Chapter Fourteen
“Aella.”
“Mom!” I shot up, throwing off the blanket.
Whipping around, I squinted through the gloom—forgetting where I was for the barest millisecond.
No Mom.
No flower shop. No room of chrysanthemums and city noise beating on the windows.
I was lying in a bed in the infirmary after having just woken up from a coma, if the pitch-black sky peeking through the windowpanes was to be believed. I’d been asleep for hours.
“Was that really Mom’s voice I heard?” I whispered, gazing at the bracelet. “Or did I dream it was?”
“Dream, I say.”
I jumped, nearly falling off the bed.
“No one else has been in here but me. Definitely no moms as gorgeous as yours must be.”
Jason rose up on his elbows. I hadn’t realized the lump on the bed next to me was a person.
I hissed. “What happened to you?”
Jason looked terrible. His body was a riot of cuts and bruises like he’d been run over by a cart, and then it backed up and ran over him again.
“I was having a delightful interlude with four or five Proficient ladies. All of them neglected to tell their boyfriends about it.” He shrugged. “They were a bit put out when they walked in on us.”
“So put out they beat you within an inch of your life.”
He grinned—split lip cracking again. “Worth it.”
I tossed my head. “What’s wrong with you, man? The way you go after sex is beyond addiction and straight into obsession.” I flapped a hand at him. “A fatal one.”
“What’s wrong with me? The real question is what’s wrong with you? Why are you lying around here when the man you’re fatally obsessed with is seconds away from marrying another woman?”
I stilled. “What? What are you talking about?”
“Skip the dance, beautiful. You know I know. I saved you both today by stopping him from running to you in front of Sirena.” He pinned me with a look. “She’d have realized you were the girl he was in love with if he ran to you, begging you to take him back while you sobbed on the floor. Amazing you two kept it hidden this long.” The last part he said to himself.
“How?” My voice was barely higher than a whisper. “How did you know?”
“You know that too.” Jason leaned back, getting comfy in his cot. He looked like he dipped up here for a nap like I did, instead of the real reason. “No one is fooled by our attempt to downplay our abilities, and I’ve hidden the most of all. I don’t just conjure flowers or make godly plant piss.”
He flipped over, fixing on me. “I see desires, Vanda. Pleasures, happy memories, hopes, and dreams. One look and I see it all. Even better, I can grant it all.” He tipped his head. “Well, Elysium can. I bring forth what lives in the fields of paradise.”
“Lovely for you, but that’s got nothing to do with me and Alexander.”
“It’s everything to do with you and Alexander Damien. You two are the unhappiest people I’ve ever met.” Jason dropped that like it was a fact of life. “The type of people who get into Elysium are the ones who sacrifice, and sacrifice, and sacrifice all of themselves for everyone else, and don’t take a sliver of happiness for themselves until they wake up dead.
“The you kind of people,” he stated. “Every time I’m near you, Vanda, I burst with the need to give you your true desires. But that’s easier in the paradise plains. Here in the land of the living, you’ve got to get that yourself, and you finally did. Damien.
“You two were brimming with true love’s desire, and now it’s over and you’re just going to accept that? You’re not going to fight. You won’t open your mouth.” Anger crept into his voice. “You’re lying down and taking it. Literally.
“Do you know how fucking irritating it is knowing what people want and how they can get it, but watching them not even try? It’s nothing compared to watching them finally get it and then give up without a fight!”
I jumped, blowing back. Who was this guy? Where was the smirking, flirty sex maniac I loved and loathed?
“So, I repeat, Vanda, what’s wrong with you?”
My nails scraped the bed fisting the sheets. “If you know so much, you know the answer to that. I can’t be with Alex. His father—”
“That bastard,” he hissed, lips curling.
“You hate Maximos Damien too?”
“You won’t meet a child of Hades who doesn’t.” He snatched a vial off his nightstand and downed it. His bruises were already starting to heal and fade. “Most of all...”
I didn’t catch the tail end of his sentence, but I got the gist. “You can add me to the list. The way he threatened and manipulated Alex into marrying Sirena, even after he himself promised Alex could choose his own wife.” My lips trembled. “He’s a beast. But he’s Alex’s dad. I don’t want to be the reason he loses his dad.”
“Maximos will be the reason he loses his dad. The man destroys everything he touches, and it’s not because he can’t help himself. It’s because he likes it.”
I had no idea what to say to that.
“People like you.” He flapped a hand at me. “Heroes. Elysium is supposed to be paradise for you. Everything you ever loved or wanted right at your fingertips, and all of it for the taking guilt-free. You’re supposed to love it there, but almost none of you do. Want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because at some point you all realize you didn’t start enjoying your life... until it was over.” Enigmatic eyes were as deep as they were serious, drawing me in and trapping me. “Is that what you want, Aella? To love him when you’re dead? To be happy when you’re dead? To stand up to that manipulative beast when it doesn’t matter anymore because he’s roasting on a spit in Tartarus? Is it?”
“No,” I rasped.
“Is it?”
“No!”
“Then what are you going to do about it?”
I shot out of bed. “I—I—I don’t know.” Slumping over, I fell back on my ass. “I can’t go bursting into a party full of Titans, and Sirena, and say he’s mine. I’d wake up in Elysium two minutes later.”
He blew out a breath. “You’re the most frustrating, beautiful woman I’ve ever met. This ceremony is so important, Sirena’s and Alexander’s parents requested—demanded—that Headmaster Drakos have the barrier lowered to allow in the other council members, their families, and other high-ranking officials.
“Every important person in Olympia is in this castle right now, which means, they’re all on their best behavior. Sirena most of all. The reigning Hera councilwoman chose her as heir, but she can always choose someone else. Exploding into a jealous rage and killing a rival is something the original Hera was fond of. The demigoddess, not so much.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding slowly. “What you’re saying is tonight is the only night I’ll be able to burst into a room full of Titans, announce that Alexander is mine and I’m not giving him up, and not wake up dead two minutes later.”
His smile returned. “See? I knew you were smart as well as sexy.”
Jason might have been smiling, but I wasn’t. “Until tomorrow night when all the nobles leave, Sirena turns into the shit-covered fly she is, sneaks into my room, and slits my throat in my sleep. So ends an ill-thought-out plan.”
Jason’s grin widened. “How will she know it’s you? Didn’t anyone mention—” He snapped his fingers. A whirlwind of color and fabric swept me up, smothering my shriek.
“—that it’s a masquerade.”
MY SANDALED FEET CUTa silent path through the corridor, following the music.
“...ugh...”
Pausing, I frowned—scanning the doors closed on either side.
“Fuck!”
I veered right and threw the door open. My jaw dropped.
Tycho stood tall, proud, and naked at the table’s end. My gaze landed on his hard, chiseled ass first—blinking at it as if not comprehending what it was seeing. His cheeks tensed and tightened as he pumped, plowing a hard, punishing huge cock into Calix’s warm and willing hole.
My fingers slipped off the knob.
Calix lay spread eagle on the table, furiously pumping his dick while Tycho drilled his ass. Their clothes were scattered about the lecture hall floor—ripped off in the frenzy of two lovers who couldn’t wait to get their hands on each other. Sweat glistened on their firm muscles and rolling pecs, easy to distinguish from the other fluids glistening on their bodies. Clearly they’d been in here making a good ole mess of each other for quite a while.
Calix threw his head back so far, he was balancing on the top of it. “Oh, fuck, Ty. Fuck, yes, fuck, yes—” Calix’s glazed eyes latched on to my wide ones. “Fuck!” He kicked Tycho away, scrambling up.
Tycho flew back mid-ejaculation, shooting ropes of cum as he crashed into a chair. “What the fuck! What was that for!”
Calix didn’t answer. He was too busy fighting to get into his clothes, shoving his hardness into his breeches. “You saw nothing, do you hear me?” he shouted at me. “Nothing! If you tell anyone about this—” Calix tripped shoving on his boot. “I’ll kill you!”
Giving up, he snatched up the rest of his clothes and blew past me with all of him hanging out. “I’ll kill you!”
I stood there blinking at his back while he raced off down the hall, disappearing around a corner, and shouting threats the whole way. I turned back to Tycho.
“So this is the training you and Calix have been getting up to,” I mused. “I did think it was weird that he was still training with you, even though you lied about learning from that Platon guy. Suddenly everything makes sense.”
“Aella, please, you can’t say anything to anyone.” Tycho rushed to get dressed, but not as clumsily as Calix. “We thought we were safe because all the Titans are at the celebration, and the Sisypheans are confined to their rooms for the night.
“Calix said if anyone finds out, he’ll pour Lethe water down his, my, and their throat. Please, promise.”
I held up my pinky. “No one will hear a word about it from me, but why the secrecy? Everyone around here ruts like rabbits.”
“The imperial heirs don’t.” He looked away. “At least the guys don’t with... other guys.”
“Ah.”
Tycho slumped against the table. “If Lia Cirillo finds out, she’ll dump him as her heir, and if that happens, it’ll bring disgrace and shame on the entire Lambros family. They’ll never accept who he is. He hasn’t really accepted who he is. Every time we’re together, he says after that it was a mistake. Or he laughs it off and says he had too much paradise tea and didn’t know what he was doing.
“I hate hiding, but what can I do? I love him,” he whispered. “A piece of him is better than none at all.”
I nodded, heart heavy. “I’ve never understood anything more, Tycho. Don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul.”
“Thank you, Aella, and— Hold on.” Ty looked me up and down. “Why do you look amazing? Please don’t tell me you’re going to crash the party.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Are you insane?” he hissed. “Do you know what they’ll do to you?”
“Nothing in front of all of those witnesses. And even if it is dangerous, I have to fight for Alex. I love him.” A smile tugged my lips all on its own. “I won’t wait until we’re dead to be with him. I’ve waited too long for too many things. Waited to be believed. Waited to have friends again. Waited to get home. Waited to save my mom. Waited to feel a sliver of happiness. Or at least a fraction less misery.
“I’m not waiting anymore.” I held my arm out to him. “Will you help me?”
Eyes that dulled during my speech came to life. “Yes,” he cried. “Course I will. About time one of us refused to back down. But what do you need me to do?”
“I need you to walk me there, because that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, and the pressure in my core is so intense right now, any sudden moves and I’ll explode.”
Tycho laughed out loud. “You are naughty, Aella Vanda. Why didn’t you say?” Sliding an arm around my waist, he winked. “I’d have shown you my other side a long time ago.”
My brows shot up my forehead. “Does that mean I get to watch?”
A swat landed on my backside, tearing giggles out of me. “Behave.”
Together we tripped down the hallway, laughing and smiling and gushing over the irritatingly irresistible imperial heirs who snared our hearts.
We stopped in front of the mess hall double doors. Music spilled through the cracks, beckoning me inside.
“You’ll need this.” Tycho slipped my mask from my fingers and placed it on my face. Through the eye holes, he winked. “Go get him, Aella.”
He pulled the doors open for me. “Good luck.”
Stepping over the threshold, my eyes widened bigger than my gaping jaw.
The Titan side of the mess hall was already on another level, but it was nothing compared to the wonder before me.
Gone were the tables and water features. Everything that made it a cafeteria was cleared away, and all that made it a heavenly ballroom claimed their space.
Ice chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Yes, ice. Shining, crystal droplets fell from their glittering loveliness and onto the guests. I gasped as it touched my lips.
It’s not wet,I thought, holding out my hand. Or cold.
Impossible, but true. The chandelier rain was a warm, soft kiss that tickled my skin and faded just as quickly as it came—leaving behind only the faint, sweet scent of apples. I didn’t know what god granted this power but it was beyond my wildest dreams.
The majesty pulled me in. Honor to the Olympian gods was shown in every elegant, breathtaking touch. A jovial band with suns painted on their instruments for Apollo. Flowing fountains of wine for Dionysus. Wrapped around the pillars and climbing the walls were impossibly delicate metal roses—their petals as beautiful as they were shining. I knew without asking they were the gift of a child of Hephaestus.
Maybe even the child of Hephaestus. The councilman for the god of fire sat tall and proud at the new head table. It still rose high above everyone, but instead of the imperial heirs, its thrones were heavy with the weight of the council themselves. Theron’s mom, Sirena’s mom, and the man sitting on the largest, tallest throne in the middle of them all, Maximos Damien.
Dancing guests, laughing Titans, happy people—their eyes were all drawn to the council no matter where they were or what they were doing... until their gaze fell on me.
“Who is that?”
“What’s she wearing?”
“Beautiful.”
I undeniably was. Never had I looked so amazing in all my years of life, but I guess that’s what happens when a sex-hound son of Hades gifts you a dress made in the fields of paradise. Not even I could accurately describe the gown clinging to my figure.
The clinging bodice, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and voluminous skirt were easy enough to name, but the fabric...
Shimmering, whispering aquamarine tulle made of wind, water, and sky captured the light from the ice chandeliers and cast dozens upon dozens of rainbows over the dance floor. I named it such because my fingers went right through it.
There and not there. Seen and stunning. Real and magic. My hands passed through the impossible gown, barely believing it covered me. Any second it was sure to dissolve into the fluttering butterfly and flower decorations clinging to my hem, and float away.
Every eye turned to me, including the eye of the two seated at the table below the council.
Sirena clung to Alex’s arm while she chattered excitedly to Penelope, Elisavet, and Sara. She was resplendent in a traditional Olympian gown. A golden circlet wove through her reddish-gold locks, matching the golden mask perched on her nose, and the golden leather vest, crown, and mask worn by Alex. But he, on the other hand, did not look resplendent.
A collection of empty mugs claimed the space in front of him, and he was working on draining the fifth. My love was well on his way to getting drunk.
There was something on the table between them and the empty mugs. A scroll encased in glass.
The marriage contract.
My heart dropped into my stomach. Was it signed? Was I too late?
My eyes drifted back to him. I could only imagine the fear and love swimming in my orbs. I passed through a parting crowd, closing the distance until he looked up. Alexander locked on to me, and frowned.
I expected no less. The full-face butterfly mask did its job. Everyone would remember what I did here tonight. They didn’t need to remember my face too.
Sara, Penelope, and Elisavet fell quiet staring at me. The loss of their attention finally turned Sirena’s head.
“What’s this?” she asked. “Do you want something?”
“You should be careful sitting there,” I said, speaking only to him. “Someone might jump on your head. You’d never see them coming.”
Understanding dawned in an instant, slackening his jaw. Alex came alive before my eyes. Shoving the mugs aside, a beatific smile changed his whole face... because he was looking at me. For as long as I lived, my pulse would never stop racing at the look in his gaze whenever it caressed me.
“Jump on his head?” Sirena shattered the moment. “What are you talking about? No one’s going to jump on his head. Are you stupid?”
Hard to believe no one other than her friends wanted this woman to rule.
“It’s okay, Sirena. That was a joke between us.” Alex spoke to her, but smiled at me. “This is Tasia. An old friend from Xeniagapia... Town... Island. In the north. I visited there two or three, or five years ago.”
Sirena’s face screwed up. “Xenia what? Up north? I’ve never heard of it. Where exactly did you—?”
“I owe her a dance.” He shot out from behind the table and wrapped me in his arms. My mask hid my glee, but his Phantom-of-the-Opera-like half-mask did nothing to hide his. “Be back in a—”
He was already done with the conversation, leading me off. “What are you doing here?” he whispered. “And what is this dress?” Alex raked me up and down, heat igniting his dull eyes. “You are... wow.”
I was glad the mask hid my blush. Alex’s hands passed through the there-and-not-there gown as easily as mine. It covered everything and nothing. It concealed what his warm, stroking fingers were doing to my skin but it didn’t stop them popping feverish goose bumps up my spine.
“A friend gave it to me,” I said, “in honor of growing a backbone and deciding to fight for what I want. You.”
His smile dimmed. “Aella, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I’ve been dying to hold and touch you so much, it felt like actual dying. But the contract’s already signed,” he said softly, kicking my heart the rest of the way down and stomping on it. “Sirena demanded we sign it while the guests were still coming through the door. It’s done.”
Of course she did.Bile burned my throat. She’s waited too long to sink her claws into Alexander. She wasn’t waiting another second.
“After, my father put it in that magicked case. It’s been spelled unbreakable,” he said. “An elephant could stomp on it, and it wouldn’t get so much as a crack.”
I nodded slowly. I felt the prickle on the back of my neck from Sirena watching us. That prickle was nothing compared to the pressure beating down on me from high above. The council of Olympia. The ones who’d kill me and abandon my mother if they found out the truth of why I was here.
“So what do we do?” I croaked, fighting down tears.
“Right now?” Alexander pulled me in close. “Right now I dance with the woman I love.”
My goofy smile lit up the inside of my mask. I rested my head on his shoulder, forehead brushing his cheek, and all of me brushing against all of him. As if they waited for this moment, the band slowed their melody as we swayed, lapsing into a lovely soft tune for our slow dance.
My eyes drifted shut. For the first time in days, parts of me I didn’t know were coiled and tight, finally unwound. Alex was right. I missed him so much, it was like actually dying.
We swayed back and forth, then suddenly I was gone. Alexander spun me out—laughing as my impossible skirt fanned around me. Two dancing couples moved aside for us, which was when I noticed everyone was moving aside. Falling back, and clearing the dance floor for us. Only us.
We giggled and danced like I hadn’t done for... years.
Alexander spun me in, and we touched back to chest, taking his hand across my chest. Head dropping back, I thanked every deity for our masks, because if anyone had seen our faces then, they wouldn’t question another moment who Alexander had fallen in love with, and who had fallen hopelessly in love with him back.
“Growing a backbone...”
I skipped a beat, opening my eyes.
“What does that phrase mean?” he asked, voice soft.
I hesitated. “It means to do something brave. Something that scares you.”
“And if you do not do that brave thing, you have no backbone. No spine.” I felt his chin tap my head with his nod. “Your mortal slang is hard to follow sometimes, but not this one. It means to be an aerios. Coward.
“That’s what I’ve been.”
“No, I’ve been the coward, not you,” I cried. “I backed down without a fight. I practically threw you at Sirena, because I got in my head about how complicated us being together was going to be. It will be complicated, but it’s worth it.
“I understand now why nearly everyone in Elysium is unhappy. Because all that bravery and sacrifice was used up for everyone else, but when it was time to fight for what they truly wanted and believed in, they were silent. After that, Elysium is a slap in the face. Here you go, hero. Here are all the things you couldn’t bother to go after yourself, even though you wanted them all along.
“It doesn’t feel like a gift by that point. It’s a reminder of how weak and scared and pointlessly afraid you were to live your life during the only one you had.” I turned to him, cupping his cheeks. “I don’t want that to be me. To be us. Even if we can’t be together. Even if this is our last night and our last dance, I never want to say that I gave up the love of my life without a fight.
“Without telling him he’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and even if years later I meet and marry someone else, I’ll remember the boy who believed me when no one else did, helped me when no one else would, and loved me like no one else ever has.
“I love you, Alexander Damien.” I gazed deep in his endless eyes, falling deep into crashing waves and lightning-pierced storms. “I’ll love you for as long as I live, and after.”
“Aella—”
“Wonderful. Truly wonderful.” Applause broke through our little bubble, turning our heads to Sirena’s table, and the tall, imposing man standing behind her—clapping.
Alex’s and my grip tightened on each other at the same time.
This was the first I’d gotten a proper look at Alexander’s father. The resemblance was undeniable. Same lily pad eyes, raven locks that curled around the ears, and impeccably honed physique. Where they differed was his trim salt-and-pepper beard, hooked nose, and an air that he was always displeased even when he was smiling.
“I had no idea my son was such a talented dancer. No doubt why he planned his surprise for us and his future bride. Everyone,” he called, clapping louder. “Well done.”
Our silent, staring audience burst into applause, Sirena included. I don’t know what our intimate dance looked like to those watching, but I know what it felt like to me. The end of something precious, sexy, and amazing, and Maximos turned it into a goofy dance routine the groom performs for awkward laughs at the wedding.
“Come, son. It is time you wowed your bride with all you’ve practiced.” He moved around the table to us. His arm was around me and pulling me back before I could get away. “Take your first dance as a bonded couple.”
Alex didn’t move. He looked from his father, to the grip on my shoulder, and then to me. Inside, I screamed for him.
Stand up to him, Alex. Tell him you don’t want this. Tell him he doesn’t get to run your life for you anymore. Fight, baby.My eyes pleaded. Fight and I’ll fight with you. I’ll never give up on us again.
“Yes, kiri.” Bobbing a bow, Alex turned his back on him—on me—and claimed Sirena’s hand.
My lips parted. “Al—”
“We’re in the way. Can’t have that.” Maximos whisked me off the dance floor and over to the strange, black half-wall that concealed the children of Hades’s eating area. I’d never been inside or wanted to. Panic seized me thinking that Maximos was going to drag me in there, away from witnesses.
We stopped just short. Maximos released me, and still I didn’t feel I could get away. I stood stock-still as piercing green eyes probed mine. Of all the voices to enter my head, Sebastian’s rang loud.
“He’ll always hide you. He’ll be sorry about it. He’ll spin sweet, pretty words in your ear and wish that things could be different, but at the end of the day, he’ll always choose his duty to Olympia over his love for you.”
“You’re the girl, I presume. The one who seduced my son.” He said it like a question, but it wasn’t. “What did you intend by coming here?”
I swallowed through needles. “I don’t know what I intended. I guess I wanted Alex to know I still love him. No matter what he does or who he’s with. You know, real love. Not that twisted, conditional, controlling love you’ve forced on him.”
I knew I made a mistake the minute the words were out of my mouth. His eyes flashed, lips peeling back. Maximos raised his hand and I jumped back—expecting to be grabbed, struck, killed.
He took off his mask. If it wasn’t entirely impossible, I’d have said the full force of his glare made him grow twice in size. “I don’t believe you want to have said that, girl. What you wish you said was, ‘I beg your pardon and your forgiveness, Kiri Damien. In future, I will know my place, and above all, I will stay away from your son,’” he said, tone low and dangerous. “‘Thank you for sparing me. I will now take my leave.’
“That is what you meant to say,” he hissed. “And I will give you one chance to say it.”
I shook in my icy-blue heels. I’d been attacked by an echidna and a cerberus. I was thrown in an institution where they forced drugs I didn’t need down my throat, and restrained me when I fought back. I’d been pushed down the stairs, then blackmailed and threatened by a goddess trapped in a bracelet. I thought I knew what it was to be afraid... until then.
“I... I...” My voice shook. “I—”
“Excuse me, everyone, if I could have a moment of your time.”
Maximos broke eye contact, facing toward the front of the room and his son.
I shot away so fast, my wind flipped up a woman’s skirt. I didn’t breathe, or stop, until I was on the other side of the room—as far away as I could possibly get from him.
“I want to thank you all for coming out tonight,” Alex said, kicking up applause. “These last few days have been eye-opening. Life-changing.”
Sirena ran up and grabbed his arm, beaming from ear to ear.
“I’ve realized something,” Alex continued. “I have no backbone.”
I stood straight as the clapping slowed. The same words were on all our lips. What did he say?
“I’ve been a coward. Not speaking up against wrong. Not fighting back for what I want, and that’s why you”—he swung on Maximos—“have never respected me, Father. Why would you? Whenever you say jump, my feet are in the air before you finish the command.
“You’ve treated me like a child because I’ve acted like one. A man lets no one control his life, and a ruler is no one’s puppet. It’s past time I grew a backbone...” He faced Sirena. “And it starts by telling you we’re not getting married.”
She wasn’t smiling anymore. She dropped his arm, backing away. “I don’t understand. What are you saying?”
“You’re my friend. My closest friend. But I’m not in love with you, and you’re not in love with me. Up till now we’ve done everything they’ve asked, but now they ask too much. We deserve love. True love.” He found me through the crowd as if he never lost track of me at all. “I promise you, it’s worth it all.”
“But I—I have no idea what you’re talking about?” she cried. “Of course I love you. This is real, and so is the contract we both signed promising ourselves to each other. I love you.”
He didn’t react.
“I do!”
“Sirena,” he said softly. Seriously. “Be honest. It’s time.”
Bright spots of color lit up her cheeks, glowing neon under the glow of the ice chandeliers. Her eyes flicked off him and onto someone in the crowd. It was fast. So fast I would’ve missed it if I blinked, but undeniable.
I didn’t see whoever she looked to, but I clearly watched her gaze travel up, up, and up to a woman out of her seat and watching from the council’s perch. Her reddish-blonde hair and frown screamed Sirena.
Tearing away, Sirena said something to Alex—too low for anyone to hear. He nodded.
“All right, everyone.” Alexander clapped. “If you’d like to form an orderly line out the door, this party is over.”
People actually turned to leave—their expressions masks of confusion.
“No one move,” Maximos boomed. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, boy, but this marriage and this contract stands. We’ll have words about your disrespect later, now sit down!”
“I’m afraid not, kiri.” Alexander whipped around and brought his fist down on the glass case.
It shattered into a hundred flying shards—the noise of its demise competing with Maximos’s bellow.
Sirena snatched the contract.
“Sirena, no,” Lia Cirillo screeched. “Don’t you dare—!”
Eagle talons shredded it to pieces.
I didn’t have a chance to shout my joy. Sirena puffed up—literally. Like a cockatiel fluffing its feathers, she shifted into a strange, oversized fluffy, feathery creature.
Feathers propelled out of her—flooding the room.
“Hey!”
“What is this!”
Feathers. Feathers everywhere.
I couldn’t see the nose on my face, let alone a foot in front of me. People were shoving, shouting, panicking.
I threw my arm out, searching for the wall, and grasped a hard body.
“Hey, baby.” Alex scooped me squealing into his arms. “What do you say we get out of here?”
My heart jackhammered in my chest. I was smiling so hard, my face hurt. “Let’s do it. I’m over this party anyway.”
Amid the chaos, confusing, and booming shouts of his father, Alex and I slipped out the door, giggling and racing down the hall.
“I choose you,” he said, flinging away my mask. Alex planted such a searing kiss on me, my toes curled. “I always choose you.”