Chapter 24
Ezra
When I was fifteen, my aunt kicked me out of the family compound, so my father built me a cottage on the edge of our faction’s land. It bordered siren territory—which I was beyond grateful for now—and was so far out of the way that I could go days without seeing anyone.
There wasn’t a driveway or even a road to mark how to get here, only subtle grooves in the grass left over from years of parking.
Eryn was out earlier, making the house presentable for our arrival.
The window panes gleamed in the moonlight, even hidden behind the overgrown garden, and a warm glow from inside was an inviting change to the darkness I normally returned home to.
I kept my gaze averted and busy, grabbing bags from the bed of the truck to carry inside. Rani hadn’t said a word since we pulled up, and I watched her emotions carefully for any sign of disgust. It was just a simple one-bedroom cottage, nothing grand like she deserved, but it was well maintained.
“Eryn made sure to put clean sheets on the bed and start a small fire in the stove,” I said, easing open the front door with my shoulder. “There’s no central air and the Wifi is spotty, but I can make us something quick to eat and… Rani?”
She walked in behind me, eyes wide and staring at everything ; the small sofa across from an equally small television, how the living room we entered opened into the rustic kitchen.
Large beams ran across the ceiling with vines so choked around them, they were embedded into the wood.
In the summer, I frequently left the windows open to catch the slightest breeze, which resulted in the outside thinking it could move in .
I spun around to promise everything was clean despite the foliage, but she was gone; disappeared down the small hallway that led to the bedroom and ensuite.
Her eyes hadn’t gone down in size when I caught up; they still took in every detail with an unnerving silence that made me want to scream. Even her emotions were locked down.
It was an effort to look at my home through an unbiased lens.
I saw the open French doors as fresh air, not an unsecured entrance.
The crowded ferns pushing their way inside meant I was behind on gardening, not unkempt.
The bed took up a majority of the room, leaving little space for the oak dresser, but that meant it was cozy, right?
This cottage saved me at a time when my attitude and inability to control my temper would have gotten me exiled from my own faction.
It was the one piece of support my father could offer besides what he’d already done: name me his heir.
But out of sight, out of mind was the best policy when it came to my aunt.
The idea of anyone hating this place was more painful than being stabbed in the stomach, but I would raze it to the ground if Rani asked me to.
“We don’t have to stay here long,” I told her after she came back from exploring the small ensuite.
She did one more spin, eyes probably lighting on horrible details she hadn’t seen the first time around, then fell back onto the bed with her limbs spread like a starfish. At the very least, I knew my bed was comfortable as fuck. I spent too much money getting that pillow top out here.
“Once the djinn are dealt with, we can find you a better place. Your own place, if you want.”
Her head snapped up, an adorable frown causing her nose to wrinkle.
“Are you insane?” She dropped her head and started moving her arms up and down, like making a snow angel.
“The little window in your shower won’t close because of all the flowers growing through it, and you have an actual waterfall faucet built into the ceiling.
It would take all the djinn in the world to pry me out of here. ”
Her sigh of contentment was like icing on a cake; sweet and so, so satisfying.
My smile grew as she rolled over and nestled deeper into the covers. “So, you don’t hate it?”
“Never. Leaving,” came her muffled response.
Well then. With my fear of her hating my sanctuary no longer a problem, I could finally enjoy the sight of my bond surrounded by all my things.
The way her shirt and little shorts rode up as she snuggled against my pillow.
Her cute bare feet dangling off the side of the mattress.
Even her red hair looked perfect, fanned out against the pale sheets; she was a focal point in the room against a backdrop of light woods and green plants.
Never before had this place felt more like home. I needed to see her all over; needed a permanent stock of images in my mind of her on my couch, laying on the rug in front of the fire in winter, and sitting on the counter licking cookie batter from a spoon.
Until we dealt with the djinn, those moments would have to live in my imagination. Kai already warned me that we’d be busy over the next few days. There was a lot he needed to catch me up on, and if I wasn’t seen doing my job, my aunt would banish me like she’s been dying to since my birth.
And then what would happen to Rani? My failures put her at risk, and I’d been bouncing from one fuck up after another lately. I swore to do better. To be better. She might not think me a monster, but I was familiar with the color of my soul, and I refused to allow it to taint hers.
Rani
The headache started yesterday, and I knew it was because I hadn’t touched the ocean in over twenty-four hours.
There wasn’t even a bathtub in the cottage—a slight I fully planned on fixing the second I had a chance.
It didn’t have to be fancy. A copper tub smack in the middle of the gloriously overgrown garden would work.
There’s no one around to see me naked anyway.
And no, that was not me being petulant because I hadn’t seen nor heard from Ezra since falling asleep ass up in his comfortable cloud of a bed.
Did I snore or something? Was he pissed that I left no room for him?
He could have rolled me over. Ugh, my headache throbbed the harder I tried to figure it out.
“Did we overdo it? I swear, once you get used to keeping your shield up, you won’t even notice the drain on your magick.”
Eryn’s green eyes peered at me with worry.
Her thick mane of curly hair was tied up on top of her head, but the living room fan blew a few strands loose.
We sat on the plush carpet across from the open back door, trying to catch the cross breeze that blew through every so often.
I didn’t expect to spend my afternoon learning to shield my mind from the djinn while also drilling facts about this new world I now belonged to, but here we were.
“Oh gods, please don’t tell me I fried your brain,” Eryn whined. “Ezra will kill me, and I don’t want to be a popsicle.”
“Shut up,” I snickered and whacked her with a couch pillow. “My shield is fine, I just need to get into some water soon.”
And if Ezra didn’t return today, I swore I was going to march my ass right back out those gates and into the nearest canal. We weren’t so far inland that there wasn’t saltwater somewhere within walking distance.
“It’s still weird to think about you as anything but human.
” Eryn’s smile was a little sad, and I knew it was because she was thinking about how my lack of humanity came to be.
I was past the point of blaming her for it, but it was still a sore spot for both of us. “Anyway,” she chirped. “Where were we?”
“Vampires,” I supplied. “How Buffy got them so very wrong and now my teenage dreams of being ravished in a graveyard crypt by a brooding bleach-blond are irrevocably ruined.”
She snorted, then choked on her soda. I pounded on her back until fizz came out of her nose and shook my head. The all-powerful and terrifying nightmare, everybody.
“Well, it’s not a crypt, but a sea cave definitely counts. And Ezra is blond, and he ravished your—”
I smothered her mouth with my palm, cutting her off, and just in time. “I never should have told you about that.”
She knocked my hand away and managed to scoot out of reach with an easy speed I was jealous of. No amount of backyard training made me anywhere near as fast. I narrowed my eyes at her impish grin.
“Mention anything to do with my ass around Ezra and I will put itching powder in your lube,” I threatened. That man needed no further encouragement.
When she saw I was serious, Eryn straightened with a scowl. She stuck her tongue out and mumbled something about me being a prude before reaching her hand into the bag of chips at her side.
“Fine. Vampires; very real, very not anything like Spike.” She popped a chip into her mouth and continued listing off the real facts, “Aside from increased senses and strength, and the very obvious need to drink blood, everything the humans know about them is false. They’re honestly near the bottom of the tribunal in terms of power. ”
Ugh, the tribunal. Huge influence. Huge ability to fuck up my life. Huge pain in my ass.
“How does the tribunal even work?” I asked. “Explain it to me like I’ve been human my entire life and have absolutely no idea what it is.”
“Har-har.” Eryn rolled her eyes, then sighed as she gathered her thoughts.
“It’s supposed to be a governing body made up of representatives from each faction.
They meet and vote on laws that help our people grow and thrive as the world changes.
But each faction is too busy trying to one-up each other, and too many power-hungry bastards think they have the only correct opinion on how things should be done. ”
“The seats are generational, though, right?” I ask. “That means every time a member is replaced, there should be a shuffle.”
“You’d think. But the heirs are basically brainwashed from birth to believe exactly what their parents want them to, which transforms old grievances into feuds that span the generations.”
“Like the witches and djinn.”