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“Didn’t she come with the other girls?” I said, deciding I was too tired for games.
“I think she was still doing something. The others came without her. You can always ask Lavena.”
I followed her pointing finger to where my sister stood surrounded by a small army of admirers, wearing a dress that was ninety percent glittery threads. They shimmered and swayed dramatically around her when she moved. She was entirely in her element being fawned over and barely noticed when I pushed past a blond kid fondling her hand.
“Hey, watch it, pal,” the little twig barked until I turned the full focus of my attention on him. He cowered slightly, dropping my sister’s hand.
“Did you say something?” I challenged.
I had a solid two feet on the guy and a full fifty pounds. I could flatten him without putting any energy into it.
“Darius,” Lavena warned, giving me the,don’t you dare,eyes.
I continued to watch the guy until he muttered something about drinks and disappeared into the crowd.
“That was not nice.” But she was grinning widely when I turned to her. “He was just about to tell me about his ties to the royal family and how he was going to give me a tour of the castle.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That little weasel? What’s he doing here then?”
Her smirk widened. “Well, apparently his family was sent to Canada to run the foreign monarchy.”
I snorted. “The what?”
“Well, now, we’ll never know.” Lavena laughed and hooked her arm through mine. She led me away from her other admirers. “What brings you to me, dear brother?”
I disliked the way she was watching me, like a demon waiting to snatch up my soul. “Kami.”
She cocked her head to one side, all the while leading me away from the crowd in the direction of the terrace now absent of our parents. “What about her?”
I gritted my teeth, willing my patience to hold steady a little longer. “When is she coming?”
“Well, of course she’s coming. I’m sure she’ll be here at any moment. She was just waiting for her date to pick her up.”
It was said with the brisk casualness of someone mentioning rain later that evening, but the broad, toothy smile that followed indicated my sister knew exactly what she was doing. Well, it worked. All my good mood vanished with that single sentence.
“What date?” I heard the steely warning slice through the distance between us but couldn’t give a shit if she picked up on it.
“The one she’s bringing,” Lavena countered as if she couldn’t be sure if I was stupid or hard of hearing. “I think you’ll really like him.”
“You’d be fucking wrong,” I retorted without thinking. “Who is it?”
Lavena sighed heavily and pursed her lips. “You know what? I can’t seem to recall his name. Why? Is something the matter?”
She was fucking with me.
Any other time, I may have indulged her and played her little game, but I had no more patience to spare. I had no more fucks to give and I sure as shit wouldn’t hesitate to go straight back to jail that very night covered in another man’s blood.
“Don’t tell me. He’ll be here soon enough.”
My arm was caught before I could turn away. Razor sharp talons burrowed through fabric to cut into skin, an anchor, and a warning not to fight. Lavena’s grin was gone, replaced by bared teeth and cold eyes.
“You’re not going near her until we’ve had a few words, brother,” she said calmly. “Join me in my office.”
I allowed her to pull me out into the cooling night, away from the music and all the people I wished would just go home already, but that was a problem for later as Lavena rounded on me.
“You know what I find interesting?” she began. “The fact that you think I won’t put you in the ground for hurting Kami. You may be my brother and I would take a bullet for you, but I will not let you anywhere near her until you set a few things straight for us.”
I didn’t need to look to feel Kas and Sasha’s presence burning holes between my shoulder blades. I didn’t need to see that they blocked my only exit. The message was clear — I wasn’t leaving until they said so.
