15. Raithe #2
Jere plopped into the low cushion opposite the couple with a grunt. I joined him, albeit with a bit more tact. “You’re breaking the discretionary rules by using my name, even if we’re in like-minded company,” he said. “I could have you kicked out of here, Kolbyn.”
“You’d like to think so. But fine, you call me Kole, and I’ll call you Jere. Fair?”
The woman grinned into Kole’s shoulder. “You may be one of us, Jere, but you have no rank here.” She pressed a kiss to Kole’s neck then stood gracefully, her white skirt untangling from her inner thighs. Kole slapped her ass on her way out, earning a scoff from Jere.
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Kole crooned, lifting a chalice from the ground to his mouth. “And here I thought the infamous baroness’s son could have any woman he desired. Particularly a pretty, dark-haired—”
“I can. Soon enough she’ll be mine, not yours,” Jere ground out. Beside me, his shoulders vibrated with anger.
Kole’s lazy gaze shifted to me. “Who’s your friend? I wasn’t aware you had any.”
I said quickly, “His mother appointed me to his guard.”
“Guard?” Kole repeated, alarm lifting his brows.
“Can’t get rid of him,” Jere grunted. “Fucker.”
A female server with nothing but two jeweled fabrics adorning her body entered our alcove with a tray of colorful drinks.
I reached for two glasses, clumsily knocking over the others to create a distraction.
With their attention on the mess, I hovered over the glasses and tapped a sprinkle of the fungal concoction from Alhena.
“She’s spending too much time here,” Jere said, reaching for one of the drinks after the server cleared my spillage. I watched him carefully as he sipped the drink. “You’re corrupting her.”
Kole splayed his hands to the empty couch. “She can do as she pleases.”
“I know what you all think she is, and you’re wrong. We are going to be married soon.”
Surprise flickered in Kole’s pale eyes. His fingers ran over the rim of his glass. “You’re lying. She would have told me.”
“My mother’s planning the ceremony as we speak.”
Kole tipped his head back and laughed. “Oh, you are so pathetic, Jere. Using your mother’s position to force her into being with you? She’ll never agree to it.”
“She will if she cares about the well-being of her family and that stupid shop of theirs.”
I analyzed every tone and inflection of the tense interaction between the men. An edge of possessiveness coated each of their words.
“Set your eyes on someone else,” Kole warned. “She cannot, and will not, be wed. To you or anyone.”
“Stop bringing her here,” Jere seethed. “This is no place for a nobleman’s wife.”
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before becoming a member yourself. Too late to change your mind. Nonrefundable fee, remember?”
My hands flexed in discomfort at their hypocrisy. I had a role to play, and these affairs had become too personal for my taste. I leaned forward. “I have heard a rumor of a dancer, one likened to a black rose. I’ve come to see her for myself.”
Kole’s head swiveled in my direction. He regarded me warily. “What, exactly, have you heard?”
I shrugged. “Only that.”
“Are you loyal to your charge or to his mother?”
I nodded at Jere.
“Interesting.” A sly grin formed across his pierced lips. “What do you wish to know?”
“Everything.”
“Quite the rebellious guard, aren’t you?”
I detested the superior tone he regarded me with. “Comes with the job.”
“I could tell you about the dancer.” He shrugged. “Or I could tell you about what she represents.”
“How about both.”
Kole chuckled. I studied his gray, calculating eyes. This man held an air of egotism that differed from Jere. Where Jere presumed himself to be intelligent, Kole knew he was to some degree.
Beside me, Jere asked, “Am I still your hostage, or can I leave?”
“If you keep your word, I’ll keep mine,” I reminded him with lethal intensity. To Kole, our words still masked as those exchanged between disgruntled charge and dutiful guard.
Jere grumbled before pushing off the couch. His silhouette disappeared behind the curtains and into the throng of vulgarity. I could only hope he finished his drink and that the memory-hindering tonic worked.
If it didn’t, I’d need to get whatever I could from here and return to Scorpio with the black rose before word reached King Zephyr of my alleged presence.
“So. How exactly did you hear about our black rose?” Kole inquired too casually. I detected an undercurrent of suspicion, as though I shouldn’t have known of its existence. “Before coming into Jere’s service.”
“My comrades like to talk.”
Kole’s eyes squinted slightly, doubt shining in them. “What else have your comrades said?”
I chose my next words carefully, speaking to what I knew about the apostai cause. “That they want more than this world can give them.”
He spread his arms broadly. “It’s ironic. We all need the sun to live, and yet it curses us all. Where the sun is when we’re born determines where we’re bound to live. It forces us into poverty, isolation, submission.”
“Interesting perspective,” I muttered.
“Many come here seeking reprieve from such barriers. Looking instead for lust, love, money, to name a few, hidden from the nosy Astrals. Serpentine was founded to serve as a place for humans to both lose and find. So tell me, guard, what are you searching for?”
The question wasn’t as straightforward as he made it seem.
He sought something simple yet philosophical.
While we knew little of the apostai’s motives, we’d gathered that they believed the Zodiac, the very magic system comprising the twelve Astrals, worked against the common people in favor of Chosens and nobles.
They likely believed that by bringing about the downfall of the Zodiac’s magic and the end of the Astrals’ reign, life and society could be more in the hands of the people.
Their attacks on temples and sacred grounds, and most recently on Cyrene’s family to prevent their sacrifice, proved that further.
“Something greater than what is,” I replied calmly enough to hide my distaste. From all I’d seen, people couldn’t be trusted to lead when left to their selfish whims and desires. We needed the Astrals as they needed us.
Kole regarded me for a beat. “That is what the Black Rose signifies,” he said, testing the words. As though he was surprised but pleased he could say them. “That is what lures so many here, including yourself.”
“How could a dancer represent that?”
“Because she’s prophesied.”
“Prophesied,” I repeated dubiously. Kole didn’t seem to like that response, so I schooled myself into neutrality.
“How long have you been marked?”
Marked. Whatever I’d said or done was enough to garner his trust. He believed me to be one of them—the apostai.
“A little while.”
“From where? I’ve never seen you here before.”
Apprehension coursed through me. I didn’t like feeling cornered, especially with my abilities mysteriously weakened.
I couldn’t respond with here, because clearly Kole was familiar with this location and likely surrounding area.
And I had no idea if other locations existed, though I’d hoped to find out.
Even with my intuition quiet, my own instincts had never failed me.
“Scorpio,” I answered calmly. I held my breath, waiting for a reaction.
He pursed his lips. “What brought you there?”
“The same thing that led me here.”
“What’s your name?” Kole gestured to my hood I kept tucked over my head. “Your identity is always protected, as you are well aware.”
I glanced around, processing the true meaning of his words.
Most patrons kept to themselves, entranced by their own indulges.
Every now and then, though, a pair of eyes skeptically peered my way through a semi-sheer curtain from the lounge seating beside us.
The lounge was occupied by a fair-haired, petite woman who resembled Kole and a red-haired man with a permanent sneer on his lips.
“Orfeas,” I replied. My father’s name burned my tongue.
“An oddly familiar name. You’re certain this is your first time here?” When I nodded, Kole leaned forward. “You’re not really a guard, are you, Orfeas?”
“What makes you say that?”
“We’re surrounded by gorgeous women, and you haven’t given any of them the time of day.”
“Because I’m holding out for your Black Rose.”
Kole laughed. “Tell me, Orfeas, what is it you secretly desire?”
“The Black Rose.”
“I assure you, we have plenty of others who can tend to your needs until then.”
“Until when?”
Kole gestured behind me. “Who knows? That’s the fun of this place. Stick around this week and you’re sure to see her.”
I could force him to tell me what he knew, at the risk of causing a scene. I had my Athenian blades on me, but with dulled abilities it would be a mistake to draw attention in the lion’s den.
What Kole asked of me meant treason. The white clothes, the secrecy—it was clear I was in apostate territory.
If this was my purpose, if this was what Gemini had risked communication with Gregorios for, then I would pretend to be what I’d abhorred all my life.