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“Seems like the gods are not on your side,” I teased, broke out of his arms and reached over, opening the door. The heavy smell of rain came with the breeze; the air was as cold as earlier, and I wondered if it was going to snow again. Taelon held open the door more for me, allowing me to step outside. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” He nodded to me before his dark gaze shifted to Theseus, I couldn’t help but wonder what face Theseus had made for Taelon to chuckle softly, but I didn’t look back.
As we walked toward the plane, a familiar feeling of uneasiness crept over me. I only knew where we were going, but what would happen once I got there? I had no clue what I was supposed to do, furthermore, just leaving now felt incomplete. I should have at least put my affairs in order. My apartment, my car, my clothes, and things—my father’s things. I just left everything behind.
“Taelon,” Theseus spoke beside me. “I want her things sent to Ankeiros, if that is alright with you, Druella?”
I glanced up at him, unsure how the hell he’d figured out what I was thinking. When I did not speak, he went on.
“Those things are important to you, are they not? And if we are to leave them, I am sure that witches will go through it all. No one will disturb them in Ankeiros.”
I nodded first, giving my mind a moment to speak. “Yes, thank you, do you need my keys?”
“Unnecessary, we will take care of it,” Taelon said as we got to the bottom of the plane, looking to one of the men lined up in front of the stairs, flanking us on both sides.
They bowed their heads before turning to leave, walking back to the car. Two pilots and a steward waited outside the plane. Both of them waited for me to walk forward and up the stairs first, and when I did, Theseus followed. The inside of the jet was like every luxury magazine I’d ever seen of the rich and famous. It even had a long couch and two flat-screen televisions on either side of the aisle. I moved, taking a seat in the tan leather chair by the back window. The golden swan crest didn’t escape my notice on the head of the chair and in different discreet locations. When Theseus sat down across from me, Taelon sat down on the aisle to my left. It was only when we were seated that the pilots and the stewards came inside.
“May I offer any either you anything to eat?” Taelon asked, nodding to the steward who already came forward with bottled blood like wine.
I felt Theseus waiting on me, and so I nodded. The second stewardess came forward with crystal glasses, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This was a lot of indulgence. But not wanting to be rude, I took it.
“Thank you,” I said.
She didn’t reply as if she hadn’t heard me, going on to give Theseus a glass.
“You are very polite.” Taelon said as he was given his glass. “Do not mind the stewards. They follow etiquette and know when to listen and when not too. I hope your politeness rubs off on my old friend here.”
“You know him?” I asked, and Theseus just drank as if he could not care less about the conversation, but I knew that wasn’t true.
“He didn’t tell you?” Taelon sounded hurt and then leaned over as if he were gossiping. “I was the first one to greet the Prince of Night when he arrived on this continent a century ago in search of his mate, of course, he did not make that clear initial
ly. The Thorbørn are very secretive. He said he was here searching for someone who had offended their family, but I won his trust soon enough.”
“Soon?” Theseus’s eyebrow rose as if he doubted that.
Taelon rolled his eyes. “In our perspective, fifty years is soon, isn’t it?”
Theseus went back to his uncaring face.
“It took you fifty years to get him to talk to you? I’m surprised you didn’t give up.”
“When there is a Thorbørn in your lands, giving up is not an option. Rumor and gossip spread like wildfire, new stories of who could have possibly offended him came to our home on a daily basis. You’d think that a god had come the way every vampire was confessing their sins and the sins of others they knew.” He said. “Every time I received something that seemed like a plausible reason to bring him here, I’d go to tell him and ask if he wished for a trial. Finally, he grew so annoyed with me, he told me the truth. You should have seen my face. I stood, staring at the door he closed on me stupefied. Of all the reasons everyone in vampire society had guessed that one had never crossed any of our minds. I mean, who could guessed the Prince of Night was such a romantic?”
“No more than you,” Theseus threw back, slowly spinning the blood in his glass. “I do not recall. Where was it I slammed the door in your face?”
“Savannah, Georgia,” Taelon whispered, looking down into his glass. “And thus, began our friendship.”
“I do not have a need for friends,” Theseus said and met my eyes, and I felt like he was trying to see if that place rang a bell for me, but I shook my head. It was still many years before me.
“What was that?” Taelon questioned, looking between us, ignoring Theseus’s earlier comment.
The plane began to move down the runway, and I mentally wanted to kick myself for expressing anything.
“She seemed to want to bring up Lucy, and I was trying to warn her not to interfere,” Theseus lied with such a composed ease.
At her name, Taelon’s stiffened shoulders arched more. I glanced around the plane again and realized—or the first time noticing—she wasn’t here.
“Where is she? Isn’t she your mate?” I asked, frowning.
