Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
And eventually, somebody with a lofty ranking at court would have had the temerity to ask t’On, and he would have confirmed his intended female. Because there was no reason to hide the other half of the intended’ness.
So the purple wildfire had spread—
As his phone started to ring, he slapped his hand over it and prayed to hell the call wasn’t the human female who had been leading the objection to the s’Hisbe’s religious sanctuary designation argument, and its tax-exempt-status paperwork.
Fucking hell, if those rats without tails weren’t trying to steal land, they were going after the Territory’s money. And God knew he was all out of any kind of customer-service voice at this point.
Still, the only way this got worse was if she showed up in person at this off-the-clock hour. With a curse, he flipped the cell over—
The image of his brother Trez’s puss filling the little screen for a FaceTime made his headache get worse.
And damn it, he actually was tempted not to answer, except he never didn’t answer his twin’s calls.
Besides, given how many migraines the other Shadow had enjoyed, it was almost like the pounder iAm had going on had sent out some kind of Neuro-Bat-Signal.
He put his phone up and accepted the connection.
His first thought was that Trez’s happiness positively radiated through the male’s handsome features.
From the calm black eyes to the slight smile, from the health that shone in his cheeks and the easy way he breathed, it was hard to resent the guy’s choice to get out of Dodge and head west for a fresh start.
And then his brother’s brows pitched tents on his forehead. “Whoa, you look awful.”
iAm put a hand under his chin and played pose. “You say the sweetest things.”
“No, for real. Are you okay?”
Behind Trez, the ocean was pulling a deep-blue-sea, the moon hovering above rolling, gentle waves like it was considering jumping off a celestial diving board and going for a little splash around.
“Isn’t it cold for the beach?” iAm asked.
“It’s always seventy south of L.A.”
“I really don’t know why you’re out there.” He forced a smile. “Other than the weather, the food, the lack of lessers.”
And the lack of Shadows.
Then again, all of that could have been true here in Caldwell and the guy still would have left. Too many memories of Selena, and of the past with the s’Hisbe. Sure, restart locations rarely worked, but no one could argue that Trez and Therese weren’t thriving out on the West Coast.
And everyone was glad s’Ex, the executioner, was with them and keeping them safe. Not that Trez needed much help with that.
“I can guess why you’re calling,” iAm said ruefully. “Although, I thought you didn’t stay in touch with anyone but me back here.”
“Just because I lost people’s contacts doesn’t mean they lost mine.” His brother’s handsome face settled into a mock glare—that covered a spike of hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me my niece is getting mated?”
Okay, time to try out some excuses: Too busy? No, that was really bad. Emergency? No, that was even worse. Meteor landed in the middle of the Territory and he was on search and rescue?
Oh, that was a good one. Except the whistle-blowers would have already brought that up, right?
“I… don’t know what to say.”
Trez’s eyes flashed peridot aggression. “What’s that supposed to mean? Is she okay? Did someone hurt her—”
“It’s complicated.”
“Fuck you, iAm. That’s a Facebook status circa 2010. It’s not what you say to your brother. What the fuck is going on.”
Guess it was good that there was still a fighter lurking under the namaste surface. And he honestly had been thinking about calling the male.
The story came out in a halting series of stops and starts, and he almost felt like someone else’s narration was babbling from his own mouth: Celestial chart. Tretary. Mating to save…
“I’m coming back,” Trez announced.
“No, you’re not.” iAm burst out of the chair and went to the window. “Look, things feel… dangerous here.”
“So I’m going to—”
“Leave Therese out on the opposite coast? While you come here to be in the crosshairs of whatever destiny this is? You want to put her through that? Or great, how about you could lie to her? I know how easy that would go down.”
His brother glared into the phone, his eyes flashing pale green again. “You’re my family. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Catra, or Denne.”
“I know, and I feel the same about you all. Now is not the time for a visit, though.”
Willing the lights in the conference room down, he stared off over the Territory. Clouds had drifted over the moon, so the houses of the courtiers and the huts of the civilians disappeared into the rolling winter landscape, only the purple lanterns glowing. Everywhere.
It had been… so long since there had been a royal ceremony.
Not since Denne had been born? Jesus. Had it been that long?
“You know, iAm, the celestial stuff should be taken with a grain of salt.”
As his brother let that one fly, how could you argue with him? Considering the male had been imprisoned and held for all the wrong reasons. Mistakes happened, oopsie.
“Well, it was right for me,” iAm said with defeat. “Maybe it’s right for Denne. She hasn’t been happy for a very long time, if ever. Love can grow…”
“You want to take that gamble? With your daughter?”
No. He really didn’t. What choice did they all have?
“I feel like I’m caught in some kind of nightmare,” he gritted.
And accordingly, what he was absolutely not going to do was tell his brother the other part of everything. About him and Catra.
“It’s never too late,” Trez said. “Maybe pump the brakes if you think there are doubts on her side. And if the s’Hisbe is in danger, from humans or anybody else, go to Wrath and the Brotherhood.”
“They have enough of their own problems, I’m sure.”
“If the King knew you were sitting on an issue and you didn’t talk to him? That’s not a follow-up I’d want to have. You could also reach out to Rehv.”
The King of the symphaths. Sure, that was a great idea. Like bringing a bonfire to light a cigarette.
iAm shook his head. “Just don’t tell s’Ex. There’s no reason for him to come back, either. We have plenty of the guards he trained. We’re stocked with ammo, too. We have resources.”
Trez’s lips pressed into a line. “I don’t like this.”
“At least now you know why I wasn’t in a big hurry to call you.”
“Yeah, because you were trying to figure out how to keep me in the dark without feeling like you were lying to me.”
He met his brother’s eyes and felt the physical distance between them as an ache in his heart. “How do you know me so well?”
“Brothers always know.” Abruptly, Trez cranked around and spoke over his shoulder. “It’s iAm, yeah. No, they’re not with him.”
Trez turned back to the screen. “Therese says she loves you. Where’s your better half?”
“Tell her right back at her from all of us. And Catra’s in the celestry observing the night sky.” Looking for a way around that goddamn chart. “Meanwhile, I’m here working on a legal issue. It’s fine.”
What a lie. He didn’t know whether anything was fine or not.
“Listen, I gotta go, brother mine,” he said roughly.
“Okay.” Those brows went low over those black eyes again. “Yeah. Sure.”
“I love you. And I need you to stay put.”
“Wait—when’s the mating?”
iAm stared out over the landscape of glowing purple lights once again.
Then he looked even farther to the horizon, to what he could not see, but could sense—and not in a vampire way.
The hum from the data centers carried through not just the air, but the earth itself, so constant that he didn’t even notice the vibration anymore, really.
Between one blink and the next, he imagined the land inside the boundary wall stripped clean of everything, nothing but warehouse buildings flattening the gentle roll, more technology eating up traditions that had existed for centuries.
“I don’t know yet,” he replied. “But I will call and let you know, I promise.”