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What are the fucking odds?
If I were a betting man, I suppose I would have put money on a security breach rather than Liam making it out alive—without a single-fucking-scratch. In fact, he was fucking waiting for us when we exited the burning hay.
“Took you fucking long enough,”he growled, immediately pulling Nereid from my arms and into his.“Come here, agápi.”The almost cooing would have been comical if she hadn’t been shaking from fear.
All Liam could tell us about his miraculous escape was that as soon as he’d pushed Acacia towards Gus, and the fire closed the exit in front of him, five men in all black, with gold infinity symbols on their shoulders, jumped down from the top of the maze. Two of them disappeared into the maze, while the other three hacked their way through the hay to safety. Just as they had an opening that was big enough to crawl through, the other two returned, carrying Marian Drákon between them.
As soon as they escaped, the men disappeared, and unfortunately, the camera facing that particular angle stopped recording just as Cia entered the maze. This means there’s no footage of the intruders. At all.
As much as I hated it, I left Acacia so I could go roundup Arthur and Remus, that’s when I bumped into Alexander. Until tonight I’ve pretty much managed to not have the three Leaders gathered, but with current events that’s no longer an option.
I take a deep breath and look at my council. The way they’re divided won’t do. It will be impossible to get anything done if they constantly bicker amongst themselves and throw accusations around. The problem is that I don’t believe the allegations to be false, I’m very much convinced the Great is responsible for Uther and Romulus’ deaths. But even so, my gut tells me there’s a lot more to this than Alexander will uncover.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Enough!” I roar, slamming my fist into the round table as I take my seat. “The entire Society has just been threatened, and you’re only pointing fingers at each other.”
The silence that follows my outburst is deafening, and I force myself to ease up. It won’t help if I’m letting my emotions rule the fucking show. Although that’s easier said than done.
“I apologize,” I stiffly say, forcing my hands to unclench. “I know there’s a lot of baggage and distrust at this table, and I acknowledge the wrongness of that. However, we’ll need to address that at another time.”
When Remus opens his mouth, I’m fully prepared for him to argue with me. “As much as I hate to do so, I agree,” he says, all while staring menacingly at Acacia’s dad.
Arthur mumbles his agreement as well, but he’s just as quick to voice his refusal to trusteveryoneat the table.
I run my hand down my face, unsure how to proceed when the council is split. Turning my head towards Alexander, I say, “The majority of my council has spoken, and I intend to listen. You need to find someone who can act as your second and sit here in your place.”
The Russo and Hatt Leaders take in shocked breaths, but the Drákon nods like he was expecting it. “Will anyone do?” he calmly asks. When I nod, he demands, “Swear it, Kairos.”
“I swear you may appoint someone to take your place, and that it’s strictly your choice.” Then I think better of it, and add, “As long as your choice has a blood tie to the Leader position.”
When Alexander says, “I want Morgana Hatt to take my place,” I take a moment to convince myself I didn’t hear wrong.
Before I can say anything, Arthur is half out of his seat, shouting, “What’s the meaning of this?” The vein on the side of his neck pulses visibly, and the scar on his face looks even more grotesque as he frowns. “What does my sister have to do with this? She doesn’t have a blood tie to the Drákon Leader.”
I try to catch Alexander’s gaze, but the Drákon expertly avoids me by keeping his eyes on the table. I feel like grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and hauling him out of here so I can demand answers. Sighing, I rake my hand across my face, I already know I can’t make a spectacle. I’m supposed to remain neutral between their petty squabbling. Only, this time, it isn’t petty, and not everyone affected knows it’s even happening.
The Great unfolds from the chair he was occupying and shakes his head at the Hatt Leader like he’s an obedient child that needs to be scolded. “Our Ruler didn’t specify that my second has to be of my blood. He merely said ‘a blood tie to the Leader position.’ As the child of the former Hatt Leader, and sister to the current one, Morgana has a very strong blood tie.”
Remus bursts out laughing, looking like he hates his reaction to Alexander’s loophole.
“So be it,” I say, tilting my head. Then I text my head of security and order him to find Morgana and bring her here. As I look up, Alexander has his hand on the door handle, ready to leave. “You need to stay until she’s here. If she accepts, you may leave and never return. However, if she doesn’t, you need to come up with another suitable candidate.”
The silence as we wait for Morgana is deafening, and I can feel the anger pouring off Arthur. None of that matters to me, though. I just want this over and done with so I can go find my nereid.
I can still feel the remnants of the fear I felt when the fire started. Not knowing if Acacia was alive was fucking torture, and I want nothing more than to lose myself in her for the rest of the night.
Since we’re still waiting, I pull my phone out again to text her.
Me: I want you naked and waiting when I return!
Her reply is almost instantaneous.
Nereid: I’m not leaving Liam and Gus!!
I roll my eyes as I type out a reply to her text. She clearly needs to work on her reading because I never asked, nor expected, her to leave them. If they want to join in, I don’t care. Not as long as I get to have her taste on my tongue.
Me: You don’t read that well, do you? Where did I demand that?
