Chapter Fourteen
Olympia
Everyone, even Cosmo, had a soft spot for the acolyte.
He’d converted a seldom used garden shed into a private office for Bria and had even built out a hallway between it and the main house so she could come and go more easily. Luckily for me, he’d sacrificed security for the gesture.
It was nearly one in the morning by the time I pushed open the unlit old door and stepped in among dusty books and simple desks.
The hour was late enough that there was no one around.
Acolytes weren’t as studious as my cousin, apparently.
I eyed an oil lamp as I passed, reaching out to brush the surface of the glass with my fingertips to find it not even warm.
It had been a while since anyone had been here.
Staying within the shadows as best as I could, I made my way through the connecting hallway and paused in front of the door at the end.
The room on the other side, likely one of the back sitting parlors, was so bright I could see the glow around every crack in the door.
Voices were drifting out from beyond. I muttered a curse before pressing my ear to the wood.
Maybe I wouldn’t be gaining entry into the house itself tonight but that didn’t mean I couldn’t overhear a bit of gossip instead.
“-cannot believe Myrine said that to you,” a woman exclaimed on the other side.
From my vantage point, I couldn’t see her, and I didn’t want to risk pushing the door open slightly to get a glimpse, but it sounded like the voice of one of Dante’s aunts I’d met on many occasions before, Milania.
“She’s getting rather high and mighty these days, isn’t she?
She was always insufferable before but now she’s practically unbearable. ”
“You’d be the same way if your son beat all ten trials,” another woman challenged. I didn’t recognize her voice at all.
A third woman giggled at that.
“She’d be so much worse,” she added, still snickering.
“My son would never be paired with a Third Ringer,” Milania snapped. “Can you imagine the shame? I thought Cosmo was going to beat my poor nephew half to death when he came back from the First Trial. The acolytes really had their work cut out for them covering all those bruises.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“They’ve certainly had plenty of practice,” the second woman scoffed.
The room on the other side of the door fell silent. No one was laughing now.
Suddenly the small hallway was closing in around me.
The breath expelled from my lungs as my mind raced to comprehend what I’d just overheard.
Dante had returned from the First Trial to receive a beating from his grandfather.
I’d known Cosmo was hard on him, incredibly so, and I knew how it affected Dante’s moods, but I’d never considered he might have been violent toward him.
I’d never seen a single bruise or scrape on him he hadn’t earned from training.
He’d never said a word or indicated the abuse in any way.
I knew he feared his grandfather and hated himself for that weakness, but I’d thought it was simply a result of Cosmo’s authority and attitude, not any real threat looming over him.
I pressed back against the wall and took a shaky breath.
I remembered that morning. Meeting up on the Deck to get in line to take our Oath, bowing our heads together in line to discuss potential strategies for the First Trial we’d been training all our lives to enter.
I remembered the moment I’d come face to face with Luca in those disjointed halls, the disappointment that had stabbed into my gut and twisted so thoroughly I knew I’d never be free of it.
I remembered looking for Dante after and not finding him anywhere.
I remembered running off to House Viper after my commitments to Avus and Lynx were finished.
I remembered finding him in his room, all the lights off and his back to me as he laid in the dark.
He told me to leave and shouted at me when I reached for the light.
Now I knew why. He hadn’t wanted me to see.
Some fragile part of my heart broke at that realization and I marveled at the fact that I had anything left within me to break.
He’d suffered. Maybe just that once but probably not.
Probably so much more than I’d ever known.
I could remember other times then. Times when he wore long sleeve shirts for training when it was scorching outside and refused to take them off.
Times when he wouldn’t leave his room no matter how many times I asked or tried to entice him with promises of parties and teenage debauchery.
Times when Myrine told me he was sick and couldn’t train even though I’d seen him earlier in the day and he’d been fine.
I balled up my fists and pressed them into my eyes.
He was supposed to be my partner, my best friend, my everything.
Our lives revolved around one another’s day and night and I hadn’t known.
I hadn’t even suspected. He’d suffered in silence right before my eyes for years and I’d been completely oblivious.
Unable to stand and listen to any more, I stormed back through the hallway and out of the garden shed.
The door slammed against the stone hard, sending a loud crack reverberating into the night.
I didn’t care. If I didn’t get out of here soon, I was going to start hitting things and that might start a war.
Where are you? I hissed through the mental connection I’d vowed never to use again.
It was late but Luca was Luca. I knew he’d be up.
My room, he replied.
I changed course, turning sharply toward House Lynx.
I fought to maintain control over myself, tried to focus on remembering everything else that had been said and to determine who might have said it.
I had a job to do and nothing I’d overheard this evening would be of any use to my grandmother.
I should have stayed, but my temper wouldn’t allow it.
I was having difficulty concentrating on anything other than the rage building in my gut.
I wanted to kick something or scream or find someone willing to fight me.
I wanted to tear House Viper down brick by brick until my hands were bleeding and I couldn’t feel anything anymore.
My control was slipping. I needed to get it back.
Though Luca had never been successful in helping me do so before, at least he tried and right now, I needed someone to remind me why it wouldn’t be a good idea to storm straight through the halls of Viper until I found the old man and slammed his head against his own desk as hard as I could.
I made my way through the hidden tunnel in the cellar before taking the path I knew led directly to Luca’s room. I sent out the warning as I stormed through the halls toward him.
You’d better be alone or so help me Geist–
I’m alone.
My palms were bleeding from the force of my nails clenched against them, cutting into the skin, but I didn’t care. Breathing hard, I managed just enough composure to knock quietly on Luca’s door.
“So first, you want nothing to do with me and now you’re requesting permission to join me at two in the–” Luca spoke as he opened the door but his words fell off immediately when he saw me standing on the other side. “What happened?”
“He beat him,” I spat, storming into the room and bumping into my former partner as I did.
Luca took it in stride, shutting the door behind us with a click before turning to face me.
His hair was disheveled and he was shirtless with only a baggy pair of sweatpants resting low on his hips for coverage but he was alone, even if that solitude was rather recent.
He frowned with furrowed brows as he watched me pace across the room.
“Who?” he asked slowly.
“Cosmo,” I said. “He beat Dante.”
“When?”
“All the time. I just never knew about it until now. Geist! How could I have been so ignorant? All the signs were there but Dante never said anything and I thought–”
“Slow down, Olympia,” Luca interjected, crossing the room and scooting the plush burgundy arm chair toward me. “Sit.”
I frowned but obeyed. The nervous energy was only feeding my anger even more. Perhaps sitting still for a minute or two would help stifle it.
“How did you find this out?” Luca asked, settling onto the edge of his bed across from me and leaning forward, elbows on his knees
“I went to Viper,” I told him. “I was hoping I’d get a chance to sneak into Cosmo’s office the same way I did Raghnall’s but those people don’t sleep. I overheard some of Dante’s aunts and cousins or whatever talking about Myrine and then…”
I trailed off, not wanting to revisit what they’d said, but Luca understood. His frown deepened.
“He hit his own Heir?” he asked, stunned.
“Enough to bruise, apparently, and maybe worse,” I replied. “I remember times he couldn’t train, when Myrine would say he was sick, but he would always have this look in his eyes. I thought it was just his way, just Dante. He was always moody and brooding. But I didn’t–I mean, I had no idea–”
“Hey,” Luca said, standing as my voice cracked on the last word.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, cradling my head against his chest. I wanted to push him away, I knew I should, but I couldn’t.
I was coming apart at the seams and I was worried no one would be left to put me back together like Harrison had said.
I knew I couldn’t let him in again, not like I had before.
It was a risk to my House and to my heart.
Everyone I ever trusted left in the end.
Cosmo and Myrine treated me like one of their own for my entire life, apparently even better than one of their own, and then wanted nothing to do with me the moment Dante was paired with someone else.
Nascha claimed to love me but she used me and hid me away when my outbursts created an inconvenience to her political scheming.
Dante had dropped me too, the second he was paired with Adrian.
So I knew, in the very core of my being, that Luca would leave me as well.
He would promise not to, convince me to let my guard down, and then take everything and sell it to his House where they could use it against us.
Finally, I pushed away, sniffling and hating myself for it.
“Nascha needs to know,” I announced, having decided. “It’s another insight into Cosmo's character.”
“I think we’re all aware of Cosmo’s character at this point,” Luca spat.
I met his gaze and found a similar fury burning behind his eyes as what I imagined had ignited within mine.
“I should go,” I said and moved to walk around him. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“I’m not going to be Heir,” Luca spoke once I reached the door.
His words sucked all the air out of the room. I whirled to face him.
“What?” I asked, shocked.
“Grandfather has decided and it isn’t me,” he replied. “It’s Milo’s doing. He accepted the marriage alliance under the condition that Isla inherits the House.”
I blinked, caught entirely off guard by this news.
“So he’s marrying Cora?” I asked, wide eyed.
“No. He’s marrying Isla.”
“But how would that work? Their offspring–”
“Ask your cousin. All I know is he insisted and Raghnall agreed.”
“I’m sorry, Luca.”
He shrugged.
“I’ve known for some time now that my probability of being named Heir was low given my preferences,” he muttered. “I know I’m a disappointment to my grandfather.”
“Love should never be a disappointment,” I said.
“Yeah? Has that been your experience, Olympia?”
I flinched and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he told me. “I shouldn’t have said that.
I just…it’s a hard pill to swallow, knowing I won’t inherit my birthright because I don’t have an interest in women.
Not that I begrudge Isla. I love my cousin and I know she’ll be a phenomenal matriarch.
I guess I just didn’t realize how bad it would feel to lose. ”
“I know,” I told him because I truly did.
He looked up and our gazes met.
“Our Houses will be united soon,” he said.
I could hear the question he wasn’t asking, the permission he sought.
Luca was an extremely social individual.
He thrived in relationships. They meant everything to him.
So I knew he wanted, more than anything, to make it work between us.
He felt the pull of the bond much more strongly than I ever had but now, as much as I hated to admit it, I was beginning to feel that pull myself.
Tell me what made you lose control before, he spoke in my mind but I didn’t flinch away this time. I didn’t shut him out.
My thoughts drifted to that moment, when Harrison had discovered who I really was and I’d left him there, stunned.
I recalled the way I felt at the look on his face in Milo’s study, like he could barely stand to share the same space as me, like he hated me.
I submerged myself into the shame I’d experienced for even caring about what he thought at all.
And I brought Luca along with me for all of it.
I let him hear my thoughts, my memories, my shame.
When I opened my eyes, he was gaping at me.
“Who is he?” he asked because I hadn’t let him know his name. I’d told him what had happened between us but not who he was.
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered.
“Olympia,” Luca stepped forward.
“You asked why I lost control that day. As foolish as it is, that’s why. It doesn’t matter now. It didn’t matter then.”
He frowned but I just turned and opened the door.
I made my way out of his House back to mine, silently grateful he hadn’t chosen to continue the conversation through the bond.
Harrison wasn’t his business because Harrison didn’t matter.
He was just a boy from the Third Ring who’d looked at me in a way that made me feel something I hadn’t expected.
But now he hated me and whatever hadn’t even begun was over.
It meant nothing. It was nothing. I would never think about it again.
Or so I vowed.