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Chapter Twenty-Two
Sebastian
When I sit back down at the mahogany table, Caspian stares daggers at me across the table. Not exactly presenting the united front he insists he cares about so much. Unsurprisingly, that’s a one-way street in his opinion.
It’s only ever about what my brother wants.
Through the centuries, Caspian’s obsession with power has always been the focus. It seemed normal at first. We’re demons, it’s what we do. He claimed everything he did was for our family, so we’d have the most power amongst demonkind. Because it’s never been enough just to have power…having more power than anyone else is what drives him.
But for all his talk of family, he kept picking them off when they challenged him. He always justified it to me, always apologized and promised not to do it again. And then it was just he and I, the only two left. It’d seemed sudden, but really, I’d just been in denial.
That was a century ago, and now I stay by his side because we’re the only ones left. We must carry on the legacy, Sebastian. It’s only us now, brother.
Now, here we are, Caspian making another grab for power, clawing his way to the top.
“The summit is called back to order,” Aza says, casting her gaze around the table. “Now that we’ve been apprised of each member’s current status, I believe it’s time to move on to nominations.”
“We will vote on our new leader,” Drazos says, “Along with two second-in-command positions, the betas so to speak.
“We’re not a wolf pack, Drazos,” Caspian says with a roll of his eyes.
“Well, Caspian, you act like an animal most of the time.” Aza smirks across the table at him.
He snarls back at her, to which she grins even wider.
“Everyone calm down,” I say, raising my hands. “Any member who would like to nominate someone to assume Darkness’s previous role, speak now.”
“I nominate… myself,” Drazos says with a wicked smile.
I suppress an eye roll. This is always how these votes go.
“I also nominate myself,” Aza says, her lips turned up like a cat in the canary cage.
Caspian locks eyes with me, his gaze laser-focused on my own. “I nominate Caspian,” I say emotionlessly. That, too, is how these votes always go.
Drazos and Aza nod; everyone expected as much.
Another demon named Jinx nominates himself, even though everyone knows this is a three-horse race. But those are the rules: anyone can be nominated, by themselves or anyone else. You’re only hurting yourself if you’re not ready for what comes next. Which is usually a lot of torture and murder until someone arises victorious.
It’s been well over a hundred years since we had such a vote, and I’ve mostly blocked the bloodshed from my memory. I realize I need to give Luciana a heads up… having not grown up as a demon, she’ll no doubt have no idea the kind of violence that is typical at these sorts of things. I don’t need her caught in the middle of a demon gang war.
But there’s nothing I can do about it now. We’re all required to leave our phones at the door during the nomination and voting period. It’ll have to wait until our next break.
“Next round,” Drazos says. “Nominations for the betas.” He pins his gaze on Caspian as he says it.
Caspian’s face is red and ugly as he glares back. He really has the shortest fuse. “I nominate Sebastian,” he says from between clenched teeth.
“I nominate Jinx,” Aza says, which is just her bitchy way of pointing out to him that he’s not leadership material.
More nominations are thrown around the table, this time everyone speaking up as the stakes are far less high for the second-in-command positions. It usually just comes down to whoever the new leader picks anyways, as they want to ensure it’s not going to be someone who’ll stab them in the back and steal their seat. Since, you know, that’s just how demons do things.
“Nominees may now make opening statements to support their claim,” I say. “Starting with the top.” I point to Caspian, Aza, Drazos, and Jinx.
Jinx goes first, then Drazos, then my brother, and finally Aza.
“Save the best for last, of course,” she says. “I’ll keep this short and sweet. I’m the oldest, the richest, and Darkness trusted me with more than any of the rest of you.” She casts her gaze over to Caspian, her lips turned up in a wolfish smile. “She didn’t even trust some of you with her secrets. Like the hybrid blood banks.”
Both Caspian and I whip our heads in Aza’s direction, though for entirely different reasons. I can tell by the look on my brother’s face that he has no idea what Aza’s talking about. And the only reason I do is because Luciana told me what happened to her.
