Page 200 of Night's Fall
“I don’t believe that’s necessary,”Dadsaid swiftly.
“You would be wrong,”Ireplied. “Mydecision is made.I’llalso be discussing this with theTruelocksand theVinestrongs.I’vebeen a member ofCat’sfamily sinceIwas eight,Gayle’s, sinceIwas nine.They’veseen things, they know things, and they can corroborate any assertionsImake along withDr.Fearsomeexplaining about my remodeled bones.Idoubt my friends will mind sitting in front of a cam and sharing their memories.Thevisit from theRVPBis on record.Yourtax penalty is on record.AndifAlekseireleases what he has, you’ll both have to move to theThreeRealmsto escape the ire of those of theFall.”
It was all coming to me now, everything, the entirety of it.
AndIshared that.
“I have a ninety-four percent approval rating.Goahead, try to fuck with me.We’llsee how that goes.Butmy advice, once you deal with whatever theHMRDturns up, find somewhere far away, go there and forget you have a daughter.OnceIwalk out of this room,Ican promise,I’lldo everythingIcan to forget about you.”
With that,Iignored the enraged expression on my mother’s face, the sick one on my father’s, andItookAleksei’shand.
I walked him to the king, whereIgot up on my toes to kiss his cheek (and he blushed too, like father like son cuteness).Ismiled at the queen,Aleece, thenAlekseiandIstepped off the dais and exited the room.
I caughtAllain’sgrin of sheer glee and not-minor approval.
Once we left the room, however, it wasn’t me guidingAleksei.
It wasAlekseiguiding me.
Up two flights of stairs and to the left, around a corner and into a room that was more like a vestibule.
He turned me into his arms.
I put my hands on his shoulders and looked up at him.
“That was bloody brilliant,” he growled, his eyes shining again with amethyst light, but this wasn’t anger, it was pride.
I smiled, but my legs were shaking.
He cupped my jaw in his hands. “Areyou okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You don’t have to follow through with your threats, darling,” he assured.
“I thinkIneed to.Ithink those of theFallneed to know what they’re getting with me.”
“If you’re absolutely sure,Ineed to getAllainandNataon discussions with the being who’ll be interviewing us so we can agree a new set of questions.”
I nodded.
Aleksei didn’t immediately get out hisPalm.
He said, “Bissi, this is your story to tell, and you can choose not to tell it.Ican handle your parents.”
“I don’t think you understand,Aleksei.Ineedto be the one who handles them.Anyway, stuff like this finds its way out of the darkness.Ifwe get in front of it, we can put it to good use.”
He bent as he pulled me up and touched his lips to mine.
“I’m seriously fucking proud of you,” he whispered.
My smile was firmer after he said that.
He touched his mouth to mine again.
He let me go, pulled out hisPalmand walked us into what had to be his suite of rooms.
It started with a sitting room that was a masculine display of dark, heavily carved wood, a color story of aubergine and myrtle green, the fixtures and furnishings the same as everything elseI’dencountered in thePalace, except more welcoming and lived in.
