Waking Eden (The Eden Series Book 3) (4 page)

Whispers fluttered from all directions.

Lexi scowled from her throne.

Thoughtful, Eryx traced the smooth armrest of his own chair with his thumb. “Anything else, counsel?”

Thyrus pivoted toward his seat and shook his head. “No, my malran. The defense rests.”

R
amsay dropped
his head back against the plush couch cushions in Eryx’s private council chambers and glared at the ornate ceiling. Four fucking hours he’d wasted in that damned trial. Five if you counted porting back from Evad and flying to Cush.

Trinity would be at the library by now, a detail he’d finally wrangled from her friend Margo after an hour and a half of assurances he’d do nothing to endanger Trinity. He’d sworn over and over he only wanted to get to know her. See how things went.

And find out how in histus she got that necklace. He wouldn’t mind knowing how she’d flattened him when he tried to scan her memories either.

He’d been so close to another look at the pendant, her soft skin nearly burning his knuckles before she’d run off like a jackrabbit.

“Shit you not, man.” Jagger directed his booming voice to Wes, Troy, and Ian, all fellow elite warriors gathered to support their malran and huddled near the conference table at the other end of the room. “One minute he was Don Juan on the move, and the next he was flat on his ass.”

Sharp laughter filled the room, every eye on Ramsay.

All but Ludan. Physically, Eryx’s best friend and somo was present, sprawled in a fancy wingback way too delicate for his massive frame, but he seemed about as far away as Ramsay felt.

“You couldn’t let it go,”
Ramsay said to Jagger privately.

“Hell, no.”
Jagger lifted his glass of strasse, the bold and powerful amber liquor favored by most Myren warriors glinting in the sun as he waggled his eyebrows.
“At least I kept it in close company. You’d have outted me at drills if it’d been me who went down.”

Ian ambled toward the overstuffed chair at Ramsay’s left, the chocolate color keeping with the overall dark decor of the room. Masculine sophistication, his mother had called it when she’d redecorated during his father’s reign. “I don’t doubt that for a minute.”

Ramsay snapped his head up. Had Ian just said that out loud?

“What the fuck?” Jagger plunked down his drink and stalked closer. “That conversation was not for you.”

Ludan’s eyes came into focus, taking in the scene with a scary shrewdness.

Ian slumped against the seat back with a tired sigh and ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. “Sorry.” He locked gazes with Ramsay. “I try to keep it separate, but when there’s a lot of talk going on, sometimes it’s hard to keep it straight.”

It was the impact of Eryx healing Lexi’s human friend. Or at least that’s what everyone who knew of Ian’s growing ability to eavesdrop on telepathic conversations thought. Those in the know were a pretty tightly controlled group for good reason. The council might have conceded Eryx was right to heal the lethal wounds Maxis had inflicted on the man, but they’d have an altogether different reaction if they learned Ian was morphing into something closer to the Myren race as a result.

Ramsay motioned Jagger to back off and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Any other gifts showing up?”

“Nope.” Ian propped one foot on the coffee table. “Lexi spent an hour yesterday trying to teach me to fly or call a few elements. Not so much as a spark.”

“And Brenna?” Ludan’s unexpected, but restrained voice kept to their side of the room.

“Jillian says no.” Ian fingered the fabric armrest and cocked his head at a considering angle, eyes distant. “I’m not so sure though. She’s been…different lately.”

“She’s been Maxis’ slave since she was eight,” Ramsay said. “Considering how jumpy she was when we found her, I hope to histus she’s a lot different.”

Ian shook his head and drilled them each with a serious look. “No, it’s not that. She’s not just calmer now, she’s…curious.” He tapped his thumb in an absent, steady rhythm. “Kind of like a toddler who’s figured out how powerful their fingers and thumbs are and sets out to use ’em everywhere…even where they shouldn’t.”

Ramsay relaxed back into the couch. “I’ll talk to Eryx. See if we should—”

“Leave her alone.” Ludan steepled his fingers. A contemplative pose for those who didn’t know better, but the whites of his eyes burned neon vivid around his already bright blue eyes. That signaled one thing and one thing only for men of Shantos and Forte lineage: time to defuse the situation before earth, fire, water, and air all clashed in a cataclysmic event.

The study door opened.

“I cannot fucking believe it.” Lexi stormed in, her cheeks a mottled red. A testy breeze that shouldn’t exist in an enclosed space swept in behind her.

Eryx ambled in afterward and flicked his hand toward the door, shutting it with a thought. He gripped her shoulder. “Rein it in, hellcat.”

Calm words delivered casually, but the tension in Eryx’s shoulders made it obvious he wasn’t too far behind his baineann in the pissed off department.

“They give the verdict?” Ramsay asked.

“Oh, they gave it all right.” Lexi paced to the tall window at the back of the room and scowled at the packed streets. “Idiots.”

“Reluctant accomplice.” Eryx stalked to the sidebar and uncorked the strasse. “The council totally fell for her shit, but even more than that, they’re relieved she took out Maxis. They confiscated the assets that passed to her on Maxis’ death, and ordered probation for the next five years, her first year under house arrest with supervised excursions. If she violates probation, she’ll be stripped of her powers and banned to Evad.”

Jagger perched on the edge of the conference table, hands curled around the edge. “Histus, if that’s the case we need to celebrate. Five years of probation? For Serena? She’ll never make it.”

Wes and Troy, both in at-ease stances behind Jagger and trying to look inconspicuous in the middle of the drama, chuckled.

“When’s the verdict coming out?” Ian asked.

Lexi gave up her view of the crowds and rested one hip on the sofa. “Five more minutes. The ellan are on their way back now. They want this over with so they can get straight to this afternoon’s session.”

Ian whipped his head to face her. “Another one?”

“Status update on how our sideshow in Evad is playing out.” Eryx strolled toward his mate.

Sideshow meaning the public display of Myren powers in Evad when Maxis tried to swipe a bunch of humans to fill his slave farm. Also conveniently the night Serena drove a dagger through his heart.

“We’ve covered that with them already,” Ramsay said. “The only video that made it through you frying the electronics is too blurred to show anything meaningful. We give it time and the humans will move on to something else. Hell, the new Kardashians series starts in another week. It’ll be fine.”

“We can’t ignore this, Ramsay. The tenets were broken, and the prophecy has people primed for panic.” Eryx pulled Lexi in and kissed the top of her head. “If a regular report makes ’em feel better, then I’ve got no problem with keeping up surveillance and giving them a rundown every now and then.”

“Who’s the unlucky bastard doing surveillance?” Jagger asked.

“That would be me.” Ian crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair with a shrug. “I don’t mind. Jilly’s curious about Evad, and it lets me get an Internet fix. I never thought I was much of an electronics junkie, but even an old man like me can get used to cell phones and Google.”

Easy laughter moved through the room, diffusing what remained of the tension. Ian seemed to have that effect on people. Probably a gift honed through his years as a cop dealing with unsavory assholes.

“We’ve got to get back.” Eryx stepped away and guided Lexi toward the door. “Ludan, do your mojo on Serena’s memories as soon as she’s released. Ramsay, I want detailed recon on Maxis’ properties. The sooner we uncover his secrets and disassemble his infrastructure the better.”

Fuck. Probably the right course of action where the Rebellion was concerned, but a kink in his plans for digging deep about Little Miss Sunshine. If Trinity worked a straight Monday through Friday shift, then he only had about five more hours to catch her before she left for the weekend, and patience was a pain in his ass.

Eryx glowered at Wes and Troy. “Get the word out. Any person suspected of participation in Rebellion activities will be brought in and tried. Those willing to come forward of their own volition to share what they know will be considered for special dispensation. Otherwise, they’ll be marked a threat to the race.”

Eryx opened the door, and Ludan and Jagger filed out in front of him and Lexi.

“Eryx.” Ramsay shoved from the couch and followed his brother into the hall. “There’s something else we need to talk about.”

From the main hall, voices filtered down the dark corridor, their two somos already standing sentry at the exit.

Eryx watched the ellan file past and let out a weary exhale. For a split second, the composed mask he held in place for the world slipped, fatigue weighting his features. “Yeah?”

Lexi laid her palm on his chest and nestled in the crook of his arm, as though she sought to bolster his strength through touch.

News of Trinity and her mysterious pendant shriveled on his tongue. Adding more to his brother’s plate would only make it worse, not to mention yank his new shalla around with the possibility she might have relatives. “Just thinking you two should probably take a little time away from the limelight for a few days. I can cover here, and you can get a change of scenery. Maybe head to Evad.”

Eryx squeezed Ramsay’s shoulder and started down the hallway, Lexi at his side. “Another week or two and I’m gonna take you up on that. Assuming no more flaming piles of shit get tossed in our direction.” He waved over one shoulder without looking back. “In the meantime, handle Maxis’ estate.”

Ramsay nodded, but it went unnoticed. The newlyweds were too close to register anyone else in their last few moments of privacy. They looked right together. Comfortable. And The Great One knew Eryx had worked his ass off to earn it. Tracking a woman you weren’t one hundred percent sure existed took huge amounts of patience, not to mention a little insanity.

Not his kind of gig. Relationships were messy. Cumbersome. Dangerous.

He shook his thoughts off and took two steps into Eryx’s private chambers where Wes and Troy waited. “You two with me.” He spun and headed down the corridor, his warriors’ heavy footfalls behind him. “We’ve got three hours to get squads put together and assigned out. Wes, you’re on point to lead everything at Maxis’ estate. Troy, you’re on the warrior camp.”

Wes piped up at his left. “Thought you were going to head this up?”

“I am heading it up. I’m just delegating the grunt work.” And freeing himself up for reconnaissance in a whole different arena.

They stepped out of the gray stone council foyer and into the bright Myren afternoon. Curious citizens spread out in a peaceful swath at least two blocks deep in all directions. Vendors made the most of the situation with their bright, covered carts.

“If we’re the grunts, what are you doing?” Troy asked at his right.

A heady, almost urgent impulse pounded his feet. “I’m going hunting.”

* * *

T
rinity squeezed the steering wheel
, focused on the pretty gold flowers fronting her mother’s tidy white house in lower Greenville, and replayed her new life mantra for the fifteenth time.

Show up. Listen. Speak your truth. Let go of the results.

It was time to maintain her boundaries with her mother. Being kind didn’t mean she had to let her mom walk all over her or pummel her with negative crap about her life. She was a single woman out on her own now. No strings. No rules but her own.

Yeah, how’s all the positive jive workin’ for you?

Trinity puffed out an exasperated scoff at her mind’s negative jab and snatched her purse from the passenger seat. A healthy mental attitude took too much damned work.

After a click of her car alarm and a quick check left and right, she trudged across the street toward the homiest version of hell on earth. Her necklace lay heavy on her chest beneath her crewneck sweater set, but she checked the neckline to be sure it was hidden. God forbid her mother find out she was still wearing it.

Her fingers drifted higher, circling at the hollow of her neck as her heels clicked against the sidewalk. The memory of Ramsay’s touch last night was as sharp under the noonday sun as it had been when she’d finally drifted off to sleep last night. She still couldn’t decide if running had been the smartest or stupidest thing she’d ever done.

Probably smart. Questions, shrewd eyes, and her telltale warning tingle? The whole thing had
danger danger
written all over it.

Still, he’d been able to touch her.

She groaned and rang the doorbell. All this mental back and forth was exhausting.

The white painted door opened and rattled the old screen door.

A familiar woman with short dark hair and a kind smile pushed the screen door open, Trinity’s mom hovering behind her. “Trinity!”

Trinity scrambled to place the woman and, without thinking better of it, shook her outstretched hand to cover the awkward moment.

The world dropped away.