Page 77 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

He narrows his eyes as if he doesn’t believe that I won’t try something. He’s right. If given half the chance, I will. Instead of saying as much and not waiting for him to start barking orders once more, I turn and stomp around the side of the tower, scanning the grounds and pathways for any onlookers. Thankfully, we’ve arrived at a good time. No one is here.

A hulking shadow falls over my frame as I move towards the doorway that leads into the tower and I resist the urge to come to a halt and force him to slam into me. Biting down on my tongue, I open the door and slip inside. Ruen catches it as it swings shut and follows me in. Together, we ascend the stairs, moving past the storage rooms at the bottom of the tower and then my own door until we’re all the way at the top.

Reaching past me, Ruen unlocks the door and shoves it open. A moment later, his heavy hand lands on my spine and pushes me inside. Two familiar figures stand across from each other at the massive arched window across from Ruen and me. Kalix and Theos turn their gazes back. Kalix’s lips curve upward as he takes in the sight of his elder brother’s furious expression when the illusionist, himself, moves around me and stalks the floor towards him.

Theos stands with his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed as he glances between Ruen and Kalix before his eyes land on me. Something shutters his emotions then. Pulling back as his expression drops away and so, too, do his arms. I narrow my attention on him, my upper lip curling back slightly. I haven’t forgotten what he’d done after Rahela had tried to kill me.

“So, cat’s out of the bag, huh?” Kalix grins wildly, a glint of pure insanity in his jade eyes as Ruen shoots across the room and has him slammed against the glass of the window so suddenly that the whole room seems to shake.

My eyes shoot up when the chandelier overhead clinks as it trembles and then back down. Kalix’s laughter echoes into the otherwise silent room. “Do you know what kind of danger she presents?” Ruen demands. “And you decided to keep it to yourself?”

Discomfort creeps up, hot on my back and then neck. Theos’ golden gaze settles on me rather than taking in his brothers as Ruen shakes Kalix, the rage on his face so different from his normal indifference and aloofness.

I shift awkwardly from foot to foot before sucking in a breath and then blowing it out. “Do you really think fighting will change the facts?” I ask.

Kalix’s eyes glitter with amusement as he holds up his hands, not even bothering to shove Ruen off him as he glances my way. “Didn’t think you cared about being the voice of reason, little liar,” he murmurs, gaze moving down over the dusty trousers and dirty cloak I’m still wearing.

With a sigh, I reach up, unbuckling the pin keeping the cloak closed around my shoulders. The heavy fabric slides off my frame and I catch it before it can collapse to the floor completely, setting it over a nearby chair as I stride further into the room. I ignore Kalix’s comment and make a beeline for the liquor cart and cabinet that I think I’m about to become even more familiar with than I did the night I fucked Theos for the first time.

“I need a drink,” I mutter. And a moment to gather my thoughts and figure out just how much I can tell these three without risking Regis, Ophelia, and the rest of the Underworld.

I make it to the crystal decanter full of amber liquid and yank down a glass before filling it to the brim, shooting back several mouthfuls, and refilling it a second time. When the burn of the alcohol moves down my esophagus and seems to do the work of easing the tension in my muscles, I finally turn to face the room again.

Ruen releases Kalix who straightens his casual tunic, as dark as his hair, without a single hint of displeasure at his brother’s reaction to this news. Theos, however, has moved closer as I’d been pouring myself a drink, and I start at how close he is. So quiet I hadn’t even heard him.

Before, only Ophelia and Regis had ever managed to throw me off. Now, I know Kalix is capable of the same, but I never expected Theos. My fingers tighten around my glass and for a moment, golden eyes flick to it before they rise again. Settling his attention on my face, Theos calmly and without speaking reaches around me to grab the decanter and a glass of his own. It isn’t until he turns and walks towards the lounges in front of the fireplace that crackles with flames spreading over dried wood that I realize I’m holding my breath.

Immediately, I release it and suck back another. My chest aches. Fuck. Everything does. I want to cover my face with both hands and sink into the ground and curse until my lungs dry up and turn to dust. I’m so Gods damned tired. Down to the marrow of my bones, I feel as if I’m on a carriage with no brakes. The horses lost to madness as they careen down dangerous paths, closer and closer to a cliffside that’s guaranteed to kill me the moment we cross over that last threshold.

Ruen moves away from Kalix and into the center of the room towards Theos. “Theos…”

The white haired Darkhaven lifts the hand holding his glass. “I assume this is about the secrets she’s been keeping,” he says calmly. Too calmly. “You and Kalix obviously know, but I…” He glances over his shoulder at me and for the first time in a long time, my conscience prickles. I resist the urge to look at my feet and avoid his stare. “I’m always the last to know, aren’t I?” The question leaves him, but no one answers. I have the strangest feeling that he doesn’t just mean this—me—but I don’t know how to ask him what else he could be referring to. I don’t know if I have the right to even ask.

Ruen is the one to respond. With a long drawn-out breath, he shoves a hand back into his hair, pulling the dark strands, longer at the top, away from his forehead as he cuts a dark look to both me and then Kalix before fixing his attention on Theos. When he does, however, the tension in his shoulders eases a bit.

“This isn’t the same, Theos,” he says quietly.

My fingers contract around the glass in my fist and the sudden urge to put it to my lips and drain it presses into my mind. For once, I listen to that compulsion without question. Setting the rim to my mouth, I tilt my head back and swallow mouthfuls of the spicy, sharp liquor until it burns its fiery path down into my belly and my head isn’t quite so full of guilt anymore.

Kalix steps off the ledge by the window with a casualness I don’t feel. I eye the decanter in Theos’ hand as he finally sits onto one of the couches by the fireplace, setting it onto the table before him and pouring himself a hefty glassful. I know I shouldn’t. I’m going to need all my wits about me to figure out this mess I’ve gotten myself into, but I’m going to have another fucking drink because the thought of facing these three sober really isn’t one I want to contemplate.

Moving swiftly, I take up residence in a wing-backed chair and reach for the decanter. Ignoring Theos and Ruen’s collective look of disapproval, I pour myself another and throw it back as all three Darkhavens approach and take their own seats. Three sets of eyes linger on me and I cup cold fingers around the empty glass in my palms.

“Well, what is the big secret?” Theos finally demands.

I bite down on my tongue. “Kiera.” Ruen’s cold tone makes me want to throw this glass at his head. Instead, I set it on the table before me and I close my eyes. Calling my power to me, I feel the tug of dozens of little responsive minds pulled towards me. Each spider is its own creature with various emotions and thoughts that I can never quite see. The brightest of them, though, is Aranea. My spider queen moves faster than the rest, the connection between the two of us the strongest.

A masculine sound of shock echoes into the room, and I know without opening my eyes that the three of them sense it. Either that, or my power has collected like dust, moving into swiping shadows at my fingertips. I’ve never been able to control them so much as they’ve been drawn to me. Dimly, I wonder if things will be different when the brimstone in my neck is removed. It’s likely obscuring much of the power I should’ve been born with. A shudder works through my system.

“Fucking … Gods…” Theos’ breathy words have my eyelashes lifting and darkness has encompassed the room. No. Not darkness. Spiders.

What I thought was a few dozen is far more than that. Hundreds of thousands of little creatures have crept out of the stone work, called from not just this building but the entire Academy. Across the grounds, anywhere in the vicinity of my signal, they have come.

Kalix sits with a bemused smile stretching his lips as he gazes around. When his eyes fall back to my face, he licks his lips, a promise in his gaze. Ruen has paled, but remains otherwise completely unreadable. Theos, however, is no longer sitting, but standing and turning as he stares at the mass of spiders that have suddenly appeared, blocking out the light of the window behind us. The light of the fire appears that much brighter and hotter with the sunlight from the window diminished.

A heavy weight crawls up my back and onto my shoulder. Without looking down, I lift a finger and touch the top of Ara’s head. She nuzzles at the digit before casting her attention and curiosity to the fact that I’m introducing her to others of my race. Mortal Gods … just like me.

Theos’ golden gaze, full of horror and wonder, meets mine.

---