Page 32 of Omission

Our system is unjust. Cruel to those without a voice.

Maybe Leonardo can help, though? Fight with me to right these wrongs.

“Yes. We.” Bending his head, he nuzzles my neck before giving the area a small bite. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Good.”

Suddenly, Isabella’s voice breaks the bubble we’ve been under while they’ve talked or dealt with what happened here today. Our heads turn in her direction and find her clinging to Xadiel. Her heat was starting to hit her full force, and still, Isa placed a hand on the doorframe to keep her werewolf from taking her past the threshold.

She’s burrowing her head in his neck, but when she speaks, we hear her. “Somewhere in this building is Uncle Roberto. He never betrayed us.” A deep breath in and a low purr begins in her chest, a call to her mate, and the hold he has on her body tightens. We see the way his black-tipped claws dig into her flesh where he holds her. “Silla was Larue’s half-sister. He confessed this minutes before the first explosion.”

Behind me, Leonardo stiffens. His expression is so sad, and I do the only thing I can think of to soothe him; I hug him tight. He acknowledges it by doing the same and reciprocating, running the tip of his nose across my hairline while inhaling deeply. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Please find Uncle and take him home.”

They’re gone right after, and I’m left with a horrified expression. “Uncle Roberto and Silla? You know them?”

“Precious, do you know where my uncle is being kept? Silla?”

Arching my neck back, I meet his questioning gaze. “I don’t know where she is, but Roberto’s here. Hurt, but here.”

“Why do you say she like that?”

“Because that horrible woman was banned from our lands by my mother more than a century ago for attempting to kill her.”

10

ANAYA

“Take me to him.” The urgency in my tone has her stepping back, but not out of fear. Instead, Anaya holds out her hand for me to take while my prisoners are removed and everyone but one of my guards heads home. He remains close but gives his king and soon-to-be queen enough room to have a semblance of privacy.

That ends, though, when Gabriella and Theodore approach us. Their vampiric speed startles Anaya, our bond signals the short-lived distress but it’s gone as soon as it arrives.

Anaya gives my sister a small smile while hiding her apprehension, the fear of a reproach she hasn’t earned holding her captive. It’ll take time and our trust to break that habit, her father’s crimes are not hers, and this will be her first lesson.

She doesn’t speak letting the former take the lead, something, my sister does in true Gabriella fashion.

When we were children, Gabby was the outspoken one while Isa held the motherly instincts. She’s a little brass and always bold, and this time is no different as she steps up to my mate's other side, taking her other hand in one of hers. That’s her acceptance of her.

End of. No questions.

My precious one exhales, the tension draining from her. “I’ll show you the way. It’s higher up.”

“After you, Princess Anaya.”

“King Astor.” She begins to bow her head, but before I can stop her, Theo shakes his head. He’s watching her without malice; I see anger but it’s not directed at her. “I’m confused, Leonardo. Is this not how you greet other royals?”

While I’m happy she’s comfortable enough to ask me questions, I hate that she’s been subjected to certain things. For one, her father was a misogynistic prick who didn’t value his wife, much less his daughter. I’m sure she bowed her head or kneeled—the latter is a humiliating tradition—for the males of her family and men like Brice, who held positions of power.

And while her kingdom found these things acceptable, we don’t. We are equals. Respect each other.

“You don’t bow to family, sweetheart.”

She tilts her head in my direction, still not following me. “My family does…did…” Anaya’s genuinely confused and bites her lips, letting out a small sigh “…I don’t know what to do.”

“They no longer matter,” Gabriella answers this time, leaning a bit over so she could look at her husband. “Right, love.”

The vampire nods, smiling at his beloved. “To the family, I’m simply Theo. No title.”

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