Chapter Eleven #2
amused and sympathetic. “Of course. But I’m going to need some context.”
Hawkyn hesitated, and Aurora started to sweat a little. Then
she sweated a lot when he finally said, “I don’t want any lectures about how I
fucked up.”
Clapping with delight, Suzanne sat up straight, an impish
smile on her slightly rounded face. “Ooh, my perfect big brother messed up.
What stupid thing did you do that I get to hold over your head?”
He jerked his thumb at Aurora. “I saved her life.”
“And he still hasn’t explained why that’s a bad thing,”
Aurora muttered.
Hawkyn sighed. “One of my Primori was going to kill her, and
I saved her.”
Suzanne’s eyes flared with surprise while Lilliana patted
the cushion next to her. “Come have a seat, Aurora. We’ll get you a cup of tea
and something to eat, and then we’ll explain everything.”
“Thank you, Lilliana.” Hawkyn glanced over at Suzanne. “I
don’t know how long I’ll be. Will you make sure Aurora is settled into a guest
room?”
“Did you clear it with Cat?”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “I was hoping you’d do that
too.”
“Don’t try Cipher’s charm tricks on me,” Suzanne said with a
wag of her finger. “They don’t work.”
“So that’s a yes?” At Suzanne’s
annoyed huff, Hawkyn’s grin turned victorious. “Thanks, sis.” He turned to
Aurora. “You can ask these two anything you want. They’ll be straight with you,
and you can trust them. I’ll see you soon.”
He took off before she could figure out how she felt about
being left in a strange Hell dimension with two strangers, but ultimately, it
was better than being back in Drayger’s cargo container.
She hoped.
Hawkyn sent a summons to both the Memitim Council and
the embassy, figuring either could help him out. Whoever they sent as
representatives would be pissed to know he’d sent a double summons, but at this
point, he didn’t give a shit. He needed answers.
He paced like a lion in a cage as he waited, his patience in
tatters as the clock ticked off the hour mark. Finally, just as he was about to
send another set of summons, an Ascended brother he
didn’t know materialized at the Summoning Stone, his dark skin and hair glowing
even after the light beam that accompanied his arrival faded.
“I am Demetrius, Ninth Chief of Embassy Operations, son of
Azagoth and Luscindia. What is your request, Hawkyn, son of Azagoth and
Ulnara?”
First, he wanted Demetrius to lay off the formality. Hawkyn
would take Jacob’s “What do you want, asshole?” over an overstuffed, pompous
douchebag with too much starch in his holy robes.
But he probably shouldn’t say that.
“Hey, bro,” he drawled, countering his half-brother’s
formality. “I need to speak to Atticus, keeper of bizarrely detailed notes, son
of Azagoth and...some angel.”
“You know the rules. Earthbound Memitim aren’t supposed to
be in contact with Ascended Memitim unless they’re employed by the Council or
the embassy. Which he is not.”
“Yes, I know,” Hawkyn ground out. “But this is a special
circumstance.”
“Aren’t they all?”
Hawkyn gnashed his teeth in frustration. “It’s a stupid
rule, and it needs to be changed. Who do I see about that?”
“You can bring it up with a Council member.”
“You mean the Council members who never respond to our
summons? How can I bring it up to them if I can’t talk to them?”
Demetrius’s eyes, so brown they were almost black, took in
the surroundings with interest, even though his monotone voice couldn’t sound
any more bored. “Then contact the embassy.”
“I just did. You told me to contact the Council.”
“That’s because they make the rules,” Demetrius explained
slowly, as if he were speaking to Idess’s toddler, even though he was the one
with the idiotic circular argument that made no sense. Hawkyn wanted to scream.
“How about you deliver my message?”
“Not my job.”
Hawkyn hated this guy. “Look, I just need a minute with
Atticus. We’re told to protect our Primori and their fates at all costs, right?
Well, to protect mine, I need to know more about him, and maybe Atticus can
fill in some blanks.”
“Hawkyn, this is your second inquiry about the same Primori
in just days.” Demetrius crossed his arms over his chest. “Why? Are you in
trouble?”
Hawkyn barked out a bitter laugh. “Do you honestly think I’d
tell you? The system doesn’t exactly encourage coming forward, not when we’re
punished for doing so.”
“That’s the way it’s always been.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s the best way.” And it was exactly
why he wanted to join the Council after he Ascended. Shit needed to be changed.
The Old Guard needed to be replaced.
In many ways, the earthly realm progressed faster than the
demon and Heavenly ones, simply because the short human lifespan meant that
there were frequent turnovers of ideas and practices. When a species was
immortal, ancient customs persisted in the minds and hearts of ancient
beings—ancient beings who were always the ones running the shows. They resisted
new things in favor of the old ways, even if the old ways no longer worked in
modern ages.
Yes, the Council was in dire need of fresh blood.
Demetrius huffed and rolled his eyes. “If you have nothing
other than a request I’m not going to grant, I’ll be going now.” He sneered at
something over Hawkyn’s shoulder. “This place is claustrophobic.”
It absolutely was, but there was no way Hawkyn was going to
admit that to Demetrius.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” He moved to block his
half-brother’s path to the Summoning Stone. “There’s one more thing. I want to
know if Jason Drayger’s Fate Line has been altered.”
Demetrius’ dark brow punched down in an angry V. “Are you
planning to cold-cock me like you did Jacob?”
“Depends on how much you piss me off.” Hawkyn’s hand
clenched as if it had a mind of its own and remembered the feel of crunching
into Jacob’s perfect nose. “Come on. Just...give me this. Remember when you
were earthbound, worried about your Primori? Imagine how much more effective
you could have been if you’d known whether or not your
charges were on the right course. We should all have access to that
information, don’t you think?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Demetrius said, his tone
softer than it had been before. Even his expression had lost its
etched-in-stone seriousness as his gaze turned inward. “This is the way things
have always been done. But...” Demetrius looked around and, apparently
satisfied that no one was within hearing distance, he turned back to Hawkyn.
“No, your Primori’s Fate Line is intact. I checked on it before I came.”
Shock filtered its way through Hawkyn’s system. It was good
news, but baffling. He’d truly thought that his interference in Aurora’s
abduction had changed the future. Apparently not. So
had Aurora been fated to be captured but escape even
without Hawkyn’s help? Or would she simply have escaped without seriously
injuring Drayger in the parking lot if he hadn’t been there?
And what did they do now?