Page 17 of Ethereal Shifters

Nine

ONYX

If she doesn’t get her hand off my knee, I swear to the Darkness God, my Nexus is going to throw her out of the glass window and into the heavy traffic. Thankfully, Mei stands up and walks across the room to get another drink in her stupidly expensive pink dress that makes her look like a doll that someone dressed up for a laugh. Mei Heng is a rich, spoiled, pampered, annoying, and fucking fake princess of Starlight City with long black hair, a skinny figure, and an unusually big nose.

I have to pretend to be remotely interested in proposing to her in the hopefully never future to keep my father’s attention off Gwen. Every boring hour I spend listening to Mei talk about crocheting or her love of food shaped like flowers is an hour that keeps my father happy. After last week and the fuck up at the Rite of Freedom that might cost me everything, I need my father to be happy with me.

Gwenieve’s first trial is in two weeks, and I can’t save her from it. None of us can. At the moment, this is all I can do, while desperately thinking of Gwenieve every single hour of every single day. I feel a tap against my magic, against my Nexus, and it’s her. She taps the rune, letting me know she is thinking of me,too. I can do this, make him think that I’m going to do everything he wants while we figure out a way to prove that he’s been working with Vian and get him off his damn throne. I am never proposing to that woman. I am never giving up on Gwen. Even if I didn’t win the Rite of Freedom, my plan would have lived on with Finn, Alek, Rhodes and Hollis. She will be free the second we have enough information to prove my father is a betraying asshole. When my father is dead and proven guilty, Gwenieve will be safe.

I mess with my tie as Mei’s mother offers me a drink. “No, thank you.”

“I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been.” Mei downs another glass of wine. She always drinks when she sees me, and I don’t think she wants this proposed marriage either. I’m one hundred percent sure that she has a mate herself, regardless that it’s publicly been said she doesn’t. I bet she does. I bet she wants nothing to do with me as much as I want nothing to do with her. But she’s good at pretending in order to survive. It’s a game the rich like us have had to master. I would know best. I’m good at pretending in order to survive too.

Thunder slams across the sky, and we all turn to see lightning follow soon after, briefly lighting up the dark storm as it rains harshly on Starlight City. I glance up at the clock. It’s been exactly one hour, and ten p.m. is when they leave.

“As lovely as it has been to see you, Mei, I have business to attend. My business associate is waiting downstairs, but feel free to stay in my apartment as long as you wish.” I hope they fucking leave soon. I sense Hollis outside the building, waiting for me. He won’t come up when she is here, mostly because he hates small talk just as much as I do.

“I hope we see each other soon.” She sweetly smiles my way. I want to throw up at the sight of that smile. I managed to throw some kind of fake smile back at her before walking out. Mymother’s in my kitchen, messing around with some appetizers she’s making for Mei. She calls out for me, and I have to stop to see her. My mother’s hair is all peppered grey and falls to her waist, the ends still as blonde as she once was. Her slender face is marked with wrinkles. I swear time has aged her far faster than it has my father, maybe from all the stress he causes her. “Are you leaving already? I hoped we could spend longer together before you run off with the boys.”

“I’m sorry. It’s been a strange couple of weeks.” I rub the back of my neck.

She comes around to my side and shuts the door before putting her hand on my arm. Her Nexus flashes her eyes a bright blue, and the room goes silent, except for us. Her power cancels out sounds, and no one will hear a word said in here unless she wants it. “I know your father dislikes Gwenieve because of what her Nexus did, but I am worried that your upcoming marriage might threaten her Nexus too much and you’ll end up as collateral damage. One of you will be killed, and you look miserable. I don’t want this for you, so tell me what you want and I’ll help.”

I cover her hand. “Mum, thank you, but we both know you can’t help me with this. It’s going to be okay.”

“Is it?” She leans in. “Your father…he means well, but be careful if you love your mate. One of you is going to be heartbroken at the end.”

“He doesn’t mean well, and I’m always careful. One day you’ll be free of him too, mum.” I kiss her cheek. “I’d like you to meet Gwenieve at some point. I think you’d like her.”

She doesn’t say anything. I know she can’t say anything against her mate. Not when I think part of her loves him no matter what he does, and that love is stronger than her love for me. I leave out the side door of the kitchen and head down the stairs instead of taking the lift, just to clear my thoughts.It’s always difficult around my mother and the complicated relationship we have when it comes to my father. She knows what he does; she knows he is ripping me apart, and she never does anything to help. Her offer just then was pointless. I could beg her to stop him, and she wouldn’t say a word.

Hollis is waiting outside in the pouring rain, leaning against the side of the building with no umbrella. His clothes are soaked and I stand silently in the rain with him for a moment, not caring that the thousand pound suit I’m wearing is ruined. It’s risky to ask anything about her, but I have to know. “Is she okay?”

“Pissed, upset, back in the academy, the usual.” He looks at me. “You?”

“I wish I could tell her about everything,” I admit. I want her to know that I’ve never given up on us and I’m choosing her over my father. That he is going to pay for ever laying a hand on her. “So no. I need to clear my head before we go to the office to check it out.”

My father has fifty owned buildings, and so far, we have checked twenty-one of them. We have found nothing. Not a drop of evidence of him working with the Vian or doing anything wrong at all. It’s bullshit. If we are being honest with ourselves, the only place he would hide evidence is going to be in his own tower building in the centre of Starlight City. Anytime I go back there, I’m watched like a hawk by his guards, and there isn’t a chance in hell of searching the place. In three weeks, he is hosting a party there to celebrate his new status, and it will be the only time I’ll get a chance to search. The only issue is, he will have me watched—oh, and the guys are not guests. Only Annie is, and I’ve sent a message to ask her to look around, but I know she won’t have a clue what she is looking for.

We walk in silence down the quiet streets, and he surprises me by speaking first. “We fucked up at the rite. I should have stopped her.”

“Nothing would have stopped her.” I grunt. “We fucked up by not telling her and thinking she wouldn’t find out.”

“Just because she is powerful doesn’t mean she should have to figure out how to survive a trial from the literal fucking Gods,” he mutters. “I don’t want her to die.”

Fuck. Is that him admitting he cares? “Maybe you should get to know her better and leave Rochelle.” Hollis doesn’t say anything, and he looks away. “Do you feel that connection to that new girl?”

“Yes, but my Nexus literally wants to claw the connection out of his soul and set it on fire,” he admits. “You?”

“My Nexus is exactly the same. Not remotely interested. I don’t think it’s a real connection, and it’s wrong.” I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling that way. “That new girl must be upsetting her. That’s what I don’t like. I’ve not been able to find anything about this Georgina. Her blood was run through the network, and nothing came back. It’s almost like she never existed or…I don’t know.”

“Think it possibly could have been tampered with?” he asks.

I nod, stepping to the side to avoid a drunk man stumbling down the street. “Most definitely. Be careful. Keep your eyes on Gwen like we planned.”

“I will. There’s nowhere in the academy she goes without me watching or one of the others. Even if she isn’t speaking to us at the moment.”

That makes me uncomfortable. She is pushing everyone away, and I’m not there to ask her why, help her fix it. Just hold her. “Understood. Oh, but I forgot, tell Alek that the permissions to go to Morriganis City have been rejected. I don’t know why he wants to go there and why he wants to take Gwen with him, but they’re not letting anyone in or out. My father wouldn’t let her leave even if they did invite them in. Their city is completely locked down due to the recent Vian attacks.”

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