Page 27 of Dance of the Phoenix
I paused then and turned to Magnus. “Are you coming with us?”
He gave me a blank look and said, “Yes.”
My heart fell, and my stomach churned in disappointment. I wanted to have Ragnor to myself. I was barely seeing him with this whole Hecatomb shit as it was, and every time we did, we were arguing.
But after witnessing Jada and CJ going through a major relationship crisis, I realized how good Ragnor and I had it, and I wanted to make amends. I wanted us to go back to how we were before everything started going to shit.
Before I stupidly let him know I was still hiding something from him.
It appeared today would not be that day, unfortunately.
Magnus took the passenger seat, and I let myself into the back seat. When we hit the road, Ragnor suddenly said, “Aileen is a Sacred.”
I froze.
From my seat behind Ragnor, I could see Magnus’s profile. His face went slack with shock as he whipped his head toward me. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” Ragnor said with a tired sigh. “The point is, you’re coming along with us so Aileen can experiment using her powers on you.”
Magnus’s confused gaze turned to Ragnor. “How many people know?”
“Three, including me and you,” Ragnor said, and I could feel his rising tension even without seeing him. “The other one is Atalon.”
“Huh.” Magnus leaned back, a deep frown on his far-too-impeccably-perfect face. “So. You’re not going to tell me what power she has.”
Ragnor shook his head. “Just like I won’t tell her about yours.”
Irritation made me speak before I could think. “You know that ‘she’ is right here, right?” I snapped, folding my arms as I turned to look at Magnus. “You’re Gifted, aren’t you?” I remembered someone telling me that the Lieutenants of every League were always Gifted.
But to my surprise, Magnus shot me a smirk and said, “I used to be.”
“Used to?” I repeated, frowning.
His smirk turned into a Cheshire cat grin. “I know, right?”
“Stop toying with her,” Ragnor murmured before he said, “Aileen, what I’m going to tell you must not leave this car.”
“Don’t worry,” I muttered, feeling somewhat bitter when I added, “I’m good at keeping secrets.”
Ragnor snorted. “Don’t I know it,” he said lightly, but there was gravity in his words. A heaviness both of us could feel. But he broke the slight tension by saying, “Magnus is a Sacred too.”
Now it was my turn to be shocked. “Seriously?” I said, looking at him. “But doesn’t that mean you have to become a Lord? Why are you still a Lieutenant?”
Magnus arched his brow. “Why are you not a Lady, too, then?”
I opened my mouth to speak before silently closing it, thoughts running through my head. Did my being a Sacred mean I had to be a Lady eventually? But Magnus wasn’t, though I didn’t know how long he’d been Sacred, since he said himself that he used to be Gifted, and I knew Gifted could become Sacred after a few centuries of living, but still ...
“Aileen.” Ragnor’s voice brought my eyes to the top mirror. His gaze met mine before he turned it back to the road. “Not all Sacreds become Lords. While it is mandatory for a Lord to be Sacred, some Sacreds prefer to live under the radar, keeping their true status to themselves. Granted,” he added, “almost no Sacred chooses this path. Most Sacreds would rather not have to answer to anyone, thus they become Lords of their own Leagues.”
“I’m special.” Magnus grinned and winked at me. “I’d rather have our Lord here order me around than have to be responsible for others in return for freedom. Can you imagine?” He widened his eyes comically.
A chuckle escaped me. “Yes, that sounds like a true nightmare indeed.”
Ragnor scoffed. “I feel like you’re taking a dig at me here,” he said, before adding in a murmur, “Ungrateful brats.”
Magnus snorted and teasingly pushed Ragnor’s shoulder. “Shut up, old man.”
“You’re almost as old as me,” Ragnor told him as he nudged his shoulder back with far more force. “Soyoushut up.”
