Chapter 5 #2
By the time I reached my office, the world had shifted from cold steel and the stench of blood to rich mahogany wood and clean, polished notes.
My gaze swept over the mahogany bookshelves, the credenza, and the desk centered in the room.
Everything was pristine, tucked neatly into place.
The only thing left out was the encrypted halo graphic simulator sitting on my desk, the one E and I thought about making when we decided to live in different states.
I was starting to regret that decision.
If we’d stuck to simple video calls, no one would’ve seen the organized chaos that was my real office, tucked beside my lab.
Ever since that last meeting, where I fumbled around trying to find results with my family on the line, I’d been getting texts with my family joking about my “hurricane” of a workspace.
Normally, I wouldn’t have cared, but my father’s recent one-word replies carried a weight I couldn’t ignore.
Falcon hated mess. He’d always been on my ass about it.
His voice echoed in my head, dragging me back to when I was thirteen, apprenticing under him. He and I were standing in front of his office, and the first thing he told me was “A messy office is an indicator of a messy mind… and a boss should always be on point.”
In a lot of ways, we were the same. Our minds clicked with gears and magic alike. We could tear apart data and rebuild it into the fastest solution. Our hands were always itching to invent, to improve, to refine… constantly chasing ways to make things better.
But that was where the similarities ended.
I had my mom’s chaos running through my veins, and it drove his meticulous ass insane. You’d think between her and especially Lex, who had zero respect for privacy or personal boundaries unless it came to Mom, he would’ve loosened up by now. Then again, even he didn’t push Falcon too far.
The last time I asked why, Lex muttered something about not wanting to wake “a control-obsessed psycho lion with a hornet’s nest.”
A smile tugged at my lips as I thought about my parents. For a split-second, I let myself miss them. As deadly and intense as they were, they always made us laugh… even if it usually ended with someone bleeding.
Dropping into my high-backed chair, I hit connect. Miniature versions of Ezra and Riot flickered into view in front of me. Ezra’s lips twitched, and I glanced at the clock and tilted my head with a smirk.
Right on time.
“Hey, E,” I drawled, stretching the sarcasm thin. “Loooong time, no talk.”
She ignored me completely, nodding absently as her phone buzzed. She snatched it up and started typing, each finger punching the screen.
“Ri,” I sighed, rolling my eyes at Ezra’s blatant dismissal even though she was the one who’d dragged me here. “I’ll bet you ten grand she’s texting Niyah and Nova threats right now.”
My younger sister sat stiff as a statue, eyes fixed somewhere behind me, not so much as blinking. She was messing with me, right?
Even though we weren’t in person, the air between us became thick with our silent standoff… and I wasn’t about to lose. I was the oldest, damn it. I could out wait her. I could out weird her.
Ten seconds in, my left eye twitched.
My fingers drummed against my leg under the table. Still nothing. No shifting. No twitching. Not even a breath out of place.
I was just about to crack when Nova’s disheveled holographic image popped into existence, a guilty look on her face.
Oh, Nova. You really need to work on that.
“Hey!” She exhaled, rushing to get out her next words. “So I’m—” She glanced at the clock, then winced at Ezra. “Only a minute late.”
Ezra’s neck slowly turned, her expression sharpening into something dangerous, then she pointed at Nova.
Like it was planned, Aniyah’s hologram shimmered to life, right on cue.
“I’m only a minute, maybe a minute and a few seconds, but I swear it wasn’t me or my mates’ fault this time!”
Aniyah’s words tumbled out before anyone else could speak, her hologram flickering as if she’d leaned forward too fast. Her hands moved just as quickly, twisting and looping through the air as if she were trying to physically recreate what had happened.
“The twins somehow got themselves tied up in this double-dutch swing rope and pulley situation—” her arms crossed over each other, wrists tangling midair “—and then one of them shifted into a snake—” her fingers curled and slithered through the mess she’d made, “—which made it worse because she tried to get out and just…” She stopped, staring down at her knotted arms before blowing out an exacerbated breath.
Her arms fell down to her sides, her shoulders slumping as she shook her head. “It was just… a mess to sort.”
Thinking about what she just said, I shook my head. That was totally something the twins would get themselves into. I was so glad I wasn’t the Glovefox head. That sounded like such a hassle.
Her back snapped up like she suddenly got a boost of energy.
“All underwater, I might add,” she finished in awe before dropping back into her chair. The projection wavered as she slumped, her head tipping back for a second before she dragged a hand down her face.
Nova lips were pressed together, clearly fighting a smile. Riot remained still, but her eyes flicked toward each of us before returning forward. Ezra kept her hands clasped together, listening to Aniyah intently.
“I swear, those girls…” She shook her head, a tired laugh slipping out as she rubbed her temple. “They’ll go above and beyond for any client, pushing limits no one else will touch… then turn around and try to outdo each other in the most outlandish ways possible.”
Ezra cut in, clean and ruthless. “Are you going to replace them?”
Aniyah’s eyes snapped up, shoulders pulled back, as if she’d been caught mid-slouch and corrected on instinct. Her mouth pressed into a thin line before she answered with a little bite to her response.
“No. They’re my top two earners. Their client satisfaction is through the roof, and they genuinely like the work.” Her chin lifted slightly. “I was just explaining why I was late.”
I watched as Ezra leaned forward just a fraction.
It was subtle, but the shift changed the entire tone of the call. The light caught in her eyes differently now, darker. Sharper.
“What I’m hearing,” she said evenly, the words measured, like a snake slowly coiling around you before it choked the life out of you. “Is that you were late due to something outside of your control, correct?”
Aniyah opened her mouth, ready to defend herself, but Ezra wasn't about to let that happen.
“We’re all running our own clans and have a multitude of things we could be working on or doing instead of being on time for this meeting, but this meeting is important. This meeting ensures leadership is on the same page.”
Aniyah’s fingers tightened where they rested on the desk.
“We all have responsibilities,” Ezra went on. Although her voice never rose with a hint of anger, its strength never faltered. “We all have other matters we could be handling instead of being here.” Her brow raised in question even though we all knew she didn't want an answer.
“That’s why you have people. A clan at your back.
Utilize them. Stop thinking you need to do everything by yourself.
” If that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black, I didn’t know what was, but I didn't want to die for bringing that up, so I sat back and felt bad that our baby sister, who was taking the lashes like a champ. The worst part? Ezra wasn't wrong.
“But this meeting—” Ezra’s gaze moved between us, steady and unblinking “—is what keeps us aligned. Strong. Functioning as one unit so those that want to tear us down are incapable of stepping a single toe over the line.”
Aniyah’s lips pressed together harder. I could see the fight in her eyes die down just as fast as it had risen. Her gaze dropped to the desk in front of her. Fingers curled slightly inward, then stilled.
Nova glanced down as well, her shoulders pulling in just enough to show she’d caught the weight of it too, even if Aniyah had taken the first hit.
I leaned back in my chair, watching it unfold. For once, I was the good one.
Ezra never had to raise her voice to make a point. She was the type to lay it all out piece by piece, calm and precise, until there was nowhere left to step without tripping over your own feet.
She lifted her fist, counting off her fingers.
“So that leaves us with two possibilities.”
Aniyah's chest rose and fell, keeping her mouth shut. Nova’s lips parted slightly, then pressed closed again.
“You’re either under-utilizing your people,” Ezra said, holding up one finger, then she quickly raised a second, “or this meeting isn’t a priority. Which is it?”
Aniyah’s shoulders stiffened. The tension in her posture gave her away her frustration, but for once, she didn't let it out. She swallowed that Desmond pride we all held close to the chest.
Being the older brother, it pained me to see my sisters put in this position, and I felt a small nagging piece of me wanting to save them from the Ezra wrath.
“I get what you’re saying, Ezra,” I said, cutting into the silence before it stretched any tighter. “But they just got mated.” I slipped in a flick of my hands and a roll of my eyes, trying to lessen the tension. “They’re still figuring out how to balance that with everything else.”
Riot’s head tilted the smallest amount, then, as if magic had happened, she nodded.
I blinked at her.
Oh, now you acknowledge me?
“While that might be true,” Nova said, fully straightening now, her shoulders squaring as she lifted her gaze to meet Ezra’s, “she’s still right.”
Her hands came together in front of her, fingers lacing tightly.
“The fault is ours,” she added. “No one else’s.”
Aniyah glanced at her, then back down again with a heavy sigh, nodding her agreement. It almost made me shed a tear. My baby sisters were all grown up.