Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Wren
Angel - Camylio
S he's so still as we wait to enter Zeus's office, that I press my thumb against her inner wrist to make sure she's still alive. Her heartbeat is fast, but you wouldn't notice from her cold exterior. Although her pale cheeks are still pink from the orgasm.
"This night is almost over, I promise," I murmur, just as the door opens. "I'll take you home right after this."
I say this casually, as if it's not going to be the hardest part for her.
Eugene Duval's personal bodyguard lets us in, and I'm not surprised to see my dad in the room with him. His Stetson hat is sitting on the desk as he stands next to Duval in his chair.
"Penelope," my father purrs. "You made it."
His eyes dart to the cut on her lip, and she licks it, like she had forgotten it was there.
I can barely hold on to reality when I stare at the cut. It knocks at my chest, the need to hurt. I want to feel bones cracking within my grip. I want to hear them beg. Beg me for mercy, beg her for forgiveness.
Cracking my neck, I focus on Peach's hand in mine. It grounds me to feel her skin touching my skin. She's magical like that.
"You gave us quite a show down there," Duval finally says. "How did that work out for you?"
She refuses to answer, so I take over and cut it short. "She's here. Let's just get this over with."
"Sit down. Both of you."
The chairs on this side of the desk are too far apart to keep holding her. She sits down right away, but it takes me a few seconds to let her go. It makes it even more difficult to stay in the present, and my father notices.
"He's going to snap." He's so sure of himself, thinks he knows me so well, that it pumps more anger into my veins.
"Are you?" Duval asks with fascination.
I wave a hand dismissively as everyone's attention zeroes in on me. Sitting down, I offer Duval an easy smile.
"No," I lie. "I'm fine."
I turn to Peach to see her inquiring, angry eyes, but she doesn't speak the hundred questions swirling in them.
"Do you need a minute?" my dad asks. It's not out of care, and it doesn't sound like it whatsoever. He's mocking me, calling me weak in his own way.
"I'm perfectly fine," I repeat, a high-pitch sound now ringing in my ears.
It brings a calm over me that I know is lethal, and I smile again.
Duval looks disappointed. He wanted the freakshow my dad promised him, and I'm not delivering the entertainment.
"Anyway." Getting back to business, he leans back in his chair to look at me. "You should not be allowed to initiate privately in my office. Your Hera should be pledging in front of everyone else. And she certainly shouldn't be running away from you. You're in luck, though, because I have an urgent assignment for you. We can only ask fully initiated Shadows to execute the mission they were chosen for, so let's get it done."
He looks at Penelope, his upper lip curling with repulsion. "I never liked you."
It's not me snapping I'm scared of anymore, it's Peach's reaction.
But she says nothing.
"Every time Achilles had his friends over to our house, I thought, Penelope Sanderson-Menacci talks too much. She tries to accomplish too much. And you always stood your ground against my son, bickering like your opinion mattered in some way."
Placing his palms on the desk, he leans forward. She stays still as a statue.
"Your opinion does not matter, Penelope. Now more than ever. You belong to the Circle, to your Shadow, and I hope your little chase through the hallways taught you a good lesson."
He stands up, rounds the desk, and I twitch when the knuckle of his index finger caresses the bruise starting to show right where her cheek meets her mouth. I crack my neck again, trying to fight back the uneasiness in my body, the tickling in my limbs.
Peach keeps staring ahead, refusing to acknowledge Duval, and his hand drops by his side again.
"You'll see. A woman's place is under our protection and care. They thrive under our will, and the tighter the leash, the happier they are. You'll come to like it. Hell…" He chuckles to himself. "You should see how wet my wife gets when I order her around. It's in the simplest things. She gets so turned on by cooking me a meal, I had to fire my kitchen staff."
He laughs louder now, turning to my dad and back to Peach. "She likes serving it to me, and she can't eat until I've shoved my cock deep in her cunt to satisfy that starving before she feeds herself."
A pained huff leaves me, and I throw my head back, feeling sweat rolling down my spine. My dad is right; I'm going to snap, and Duval will be my first target.
"You don't seem surprised that I know what a woman wants," Eugene insists, his fingers now playing with a strand of Peach's lush hair. "I'd think a raging feminist like you would have something to say about that."
With a bright, polite voice, she answers, "Oh, Mr. Duval, I'm not surprised at all that you think you know anything when it comes to women. After all, there's not a person in the world more confident than a man who has no idea what he's talking about."
A laugh bursts past my lips as Duval's face falls. I put a hand in front of my mouth, coughing to hide it. Just like that, with a witty remark from my best friend, that strange feeling inside me retreats. The tension is gone, my shoulders relax, and my father's death stare doesn't affect me.
"Get on your knees." Duval's cold order has Peach's head snapping toward me.
In a room full of men she doesn't trust, I'm her anchor, and my heart skips a beat at the idea. Even if I'm part of all the people she hates.
I stand up, putting a hand on her shoulder as I look at Duval. The way he spoke to her is the same way many men have before when she's hurt their pride. He sees her as a challenge, and he’s not asking her to kneel so we can finally finish this godforsaken initiation. He wants to prove he has power over her.
"You're not asking her to kneel for you, are you?" I ask in a low voice. I don't need to shout at someone to show not to fuck with my patience. "You can't use my Hera, Zeus. Not without my permission. Don't bend the rules to soothe your burnt ego."
His angry eyes ping-pong between mine, and he must have heard stories from my dad—things I do when I'm not myself—because he nods, a forced smile spreading on his lips. He knows there's something within me to be scared about. I'm scared of it.
"I'm telling her to kneel to finish the initiation." His lie is obvious, and I don't want to know what he actually wanted to do to her.
I squeeze Peach's shoulder reassuringly, but my voice is cold. "Do as you're told. It's been a long night, and you need to go home and rest."
Her green eyes dig into mine, and with a barely audible voice, she says, "Do you promise? You'll find them?"
"I promise," I murmur back at her.
And there she is, the woman I've always been obsessed with, finally kneeling in front of me. The only thing ruining it is Duval starting his usual speech to link a Hera to a Shadow.
He says the Circle will protect us if we protect it, reminds us we are sworn to secrecy, and I watch Peach tense when he explains that a Hera is so I can procreate within the sanctity of the Circle. A visceral need courses through my entire being. She's about to be mine. I've waited for this my entire life. Penelope will be linked to me, unable to go anywhere, and down the line, she’ll have no choice but to marry me and give me the family I dream of having with her.
And I must be a worse motherfucker than I thought, because I struggle to hold on to any remorse.
“Penelope Sanderson-Menacci,” Duval says. “Do you pledge your allegiance to the Silent Circle?”
She swallows thickly, eyes shining with tears. She saw how it went downstairs. She doesn't need to be told again. "I do."
“Do you promise loyalty to your Shadow?”
“I do.”
“And do you accept that you will serve your Shadow faithfully and in any way he sees fit?”
Her chest shakes, and I want to breathe air into her lungs. I want to scream that it'll be okay, but staying silent means it'll be over quicker.
“I do,” she says weakly.
Duval grabs her limp arm and shoves the Silent Circle signet ring in her palm. I offer her my hand, and she puts it around my pinky finger.
It's with immense satisfaction that Duval purrs, “Show your devotion to your Shadow.”
"Do you need me to give you the words?" I whisper.
She shakes her head, her eyes dropping to my polished shoes. She takes a deep breath, and I pray with all I have that she doesn't let her pride get the best of her.
But she's an intelligent woman. She knows this is it, and she knows when fighting is pointless. With her palms on the floor on either side of me, she bows tightly and presses her forehead to the tip of my shoe.
“Shadow,” she says. “I am bowing to you as a show of loyalty and devotion. From this moment on, I am yours, and I…and I…" The lie is a squeak past her throat. "I submit to you willfully, in all ways you deem necessary." She rushes through the last part. "Do you accept me as your Hera?”
I hate myself for enjoying her misery so much. I'm selfish, and I know it. But I've never felt more exhilarated in my entire life.
I put the lotus flower necklace around her neck. The same one all the Heras wear as opposite to the seashell necklace the Aphrodites are given.
"I do. Get up. Come on. Let's go home," I say in a hurry.
Before she can even try, I help her up, wrapping my arms around her waist. I carry her toward the door, and to my surprise, she lets me, clasping her legs around my waist.
"Wren," Duval calls out.
He hands me a book as I turn back to him. "Your assignment."
Nodding, I grab it. This isn't important. I can figure it out later. Right now, I need to get Peach home safely. I feel her impatience as she buries her head in my neck.
My heart accelerates, and I press my lips against her hair.
You are mine, Trouble. Finally. All. Mine.