My breath shuddered through me as those pale green eyes bored into mine, intense with the heat of the stalled moment. When I passed safely out of his orbit and through the front door, I looked back. The slightest hint of color flushed Ares Necroline’s pale cheeks, his razor sharp cheekbones hollowing out further as he swallowed down the moment between us.
The look he gave me might have been interpreted as a glare. But the heat that undercut it drove through me, coursing through my veins like wildfire. If he hated me, the way I did him, then it was because I’d cracked him open like an egg, just as he had done to me. Now, both our messy yolks were spilling out for all the world to see. Down in the garden, our people stared up at us, waiting for orders.
I sucked air through my teeth to get my bearings. “The Carlyle is the safest place for all of us,” I finally said, without so much as a glance back at Ares Necroline. The sound of the door locking told me he was right behind me. “You don’t keep residence there, do you?”
“No,” he said, his voice soft in my ear as he came to stand next to me. “Do you have room for the three of us?”
I nodded, handing him one of my cards. “Address is on the back.”
He tucked it into the inner pocket of his overcoat and nodded to his brother, who was openly staring at Rhiannon. I frowned at him, and catching my gaze, he averted his eyes. That particular Necroline brother could blush fully, his cheeks going bright red. Rhi barely seemed to notice, or perhaps it was her perpetual mask of unbothered righteousness.
I sighed, knowing how unfair that was. She was doing her best, just like I had been. Both of us caring for the people we loved most in the world the best way we saw fit. She should have led us, not me. Her deep emerald eyes met mine, the faintest of smiles on her full lips.
Rhi nodded once, her face apprehensive, as though she was contemplating saying one thing, then changed her mind. She turned to Avaline Reyes. “Can you give us a lift? We need to get the girl home.”
As Avaline nodded, Ares swept past me on the stairs. “I’ll go with Eryx to dump the van, and we’ll meet you back at yours as soon as we’re done.”
Rhiannon sucked in an uncharacteristically loud breath. “Actually…” She averted her eyes from mine, focusing narrowly on Ares. She was about to say something I wouldn’t like—I’d bet money on it. “They’ve called you in.” She didn’t have to say who “they” were. The way she emphasized it made it clear. The Consulate bigwigs wanted someone to have a word. Rhiannon glanced up at me. “Both of you.”
Ares nodded, as my jaw clenched painfully. There was nothing I hated more than visiting the home office.
Avaline raised a hand. “Could you get my laptop from the office? If you’re going in, I mean.”
Ares nodded, all seriousness and focus once more, but as he passed her, he brushed a kiss to her cheek. “Stay safe.”
She nodded at him, adoration in her eyes. Eryx Necroline took the tiny necromancer’s hand and squeezed it tight. Therewas deep affection on their faces, but not romantic attraction. The three of them were unusually close for the Necroline Dynasty, which was as cutthroat as they came in this city. Why hadn’t I ever noticed it before?
Had I even been paying attention?
“I called you a car,” Avaline said. “They’ll be here in just a moment.”
Ares and I nodded in unison, like two oddly shaped little peas in a pod. We glanced at each other, and then both shook our heads. Part of me wanted to laugh, but the part that didn’t like the way we were gelling so easily scowled instead. Apparently, he felt the same, as he mirrored my expression.
For her part, Avaline looked as though she couldn’t wait to escape the two of us as she retreated with the rest of our people. I moved back to the steps of the house, watching as Ares stared at his dead people, whispering the words I assumed would send them safely to the other side. Wherever it was the restful dead went.
Jealousy washed over me. Wherever Ares’ Phoenixes had gone, it was a place I’d never see. My eyes squeezed shut against the thought. Knowing there was no rest in my future, no promise of quiet respite, was too much to acknowledge—too much to bear—so I didn’t.
CHAPTER 17
ARES
The Suzerain was builtover the burial mound of Orphium’s feudal lords, making it almost unbearably haunted and a seat of Necroline power—a reminder that Roman’s dynasty once ruled this city, wholesale, as kings. Before the Authority. Before the Trinity. Before the Consulate.
The flatiron building now sat in deep shadow, skyscrapers towering over its meager heights, still stately in spite of it all. Ember and I checked in at the concierge, checking both our coats and weapons. No violence was allowed in the Suzerain. All grudges between parapsychs were to be left at the door to the main building, above which readoderint dum metuant,“let them hate, so long as they fear.”
Ember’s lip curled as her eyes ran over the words carved into the rough marble. “As though their fear has ever brought us anything but pain,” she muttered as we walked through the doors to the Consulate’s seat in Orphium. She glanced back at me. “Sorry, that was Roman’s motto, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. He’d said it the day he gave over his crown, and joined the newly formed Consulate. The motto was meant to be a comfort for his people. We could not stop humans from hatingus, but we could cloak ourselves in what they feared most: death. In death, was safety. Roman had believed in the Consulate’s power to protect all parapsychs, not just those under our care.
He’d been wrong about that. We all had. I couldn’t deny the truth in Ember’s words, and I didn’t want to. I believed differently than he had, but I wasn’t certain I acted any better. Various parapsychs sat drinking various beverages in the Suzerain’s luxurious velvet-clad lobby. Some of my midtown vassals waved at me, beckoning me over to them, but I shook my head and held up a hand in greeting as Ember and I made our way to the block of elevators at the center of the building.
A text came through on Ember’s phone. She glanced at it. “Rhi got us transferred to Lola Carmichael.” Her eyes flickered over the screen. “She says you have a connection with her?”
I nodded, knowing Eryx must have fixed this for us. “She’s good with kids.”
Now Ember nodded. “Good. We need someone who is. I don’t think that girl should go back into protective custody.” She looked up at me, her eyes narrowing for a brief moment. “I don’t mean that as a slight, Ares…”
I filled the void in her words. “I know. The Phoenixes were one of my best teams. If they were defeated so easily, we need another solution.”
