Page 90 of Cheating Fate

“Take good care of my grandson, Zharina. You are both each other’s greatest blessing.”

Chapter 19

Zharina

My mind reeled as Gavin and I rejoined the others. Despite the brave front he was putting up, I could feel how much all of this was messing with his head. His protective instincts were screaming for him to March right back to the Basilica and get his grandfather out of there. My own instincts were berating me for not having dragged the Divine right back to our ship. I didn’t trust Gotia not to go completely insane on him.

That female was foul. The only reason she stood by stoically while Taseus verbally annihilated her was the fear of his psionic attacks. Her flabbergasted reaction the first time he used it on his Chamberlain led me to believe he had never used his powers against any of them before. I also believed she had been clueless about just how much he knew of her crimes.

That meant Gotia was now a cornered animal. She couldn’t have committed all the crimes he laid at her feet on her own. On top of fearing also getting exposed, her acolytes would fight to maintain the scheme that allowed them to enrich themselves and gain greater power and influence. What did he know that we didn’t? He wouldn’t be this confident in his safety unless he had some plan already set in motion.

But he thought his entire court hated him…

Alone and isolated as he believed himself to be, how could he have secured any ally against the highly probable retaliation headed his way?

Even as all those questions fired off in my brain, I tried soothing my mate. I wanted to mind-speak to him, tell him that all would be well. However, as he didn’t have the ability to speak back, I refrained from it. I didn’t know exactly what he needed from me. And the last thing I wanted was to talk at him if he only wanted some peace and quiet to sort out his own feelings first.

As soon as we entered the Parliament building, my gaze zeroed in on my brother. Just one look at us sufficed for Vahl to know something was off.

“We’ll explain later…” I mind-spoke to him pre-emptively.

He gave me a subtle nod in acknowledgment.

“There you are!” Coron exclaimed with the excessive enthusiasm that seemed to be his main personality. “Please come and grab some refreshments.”

He waved at a lavish table in the greeting hall. It offered a wide variety of amuse-bouche, some of which actually were Veredian delicacies. Under different circumstances, I would have gladly indulged. However, my stomach was far too knotted with apprehension.

Gavin cast an inquisitive glance my way to see if I wanted anything. I smiled and shook my head.

“Thank you, Primus. But we do not require anything right now. Anyway, we have delayed this meeting enough. We’re ready to proceed if the others are,” Gavin replied.

“We’re ready,” Vahl concurred, the rest of our team nodding as well.

“Excellent! This way then. My assistant, Cicarus, has prepared the conference room for us,” Coron said in a cheerful manner.

Cicarus, a rather handsome male in his mid-thirties, with grayish-blue skin on the paler spectrum for Dantorians, white wings, and stunning, deep-blue eyes, smiled and gestured for us to follow. He swiftly took the lead. We all complied.

Only a few steps in, Gavin suddenly grabbed Vahl’s upper arm, stopping him. Simultaneously, he raised his right arm in front of me to prevent me from advancing further.

“No,” Gavin said forcefully, an intense expression on his face as he stared at the imposing set of double doors located on the south side of the room.

We all froze, tension sweeping within us as we stared at him.

“What’s the matter?” Coron asked, confused.

Gavin continued to stare silently at the doors for a few more seconds, his spine stiff, and his muscles bulging. Our Braxian companions immediately spread over a couple of steps as if setting up a defensive perimeter.

“Not in this room,” Gavin said at last.

Coron looked at him even more baffled. “What? It’s our standard meeting room for—”

“I said no,” Gavin said harshly, his eyes hardening as he stared at the Primus. “Please provide a different room.”

“What’s going on?” Vahl asked me through mind-speak.

He hadn’t included the rest of the group as they obviously wouldn’t know any more than he did. As I had been with Gavin in the Basilica, he likely assumed we’d gotten some sort of insight prompting my mate’s current reaction.

“Your guess is as good as mine. But I think things are about to turn ugly,” I replied.