Chapter Eight
Olympia
It took half the night to convince the roommate, who I discovered was named Harrison, not to go straight to the Bexleys and warn them of the danger they were in which I’d been intentionally vague about.
And, since I’d already spent the other half of the night trying to find a way into House Viper, that meant I was reentering the halls of House Avus after sunrise.
Paxon gave me one glance as I strode in, tracking mud all over the pristine foyer, before shooting off in the direction of Milo’s study.
I rolled my eyes and headed straight for my room.
If my cousin was going to require a debrief, he would be wise to allow me a few hours of sleep first.
I hadn’t told Harrison everything, of course.
Just that I’d overheard some people talking up on the Second Ring about how they were trying to use the Bexleys and they seemed dangerous.
He took it more seriously than I thought he would and hadn’t questioned why I’d been halfway out Adrian’s window when he entered the apartment if I’d been there to warn him about the Bexleys.
He’d probably wonder that later when he’d had enough sleep to think properly but for now I’d bought myself some valuable time.
He’d probably also assume the Vipers were the ones trying to use the Bexleys.
Given their history with Cosmo, it wouldn’t be all that far-fetched of an assumption.
Though it wasn’t entirely accurate, it likely wasn’t wrong either.
Cosmo was out to use everyone any way he could and creating another enemy against the snakes could only be a positive in my opinion.
I knew it would be up to me to ensure the rebels didn’t convert the Bexleys to their cause and I fully intended to bring Milo into the loop but not yet. I needed more information and, at the moment, I needed sleep.
So I fell into my plush bed with a sigh and was out the second I closed my eyes. In no time at all, I was waking to a sharp knock on my door. Blinking and bleary eyed, I sat up with a yawn.
“It’s me, Olympia,” Milo’s voice called from the hall. Was it me or was he sounding more authoritative lately? Succession suited him. “Can I come in?”
“It’s open,” I said back.
The door opened and Milo stepped in, shining silver tray in hand.
I glanced over the steaming bowl of soup and freshly stacked sandwich in his hands while he kicked the door shut and strode to my bed.
He settled on the edge and handed me the tray.
I took it and rubbed my hands together before eagerly reaching for the spoon.
“Paxon said you got in early this morning,” he told me, getting right to it as he always did. “Were you out all night?”
I nodded around a bite of the sandwich.
“Care to tell me where?” he asked, raising a brow.
I considered, cocking my head to the side while I chewed. By the time I swallowed, I’d made my decision.
“Nascha has me spying for her,” I informed him.
The evidence of surprise was immediate. His eyes widened slightly, lips parting of their own volition. I just turned back to my soup, pushing my hair out of the way as I leaned forward for a slurp.
“She–what do you mean spying?” he asked finally.
“She wants to know what the other Houses are up to. Before she met with Raghnall, she had me break in and snoop around for any hint of what he wanted from her. The guy must be allergic to writing anything down, by the way, but Luca was helpful enough.”
“You know what he asked of her, of me.”
I looked up from my soup to meet my cousin’s gaze and nodded slowly.
I did feel for Milo. I had ever since Luca had told me.
An arranged marriage, though we’d all grown up knowing such a thing was more likely than not a part of our future, was still a stressful thing to have to face.
For Milo, who was far more sensitive than most people seemed to realize, it would be even worse.
I thought about reaching out to him, squeezing his hand or patting his leg or something, but that wasn’t me and probably would’ve put him off more than made him comfortable.
“I’ve known it was coming, obviously,” he said before I could decide what to do.
He stood from my bed and began pacing beside it.
“We’ve all known since we were children that we belong to our House and will do what is necessary to secure the safe transition of power and balance in Sanctuary.
That often includes marriage, I’m well aware of that. But–”
“You didn’t think it would be you,” I finished for him. “You thought you were above it.”
“Not above it but…”
He trailed off, looking up at me.
“I know,” I said quietly.
It was silent between us for a moment as we just stared at one another, an understanding of some sort passing between us.
We’d grown up together, knowing the same expectations would plague us.
That should have bonded us even closer but somehow it had pushed us apart.
Now though, with Milo in line to inherit it all and me finding myself as Nascha’s secret lapdog, it was like we were truly in this together for the first time.
“Where were you tonight?” he asked after a moment.
I took a breath and reluctantly set my lunch tray on my nightstand.
“At first, I was at Viper,” I told him. “But I couldn’t get in. So I went to snoop around Adrian’s apartment on the Third Ring.”
“Olympia–” he started with a sigh.
“Her roommate came home while I was inside,” I interrupted and his lips snapped shut. “He caught me trying to escape.”
“I see. That can be contained. I’ve met Harrison Fletcher. He’s no friend of Cosmo’s and knows Adrian and I were friends. Maybe I could send Bria to explain–”
“Milo, I think the Bexleys are in danger.”
My cousin reached up to rub his chin in deliberation.
I could hardly blame him for taking a moment to get his bearings.
I’d just informed him I was caught sneaking into a Champion’s apartment and that I believed there was some threat against her family.
That was a lot for someone I’d only very recently begun opening up to to comprehend.
“I was going to tell you eventually,” I vowed. “I thought I could try to handle it myself but, well, you said I could trust you.”
My cheeks burned as I spoke the last words quieter than all the others, recalling our conversation in the library. I trust you, he’d said, but trust was a two way street and it didn’t come easily for me. Milo knew that.
“Alright,” he said slowly, turning his body to face me. “Why do you think the Bexleys are in danger?”
I told him. I didn’t leave any of it out.
I told him about the woman with the strawberry blonde hair named Veronica, how she’d seen me spying on the Bexleys before, and about the man named Wolf with the rebel tattoo.
I told him about their vague plans that seemed to involve the Bexleys somehow.
I told him I hadn’t informed Harrison of any of that but rather issued a vague warning for them to be careful around their neighbors and then spent the rest of the night trying to convince him not to run straight there and alert the whole ring in his panic.
As I talked, I started to think maybe I was overreacting or, at least, sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.
But once I was finished, Milo practically leapt off my bed and started pacing again.
“We need to get them away from there,” he announced at once. “We can’t allow Adrian’s family to become martyrs for a new rebellion.”
“Are you all that sure they wouldn’t willingly join on their own?”
Milo’s eyes snapped to me and widened.
“They wouldn’t,” he assured me. “Adrian was always curious and, admittedly, fairly blasphemous, but so is grandmother. She was harmless.”
“Adrian isn’t who we’re talking about, Milo.”
He frowned, brows furrowed in thought.
“Go back to the roommate,” he decided after a moment.
“Have him gather them up and bring them here. It’ll go over better through him than it would either of us.
Tell them their presence is requested by a former friend of Adrian’s, tell them I wish to meet with them.
I’ll have dinner prepared. We’ll feel it out, see if they know anything about this organization, and try to determine if they’ve made contact yet without alerting the Bexleys to their existence. ”
He wasn’t really talking to me anymore. Lost in his scheming, he turned away, scratching his chin as he headed for the door.
He apparently wasn’t going to address the fact that a First Ringer inviting Second Ringers to dinner was entirely unheard of or how, if the Bexleys were half as stubborn as their sister, it would take more than Harrison to get them here.
“Milo,” I called out just as he reached for the doorknob.
My cousin turned back to face me, blinking as if he’d already forgotten I was there.
“I told you what grandmother had me doing,” I said, ignoring all the potential issues with his plan for now. I could fix them myself. “What’s she given you?”
I could have sworn the light behind his eyes dimmed ever so slightly. He heaved a sigh and shook his head.
“I’ll show you tonight once everyone’s gone,” he promised.
Then he opened the door and stepped out into the hall. Before closing it behind him, he peered back over his shoulder to meet my gaze once more.
“You know, Olympia, I think you and I might actually make a decent team.”
Then the door swung shut between us and he was gone.
***
Harrison was apparently in the middle of a nap when I dropped in on him a few hours later.
He opened the door with a yawn. His hair was a disheveled mess atop his head and his chest was entirely bare and in my face as he leaned against the doorframe into the hall.
I raised a brow, arms crossed and frowning, but his lips simply spread into a wide grin as he beamed down at me.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he crooned. “Couldn’t get enough of me?”
I gagged on the stench of his breath as he leaned in. Reeling back and wrinkling my nose in disgust, I shoved him, hard, to the side and entered his apartment uninvited yet again.
“You did knock this time, I’ll give you that,” he said. Then he shut the door and turned to face me. “But are you ever going to wait for me to ask you to come inside? I find it odd you think it’s so acceptable to go around–”
“Are you ever going to shut up?” I snapped.
His grin broadened.
“Are you ever going to tell me your name?” he asked and I froze. So he’d had time to think about our little chat already, had he?
“I’m here to extend an invitation,” I told him.
He cocked a brow but didn’t say a word so I continued.
“For you to bring the Bexleys to House Avus tonight,” I said. “For dinner.”
His smile vanished.
“House…Avus,” he repeated.
The muscles in his abdomen tensed and I cleared my throat as I turned away.
“From Milo, the Heir,” I rushed on. “He considers himself Adrian’s friend. I think you’ve met him?”
“I have. Have you?”
“I told him her family might be in danger so he wants to meet with them and, apparently, you. I’ll come get you this evening around eight.”
I strode past him again and made a break for the door but, before I could reach it, his hand shot out and gripped mine. I stopped, gaze shooting to the contact, as he turned to face me.
“Who are you?” he repeated. This time his tone was almost desperate.
I frowned and reached down. With my other hand, I peeled his fingers off of me. Then I looked up to meet his gaze.
“My name is Olympia,” I said and then I left, pulling open the door and letting it shut behind me.
I headed down the stairs and out onto the street as quickly as I could.
I tried to ignore the strange knot in my chest that had no reason for being there.
I’d told him who I was. He’d either know me or he wouldn’t.
I imagined if he did, it wouldn’t be for anything positive given my history with Adrian, but it shouldn’t matter.
It didn’t matter. So why did I feel like smashing something all of a sudden?
I paused by the stairs to take a breath.
Stupid, stupid, this is so stupid.
My hands clenched at my sides as I resisted the urge to punch something.
You rarely are, Olympia, a voice that was not my own replied.
My head shot up, eyes darting around as if someone had spoken aloud. They hadn’t. I’d known who it was the moment he entered my mind, regardless of my own denial.
Luca, I said his name and felt a warmth flow through the bond I did my best to shut off.
Olympia, he answered.
I didn’t mean to reach out. I wasn’t trying to contact you.
Which means you lost control. How very unlike you. What happened?
Don’t do that, I snapped and turned toward the stairs. I began to ascend as quickly as I could, as if I thought I could outrun this, get away from the man in my mind. Don’t care.
But I do care. I always have.
I didn’t answer him as I strode straight through the Second and started climbing back up to the First.
You’re upset, I can tell, Luca spoke again after a moment. Why couldn’t I shut him out? Don’t you want to talk about it? Wouldn’t it make you feel better to get it off your chest?
I can handle my own emotions. I don’t need you to regulate them for me, I snapped.
There’s nothing wrong with asking for a little help from time to time. Tell me what happened.
No.
With one enormous mental shove, I pushed Luca out of my mind.
I slammed the gate a little too loudly behind me on my way into House Avus, sending a few kids playing outside scattering.
I didn’t care. I just kept going until I found Paxon standing dutifully outside of Milo’s study as always.
He looked surprised to see me, eyes going wide seconds before they narrowed and his posture stiffened.
“He’s busy,” he said before I’d even fully approached.
“I’m not here for him,” I replied. “You used to get with that Viper. Bade.”
His eyes blew wide and he glanced down the hall to make sure no one had heard.
“Geist, Olympia,” he cursed.
I ignored his concern and worded my next statement so he knew it wasn’t a request.
“Tell me how to get into Viper.”