Page 15 of Sound
“Indica mihi quid occulti oculos.” Her arms lift in front of her, a reddish glow spreading like snakes from her fingers. Her words are as understandable to me as if she spoke English, the old kind you’d find in faded poetry tomes.”Show me what thou hast hidden from the eyes of the.”
That same reddish glow surrounds the cat and the form shimmers like looking at it through water. It pulses and twists until it curls up, swirling before revealing a handsome guy around my age. His brown eyes are wide, horror written all over his face. Longish blond hair tied in a low ponytail rests over one shoulder, contrasting with the black jacket he wears. His lips part as if to speak, but the glow covers him like a cloud again, changing him back to a cat only a moment later.
“Oh my God,” I breathe the words, tears falling unchecked down my face.
“Your God has nothing to do with it.” Seraphina sneers down at me where I’m still kneeling. “I am your god now. Take a good look at thecat,as you like to call him. That will also be your fate.”
She whirls out of the room after dropping that bomb, leaving me staring at Alto. I’m not a hundred percent sure if it’s for him or me, but he looks miserable. Brushing off the tears with jerky swipes of my hands, I offer him a sad smile. I will not look at him with pity because he deserves more than that.
“Alto, get your ass out of the room right now,” she snaps from the hallway, and I watch him padding gently after her, his head and tail hanging limply down.
I stare at the locked door for a long time after they are gone.
12
Étienne
“You look like something chewed you up and spit you out.”
I’ve ignored the squishy sounds my shoes are making all the way home, but I doubt that will work on Lucien. I’m still willing to try. When he doesn’t get an answer to his comment, he falls in step with me, sniffing gingerly in my direction.
“You smell like shit.”
“Thank you.”
Passing the open foyer, I take the stairs two at a time. Leaving dirt and grime wherever I step, I can’t help but think that Moël will have a blast. My younger brother—the ruthless assassin of my court—finds cleaning soothing. Who would’ve thought? As long as I don’t have to do it, he can have at it. Swinging the door to my bedroom open, I reach back and pull the shirt over my head. When I turn around to close the door, I come face to face with Lucien. He doesn’t get the hint to leave me alone.
“Care to share where you were?” Bracing on the doorframe, he looks at me expectantly.
“What are you, my mother now?” I crow, but he doesn’t budge. “I need a shower. We can talk when I’m done.”
Lucien nods. Sighing, I take a step back so I can close the door. Shouldering past me, he saunters in my space and drapes over a chair. Entwining fingers over his stomach, he stares evenly at me.
“You can wait for me in the office.” The metal groans where I’m squeezing the crap out of the door knob.
“I’m good.” The heel of his shitkickers hits the low table in front of him, his other leg following until they cross at the ankles. “I’ll be right here when you’re ready to start talking.”
“I will be right down …”
“Go get on with it.” Shooing me with his hand, he squirms in the chair as if getting more comfortable. “I’ll hear you just fine from here.”
Grinding my teeth, I ball up the shirt and chuck it in the open hamper in the corner of the room. Unbuckling, I kick off my shoes before dropping my pants and stepping out of them. Lucien lifts an eyebrow at my nudity, which tells me if I think that will get to him I’m sorely mistaken. Cursing him in my head, I stride to the bathroom and yank none too gently on the screen door. The spray of water blasts out next, so I step in and slam the door closed.
Bracing my arms on the tiles, I let my head hang low on my chest and the hot water pound into my neck and shoulders. I still feel unsettled from everything tonight, but mostly from that kiss. I can’t get the feel and taste of her out of my mind. Swinging my arm back, I punch the wall with a furious roar. My fist goes through tile and brick, shredding the skin on my knuckles.
I welcome the pain.
“I found the loophole.” I hate that Lucien knows I’ll sing like a canary, yet I can’t stop myself from talking. “That damn cat is not trying to trick us.”
I’m not certain if that’s true but I’m fifty percent convinced it’s not luring us into a trap. Fifty is better than what I have at the beginning of this, so I’ll go with it. I’m just not sure if I’m trying to convince myself or my brother. Lucien stays quiet, so I continue to fill the silence like a sinner confessing his sins.
“I walked through the wards and entered the place.”
“You did what now?” My brother is looming at the open door of the bathroom, anger rolling off him in waves.
“I needed to know,” I tell him simply. “I knew if I was trapped in there the two of you would get me out.”
“You bet your ass we would but only so I could kick some sense into your thick head. What the hell is the matter with you, Étienne?” Spitting the words, he steps inside. “You could’ve died by the time we found you. You are a goddamn heir to the throne!” The roared words bounce of the tiles and echo in the bathroom.
