Chapter Twenty-Five
Adrien
I had never felt this way before. I wasn’t anxious—that wasn’t the correct word for it. It was a mixture between fury at what had occurred last night and an overall uneasiness about what was going to occur today.
I was on edge, wanting everything to go to plan because, if it didn’t, Ama’s life would continue to be in danger.
I didn’t trust these bastards to leave things at the voting ceremony.
The House of Runes and House of Sin wanted power too much.
That much was clear from the manner in which they’d achieved their status.
They also hated Ama enough that I could see them justifying violence.
Easily. As I’d told Ama, where the other house rulers had a secured place appointed by the devil himself, Sin and Runes had taken that into their own hands, and they were still extremely defensive over the fact.
They felt as though they had to constantly fight for power, which bred a very dangerous attitude towards anyone they considered a threat.
I should have considered the House of Fallen a threat, but I didn’t.
They might have been assholes, but they lived by a code of conduct that was stiff and unyielding.
They wouldn’t kill Ama unless she attacked first, even if they despised her.
Of course, the House of Shadows and House of Hellfire were no threat to her, so I found myself solely focused on the villains on either end of our u-shaped table.
This entire Summit had thrown me off my normal, calm and collected method of operating. All because of Ama. My stunning beauty.
I could practically feel her nervousness, despite not being within sight of the room and her power being concealed, and it was making me want to go to her.
To comfort her. Of course, she had every right to be anxious, considering the circumstances, but I still didn’t like it.
The woman deserved to live in the sun and experience every bit of beauty and glory that this realm had to offer her.
Not to be stuck inside this estate with shady political dealings and the judgement of the purists who infected our realm.
I could handle that for her. I could handle anything for her.
I would live in the shadows for her so that she didn’t have to.
I inhaled, realizing that this…draw, a word I wasn’t sure quite described the compulsion I felt towards Ama, was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
It was so much more than attraction, and the more time I spent with her, the more I realized that there was no escaping it.
I didn’t want to, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.
I wasn’t the only one, either.
Which was why we were here, in this room, without her, waiting and watching for Ama to make her appearance.
But not before we confirmed our suspicions about who was to blame for last night.
As we waited for voting to begin, I could see certain people growing more surprised that my beauty had yet to show up.
The ceremonial voting room was silent, yet screaming with tension, the air thick with a mixture of emotions that were practically rolling over my skin like rain water.
I could feel my mother watching me, and I was surprised she hadn’t asked me if I knew about Ama’s whereabouts.
I had made it no secret to them how enamored I was with the woman, and instead of being surprised, they had seemed genuinely happy.
Of course, they’d been concerned about her motivations for getting close to me, but I’d explained that Ama wasn’t like that.
She didn’t play games. She destroyed them.
The woman was a goddess among men. Unconcerned about trivial political agendas and focused on the quality of life of those around her.
The lights within the room were low and relaxed, as if that would somehow ease the moment, and the front of the room was more brightly lit in the place where a podium stood, vacant and lonely.
In a few short minutes, each house would plead their case, explaining why they should be voted in as Supreme.
It was a pointless endeavor because I already knew who should be voted in, and now it was just a matter of convincing the others.
Our u-shaped table faced towards the podium, and my parents sat to my left side, the open seat to my right normally reserved for the current Supreme—or in this case, Ama, who was filling the position for her father.
We had chosen to get here early to ensure her closest allies were nearest to her.
So, on the opposite side of Drayven, who would be sitting next to Ama, were Damien and his parents.
Next to them was the House of Fallen, followed by the House of Runes.
On my parents' other side was the House of Sin.
“Where is she?” Nico’s father’s voice was filled with malice, and I watched his clear agitation with some measure of enjoyment.
I knew he wasn’t directly asking the House of Runes, who had most likely arranged for the failed assassination, but you wouldn’t know that from how prickly and tense Finias’ father seemed to grow.
“Maybe we should just start the process,” Finias’ mother suggested as my father shook his head and let out a sigh. It was a barely noticeable move that let me know he was as frustrated with this process as I was.
I wanted more than anything for this to be over so that I could focus on more important things, like making Ama happy. Unfortunately, knowing this group as I did, it probably wouldn’t be that easy. It never was.
“Drayven is here,” Nico announced, and his parents glared at him for speaking when not spoken to. “I see no reason to put it off.”
That changed their glares to smiles, as if he had just done them a service. I saw Nico’s jaw clench, and I could practically feel the anger at his parents radiating off him. I would have been furious if I found out my parents had tried to do something to Ama, so I didn’t envy him.
Luckily, the House of Shadows was completely in the support of Ama and her father without any of my interference. I’d heard my parents talking about it only a night ago, before everything that had occurred at the ball, and I didn’t think their opinions had changed since then.
“Who else agrees?” Colt’s father asked, looking somewhat agitated. While he didn’t like Ama, and had made that very clear throughout the Summit, he was someone who thrived on order, so he would have likely preferred to wait hours than to break tradition on how to handle this.
“We do,” Finias’ father put his hand up, as did King Marcelo.
Colt’s father eyed my parents, my father shaking his head only once to make it clear where we stood, and then Damien’s parents, who seemed disgusted by the House of Sin’s suggestion.
Colt’s father ran a hand over his face and sighed, “Very well, our house will be the third vote to begin the voting declarations. We waited as long as we could.”
I could barely hold my smile back because this only meant I would get to see Ama sooner.
I had been wondering how impatient they would be, and clearly, the answer was extremely.
I hadn’t been wrong in my assumption that the House of Sin and House of Runes were trying to rush the votes before Ama could make an appearance.
It was almost pathetic how predictable they’d been.
I just wished it had been predictable enough for me to see this potential threat from the start. Then again, until Ama, I wouldn’t have paid any mind to the political tension because, as with anything regarding the House of Shadows, we kept to ourselves. Not anymore. Not when Ama was involved.
“Drayven, since Ama is not here, we will save her speech for last,” Colt’s father stated, clearly trying to appease the Reaper, who looked relatively annoyed but nodded. “Following that, in the normal order, would be the House of Shadows.”
One of the reasons that we had planned on Ama waiting to make her entrance—outside of making the two suspect houses sweat a bit—was to watch their reactions and see what they would say without her around. If pushed in the right direction, I had no doubt they would say something incriminating.
As my father stepped up, I realized I hadn’t given thought to what, exactly, he’d say.
My parents had always voted in support of the House of Death, and recently, he’d stated to both my mother and me that he had no intention of fighting Death himself for the Supreme position.
It was a fairly reasonable point of view.
I suppose I expected him to say just that, but instead, my father spoke more than I had ever heard him say in public.
“The House of Shadows has no intention of trying to convince you to vote for our house,” he began, causing others to shift uncomfortably at how cool and calm his disposition was.
“After experiencing this century's Summit without King Alaric, it has become even more clear to us that the only house level-headed and unbiased enough to continue to push through a reasonable and collected agenda would be the House of Death.”
King Marcelo stood, looking furious, but stayed silent as my father eyed him with distaste.
He continued, his voice sharper than before, yet filled with an uncharacteristic amount of passion.
“Their heir is young and inexperienced, something we can all relate to because of our own children, but I have no doubt she will bring a fresh perspective to things and will speak for many instead of just a few. This war against hybrids has gone on for a very long time, and I think it is beyond outdated. I know that some of my more level-headed comrades will agree.”
He finally looked right at Drayven, “I can say with finality that our vote will be going to the House of Death.”