Chapter 14 Maeve #3
Slightly smaller than Julian’s shifted form, Gavin’s coat is pure white and gleaming under the chandelier lights.
Hadrian and Julian rise in the same heartbeat, both flanking me, muscles coiled and ready to intervene. Even Tarun surges from his seat like he suddenly remembered he’s supposed to be useful.
I have no doubt he’ll only make things worse.
Gavin lunges forward, and it’s embarrassing how pitiful the action was. He’s so inferior to the imp it’s not even funny.
Lucifer dodges effortlessly, taunting him with tiny bursts of red light that snap at the stallion’s heels.
“Are you going to put a stop to this, Ades?” I ask, reaching forward for my water like we’re discussing weather and not watching two mythical creatures try to maul each other.
Adrian only lifts a brow. “What do you expect me to do, love? You clearly have more sway over my nephew than I ever have.”
“Oh, Adrian,” I sigh. “Imagine admitting your power is so fake it doesn’t even work on your own family.”
He laughs, and there’s a knowing glint in his steel blue eyes. “The floor is yours, love, please use it as you see fit.”
I rise slowly—not hurried, not afraid—and smooth down my dress.
“Lucifer,” I call. I’m so fucking thankful that my voice does’t waver, it stays steady and calm. The exact opposite to how I feel. “That’s enough. Don’t waste your energy on the pathetic.”
Everything stills, and I’m grateful Lucifer listened.
My gaze slides to Leanne, and I let the sneer curl my lip. “Your mate is a disappointment. You should be ashamed. All of you should. You preach unity, family, legacy—yet, look at yourselves.”
I sweep a hand across the table. “You’re nothing more than a group of self-important toddlers throwing knives across the table and pretending they were olive branches.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Marianne hisses, rising from her seat so fast her chair screeches along the floor.
Her power slams into me like a shockwave. It’s heavy. Brutal. Designed to crush.
My knees tremble for half a second. But I don’t bend.
If she wants me to kneel for her, she’ll have to drag me down herself.
I won’t cower. Not for her.
Never again for a member of this family.
“I think,” I say calmly, “that I’m better than you. And, honestly, that’s impressive, given how little worth I actually have. I think you’re a joke. A woman who should crawl back into whatever hole she festered in.”
Her sapphire eyes blaze.
“You’re a terrible parent. An awful mate. And an even worse fake matriarch. You do not command this sham of a family, and you never will. You imitate leadership and hope no one notices the cracks.”
I lean forward, letting my palms rest on the top of the table as my tone drops into a lethal note.
“If you plan to take Helen’s place, Mary, you’d better be strong enough to wipe her off the board. Right now? She’d demolish you.”
I pause and let the silence stretch along the table. Helen’s smile unnerves me. I never said that for her sake but for my own.
Lucifer flutters towards me, and I have to hold my hands still. The desperate urge from my chromius to touch him would ruin our upper hand.
Thankfully, Lucifer lands behind my chair. I feel the rush of magic as he shifts—his larger body radiating heat and shadows right at my back.
But I don’t look. I can’t give up the game.
I let the anticipation continue to build as everyone waits for my next words. Is this why Adrian does what he does? Does he get off on the power?
“Your brother kidnapped me and has forced me to be his puppet for years,” I continue, my voice steady as I hold Marianne’s stare. “You never once cared, did you? Not one of you ever thought to step in and help the poor, traumatised victim.”
It sickens me to refer to myself this way, no matter how true it was.
“There’s been no protection, no support, nothing. You can’t claim me as family if you weren’t willing to put the work in and make it true.”
My breath shudders—but I speak through it. Because I refuse to let them win.
“When my stepfather was released, not a single warning was sent my way. Not even a courtesy call. You didn’t bother to help me then, so don’t pretend you deserve courtesy now.”
I straighten, feeling Lucifer’s presence, solid and bristling, behind me.
“This isn’t a campaign,” I say. “This isn’t a game. You don’t get to plot my life on a whiteboard and call it strategy.”
“You’re right as usual, my love,” Adrian says, tone maddeningly calm. “Things have gotten off-track today.”
“And I wonder whose fault that is, Ades,” I snap.
“My intention was to warn you all of the issue and to discuss how we can support you properly.”
Adrian exhales slowly as if the room itself is a misbehaving child. His eyes rake over each of us, and he seems more in control.
A decision has been made, that much is clear. The question is—what was the debate over?
“Now that everyone has… expressed themselves,” he says, “we need to address what comes next.”
My stomach twists. Here comes the part where he locks me back up and keeps me isolated from the world.
Where my only company is him, Helen, and the people he allows into the cage.
“Sit, now,” he demands, and his command washes over the room without hesitation.
Leanne drops into her seat first, quickly followed by Brianne and Marianne. Helen never stood up, and she smiles adoringly at her mate.
Gag me.
Gavin drags himself back to the table and keeps his head down as he sits. Tarun’s next, and it’s not until Adrian gestures to my chair do I do as he asked.
“Good. Now, if this gets out, the Tribunal will not contain it. We can’t. If anyone suspects Rowan’s death was done by someone other than us, it’ll be a political nightmare,” he says.
Hm. That’s interesting—I never thought to ask whether it was the teams that were on the hunt for Garrison who killed him. I just presumed it was.
But, clearly, it wasn’t.
Fuck.
“We need to control the narrative and to keep everyone safe,” he continues. My blood chills, but I try to keep my expression smooth.
Lucifer raises a brow. “I’ve got a contract—you’re not taking my charge from me, Uncle. So as long as her safety is continued to be managed by me, we’ll be just fine.”
“Believe it or not, Lucifer, but that was always my intention,” Adrian continues.
Dorian’s eyes flash with anger, and Lucifer notices.
Helen’s voice is soft, and it carries around the silent room.
“There are eyes everywhere now, sweetheart, and underneath it all… a danger we still haven’t identified. You can’t remain here.”
My pulse stutters, and I have to force my breathing to stay level. I can’t let myself hope—I can’t trust she’s being honest.
“Are you kicking me out of my own home?”
The words come out flat, but the tremor under them is real.
Please, please, please say yes.
Hadrian’s sharp inhale beside me would have me laughing in any other situation. But in this one, I can’t act too eager to leave once more, or they’ll lock me up.
If I try to run, they’ll wonder why.
“No,” Adrian says, shaking his head. “We’re relocating you until it’s safe, but this will always be your home.”
“To where?” Lucifer snaps, shadows already licking at his fingertips.
Adrian’s gaze lands on his nephew with that infuriating mix of fondness and manipulation.
“Back to where you came from—the Phoenix Pride.”
My eagerness crackles like electricity under my skin. I bury it deep.
“Really?” I ask. “You trust I’m safer there than I am here?”
It can’t be true. Not after yesterday. Not after how bold he was.
“I don’t think you’re safe anywhere, love.” His tone is maddeningly gentle. “But if you’re not here, we can make… riskier plays without fear of you facing the consequences.”
Tarun clears his throat, surprising me with the boldness.
“The breach last night proves you’re being targeted no matter where you are. Garrison’s death was a warning. We just don’t know what it was trying to say.”
“I personally want her gone from my son’s life,” Leanne says, chin raised.
“Which son would that—” I begin, but Helen steamrolls right over both of us.
“You may not like it, Leanne, but your children are going with her,” she says firmly. “Adrian and I aren’t sending our daughter—”
Is she for fucking real?
“Not your daughter,” I interject at the exact same time as Marianne.
Bitch.
But I’m not taking my truth back. I am not theirs. Not by blood, by choice, or by law.
Adrian might’ve claimed guardianship, but that’s weak and won’t last much longer if Atticus has his way.
Helen doesn’t blink. “We’re not sending her without protection. We’re a family, and the boys are the best to protect her. That is final.”
“I won’t have him anywhere near me,” I say, cutting a glare towards Tarun.
Adrian quirks a brow, and I get the feeling he knows far more than any of us have shared.
“Tarun won’t be accompanying you,” he says calmly. “He has another assignment.”
“Oh, how adorable,” Hadrian mutters. “The favourite gets spared from the bloodthirsty murderer Maeve picked up.”
I know he’s on my side, but does he really have to sound so put out that we’ve got rid of the elephorian?
Did he want his rule-abiding, mate-rejecting cousin to follow us around and tattle on our every move?
“Whoever orchestrated last night has resources,” Adrian says, and his voice is tight. He’s not sure who did it, and, honestly, neither am I.
The obvious would be my stalker, but to what end?
“We need to beat them at their own game. While you boys keep Maeve safe, we’ll uncover what’s going on.”
He looks at his siblings, and the air bends. That unicorn dominance crushes the room, forcing them into submission like puppets folding under an unseen hand.
It’s scary the way he warps his energy without breaking a sweat.
“Understand?”
They can’t fight it—his unicorn is not allowing for it—and they don’t dare to try.
“Understood,” they murmur.
Julian rises before I can explode. He moves steadily—no sway, no hesitation.
“Before we go—I want to talk to you, Uncle, alone,” he says firmly.
Gavin scoffs. “You think you’re allowed to talk to him like that, boy?”
I don’t even like Julian, and even I can see that Jules is far more a man than Gavin ever could be.
“I’m not asking,” Julian replies, voice calm but shaking with restrained fury. “You’ve fucked with my mate countless times, and I want to make sure we’re in agreement this time.”
My chromius purrs, my heart flutters, and I gag internally. Disgusting.
When is he going to stop with these lies? These delusions are mortifying. For him. For me.
For the entire universe to have to witness.
Lucifer’s brows jump up, and a smile grows on his face. “Look at you, golden boy. Finally grew a spine.”
Adrian nods. “Of course, my boy. We’ll talk. I have arrangements to make today, but before you leave, Maeve—I need you to check in with Dr Jones. I want to ensure you’re safe.”
I feel the walls closing in.
The table.
The air.
My skin.
My lungs lock, throat tightening like invisible fingers are closing around it.
I can’t breathe.
I’m trapped. In my own body. In this room. Under his control.
Again.
I can’t breathe. I can’t relax. I can’t calm myself down.
I can’t let her get her claws into me. Can’t let her try and push me again.
I can’t let her try to break me.
“Maeve,” Helen says softly. “This isn’t a punishment. It’s a precaution.”
Lucifer and Hadrian share a look that I can’t decipher. My mind is too busy, my panic too strong to ignore.
“You all keep saying you want to protect her,” Julian says quietly. “But none of you ever ask what she wants.”
He steps closer—just barely—but the warmth of him hits me like a phantom hand on my spine.
My throat burns, and I feel myself aching for the touch I would never normally want.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Adrian nods, and his aura dims. He’s faking being upset. Does he truly not know how to stop putting on a show?
“I know, Nephew.”
Adrian brushes past the unsettling topic. “We’ll prepare for departure tomorrow evening.”
My chromius stirs, unease bleeding into me—sharp and alert.
Not running.
The certainty lands heavy in my chest, threaded with something darker.
Hunted.
She lifts her head, eyes glowing in the dark of my mind, and I’m surprised at how excited she is.
Let’s hope being caught isn’t in her game plan.