Page 35 of Consort of the Crime Queen

Aurora was right. They are my people, as much as I'd like to deny it. They're my people and I've let them down. Badly.

"Very well," I say tiredly. "We're done here."

The Syndicate members push back their chairs and file out wordlessly. The door groans shut heavily behind the last of them, leaving Lyssa and me alone again.

I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose against the headache building behind my eyes. How did I allow things to unravel this far? I should never have let it get this out of hand.

After a moment, I lower my hand and meet Lyssa's gaze.

"Go on and say it," I mutter. "Get it out of your system."

"Say what?" Lyssa asks. "That you royally fucked this up? That your judgment's gone to hell ever since Little Miss Sunshine fluttered her lashes at you?" She leans in. "That I should have left you hung out to dry just now?"

I give a helpless shrug.

She studies me for a moment, a small crease between her brows. "Listen, you need to remember how you got where you are. Hades needs to be ice-cold. Even when she's messed up."

I let out an aggravated sigh, even as I acknowledge the truth of her words. Aurora has me so tangled up and off-balance I can't even keep my own emotions in line, let alone the Syndicate. It's pathetic, really. "Point taken. Now how the hell do I fix this? Get my people back on side?"

"You're asking me?" she snorts. "I'm not exactly a people person."

I make a face. "And yet, still better at it than me."

"You got that right." Lyssa leans back in her chair. "Hmm...well for starters, get that plan together to take out Nero. And stop shutting people down when they make suggestions. Plus you could stand to get to know them a little better. Let them get to know you." She gives me a pointed look. "They'll follow you to hell and back if they believe you give a damn about them."

I make a dissenting noise low in my throat at the thought of making myself so vulnerable. Of letting anyone potentially wield power over me by getting too close. The very idea leaves a sour taste on my tongue. But Lyssa is right. Slowly, reluctantly, I nod. "Alright. I'll figure something out for Nero. And…do all that other stuff, too."

Lyssa seems to read my thoughts, her gaze softening by the barest degree. "It's salvageable," she says quietly. "They'll come around."

I nod, a flicker of hope rekindling inside me. Perhaps turning things around is possible, though it means confronting my own natural instincts of mistrust and isolation.

But if that is what it takes to regain control, so be it.

"Thank you for your advice," I say sincerely.

I see a flash of surprise on her face. I so rarely openly thank her or acknowledge her competence. Before she can respond, I push to my feet and stride for the door, anxious to put this taxing day behind me.

Right now, there is only one place I want to be. One person I need to see.

Aurora. Just the thought of her steadies something inside me, easing the turmoil of this disaster of a day. With her, things make sense. The world beyond these walls falls away, and it's only the two of us. No scheming underlings, no threats from my father.

Just...peace.

I enter my bedroom to find her freshly showered, hair still damp, and curled up on the window seat, gazing out at the moonlit grounds. She turns and smiles softly as I approach, opening her arms. I go readily, sighing as she draws me close and cards her fingers through my hair.

"By the time I got to the war room it was emptying out. You should have woken me," she chides me.

"Why should both of us be stressed?"

She frowns a little. "If you're trying to keep me out of Syndicate business?—"

I can't stop my groan. "Please, Sunshine. Just for tonight—let it go. You were asleep and you looked so peaceful, I couldn't wake you. That's all it was, I swear."

After a moment, she nods her acceptance, and I go to the other chair and slump into it, a weariness overtaking me. She comes over behind me and starts to massage my shoulders.

I'm too drained to protest.

"So…rough meeting?" she asks.

---