The mother immediately picked her head up before reaching to pull away at the hooded veil revealing her model bonestructure, deep set eyes that seemed to sink into her face and full round lips with a long neck. The large earrings were just as big as her ears and her bone straight hair was pulled back so tight; it looked like it hurt as she stared at Xavier. She was a witch alright. I could see it in her eyes how she read him. She was playing coy and the helpless mother, but she was probably as dangerous as they come.
“You know…Danielle?” She asked. “My…daughter? Do you know my sister? Her…her mother who raised her?”
“Yes…I’m… I’m her husband,” he said after a second thought. “I knew her mother…Marani Jackson. Did Danielle not tell you?” Whatever smile I had on my face immediately tightened up as the woman’s expression grew dark. You could see the other women with her, exchanged worried looks.
“He’s not her husband,” I said, standing up with a nervous laugh. “Xavier, why would you say that–––”
“I plan on marrying her. She was engaged to me before she suddenly disappeared–––”
“Xavier!?” I shouted.
“Where is she?” He pressed.
“Xavier, you have meetings, press conferences–––”
“I don’t care about any of that shit. Where is Danielle? I need to speak with her. I wanted to speak with her sister and see if the two could reach out to one another, but she’s gone too. I…I want Danielle to know I haven’t stopped trying to find her…to reach out to her. I love her and plan on marrying her. My family loves her. My mom adores her and is asking for–––”
“Enough!” I snapped. The woman held her hand up to me, but her gaze remained fixated on Xavier.
“Do you want to see my daughter?” She asked.
“Xavier, no–––”
“Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Is she…is she asking for me?”
“Do you want to see her?” She asked again. “If you are to marry her, you would need to meet the family, and she is…currently courting other men at the moment.”
“Xavier if you–––”
The Queen sliced her hand in the air as my lips suddenly folded into one another with a single zipper going across, silencing me. She stepped closer to Xavier who was foolish to never take his eyes off of her. I began banging on the desk as my hands suddenly dropped down to padded paws and dark fur. My claws came out, attempting to scratch at the desk. My body slipped down into the chair before falling onto the floor on my feet. My full-on feline form was covered in my clothes when I quickly dashed out from underneath my desk only to see no one was left standing in my office.
It took a moment to adjust back into my body when I grabbed my phone and made the first phone call.
“Amelia Lovelace’s front office of Belmont University. May I ask who’s calling–––”
“Put her on her phone Jas,” I said, bypassing the formalities. A second later, I heard the phone crack with static until her voice came through.
“Amelia Lovelace–––”
“Xavier Martin is gone,” I said. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my head lowered over the desk. “He’s fucking gone. The fool just–––”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “We don’t need him. The Martins will have to figure that out on their own–––”
“What do you mean we don’t need him?” I hissed. “All of this started because of him. He’s the reason we are getting this type of traction in the first–––”
“We do not…need him,” she repeated calmly but with a firm tone. “He was never a part of the plan from the start. Just a perfect distraction for something more… Trust me. Let the rumors circulate that he’s missing, and people will assume the First Family did it in retaliation to Maggie Grey. We do not need him.”
“I thought this…this was about gaining control of the Underground and getting rid of the First Family–––”
“Stay in your place at that school and do as I say kitten…That is your only concern, yes? This is much bigger than the First Family…they are not a factor in this, just another distraction to the masses. We are moving forward.”
Chapter Sixteen
Souxie Lafayette
“Where is Asha?” I asked.
The dining hall was particularly packed this evening as students who don’t normally eat here on the weekends filled the chairs. It was the last official day before the games begin tomorrow. Maggie still wasn’t here with no sign of her. Asha finally responded with her typical it’s cool. We’re cool. You’re good. Still…I hadn’t seen her since she left Maggie’s mother house, and we covered some new ground with this Ayira connection. Isis sat across from me nibbling on her sandwich while Harvey texted on his phone. He leaned back in his chair with one solid leg stretched out underneath mine and would occasionally look up as the commotion in the dining hall grew louder.
