m sorry?”
If he trusted her with the house, truly showed Kidan he cared more about her than the artifact or the law, she could trust him fully.
They stopped walking. The lion lamppost reflected down on them, its steel polished with rain.
“I am not signing Adane House over to anyone,” he said firmly.
“I’m not just anyone. This is my family’s legacy.”
“I’m afraid your family’s legacy is to die before you reach forty. I won’t let you take Adane House to your grave.”
Kidan was breathless. Did he just say she’d die soon anyway?
What the fuck?
“You truly believe you should own Adane House?” Kidan’s voice tightened a sliver. “Even with two of its descendants alive and well?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
His arrogance begged for a fist to his jaw. As she glared at him, Susenyos drank from his flask again. This time making a sour face as if it was poisoned.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. How long had it been since he had asked for her blood?
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
Swallowing her frustration, Kidan spun on her heel. Something else had changed in the past four days and she couldn’t figure out what.
Like all Uxlay houses, Faris House had a line of tall, spreading trees that served as a makeshift wall, cutting off the cobblestone roads leading to the university from the family homes.
But Faris House always appeared more guarded.
Towering columns and several balconies made of white stone and black marble greeted them.
It made Adane House’s wooden structure look pathetic, barely able to survive a thunderous night.
For the first time, Kidan felt the itch to reinforce her house with steel.
Clean out the garden. Plant new roots. Her parents weren’t here to take care of it, so it was up to her. Just like looking after June had been.
A lance of pain rippled right under her ribs.
Sometimes, it hurt to think about what Kidan would have been like if her parents had been alive.
She couldn’t remember being a child. Of course she must have been one.
Once. But it felt as though she’d blinked and become careful and violent and alone.
It’d done something to her mind. Turned obvious, simple things tricky.
She needed to relearn how to experience careless joy or making friends, even apologizing.
How to come home and close her eyes, trusting it was safe.
Reinforced steel wouldn’t be enough for such things. She needed the power of the laws to create a true home. Steal back a fraction of what she’d lost.
Susenyos’s footsteps slowed behind her. She ripped her gaze away from the house, hoping he hadn’t seen the longing in her eyes. “The dean will try to get the truth out of us,” he said. “We’re entering her house, with her laws. Be very careful.”
She kept her face turned away from him.
“Kidan.”
She hated how her breath caught when he said her name, with a rare need for her to listen to him.
The dark leaves near their feet mirrored the shade of his eyes. “The last time the dean called a House Council meeting, it was the night your parents were killed. I attended with Silia. This isn’t anything good. Be on guard.”
Her shoulders straightened, her palms growing slick.
Killed.
Kidan didn’t ask for more. She shuddered to think how details of their deaths would break her.
Not knowing was safe. Better. Aunt Silia’s morbid journal entered her mind after many weeks—Uxlay has turned on House Adane.
Kidan’s clues had only led her to the 13th as the obvious threat.
Could it have been one of them that killed her parents?
Don’t think about it, she told herself firmly, and turned from Susenyos.
At the entrance to Faris House, they were checked by two Sicions—soldiers from Uxlay’s elite army—for any traces of silver. Susenyos stretched out his arms, letting them pat him down. A hidden smile played on his lips. No one checked the roof of his mouth. His hidden silver nail.
Once cleared, they traveled the carpeted hallway, grand mirrors and portraits leading them into a high-ceilinged foyer.
Past a door the color of reflective cedar, at a giant oval table carved in the shape of the African continent, eleven people occupied a seat each.
Behind them, solemn as night towers, stood their vampire companions.
Behind Dean Faris and her companion, graying men and women sat on a raised platform, their finger bone chains were long and polished white, forming a belt around their figureless robes.
Kidan recognized the Mot Zebeya on the far left from Sara Makary’s vampire transformation ceremony. He’d once approached GK and Kidan, offering a reading, a premonition of when she’d die.
GK’s words came to her, making her eyes sting.
She doesn’t want one, but I’m looking after her.
And even though she didn’t know where he was, Kidan sensed GK was still looking after her. Every time she heard a wisp of his voice, and the jingle of finger bones, she knew he was watching, waiting for her to bring him home and make him human.
Kidan approached the empty carved chair and sat down.
It was uncomfortable and instantly swallowed her whole.
She scooted to the edge and made her spine straight, as house masters from Delarus and Makary sneered at her.
Yusef and Slen were here too. Relief coursed through her at their familiar faces.
Slen sat in the House Qaros seat while Yusef stood by his great-aunt’s side as next in line. The tension in Kidan’s shoulders eased a little. Slen gave her a small nod while Yusef smiled broadly.
On the table before Kidan, the map of Ethiopia was carved into the rich wood. All around, countries the original twelve houses had descended from glistened… red. Susenyos moved forward and slit his wrist, letting his blood pour into the hollowed-out wood. Once it was filled, he retreated.
“Fellow house masters,” the dean began firmly. She wore the sigil of Faris House, a black bird with a silver eye. “Thank you all for coming. I also extend my greetings to the Mot Zebeyas, Guards of Death, keepers of our laws, for ensuring the fair and honest procedure of this meeting.”
One by one, a chorus of bones sang as the elderly Mot Zebeyas bowed their heads in acknowledgment.
Taken into the monastery as children, the Mot Zebeyas were free from the politics of the houses, untainted by family loyalty.
It served Uxlay well but it was still a terrible, lonely fate.
GK didn’t just survive the absence of his blood relatives, he had emerged from it kind and unbroken.
It made Kidan wonder if the reason for all her pain and anger was knowing the love of a family.
Yet without it, she didn’t know how to exist.
“Our House Council meetings are run with pure honesty,” the dean continued. “If any of you protest to bearing the truth, please stand.”
Kidan sent a quizzical look to Susenyos, who only tightened his jaw. Though the members appeared uncomfortable, none rose from their chair.
“Very well,” the dean announced, and motioned with her hand.
Professor Andreyas, timeless with his mahogany skin and cornrowed hair, took long strides around the table, depositing a small wooden box before each member. From the grimaces on the members’ faces, there had to be poison inside.
“Pour the mixture into your dranaic’s blood,” he said.