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When Eve was satisfied with the look of each bruise she added another preternatural charge, which would act like a tattoo and make the effect semipermanent. A series of showers would fade and then eventually cause the wounds to disappear.
Adding a dusting of light cream powder to Angelica’s face and just a hint of blue beneath her eyes gave the impression that Angelica had been brutalized.
When Eve was done Angelica turned toward Reyes. “So how do I look? Damaged enough?”
Reyes, who’d been buried in the laptop and scowling, glanced up. If she’d had any doubt how well Eve had done, Reyes’s horrified reaction as he stood up and nearly dropped his laptop spoke of the success of the project.
“Holy shit,” he murmured. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I am. Eve didn’t really hurt me.” Angelica turned toward Eve. “She’s just that good.”
“I am,” Eve said. Having packed up her case, she closed it with a snap. “Sorry, kids, but I have to go. I have a performance in an hour and my own makeup to do.” She turned toward Angelica. “You’re a damn fine soldier and I’m proud to have known you. I hope you’ll stick around, and if you’re smart, you’ll get Reyes to take on the double-chains. Which reminds me … ”
Eve pulled out the bottom drawer of the large case, and withdrew a familiar-looking red leather box. Before Eve could tell her what was inside, Angelica’s single chain vibrated heavily. “Wait. You’ve got the double-chains in there, don’t you? The ones that would take Reyes to Ancestral in the blink of an eye.”
“Yes, I do.” Eve extended the case to her.
But before Angelica could lift the lid to see what the chains even looked like, Reyes moved in and grabbed the box.
He barked at Eve. “How the hell did you get these and why would you think I’d want them here even for a second? Or that Angelica would want a permanent relationship with me? And you know how I feel about the Ancestral calling.”
Angelica stared up at him. She knew he’d resisted rising to Ancestral status for a long time, but she’d never seen him so worked up.
Eve said, “Not all Ancestrals are bad, and a majority of the traditions are worth reviving. I use some of the ancient Ancestral chants in my shows, you know I do. Our society has just hit a bad stretch, but that will change, especially with men like you taking charge. The Ancestrals at the top of the slaver food chain have brought us all down. They’ve perverted the use and meaning of their power. And though I appreciate that you’ve keep me ignorant of much of what’s going on within the Starlin slaver organization, and I do know it’s for my own protection, I’m convinced you’ll need a lot more power to face them. You should at least consider embracing your Ancestral status.”
Reyes stared at the box, shaking his head. “Not gonna happen. And I still don’t understand how you even got these.”
“Rumy sent them over and told me to give them to you the next time I saw you. And no, I don’t know how he got them or how he obtained your blood to make them. But you know Rumy. He’s so well-connected because of owning the entire Erotic Passage network that I’ve come to believe he could do anything he set his mind to.”
“You should just take them back.”
When he shoved them at Eve, however, Angelica took hold of the box, wrested it from Reyes’s grip, and pressed it to her chest.
She stepped away from him, lowering her chin. “I don’t care what you say, we’re keeping these. It doesn’t mean we have to use them, but just in case this whole damn thing goes south, I want them close by. Got it?”
Reyes blinked a couple of times, his mouth agape. “I’ll ask again, what’s gotten into you?”
“I’m not sure I can explain. But when you were bound in those horrible, rusted, smelly chains, I felt your Ancestral power. It was beautiful and I didn’t fear you at all. And Eve’s right. Your world needs men like you, good men, full of this kind of power and taking charge.”
He took on his stubborn look, the one that moved his jaw from side to side as he ground his molars. “Fine, keep them. But it doesn’t mean I intend to put them on anytime soon.”
“And I would never force you to, but I’m with Eve. I think you should consider rising to Ancestral status. I know you, Reyes. I know your heart, your character, everything you are. To me, you will always be the young man with a dozen stacks of books in his room intent on changing your world. That’s the man who should wear the double bonding chains.”
Reyes held her gaze for a long moment, and the chain at her neck vibrated with a new emotion, something she had trouble identifying. But it fell somewhere close to Reyes being stunned by what she’d just said. She knew he had trouble believing that anyone could think highly of him. She understood the cause as well, which made her furious with Sweet Dove all over again.
Reyes glanced down at the box she held in her hands and, though he grimaced, muttered, “Fine. I’ll think about it.” To Eve he added, “Thanks for bringing them by.”
Eve kissed Reyes on the cheek. “Hang in there.”
Turning to Angelica, she did the same, adding, “Glad you’re here taking care of our guy. If you can stomach it, stick around. We can use you right now.” With that she stepped away, waved to each of them, then shifted to altered flight.
Angelica watched her disappear through Reyes’s desk. She was now so used to seeing people come and go like ghosts that she barely blinked.
For some reason, as she turned back to Reyes, it hit her that after tonight’s gala event she and Reyes would start the process of separating. She’d always known this moment would come, but after making love with him as much as she had over the past couple of weeks, she didn’t want to leave. In fact it felt as though they were just getting started.
But on so many levels she’d already pushed the bounds of her own safety, and to continue on past the final event would really be tempting fate.
She was going to suggest they get ready for the masked ball when Reyes took the box from her and set it on the table. He then took hold of her hands. “It’s really hard for me to see you like this, even if the bruises are mostly fake.”
“I know. But Eve did a wonderful job, and it will give credence to the upcoming ruse that we’ll be staging.”
* * *
Reyes stared into her familiar warm brown eyes and for some inexplicable reason his chest grew abnormally tight and his throat hurt. He repressed a heavy sigh as he nodded. “I guess our time together is almost over. It’s been wonderful, Angelica, to have you with me, I want you to know that. And I’ll take every precaution to keep you and your mother safe, and if we need to I’ll help relocate you both to a different part of the country.”
