Chapter 22
twenty-two
OPHELIA
Dante carried me to the shower after his knot finally softened. I was relaxed, boneless mush when he did.
After we were clean, we fell into bed together, and didn't get back up until the morning.
When I woke up, he was already awake. Something about his expression told me he needed blood, even though I couldn't have explained what or why.
I tilted my head to the side, offering him my throat.
He lowered his lips to my neck, and kissed me. Once.
"I don't need to bite you," he murmured. "I just fed last night."
"You're hungry," I said.
He didn't deny it.
"You can knot me in exchange. Then we both get what we want."
"I'm getting the better end of the deal." Dante slipped his hand between my thighs.
"Agree to disagree," I breathed, before his lips met mine.
Dante's phone started ringing when I was in the shower. He'd already gotten out and started drying off, but he glanced up at me when he saw the caller ID. His gaze lingered, his eyes moving slowly over my body even though he'd literally been inside it twenty minutes earlier.
"It's Callum Frost," he said.
I made a face. "Just ignore it."
"I can't ignore a phone call from the asshole who leads the Cabinet."
"I can, and he probably knows you're with me."
He gave me a look that said he wasn't taking the risk, and answered.
"Hello?"
Dante was checking me out again while he listened to whatever Callum said. His towel was tied around his waist, and the front was tenting drastically. I bit back a smile.
"She's busy," he said.
Guess Callum was looking for me. Not surprising, considering we'd dropped a hundred innocent prisoners on him and his family a few days earlier.
There was a pause.
"I understand, but she's not coming to the phone right now."
Maybe having a mate had some benefits. I could get used to Dante politely telling people to fuck off for me.
"Ophelia doesn't do meetings. We can meet for lunch at a restaurant, if you need to talk to her.
The more casual, the better. We need about an hour.
" His gaze dragged down my body again. Just the way he was looking at me was enough to make me hot.
"Make that an hour and a half. Text me the information. "
He hung up, dropping his phone on the countertop and striding back to the shower. He ditched his towel at the shower door, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he grabbed my waist.
"Horny again already?" I teased.
"It's your fault for looking and tasting so fucking good."
"I'm just showering."
"Naked."
"Everyone showers naked."
"Not everyone is mine."
"Is that what I am?"
"If you've forgotten already, I'm not doing a good enough job." He captured my lips, lifting me off my feet as his tongue stroked mine. My body arched closer as he walked me to the shower wall, one hand on my hip and the other gripping my ass.
"Give me your wings," he said into my mind.
I forced them out, and moaned against his mouth as he slid his fingers into my feathers just right.
"God, you're good at that."
"I was taught by the best."
I laughed breathlessly before he retook my mouth, lining his cock up with my entrance before sliding home.
Maybe having a mate wasn't the worst thing that could happen to me.
Maybe I'd even like it, if it was Dante.
And since there was no way to go back... would enjoying it really be the worst thing in the world?
Exactly an hour and a half later, we walked into an extremely fancy restaurant.
We were only on time because of Dante. I didn't give a shit about Callum's timeline. But Dante was a schedule guy, so he'd made sure we left when we needed to.
I was wearing a simple, fitted black dress that Dante picked out when we were shopping the day before. It was comfortable, the cut worked with my wings, and it was "sexy as fuck," according to my mate. So I was forcing myself to get over my aversion to dresses.
Looking around at everyone we passed, I was actually glad that he'd made me buy nicer things. My overalls would've stood out in a negative way, and I'd rather not have everyone stare at me because of what I was wearing.
Then again, almost everyone looked at me anyway.
I guess that was the angelic magnetism thing.
I couldn't help but wonder if it was the reason I'd never had a hard time selling out of my pottery at farmer's markets. Most people doing what I did struggled to make enough money to survive on.
It was what it was.
We found Kat and Callum in a small, private room that was separated from the rest of the dining area. The space was quiet, and consisted only of a large, circular booth and enough space for a server or three to bring food in.
Along with the Frosts on the outer edge, River and Jazz were seated in the middle of the circular booth.
My grip on Dante's hand tightened immediately.
Sitting down with River and Callum was the last thing I wanted to do. Jazz and Kat, I was fine with.
"Is it too late to leave?" I asked Dante mentally.
"It is."
"Damn."
"I won't let them insult you."
Honestly? I believed him.
"Hey!" Kat smiled.
At least one person was happy to see me.
There were dark circles under River's eyes. I tried not to notice them as Dante and I sat down. He put himself between me, Jazz, and River, which left me across from Kat.
Thank fuck.
I managed a small smile for her sake.
A server came in as soon as we were seated. I didn't order an alcoholic beverage, even though I wanted to.
I was fairly confident this was the kind of conversation I would need to be sober for. There was no reason other than the prison that all six of us would need to meet.
We all ordered food, too.
When the server was gone, Callum looked at me. "I'm sure you know why we're here, Ophelia."
He winced a little when Kat elbowed him in the side, but otherwise didn't react.
"We've been working on a plan for the prison," Dante stated, when I didn't say anything.
I managed to hide my surprise at the comment.
He was the one who'd refused to let me work on a plan.
"What is it?" Callum asked.
"Tell us what happened with the rest of the innocent prisoners," Dante countered.
He'd given me enough time to take over the conversation myself, so I seriously appreciated that he'd realized I didn't want to.
"We're working on incorporating them back into society. The Cabinet is funding their reintroduction into Rumor, and demanding answers about how we're going to avoid a repeat of this," Callum said.
"They're worried they're going to end up imprisoned next," Jazz explained.
"Did you tell them anything about what was happening underground?" I asked Dante.
"No. The prisoners who were with us probably did, though."
"At least one of them would've talked when the fae started questioning them," I agreed.
"Everything that occurred when you were breaking the innocents out is concerning, to say the least," Callum added. "What happened? Is the prison going to stay standing, or do we need to prepare for everyone else be freed, too?"
There it was.
What we were all really here for.
Callum wanted answers.
River was there to make a plan if I didn't have one.
I didn't.
But I would. I'd been planning on making a plan.
"The details of what happened that night are no one's business but ours," Dante said.
Callum's scoff said otherwise.
"We need all of the information if we're going to figure out what to do." Jazz seemed like she was trying to be gentle, but she wasn't much more thrilled than Callum.
Dante looked at me. "It's your call. If you don't want to tell them, I can come up with an alternative."
"It's fine." I brushed my bangs out of my eyes, fighting a bit of nausea.
"Thanks to the mate bond, I had the power stores I needed to get the rest of the innocent prisoners out.
I made enough plates to hold the magic, packed them into a wagon, and went in alone.
Dante didn't know. I figured he'd try to stop me, and I thought I had it covered.
Planning isn't really my forte, and I completely missed the fact that everyone wouldn't fit in the elevator at once. "
"What do you mean, you missed it?" Callum asked, his forehead creasing.
"The magic she used to create the elevator required more power than most angels have access to," River said. "It takes a lot of energy just to move it once, and she didn't realize how many times she'd have to do it."
Surprise had me blinking quickly.
Was my brother trying to defend me?
"Angelic magic is a lot more complicated than demon or fae magic. It's like what the spellcasters do, but with different rules," Jazz explained. "There are a lot of things to consider."
"Ophelia was channeling all of her power and energy into the plates while she was planning," Dante added. "Missing something like that is fairly natural while under that much stress."
It wasn't just River trying to defend me.
It was River, Jazz, and Dante.
What the hell was I supposed to think about that?
No one had defended me before. Not once.
Being defended made me feel things.
Strong things.
I took over the explanation again. "It took longer than I thought, because I didn't have enough magic immediately.
I had to build a wall to separate us from the rest of the prisoners when the cells unlocked.
It was close, but we managed to get all of the innocent prisoners out before Reaper shattered my wall. "
"Reaper?" Callum asked.
"He's fae. His real name is Arthur Fremont," Dante said.
The blood drained from Callum's face. "Tell me he didn't get out."
"He didn't. Yet," I said. "I left enough magic protecting the elevator that it'll take him at least a few weeks to tear it down."
"Why are you terrified of Arthur Fremont?" Kat asked aloud.
His gaze flicked toward her. "I'm not terrified."
She lifted an eyebrow at him.
With the mate bond between them, she knew exactly what he was feeling.
"Arthur is dangerous, to put it lightly. We can't risk him getting out." Callum looked at me. "My family will need to take him out, if he's at risk of escaping. Do you have a plan to rework the magic and get the prisoners back under control?"
"I'm working on it." My grip on Dante's hand tightened.
He squeezed lightly in response.
"I have a few ideas." River met my gaze. "We can talk after we eat?"
Realistically, any ideas he had to offer would be helpful. I was starting from ground zero, and he had been incredible at weaving magic since before I was born.
I forced myself to nod, even though it didn't feel completely natural.
He relaxed a little.
"You'll need to go back to the bottom floor of the prison, regardless. Right?" Callum checked.
"Yeah."
Dante, Callum, and Jazz launched into a discussion about how exactly they were going to tackle the situation, and whether it should happen on the main floor or inside the prison.
I focused on my plate, after the server brought the food in, and ate slowly.
I was extremely relieved when Callum announced that he and Kat had somewhere to be. He said he'd be in touch, but honestly, I wasn't going to answer the phone when he called.
My mate was the only one who could force me to do that.
"I'll deal with him," Dante said.
I'd never heard anything more romantic in my life.