Chapter 52 #2
Augustus took the creaking hall floors to the office that hadn’t changed so much as hardened. The same stained-glass windows cast fractured blues and greens across the floor, although the shelves of ledgers were stacked higher than ever and showed no clear organization.
Mettius sat behind the desk in a wheeled chair built from dark oak and iron. His stump of a leg rested on a padded brace, while the other planted firm against the floor.
Lili, hair tied back and ink smudging her hands, was bent over a ledger to Mettius’s right, scribbling across the page.
Guilt wormed through Augustus’s chest. She’d been here for Mettius more than anyone. He should be the one running the operation at his father’s side.
Mettius sank into his chair and stroked his length of beard. “Everything all right? I expected you a while ago.”
Augustus dropped onto the old velvet settee and spread his arms across the back. “Fine. Couldn’t be better.”
He’d spent an hour searching for Selene, half-expecting to find her dead… Other than that, he was great.
His father arched a single brow. “You have to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Expecting another Thorne to come around the corner. The war is over. The city is ours—”
“Thorne’s mounted head is infuriating anyone who might feel like retaliating.”
The last time Augustus pissed off the wrong people, Thorne and Phya used Selene as bait.
Thorne’s head wasn’t the only thing on display… Augustus’s weakness had paved the damn roads.
“Give it some time,” Mettius said. “It’ll pass. It always does.”
Augustus raised his hands. “Tell that to the seventeen years in Thorne’s wake.”
Mettius’s mouth opened to respond, but Lili drummed a thick stack of paper on the tabletop under the guise of straightening it.
“I have news,” she announced.
“Thank the gods,” Augustus murmured.
Mettius sent him a look that clearly said they weren’t done, but he twisted to give Lili his full attention. “Sounds serious.”
“Let’s all sit,” she said.
She wheeled Mettius to the sitting area beside Augustus, then perched on the opposite chair. She scraped her palms up and down her thighs.
“Lili, you’re going to start a fire,” Augustus warned. “What is it?”
“I’m leaving,” she blurted, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. “Maybe it’s crazy, and the gods know I’m not into all that leather and weaponry…”
“Idon’s Eye,” Augustus cursed, exasperated. “What are you on about?”
“Roslyn asked me to go with her. I’m joining the Rangers.”
Mettius laughed. “You’re going to hunt monsters for a living?”
“I helped save his ass not long ago,” she said with a sharp aim at Augustus. “I could be quite good at it.”
“Aye,” Mettius said with a fond smile. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
Lili’s brown gaze slid to Augustus. “What do you think?”
Augustus felt a tether snap loose inside him. The world was changing too fast, and every shift seemed to leave him standing in the wreckage.
Omar and his family were gone, their oath fulfilled.
Abi had the fleet now. Mettius had made it official with a flourish, handing over the reins while keeping only the Entia moored. The rest of their ships were already wreaking havoc on the seas, reminding the world who was in power.
Even Blaze, who’d once looked settled here, had announced the Rangers were sailing soon. They were itching for new lands and new fights. Blaze’s boots were never meant to stay planted.
And now Lili, smiling like a woman on the cusp of freedom, choosing a life no one had seen coming.
Augustus felt heavy under this news. Everyone was moving on. Everyone but him.
Somehow, he rummaged through all that for a smile. “I’m happy for you.”
What else could he say? He wouldn’t beg her to stay. And hadn’t he just thought it was his responsibility to aid Mettius in the new family operation?
Mettius clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. “It’ll be just you and me, son.”
“And Selene,” Lili said.
“Obviously.” Augustus dragged fingers through his hair. His gut sank all the way to the carpeted floor.
Selene didn’t belong here.
She wasn’t safe here—not in the long term.
And Augustus couldn’t leave.
Someone had to stay with Mettius. For now, at least. It could be months still before his father was out of that blasted chair. Then, another long period of time getting used to whatever contraption got him hobbling around on one and a half feet.
Augustus had complained about five months in Perean. How would Selene feel about twice that? More?
“Son?”
He met his father’s concerned stare. “What?”
“Something on your mind?”
“No.” Augustus smiled. “We should plan something before you go,” he said to Lili. “Can’t send my two best friends out into the world without getting you smashing drunk first.”
Lili laughed. “Any celebration we have has to include your birthday.”
He waved a hand. “No, we don’t have to do that.”
Mettius shifted until he was turned as far in his seat as he could feasibly go. “I recall you making a huge deal out of the last one.”
A year ago, he’d expected a ship and a captaincy for his birthday. He’d been untouchable, the sea wide open before him. Cassia had been alive. He’d been cocky, foolish, with the world in his palm.
Now? He was sitting in his father’s shadow, watching everyone else take to the wind while he remained tethered to the wreckage.
Mettius placed a hand on his knee. “We celebrate the wins, son. This is one of them.”
Augustus smiled. Nodded.
This wasn’t a win.
These were chains.
The tavern reeked of spilled ale, and laughter filled the room all the way to the rafters. Augustus nursed a half-empty tankard, watching Lili dance with Roslyn, her cheeks flushed, hair unraveling from its braid.
An ache filled his chest—this was their last night together.
A shadow dropped onto the bench beside him.
Blaze shoved a fresh drink into his hand. “Don’t look so damned morose. You’ll sour the beer.”
Augustus snorted. “I was hoping you’d trip over your own boots and decide to stay.”
Blaze threw an arm across the bench, a grin flashing. “Boots like these were never meant to stay planted, brother. You knew that the day you met me.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
For a moment, neither spoke. The noise of the tavern swelled around them—tankards slamming, Lili’s laugh ringing like a bell.
A cheer went up across the room, and both turned.
Selene stood in the crush near the bar, Oskar leaning in to say something over the din. Firelight gilded her hair, her smile quick, unguarded.
Blaze elbowed Augustus in the ribs. “You’re a bastard, you know that? Cocky, reckless, impossible. But quite possibly the luckiest man alive.”
Augustus scowled, though warmth curled in his chest. “Lucky?”
Blaze tipped his chin toward the bar. “You’ve got a woman like that standing with you when the rest of us are chasing shadows. Don’t waste it.”
The tavern noise swelled again, and the music stumbled into a faster tune.
Blaze raised his drink in a mock toast. “Try not to die before I get back.”
“And you—try not to get eaten by another siren before you can brag about it.” Augustus clasped Blaze’s wrist hard, rough enough to bruise. “You’re family, Bla?ej Ka?par. Don’t you forget it.”
Blaze squeezed back, then released with a grin that was half-wicked, half-fond. “Save me a seat for when I come home.”
And just like that, Blaze was up again, swallowed by the crush of bodies and laughter.
Selene’s eyes found his across the room. A smile curled, soft and sure, before she tilted her head toward the door. Her fingers flicked in the faintest beckon.
The celebration roared on, but for Augustus, the only sound left was the thrum of his pulse as he pushed to his feet and followed her out.
The tavern’s roar dulled the moment the door closed behind them. He followed her down the slope toward the shore, her hair gleaming in the moonlight. The night air was cool and salt-sweet, the sand damp beneath their boots.
They walked until the laughter and music were only a memory behind them. The beach stretched wide and empty under an unbroken moon. Above, Little Gus and Turos wheeled, wings slicing the dark. For once, they didn’t swoop or press in. They let the two of them be.
Selene stopped at the edge of the surf and kicked off her boots. Sea foam brushed her toes, and she glanced back at him with a smile. “Not afraid of a little water, are you?”
The surf climbed and retreated mere inches from his boots. “Have something in mind, i psychi mou?”
She glanced around them—not a soul in sight. “I’m a little surprised that you don’t.”
Grin stretching, he strolled right into the water, boots and all. He pulled her against him and dipped his nose into the hollow of her neck. Honeysuckle and lavender.
Selene shivered beneath his splayed hands.
Augustus nipped at her earlobe. “Twenty-one,” he said. “For a while there, I wasn’t sure we’d see the day.”
“I did.” She looked into his eyes. “You’re incredibly hard to get rid of.”
Augustus chuckled low and tipped his head toward her. “That mouth of yours—”
“You love my mouth.”
He slid his hand into her thick hair and cupped the back of her head. A soft sigh slipped past her parted lips. Hot desire shot down his spine and settled in his core.
But it was inside his chest, where an ache appeared out of nowhere and swelled until his throat threatened to close.
He stroked her hair, tangling his fingers within the wind-tangled strands, and teased her lips with soft kisses.
Selene fisted his shirt and opened her mouth. Her tongue was hot, and she tasted like the buttery caramel of his favorite whiskey. And when she sucked his lip between her teeth, he surged up against her. Filled his hands with her breasts and waist and hips.
Drowning in the little noises of pleasure climbing her throat.
Breathing in the softness of her mouth.
Dying with every spark of searing desire racing through his blood.
He might be losing everyone else, but he still had this. He still had her.