Chapter 42
Forty-Two
Dante trembled, staring into Autumn’s silver-gray eyes. He tilted her head, pressing his lips to hers. His tongue explored the sweet crevice of her mouth. His face heated from the love they shared together only moments before. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t convince himself he wasn’t dreaming. The joys of being with his wife.
He rested his head against her shoulder, breathing against her neck. He wound a curl around his fingertip, bringing it to his nose, soaking in her rich floral scent. He traced his finger from her jaw to her breastbone.
He was so grateful she was alive after everything that’d transpired. But at the same time, the blood boiled in his veins with vengeance. He planned to repay the pain and suffering Autumn had been caused ten-fold. He swore it on his life.
“So, before we go home, I have to take care of some pressing business,” the words played off his lips. He waited for her response.
Autumn glanced over to him, tracing her fingertips along his chest. “What kind of business?” she asked.
“Well—” he ran a hand through his hair, tousling the strands.
She stopped and brought her lips to his ear, kissing his lobe. “You promised me, no more secrets,” she whispered into his ear.
Shivers covered his entire body. If she wasn’t careful, he’d start up with her all over again. He might start up with her regardless, she looked so beautiful. His eyes fluttered closed then reopened before he rerouted the conversation. “How’s my sister? I know you’ve seen her.”
She crossed her arms, twisting her mouth to the side. “She’s really, really pissed at you.”
“Is that so?”
She nodded, rosy cheeks blossoming through the darkness.
A great sadness settled over him. He never meant to create a rift between himself and his sister. He thought he was doing what was best for her. But who knew what was best for anyone anymore? And what right did he have to make that determination?
“I don’t blame her. She has every right to be angry.” He’d be furious if he had been in her place—powerless, and unable to make his own decisions. That’s when he recalled they were in the exact same situation. The Grand Supreme.
Autumn snorted. “You think? It’s always your way or the highway, what did you expect? You never listen to anyone else’s point of view.”
He stared at Autumn, sensing a slight tone in her voice, but was unsure of what she meant by the expression. He remained quiet, inhaling a breath. Damn the human phrases he’d yet to grasp in the few years they’d been together. He was sure at this point he would never learn them all. It was a hopeless cause.
When he opened his mouth to respond, her voice whispered through his mind. “ It means you give everyone no choice but to do what you want them to. ”
He nodded slowly. How right she was. She was always right about everything it seemed. But he was too proud, and it’d taken him this long to admit his fault.
“I’m aware it’s something I need to work on,” he crossed his arms, staring at the ceiling. He watched the lights from the stars race over the silver finish. He paused, an inkling of guilt rattling through him. “I think I’ll go and pay my sister a visit.”
Dante jumped up from the daybed and prepared to teleport to Leyla’s room.
Autumn cleared her throat and pointed to his uniform rolled up on the floor. She snorted. “Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?”
His entire body warmed. She was right again, but when he grabbed his uniform to get dressed, he stopped dead in his tracks. The pocket of his pants vibrated. He reached inside and grabbed his communicator, and his heart sank to the floor. Please, no. A missed call from the Grand Supreme and one from Valdez Aventura.
“Who is it?” Autumn asked, head tilted to the side.
“Nobody important.” He declined both frequencies. He’d do without them both. They only spelled trouble. He tossed his communicator into his pile of fallen clothes.
He chewed his bottom lip into a smile and made his way back over to her as she still lay in the daybed. He leaned down and kissed her as he pulled the sheet away from her naked body. He’d never tire of being with her.
“I knew somehow you’d get me started again. By being so thoughtful and beautiful and completely yourself.”
She giggled, pulling him back into the daybed. At that moment, nothing else in the universes mattered to him more than Autumn, and he was going to make sure she felt loved.
After they finished for the second time, Dante dressed in a rosy daze determined to stay focused. He cast Autumn a lazy smile as she lay in bed playing with Mr. Hiss.
“I’ll be back shortly,” he reassured her. She nodded, resting her cheek against the pillow.
He teleported through time and space, seeing a swirl of colors and blurred faces of inhabitants of the ship before finally locating Leyla’s bedchamber.
As his heavy black boots hit the ground, he sensed her great sadness. It seeped through the air that she breathed like death. He glanced around the room and discovered her lying on her stomach on the bed in a dress as hideous as the one Autumn wore with a silver bodice and white fur-trimmed sleeves. These Zambarians. He rolled his eyes. They had no fashion sense. He bit his cheeks to stop himself from laughing.
She kicked her feet back and forth, with pods in her blue pointed ears, listening to some music he could’ve sworn his late father banned on threat of death.
He sauntered over and grabbed a pod from her ear and stuck it into his own. Yep. She whirled around with an expression of combined shock, horror, and disgust.
She rolled off the bed and came to a stand. She crossed her arms, breast puffed. “Get out of here.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. He quirked a brow. “Is that any way to talk to your emperor?” He leaned over to kiss her cheek, and she pushed him away. He stumbled backwards, resuming his stance gracefully. He straightened his spine, smoothing his crimson cape in his black-gloved hands.
Her blue face shifted the deepest shade of scarlet. “You really have some nerve, coming here. And with that smile you’re so famous for. Why is it you’re the only one who’s ever happy?”
He shrugged, sauntering over to the bed. He took a seat, crossing his legs. Leyla fled to the far end of the room and folded her arms. The window behind her sparkled with comets and passing stars.
Dante laced his fingers around his knee, bouncing it. “So, how have you been?” As soon as he spoke, a boot flew through the air straight at his head. He caught it with one hand before it made an impact.
“If you’ve come here to gloat and make small talk, then I must kindly ask you to leave. You know where the door is.” She folded her arms, staring out the window. He placed the boot onto the floor.
“Hm, an interesting proposition,” he mused. “But that’s not why I’m here.”
She turned around, resting a hand on the fullest part of her hip. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Now I guess you’ll never know.” He came to a stand, pretending to get ready to leave.
She moved closer. He could tell she was intrigued by the expression on her face. Her demeanor changed. “Out with it then.”
“What if I’m here to tell you that you can come home?”
Her mouth twisted to the side. “I’d say, what’s in it for you? We both know you always have some kind of angle, Dante the Great Conqueror.”
“Wow, Leyla, can’t I do something nice for you?” He threw his hands into the air in surrender. “Do I always have to be a monster?”
“You brought that name on yourself. Look at the horrific things you’ve done over the years.”
“I had no choice,” he said quietly. “And you know that.”
“That’s what you say,” she glanced away, crossing her arms again. “But we both know the truth.”
The room stilled and she continued. “Even if I come home, you ruined my life and it’ll never be the same.”
He ran a hand through his midnight hair, tousling the chin-length strands. “Is it because of Kyo? Okay, I’ll admit I got a little carried away.”
Her deep-brown eyes thinned to slits. “Hold the little . Of course it’s because of Kyo. Look at what you did to him and his family. They were nice and hardworking. They cared about me as much as I cared about them. You always have to ruin everything. I know you only wreaked havoc because they’re hybrids and you think everyone who isn’t pureblood is beneath you.”
His chest ached and his stomach twisted at what she thought of him. He tried his hardest to conceal the hurt. He had thought this way once.
“First of all, that’s not true. I sent him away to protect you because you can’t protect yourself.”
From Valdez and the Grand Supreme , it tempted him to add. But it no longer mattered, the situation had escalated.
Leyla rolled her eyes. “You’re such a liar.”
He continued. “Well, let’s see how much of a liar I am then. What if I was to tell you that Kyo is here and he’s downstairs waiting for you?”
“I—I’d say,” her legs wobbled, and her blue skin grew pallor. He’d caught her off guard. Dante rushed over to catch her before she hit the ground. He knelt, setting her against the wall. She trembled with tears beading in her eyes. He handed her a goblet of water from a nearby table. She sipped from the contents slowly.
“Relax, everything is going to be all right.”
He reached into his pocket for his communicator and sent Kyo a text. “Come upstairs. I’m in room 313. I need to speak with you.”
In a matter of moments, a hollow knock came to the steel door. Dante rose and walked over to the door, sliding it open. Sure enough, Kyo stood outside with his arms folded.
“You asked to see me?”
“Ah, yes.” He made space for Kyo to come inside the bed chamber. The door closed behind him.
“What’s this about?” Kyo asked. His eyes grew wide, and his tattooed neck tensed as his attention settled on Leyla sitting against the wall. Kyo froze, looking back and forth between them.
“I—” he stuttered.
Dante crossed his arms. “You’re not in trouble, and this isn’t an attack. I figured you two have a lot to catch up on. You have my blessing if you want to be together.”
Leyla covered her mouth, and tears fell from her eyes.
“But I don’t understand,” Kyo began. “I thought?—”
Dante brushed past him and left the room. He didn’t have an answer they’d both comprehend. Even he didn’t understand his own decision. A smile crept across his mouth at the realization he’d done something kind for once.