Chapter 27
L ukas
My pacing drove Cassia crazy. She said she couldn’t figure out where to look when I wore a path in the carpet or “stomped” on the wood flooring, as she called it. Elijah didn’t seem to mind.
“Do you feel that?” He set his glass down on the table, his eyes flickering back and forth between blue and brown.
I did, the same moment he mentioned it. The atmosphere has changed. The energy was disturbed, and a stiff, cool breeze whistled through the castle windows, fluttering the edges of some papers stacked on a shelf.
Outside, dark clouds gathered, quickly blocking the sun before the darkness fell. Two moons rose on the horizon, and a long shadow fell across the floor, stopping ominously just before my shiny shoes.
Elijah stared at me. “Are you doing this?”
How sweet of him to think so. “As flattering as your assumption is, no I am not.”
“The women,” Elijah stated, getting up from his seat.
Cassia and Selena were fine—for now. If Cassia wasn’t, we wouldn’t have had this conversation. “They are on their way back.”
“The bridge. I’m going downstairs.”
He was gone and a maid walked into the room. “Delivery for Miss Cassia, my Lord.” A stack of brown paper wrapped packages was set on a table.
Ignoring the woman, I followed Elijah.
Oliver and Sven, the two guards that accompanied them, bowed quickly as Elijah said to Selena, “What the fuck took you so long?”
She rolled her eyes. “We came back as soon as we could. Sorry I don’t have super vamp speed.”
Cassia giggled nervously and then quickly schooled her face when Elijah glared at her. A wave of irritation flashed through me. No one had the right to glare at her but me.
This wasn’t the time to set the man straight, so I walked up to her and checked her over. There was nothing amiss other than the mild stench of the two guards. It angered me, but I forced myself to see reason.
“It got really cold out, and then we had to go through an underground tunnel to get back. What was that?” She asked.
Automatically, I knew it was from home—from the First Realm. Nowhere else, save maybe for the Fae Realm, could have that significant of an impact. “Magic stirring.”
Elijah stayed in the foyer with Selena, addressing his people’s concerns, while Cassia and I headed upstairs.
“I’m not sure what that means but I know it's not good. It didn’t feel good, either.” Cassia stated. Someone brushed past us, heading down, with a harried look on their face.
We reached the floor where Elijah’s office was, and I put my arm around her waist, guiding her toward the door. “The tunnel wasn’t good either. I could feel it, something there.”
The underground tunnels were a mystery no one seemed to understand.
I assumed they were present in every Realm, but they were most often frequented in the Second and Fourth and highly favored by wraiths and demons.
Vampires didn’t have much use for them other than, perhaps, hiding when absolutely necessary.
The underground lairs were possessed by something. A god, maybe. She wasn’t the first human or otherwise who believed something sentient lurked in its shadows.
“I don’t have an explanation for that. No one does. Stay out of the tunnels in the future.” I held open the door for her and she stepped inside. “No one ever comes back from the crevasse.”
Cassia passed Elijah’s desk and sat down on the short sofa. She watched as I put my hands on my hips and then lifted one to shove my hair over my shoulder. Her eyes softened and she gave me a small smile before looking down at her lap.
If magic this severe was being stirred up, it had to be Annalise. She was likely beginning the ritual to wake up Wyvon. There was nothing I could do to stop her, not from here and not now.
Elijah walked in, Selena following close behind. He glanced at me and tilted his head slightly.
“Cassia, those packages are for you,” I pointed to the stack the maid left on the table, “I need to speak to Elijah privately.”
She blinked and rose from the sofa. Selena glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, the edge of her lips twitching.
I snagged Cassia’s hand as she went to walk by and brought her knuckles to my mouth, kissing them. She relaxed instantly and nodded her head.
After the two women left, Elijah sat down behind his desk and threaded his fingers together. “I apologize if I have brought war to your doorstep,” I said.
It was hard to ignore the deep knowing I possessed, of the fact I wouldn’t be nearly as gracious as the man sitting behind the desk, had our positions been reversed.
His gazed flicked to the side, the color of his irises wavering again. I quieted my head so I could listen to whatever he was hearing.
The women were walking down the hallway and Cassia was concerned she wouldn’t get to use her new paints and pencils because of whatever was going on. Selena told her just to bring them with her, wherever we went.
The stomach went hollow and a weight settled on my upper chest. When I turned my head, Elijah was watching me. His eyebrows rose a fraction, speaking to me of our role reversal without saying one, single word.
Without asking, I strolled over to the sideboard and selected a carafe. Virgin blood. It was far more a delicacy here than it was in the First.
Humans were valued much higher in the Fourth. Birthday parties were held for them. They owned at least half of the shops in town. Nobody wanted them dead, or if they did, they often ignored the instinct to kill them.
The sugary, coppery scent filled the air as I poured a full cup. Once I seated myself in an armchair, I took a long sip, both enjoying the decadent beverage and missing my Cassia’s own sweet flavor.
Elijah watched me, resting his chin against his fingers as he sat back, with the barest of smirks gracing his mouth. The fucker was enjoying my discomfort.
Finally, he spoke. “I’ve amassed a larger army, since I’ve been here. I’m sure it would be insufficient compared to whatever you have in the First, and I wouldn’t presume otherwise. That is, should they invade.”
“I don’t know if I should wait to see what she does next, or if I should return and fight on home soil,” I said.
Annalise was a tricky, manipulative queen.
She likely had highly lethal wards blanketing the atmosphere, designed specifically with me in mind when I transitioned back.
That was, after all, what I would have done.
“What about Kiam? I’m sure he could be of help.”
At the man’s name, I winced and shook my head. “He dropped someone off and disappeared. I have not seen him since.”
“Oh?” Elijah furrowed his brows.
After taking a long drag of my drink, I replied. “Zaynan. He’s Queen Annalise’s son. She deposited him in the Third as a baby and he fell in with the demons.” The man was going to have permanent lines between his eyebrows, the way he kept eyeing me. “He’s half Fae.”
“No shit.” He leaned forward and tapped his hand against the edge of the desk. “He’s one of the crossbreeds.”
I finished the blood and set the glass down on the table. “I’m going to train him, when I get the chance,” I mused. If I got the chance.
He nodded, deep in thought. “I would send the birds for the sorcerer, Jude, but I doubt he would answer. He’s rather reclusive, difficult. He’s half vampire.”
That he wouldn’t help didn’t bother me. I wasn’t entirely fond of sorcerers to begin with and didn’t care for their company. Although... I could always bite him. “Try anyway.”
Elijah opened his laptop and banged away at some keys. “Done,” he announced.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll contact Kiam, too. Just in case.”
My head swiveled toward him, and suspicion tingled my spine. After what I’d done to him, this behavior was unprecedented.
“Lukas, it's fine. Maybe he’ll assist, maybe he won’t.” His voice was rough and after I looked, I couldn’t see any malicious intent. His aura was sound, and his pulse, normal.
If he had the right, Kiam would have pinned me to the ceiling as well.
Perhaps “chance” was the better word.
It was nearly impossible for me to tell if it was Cassia’s influence that gave me the near-microscopic prickle of guilt that trailed through my chest or if I really did feel bad.
I went with the former. Kiam knew better than touching her, and I’d turn him into a chandelier again if the occasion called for it.
Elijah cleared his throat and set his elbows on his desk. “What can you tell me about how they operate?”
I knew he meant the First’s army. If I said one word, it would be a high treason. I’d eviscerated and boiled thousands of men alive for much less. The very thought of divulging any information gave me a headache and made my skin itch. But there was no going back to the man I was before, now.
I took a deep breath and tried to relax my spine. “The main difference will be the use of highly potent magic. Poisons. Lack of defensive time for anyone posing a threat. The physical weapons themselves will be magic.”
I reached over my shoulders and withdrew two long swords. They were cloaked, but they’d been there. Despite Elijah’s strength and the fact that he was half pureblood vampire, he wouldn’t have been able to detect them. No one around here could.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Okay.”
Returning them to their sheaths, I walked to the window. “I’m not returning to the First. That will leave them with no choice but to come here to retrieve me.” I glanced at him over my shoulder.
“I cannot bring Cassia and leaving her alone would guarantee her death. I may be powerful, but I’m not powerful enough to be certain of finding her. Fate knows where’d Annalise or Wyvon would send her. I would burn every Realm to the ground trying to locate her.”
Elijah stood and walked to the sideboard. He poured himself a drink from the same bottle I’d used. “That would be inconvenient for me.”
“Highly.” I gave him a small, closed mouth smile. “No matter the outcome, I won’t be returning home.”
He glanced down, staring into his glass. He swirled the contents. “It is a special kind of heartbreak, being forbidden your home.”
He peered up at me, and I ran my tongue along my teeth, my gums aching slightly from being so agitated.
“Staying here may not be the wisest decision for you. It would likely cause you some discomfort, given your previously high position,” Elijah remarked.
He was letting me know he wouldn’t step to the side—not that I’d expected him to. It would have been my right, but neither did I have any desire to rule over a motley crew of demons, humans, witches, and vampires.
I faced him, crossing my arms. “I will take the Second.”
Elijah’s eyes flickered blue and stayed that shade. “Funny, how this is all working out.”
“You will be welcome. Cassia and Selena seem to be quite taken by each other.” I wasn’t sure how much I liked the feisty girl and her sassy mouth, but I wasn’t going to take Cassia’s one friend away.
He pursed his lips and then brought his glass to his mouth and downed the remaining contents. He wiped the back of his hand across his lower face, staining it red. A flick of his fingers cleared the mark.
“Hm,” he hummed.
That settled, I crossed the room. “One more thing.” I waited for him to meet my eyes. “I will be making some renovations to the suite you kindly allowed us to reside in.”
“Oh yeah?”
I smirked at him. “I’m sure you’ll approve.”
Cassia, probably not so much...