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But then he remembered his father’s words from last night.Nothing I do is without intention.Nothing he did was without his benefit.So, somehow Raana was still more valuable to his causes than expendable.
Footsteps, then a delighted shriek snapped Adrien from his panic. He lifted his head to find his mother, Imperial Luna Marlane, taking great strides towards them, her copper dress billowing and her arms stretched out as wide as her beaming grin. “There’s my baby!”
Adrien couldn’t help a smile, too, his heart settling.
Yes, the coddling got to be a bit much after twenty-five years, but compared to the stone wall in front of him, he’d take his mother’s arms wrapping around him and the kiss she placed on his cheek any day.
“My two favorite boys,” she cooed before kissing his father. Even he seemed different now, softening in her radiance. She had such a…glow to her. She always did, but more so today than usual.
“Are these for me?” she asked breathlessly, looking down at the bouquet of roses.
His father had since risen to pull out her seat. A service he’d never offer anyone else in the world. “Of course, darling.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “It’s a special day.”
His mother sucked in a breath, brushing her dark hair over her shoulder.
Adrien let out a nervous laugh. “Why is it special?”
Marlane looked to Cassius, her smile impossible to contain. A question lay in her golden-green eyes that only her mate seemed to understand. His father’s smile, though genuine towards her, curdled Adrien’s stomach. “What’s going on?” he asked again.
Marlane turned back towards him and took a deep, bracing breath. “Adrien, my love.” She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. “You’re finally going to be a big brother.”
Adrien swore the world stopped. Teetered. “What?”
Marlane leaned back, and with her dress bunched behind her, Adrien could see the slight swell of her belly beneath the swaths of fabric. “You wanted a brother or sister for so long.” Yes, when he was a kid, then he realized Seb and Isla were enough.“It’s truly a gift from the goddesses.”
His mother’s eyes were lined with silver, her excitement seeming to make her luminescent. But though Adrien smiled, though he said, “that’s amazing” and “congratulations”, he felt his insides twist like someone had just shoved a knife straight into his gut.
Lowri arrived with his and his father’s drinks and interrupted his mother sniffing her flowers to take her order. Adrien had tuned the exchange out entirely, reaching for his tea and focusing on the swirl of milk and darkness, but the information ran on a relentless loop in his mind.
While Adrien lifted the cup in time with Cassius bringing his bourbon to his mouth, he finally met his father’s eyes.
It was there that he found the words and warnings, the fact now pounding at his skull.
The sole heir to Io no more.
CHAPTER28
ISLA
From her spot at the vessel’s bow, Isla glanced down the gradually broadening river, the wide expanse of the bluest water yawning back to the horizon. She would admit that she loved the sea as much as thunderstorms. The waters off Io’s shores were one of her favorite places to lie about. On the edges of cliffs, on warm sands, listening to the waves and gulls, having the smell of salt tickle her nose, and feeling the coolness of the water on her skin against Io’s brutal heat.
Isla inclined her head, breathing in so deeply she hoped to catch a whiff of anything she could tie to those memories, but all she got was river and burning fuel from the vessel’s engine.
How comforting.
Sighing, she glanced down at her mating ring, the gemstone atop it glistening in the fading sunlight. She could survive this. Being away from Kai, that was. It would only be for a few days, and she was her own person. She’d made it a month without him—granted, they hadn’t been mated yet.
A shadow cast over her as someone approached and settled at her side. Ameera splayed her folded arms on the boat’s rail, a breeze sweeping back her hair as she also surveyed the distant ocean. “Are you okay?”
She spoke with a jarring gentleness.
Isla must’ve looked morose if even the general attempted offering some warmth.
There was no need to be dishonest…and maybe her truth could inspire another. “I will be,” Isla said, echoing Kai’s words from last night. “What about you?”
Ameera laughed through her nose, seeming to understand the tactic. She met Isla’s seeking eyes with a sidelong look of her own. “I will be.”
More of an answer than Isla had expected.
