Brexley #3
Especially a demon king.
If they thought it still held power, they wouldn’t leave without it. I told them the nectar had been destroyed when we sucked all the magic from it. And technically, that was true—at that time.
However, the power I could feel tapping into my hip, waking up a little more every day, spoke a different story. I always kept it on me, needing to protect it. When it was empty, I felt it was my obligation to do so, but now that the power was growing back, I felt more like it was my addiction.
“Halálház is being fully demolished and cemented in today. Construction for the park and monument there will start next week.” Killian took another sip, not looking at me.
One of the first things we did after the war was destroy everything inside Halálház, killing every experimentation of Sonya’s there.
I had to remember it was Sonya who took their lives, not us, though the ghosts I felt that day had me in bed, shaking violently with a migraine for the rest of the day.
“I know.” My voice came out quiet.
“You didn’t want to watch it?”
I pressed my lips together in contemplation. “No.” I finally shook my head. I made my peace with that place, knowing I was forever scarred, but I couldn’t live my life in the past.
“Brexley—” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and I could sense his remorse and shame.
“I forgive you, Killian.” I blinked back emotion, cutting him off because I already knew what he wanted to say.
Guilt weighed heavily on him for letting all of us experience that torment—for being okay with how that place was run.
“You shouldn’t,” he croaked, clearing his voice.
“What I did to Warwick . . . Eliza.” Killian and Warwick might never be extremely close, but I knew they would fight and protect each other without thought.
They had been through too much together.
It might not be forgotten, but I think forgiveness had come way before either would admit it.
Eliza and Killian came to an understanding when they were in the cabin together.
Simon called him Uncle Killian. Every Wednesday and Sunday, Simon came to the office to play chess with Killian while Eliza set up schools for children.
The way he was with him, I could see Killian would be an amazing father someday.
“We were different people then.” I turned to him. “But now you can right those wrongs. Set balance to those crimes.”
He stared down at his shoes, nodding before he sucked in, lifting his chin back up. “Yes. Let’s get started.”
“Let’s.” I bobbed my head in agreement, walking us to the side doors leading to the offices.
Walking inside, Killian frowned down at his new phone, another anonymous donation to the new President and Vice President of Hungary.
High-tech gadgets from the west, enough for everyone in our circle.
Killian and I were making trade deals with the west to bring in more products.
Injecting much-needed money and life into our country.
It would take a while to get on our feet, but at least I saw the light at the end.
“What?” I followed him into our new offices, trying not to recall that once it was used as a conference room.
“My mate.” He rubbed his head.
“Let me guess.” I dropped the files I was carrying. “She’s at the same place as mine.”
Madam Kitty’s.
Killian huffed, but there was nothing behind it.
He acted like Rosie working for Kitty bothered him, and it might a little, but I also knew he was proud of her.
She had come a long way. She stood on her own two feet and was making her own way in the world.
Not as a prostitute, staying in the back office, working the books, getting orders, and running the backhouse of the business, which also included helping abused women and men or those who had been illegally sex trafficked.
Kitty might still run a house of sex, but all who were there wanted to be.
And if you didn’t, she helped free you of that life and get you back on your feet.
It was a tough decision, but Killian and I decided to make prostitution legal.
It was never going to stop, never going to go away.
It had been part of the world since the beginning of time, but at least with this, we gave them rights and benefits.
Putting an end to the mistreatment Rosie and so many others had suffered.
Kitty had her place rebuilt even bigger, adding a bar and dance stage, which my mate had the ties to supply alcohol for. Another one of his many “businesses.”
Carnal Row had come back in full force, which didn’t surprise me.
The need for an escape from life’s cruelties would never go away either.
It was already causing a headache. I could see trouble down the road with it, people taking advantage of the fragile ground it was on, but that was not for today.
A bell rang through the room, signaling our meeting was about to commence. Killian hit the talk button on his cell, dropping it on the desk on speaker. “Mykel?” He stayed standing, tugging off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt to his elbows. “How are you doing?”
“As can be expected for a country with a feckless fae leader and the human side in disarray.” My uncle’s voice came through the phone, automatically warming my heart, his voice reminding me so much of my father’s.
Czech was suffering from the death of Leon and Sonya’s turning on them.
And none of us had faith the fae leader would step up.
My uncle did. They were still working with the divide between fae and human rule, but Mykel was trying hard to turn his country around to the democracy it once had, following in our footsteps.
It was an uphill battle, but he was not the type who gave up.
“Do you have an update?” Killian asked before taking a sip of his coffee. We stayed in close communication with Mykel.
“Yes, the Hounds have reported that hundreds of the faux-fae have been seen crossing into Serbia, Poland, Romania, Bosnia, and Belarus.”
Killian’s jaw clenched at the name, anger blistering through his eyes.
The Hounds could no longer run free in the Savage Lands, and Vincent, as much as Killian and I hated the asshole, was smart enough to realize it.
With Killian as leader, he knew he would have a price on his head and a death wish if he ever stepped back in this city.
Vincent made a deal with Mykel, his various groups working as spies and hunters for a hefty price.
“Some reported deaths at those times, but no definite link to the faux-fae. We really need a better name for them.”
While most of Istvan’s experiments died in either the blast at his lab in Kyiv or in the war, there were still many who lived and escaped.
Joska and Samu were two of those. The realization that the pills were no longer killing off people was a positive for Hanna, but their living and being out in the world came with problems. No one knew what they would do.
Would they kill like wild animals? Adapt?
What if they reproduced? What would those kids be like?
There were so many unknowns, and sadly, they would never really be accepted into society by fae or humans.
They weren’t natural. They’d be looked upon as freaks or outcasts.
It was another concern on a growing list Killian and I had to think about.
“You know there is no way to track them once they do. You and I are being treated like hostile countries.” Mykel continued on.
“The tension between all of us has only risen. Olena stepping up as queen, taking on Istvan’s autocrat tendencies, is spurring on her own revolt.
” We were getting reports from Olek. He and Esmeralda had returned to Ukraine.
A strange friendship, or just companionship, developed between them.
Esmeralda spoke about finding her grandchildren and getting back into performing, but she was still living with Olek in a new safe house, both spying and reporting back to us.
Tad no longer used her, but I felt him around.
I saw him every time I trained in my powers, reaching that plane where he was as real to me as anything else.
I felt a peace and calmness knowing he was there, that my friend was happy, and just as a part of my life as he was before.
“Things are gonna get ugly in the future there.” Mykel’s voice shook me from my thoughts. “Rulers of the other countries don’t change. They like the power and wealth they live on while their people suffer and starve.”
Killian and I foresaw trouble down the line with neighboring countries when citizens would see freedom and a better life here and demand that of their country. Of their rulers.
We would be seen as something to squash. To destroy before we encouraged more to rise up.
“Yeah, I see that coming too.” Killian pinched his nose with a heavy sigh. “Any good news?”
“Not really.” Mykel huffed. “Though I have the Mongrels guarding the train line after the last raid in Slovakia. I think things will go a bit smoother now.”
My hand rubbed my forehead, feeling the strain already setting in. So many battles, so many fires, but all we could do was put a few out at a time.
On that list was Sonya, Iain, and Kalaraja.
Three of our most wanted. They were smart enough to vanish off the grid for now.
Though I had a feeling I knew where two of them might be—in the protection of Lazar and his son Sergui.
Killian suggested asking Eli and Ember to track them down. As much as I loved getting this country back on its feet, I wanted to be out there . . . the ones hunting them down. Making them pay for what they took from us.
“Okay, I have a call with the fae leader in Slovakia later. I will speak to him about the raids happening so brazenly in his country.” Killian pulled out his chair and sat down. “Anything else we should know?”