11. Aurelia
Chapter 11
Aurelia
A nest of dragons from around the country are waiting downstairs and I’m being prepared like a pork roast, ready for their consumption.
Heather prods me into the bathtub, filling it with a fragrant oil and bubble bath combo. The thought of her doing the same to Xander at some stage is the only thing that gets me through the next hour. She scrubs me until I’m pink, even getting a nail brush and scrubbing at my finger and toe nails. She then tries to brush my teeth for me, and I have half a mind to let her, but instead, I put on a haughty tone and snatch the brush out of her hand. “Heather, need I remind you that I’m not actually a pet but a grown-ass woman?”
She looks affronted for a moment before muttering something under her breath and occupying herself with rubbing a scent-free moisturiser into my back and arms.
I shove on a new dress—a black wrap-around style satin that’s simple but surprisingly elegant—before I’m ushered out into the room where Xander stalks past me in only incredibly low-slung trousers. It takes everything in me not to look, because I know it’ll trigger the agony that lies at the edge of all things.
Instead, I have to sit in the corner and stay silent through the ordeal of Heather straightening my hair, smoothing my baby hairs and flyaways with a serum of some sort that Xander probably uses. The efficient manner in which she sets my hair into a long length down my back tells me she’s been instructed to style me in exactly this way.
There is something about this that I find extremely disturbing.
I still can’t believe Xander made me sit through that meeting with his father. Arranging a marriage like this is just embarrassing for all of us. Worse still is the fact that those young women are all going to be here tonight. Looking at him. Waiting for him to cast their eye on them.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Xander Drakos will be considered a good match and?—
It’s at this point in my musing that said Xander Drakos strides out of the bathroom, buttoning the cuffs of his black jacket sleeves.
That crucial tear in my soul bleeds anew.
He’s devastating. And in more ways than one.
Xander is wearing a three-piece tuxedo, the jacket and pants a midnight black, his vest the same colour. His hair is loose and silken down his back, perhaps to conceal the new small wireless earpieces. He’s forgone his usual black dagger earring for a small black stud and removed his black nose ring. At the centre of his chest, he wears his family’s golden crest, and the look is complete with gold waist and collar chains.
“You’ll walk behind me at all times,” Xander says flatly, keeping his eyes straight ahead as he snaps his wrist, that gold chain snaking upwards and clicking into my collar like a magnet. “No less than five paces.”
“I’m supposed to be counting that?” I ask faintly.
“You never were all that bright.”
“Apparently,” I say darkly.
Xander glances over his shoulder, probably finding it strange that I’ve agreed with him. The truth of it is that my stomach is still roiling after the ultrasound with the scientists. Everything else, I could handle. The continued plucking of my feathers, the ordeal of Ghoul milking me, but that one thing has thrown me entirely. I rub my arms, despite the warm spring night, not caring who sees me acting like prey.
Xander begins walking before I can actually vomit on this nice carpet, and I’m forced to steady myself. Maids and butlers hurry about, all headed to either the back garden, where the event will be held, or what I’m assuming is the kitchen or wine cellar. Faint music floats up from outside. A very real string quartet, if I’m not mistaken.
Xander leads me down the stairs where we find his parents, both richly dressed in a long black velvet gown and a black and gold three-piece tuxedo, respectively.
Flores turns around to eye us, first looking me up and down, then his son. “It is time,” he says, the gold thread embroidery on his cuffs glinting under the warm lights of the candelabra high above us. “Wait here a moment. I will introduce you.” Flores turns to Xander’s mother, who had been gazing at Xander with fixed, glassy eyes and a faint smile. “Come, Esteè.” He tugs on her hand, placing it in the crook of his left elbow, before turning them both around.
Feeling Lady Drakos’ presence, my avian power stirs once again.
“Don’t get any ideas tonight.” Xander’s voice pulls me back to the present. There’s a faint clapping outside. The boom of King Flores’ voice and Xander’s glowing eyes are fixed on the open doors. “Don’t speak unless spoken to. Even then, don’t prattle on unnecessarily. Don’t trip or fall. Don’t stare.”
“Anything else?” I ask with exaggerated politeness.
“Don’t cry. Don’t get angry. Don’t use your powers or try anything stupid. Lord Agnis is outside with the nimpins.”
The fucking nerve.
“Is it true, what Ghoul said?” I ask, trying to distract myself. “About him being a…eunuch? Or was that just a catch-phrase?”
Xander’s cheek perks up with the hint of a smirk. “It’s true.”
My stomach jumps. “Why? Who?”
“It was Lyle, funnily enough. For Celeste’s sake.”
Shock winds through me. My Lyle? Castrating phoenixes? Since he let his beast out of his shackles, I can believe him doing just about anything murderous or torturous, but this is something I hadn’t expected. The only reason I can imagine him doing such a drastic thing would be because…
Nausea rolls up my throat once again and my hand flies to my sternum. I must make a sound because Xander half turns in irritation before King Flores loudly announces his son’s name.
The butler at the door bows and extends his arm. Xander walks forward.
So careful is his stalk, so very practised is the set of his shoulders, the swing of his arms. Xander has been waiting for this moment for many years, and despite the bond-breaking, despite the betrayal of it, something inside of me doesn’t want to ruin this for him. It’s complete insanity, but as we step onto the deck outside, my anima keens a mournful, broken hymn.
I have to hand it to them, the Drakos’ sure know how to throw a party. The back garden is stunningly dressed with sweeping bands of twinkling lights on either side of a long runway that looks like it was put here just for this event.
How long, exactly, had Xander been plotting for his return?
A round of polite applause greets us, along with the collection of scattered beasts. Although they’re all dressed in glistening and expensive black tie, you can’t mistake these creatures for anything other than dragons. Massive jewels set in yellow and white gold sit around necks, wrists and fingers, some even embedded into clothes, hair and shoes. Nothing gaudy, of course, only extremely wealthy people showing off their finest to their rivals. But it’s the sheer power in the air. A magnificent yet brutal burn that singes the nostrils. My heart rate kicks up on instinct and my anima raises her own mighty head, surveying the potential enemies.
Suddenly, I’m confused as to why I’m here. Surely Xander and King Flores would have preferred he make his debut solo? Why string me along like a prize calf to ruin the dramatic effect of the returned heir?
Eyes with gold, silver and emerald irises greedily rake down my form. I’m the pauper of the evening, with not a single jewel on me, not even an earring.
Far at the back of things, at the edge of the shadows, stands Damien Agnis, looking even peakier by the contrast of his black tuxedo. In his left hand he holds the glass cage with my poor nimpins, all of whom sit depressed at the floor, huddled together. When the phoenix catches my eye, he raises a finger and taps the side of his nose, as if we have some cute little secret between us.
I cut away from his poisoned gaze, tampering down the mixture of rage and nausea that fills me. All of that to ensure I wouldn’t do anything tonight.
Xander stops at the end of the platform, and I stop just in time to leave those decreed five steps as the applause dies down.
Arrogance drips off his stance, and power ripples around him like the unfurling of two dark wings. Goosebumps erupt all over my body, and from the ever so slight shift in his audience, they feel it too.
“Good evening,” Xander drawls, his deep voice having no trouble reaching out around the entire garden and creating a buzz over my own skin. “I’d like to thank my parents for welcoming my return to the family. I am happy to be back.” Xander bows towards his parents, standing at the head of the crowd, while there’s a smattering of polite clapping.
Me? I just stand there awkwardly, trying not to look like the royal fool with a collar and leash around her throat.
“And thank you all for coming to celebrate with us tonight. I look forward to meeting you all and reintroducing myself.” I can tell he’s smirking as he glances around because more than a few of the ladies, young and old, give coy smiles of their own.
Flirtatious bastard.
The music strikes up again, and I cast my own eye about as Xander steps off the platform and heads into the crowd. I hurry to follow, and dragons surge forward to be the first to greet him, extending hands and smiles.
It’s then that I see why I’ve been brought along. Once they’ve had their fill of the prodigal son, the dragons start eyeing me more closely. Flores wasn’t kidding when he said they’re very interested. Though they keep a respectful distance, their eyes are positively aglow with curiosity. Taller than other beasts, even the women reaching over six feet, I feel like a thing being inspected by threatening, alien beings.
When I made my debut at The Jewel of the Jungle with Scythe, I’d felt like a prize. They’d dressed me up as a jewel of their own and I’d felt, for the first time in my life, like something precious. And here, I realise that I still am.
I’m still a jewel. A status symbol. The other dragons might have the biggest emeralds and rubies, the biggest hunks of gold that find their value in their scarcity, but Xander has the biggest jewel in his treasure trove. The Last Boneweaver.
“My daughter,” comes a deep, feminine voice that drags my attention back to the hand Xander is currently kissing. “You might remember her from your youth. Miss Nadine Chen.”
“Of course.” Xander’s deep, seductive drawl stirs something in my lower belly. “You have blossomed into adulthood, my lady.”
I could vomit. I should vomit right on the backs of his expensive black shoes as Xander straightens and stares into the eyes of a porcelain-skinned young woman with almond eyes and cropped black hair. “Will you come and see the new fairy lights we’ve had installed?”
“Call me Nadine, please,” she purrs in return.
Quite suddenly, the crowd parts for them as Nadine places a hand on Xander’s offered arm and they stroll away.
They’re taking a turn about the garden as if they’re courting. I seethe internally, trying not to show it to the dragons staring at me, settling on clenching my teeth instead. He’s completely shoving this in my face as I watch him lean down to murmur something in her ear.
Heat claws at my insides as the urge to singe the both of them almost gets the better of me.
“Oh!” Nadine abruptly pipes when we are a good distance from the crowd. “Your new pet!” She half turns to stare rudely at me. “Can it do tricks?”
Xander takes a beat to turn, telling me he’s annoyed with the subject choice. “I suppose.” He keeps his voice bored. “Serpent Spawn, show Nadine what you can do.”
I raise my chin. “What would you like to see?”
Nadine grins excitedly, stepping close to Xander and hooking her arm into his, all flirty and shit. “Can you really shift into any creature?”
“Any I’ve been in contact with.”
“What about insects?”
I scoff in disgust. “They’re not animals, are they, Nadine?”
“Watch your attitude,” Xander snaps.
I glare at him.
He smirks with a sudden thought. “Nadine, think of the most embarrassing creature.”
Nadine’s smile turns devious. “A rat.”
They’re quite intelligent creatures, but a reptile like her wouldn’t know that. I smile wildly, suddenly realising I can turn this lemon into lemonade. I reach for the ribbon secured at my left ribcage, and before either of them can do anything, untie it and open both sides of the wrap dress at the same time, exposing my entirely naked body underneath.
It’s not my fault they denied me underwear, is it?
Nadine makes a tiny sound of surprise while Xander goes gargoyle-still. I smile, letting the dress slide off my shoulders and allowing them to see me for a moment before I shift into the creature of choice.
My height drops rapidly towards the ground, and the world suddenly becomes huge, Xander and Nadine becoming monolithic beings as I drop onto all fours onto the manicured grass. Interestingly, the gold collar shrinks with me, and that gold chain leading to Xander’s wrist becomes as thin as a necklace. I scuttle forward at speed, heading right for Nadine’s expensive black stilettos.
The dragoness bleats like a goat, but as I reach her toe, Xander flicks his telekinetic fingers, sending me tumbling backwards into the grass.
It was worth the scream.
Nadine clears her throat. “Well, that wasn’t as exciting as I imagined. Let’s carry on, shall we?”
“Of course, Nadine. And Spawn? Do not shift back.”
Cursing out loud so it comes out as a hopefully scary chitter, I’m forced to leave my dress behind as I rush to follow them, in case Xander thinks he can start dragging me across the lawn.
By the time we return to the bustle of the main soiree, I’m fully out of breath and exhausted. Xander purposefully lapped the gardens in what I’m sure was the longest way possible.
The string quartet isn’t loud enough to smother the laughs as we return and the party sees us. And if I wasn’t intimidated by the near seven-foot dragons before, I sure am now. Their shoes are far too close to my head for my liking, their laughs far too loud, and the fact that I can see up their noses doesn’t help soften the blow.
Savage would find that little fact hilarious. A pang of darkness shoots through me as I remember he’s not here for me to tell him in the first place.
Xander finally stops and I stand on the lawn on my tiny paws, my nose twitching madly as I pant to catch my breath and stop myself from crying. He kisses Nadine’s hand and she thanks him for the ‘ wonderful personal time ’. But she’s quickly replaced by another doting set of parents nudging forward a pretty blonde. Xander kisses her hand too, before looking around.
“Who would like to take the Boneweaver?”
The voice that quickly answers surprises me. “I’ll take her.”
Everyone turns to look at Sissy, striding forward with a wine glass in one hand. The energy in the space abruptly changes, and I notice the other dragons discreetly angling themselves away from her, like she’s infested with something.
“Thank you, Selena,” Xander says formally, unhooking the gold bangle from his hand. Selena holds out her own and allows her brother to clasp the bangle around her slender wrist.
She looks down at me, her face holding no trace of emotion. “Come along then, Lady Boneweaver.”