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Isla smiled and rolled her eyes, rising to peck his lips before turning for the door. With a hurried glance in the large gilded mirror, she smoothed out her clothes, then her hair, and ran a finger along the outline of her rouge-painted lips.
She carefully twisted the lock and pulled back the door, feeling like her chest would burst when she beheld her father. The Imperial Beta of Io was a hulking presence, the tallest of the men who stood in the doorway, making her, and sometimes even Sebastian—who could’ve been his twin if he hadn’t gotten some of their mother’s prettier features—look small. He wore a dark suit stitched in patterns of burgundy and gold...the Imperial colors.
“Are we interrupting?” Sebastian asked tauntingly, and Isla cut him a glare. He even earned a narrowed look from the woman beside him.
Isla shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ameera, gorgeous in a cream dress that hugged her body perfectly, not there accompanying her brother, but there with Sol as somewhat of an apprentice.
Ever since Ezekiel was imprisoned, the position of Kai’s second had been vacant…and he wanted Ameera to take it. Not because it had been her father’s but because it suited her. The warrior general who’d known him and been by his side since they were children. After an initial outright refusal, telling him no one would want atraitor’s daughteras the pack’s beta, she told him that she’d consider. Shadowing Sol allowed her to get into more of the inner workings of the court and Kai’s stripped-down and now-replenished council. Anyone he’d felt had ill intent towards him or Isla was gone.
So much had been changing within the pack’s hierarchy that Isla feared they teetered on a fine line, and others would see that as instability and an opportunity to strike.
“My little warrior,” Imperial Beta Malakai boasted, his arms splayed.
Such an old endearment. Isla didn’t hesitate to enter her father’s embrace, which had once made her feel like the world couldn’t touch her, but now there was an uneasy feeling slithering inside her as she remembered whom he served. Who he’d probably just left.
He had no idea what a monster he had for a ruler, for a friend—or did he? Was it ignorant for her to assume her father knew nothing of what Cassius was doing? Would it be improper to ask if he’d confronted Cassius upon learning his friend had known he was sendingIsla’s mateinto a battle to the death?
And he couldn’t have known the most damning thing of all. That Cassius had knowingly sent her mother into peril in order to cover up his mistakes and likely figured she’d been captured by the witch and left her for dead.
As rage built up inside her, Isla’s mouth opened to say it right then. He needed to know. Sebastian needed to know. They deserved to.
But…not now. If they learned the truth, they might go after Cassius right now, and she wasn’t prepared for that fallout if it went horribly.
Selfish.
Guilt gnawed at her stomach.
Isla pulled back, schooling her features. “You’re here early. I didn’t think you’d be able to make it until tomorrow. I haven’t even made sure the guest wing of the House is ready. I would’ve arranged for dinner, or—”
“You’ve never arranged anything for me,” Sebastian said, adjusting the cuffs of his navy suit jacket.
Isla looked him over, thankful he cleaned up remarkably well. He could annoy her to no end, but he played the part of dashing—and sneaky—court member perfectly. She just needed to give him a speech to keep it in his pants forone night.
“You showed up unannounced,andyou made yourself perfectly at home without my assistance.”
Malakai looked between his two children, that he hadn’t seen in weeks, a smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t pester your sister,” he told his son before directing his gaze back at Isla. “You’ve been busy, I’m sure.”
Isla waved him off. “Only a little.”
Her father’s eyes drifted behind her, to where she knew and felt Kai standing, allowing them to have their moment. Malakai bowed. “Alpha.”
“Imperial Beta.” Kai stepped forward, taking his spot at Isla’s side. He reached forward to grab the beta’s hand…the same hand he’d been gripping her hair with only minutes earlier. She shook away the thought so violently that Kai must’ve felt something through the fractured bond, glancing her way.
“I’m happy you could make it,” he said to her father, dropping his hand. “I hope you had an easy trip.”
“The rain made for some muddy trekking, and we ended up getting stuck,” Malakai conceded. “But we made it.”
Kai blew out a breath. “Rainy season coming down from the north as well? It’s been pretty bad here.”
A moment’s hesitation and a locking of his muscles. Isla hated that she noticed her father’s small ticks, his tells.Lie, the word flashed across his face, to her, like a beacon. “Unfortunately.”
Kai had caught him off-guard somehow. What wasn’t he saying?
“Well, thank the Goddess,” Sebastian mused. “With all the droughts we’ve had the past few summers, it’s nice it’s finally turning around. Maybe it will have cooled off by the time I go back.”
Her father swallowed, and his smile was too tight. “Indeed.”
There.
