125. Summer
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Five
Summer
“ R afe?” I knock on his door, and I can hear him and Mira moving around, probably pulling on clothes.
“Come in,” he calls a long moment later, but even still, I cover my eyes as I peer around the door.
“Are you naked? I don’t want to be more scarred than I already am. I have had enough trauma for this lifetime.”
“You’re safe.” Mira laughs.
I slowly lower my hand and peer at a glaring Rafe, but he quickly pushes past it. “Where have you been?” he asks, sniffing the air.
I exhale and step into his room, which smells like ashes, sweat, and pheromones. I close the door behind me and press my back against it. “I was in Dr?culea.”
Rafe tenses. “Why?” he asks, and I can feel his irritation, but it’s nothing compared to the stranger’s when I arrived back the first time.
“I have a bad feeling.”
Rafe nods, his shoulders sagging a little. “Me too.”
“Does Alice want the crown?” Mira asks, drawing my eyes.
Her own spark with an anger that I’ve never seen in her before.
Mira is still extremely new to us, but Rafe trusts her, and I am starting to as well.
I get the sense she is familiar with Alice’s situation, though that hasn’t and may never be confirmed.
“She says no,” I say after a beat of consideration.
“You think she’s lying?” Rafe says, his brows drawing .
I shake my head. “Not lying, but I don’t necessarily believe she thinks she is allowed to want it. That she deserves it or will be accepted.”
Rafe bristles at the idea that Alice could have those thoughts. Just like an older brother, I can see his hackles raise.
“She does want to pay her respects to her father.” I exhale, looking down at the crumpled piece of paper in my hand.
“I went to Dr?culea because things felt off and?.?.?.” I uncrumple the flyer and hand it to Rafe.
His eyes darken, and his fangs lengthen at the threat to her.
Mira places her hand on his arm, soothing him just enough that his thoughts remain clear.
“They plan to trap her,” he says, his voice gruffer thanks to the demon he’s barely holding back.
I nod, “But we’re not going to let that happen.” I take the flyer back and fold it again. “Alice may not currently want her birthright, but I will be damned if the reason she doesn’t get it is because of anything but her own decision.”
Mira nods. “Who currently holds the throne?”
“I believe it’s a vampire named Dimstraeux.”
Mira growls, the temperature in the room increasing a couple of degrees. Clearly, she knows him, or at least knows of him.
“Babe?” Rafe looks at her, concerned.
“He was a dignitary of Dr?culea and would correspond with the other locked realms regarding a cold war of sorts between them.”
“Cold war?” I ask, but I can feel Mira getting more uncomfortable.
“So Alice is in danger if she goes, and effectively ousted if she doesn’t?” Mira asks, changing the subject. Her gaze is on me, though I know she can feel the hole Rafe is burning into the side of her head, having noticed her discomfort.
“Exactly,” I say with a nod. “I will speak to the stranger and ask him to stay away.”
“Why?” Rafe asks, his head snapping to me. “I can feel what’s lurking inside him. It’s as dark as you.”
“No. What we need is for Alice to show her face, pay her respects, and leave quietly.”
“But they’re almost certainly planning a trap.”
“Yes, which is why we are going to have contingencies.” I exhale heavily.
The chance of a trap is nearly one hundred percent, but if we go in all guns blazing, that will reflect poorly on Alice.
While her people don’t necessarily deserve to have a peaceful mourning period, for whatever reason, they loved her father, and I plan to gain their favor slowly.
Showing up with someone who has enough power to shatter the realm will send the wrong message.
“What are you thinking, Summer?” Mira asks.
I exhale. “So you’ve been working on controlling your urges with Mira?” I ask Rafe, and he nods. “The darkness inside me is still extremely irresistible to you, so we will all need to work together.”
Every time we train, Rafe gets stronger, and I can see his control growing, but not fast enough for me to be confident he can go to Dr?culea.
We will need to train at least three times a day with Mira there to ground him.
It is imperative that he have complete control and the demon locked down in case I have to delve into my powers.
We will be completely surrounded by dark energy and malice.
While it may seem like a good idea for Rafe to just explode into a demon frenzy and go on a killing spree, it will be extremely difficult to bring him back from it, even with the help of his beloved phoenix.
Rafe looks strained, and Mira looks at me, nodding confidently.
“Sum, you should not release that. It should be our last resort. It’s a bunch of vamps. We can handle them.” Still, his voice sounds unsure.
“It is absolutely the last resort, but by that point the stranger will be there, so?.?.?.” I shake my head.
“So the stranger will be on the back burner, waiting on my signal, and I am going to ask the headmaster if he can use the rune he used in the cave. The one that gave me a moment to say goodbye to Connor. I’m not sure what we’ll need it for, but I know it will be invaluable. ”
“Time is the one thing we can always use.” Rafe smiles. “You really are smart. Pain in my ass, but smart.”
My lips twitch, but I look away, down at the halo on my wrist. “The absolute last resort after absolutely everything. If everything else fails?.?.?.” I look at Rafe. “You take Alice and Mira, and you leave.” I watch him intensely. “Okay?”
“Fuck off,” Rafe snarls.
“Rafael, we have no idea what I’m capable of if I delve into my endless chasm of power of darkness, but I know nothing good will come of it. You take them, and you run.”
“No. Fuck you and the self-sacrifice bit. I had a sibling do that shit already, Sum. I will not have another. If you want to release your power, gain enough control that all of us will be there for it, and still standing after. Or it’s not an option. Not a last resort. It’s nothing !”
Mira takes his hand. “Rafe?.?.?. I can feel her power. My phoenix quivers beneath it.”
“And there is no time for me to train to protect you all. You leave. End of story.”
“No,” Rafe hisses. “I won’t agree to that. Not ever.”
I meet Mira’s gaze. Her eyes flicker with flames, and she nods once.
“Well, we’d better train so it doesn’t come to that,” I say, looking back at Rafe.