Chapter 25
As further apology, I plan a party. Partly, just to say sorry for seeming like a jerk who locked everyone up, and partly going away party for Ian and Alivia. It’s a lot of work to plan on my own. Considering we still don’t really have any staff around to help, it’s just me and Eshan pulling it all together.
When I tell Cyrus my plan, he glowers at me, muttering something about having to be in the same room as Alivia.
“Okay,” I growl. I turn in the closet, where I was digging around for something to wear tomorrow evening for the party. “This has got to stop. It’s been how long since you and Alivia had your drama?”
“Sixteen years,” Cyrus says, lifting his chin. I see his defenses bristling as I step up to the yelling plate.
“Exactly,” I say, putting my hands on my hips. “We may not be the closest, and no, we’ll never have a mother and daughter relationship, but I think I’m starting to like the woman, and she’s always going to be a part of my life. So you and her need to get past this damn contention and get over yourselves.”
I step forward, grabbing Cyrus’ hand, and haul him toward the door.
“And just where do you think you’re taking me, Logan?” Cyrus demands.
“We’re having a sit down with the two of you, right now,” I say.
I’m pushing Cyrus to his limit. I know I am. But I also know the influence I have over him, and if I have to, I’m going to use it over him if it means finally getting these two past this drama.
“What about this idea makes you think it’s a good one?” Cyrus demands, though he doesn’t pull his hand out of mine, and he doesn’t try to stop me.
“It’s my idea,” I scoff. “Of course it’s a good one.”
I stalk down the hall toward Alivia’s room and knock loudly. When she opens with a surprised expression, I grab her hand too, pulling her out of the room, and all three of us march down the hall.
“Lo…” Alivia stutters. “What…what is going on, Logan?”
“We’re all going to have a little chat,” I say, and that’s all the explanation I offer as I march us down the hall, down the next floor, and straight into my office. I stuff the two inside, and close the doors behind the three of us.
I turn in place, glaring at the both of them.
“This little feud needs to end,” I state. I fold my arms over my chest. “Today. Alivia might have toyed with your emotions, Cyrus, but I’ve also heard from a lot of sources that your reaction wasn’t exactly level-headed.”
Instantly, both of their eyes ignite red and their expressions contort with rage.
“She dared tell me she’d dreamt of castles,” Cyrus seethes. “She dared to hold me close and whisper words that made me believe.”
“Words, Cyrus!” Alivia snaps. She turns toward him, smacking her fist into the opposite palm. “Those were only words! You humiliated me, in front of Raheem, in front of Ian. In front of the whole Court!”
My initial instinct is to jump between the two of them, to force them to speak nicely and chill out.
But as they continue yelling, I realize that maybe this is what they actually need. After sixteen years of holding in this resentment, maybe they just need to let it all out.
“You used me to take care of that joke of a problem, Jasmine,” Cyrus seethes in Alivia’s face.
“You terrified me into taking my own life!” Alivia yells right back.
This entire fight is incredibly revealing. There are so many aspects of their time together, while Cyrus investigated if Alivia was Sevan or not, that I had no idea about.
“I warned Raheem, I warned you, that it would not be wise to pursue your attraction to one another,” Cyrus hisses. “But the whore that you are, you let him risk his life and pulled him into dark corners and also whispered in his ear. And now I have forever lost my best spy.”
“You took advantage of Raheem, and you know it,” Alivia shouts back. “No, I shouldn’t have led him on. But you didn’t know that I was Sevan. You had no right to make the demands you did.”
On. And on, they fight for over an hour.
I keep waiting for it, the moment when one of them will physically attack the other and I’ll have to jump in and pull them off of each other. I’m sweeping the room with my eyes, looking for weapons they might use against each other.
Alivia won’t be able to kill Cyrus, we’ve seen that proven multiple times now. But Cyrus could certainly put an end to Alivia.
But they just use words. The just keep screaming at each other.
I cringe a little. No wonder they hate each other so much. They did some really awful, terrible things to each other. Alivia certainly knows how to use words against someone. Cyrus certainly strikes back in physical ways.
He shattered Alivia’s face once, apparently, when she accused him of not knowing what love was, saying he didn’t know what love was considering what he did to me.
Ouch.
It rolls on for another half an hour, and even I’m getting exhausted.
Finally, there’s a lull in the accusations. So I step forward, standing just three feet from the two of them.
“Now that you’ve gotten all of that out of your systems, I want to ask you something.” I look from Alivia, to Cyrus. “All of that shit that happened between the two of you, what does any of it matter now?”
Alivia and Cyrus quickly look at one another, each of their eyes widening for a moment, and then narrowing in thought.
“Cyrus, does it matter that she said those things to you, that she led you to believe she might be someone she wasn’t, now that I’m back?” I ask.
He can’t seem to find words. He stares at Alivia. His lips are slightly parted, but nothing comes past them.
“Alivia, I think you understand Cyrus’ pain, and while what he did to you was terrible, do you not understand it to some degree?”
This side is harder to argue.
“Cyrus, does Alivia ever need to be afraid of you, now that I’m back?” I say the words firmly.
His eyes shift over to mine. And as he looks at me, I see his gaze soften. I see a deeper regret forming in them. I see the present and commitment there in them.
“No,” he says quietly as he stares at me. His brows furrow, and I think he finally realizes now. His gaze shifts back to Alivia. “She’s right. It was painful then. But…” He shakes his head and looks back to me. He reaches out, and I gladly take his hand. “None of it matters now.”
Alivia continues to glare at Cyrus. The hurt in her direction won’t be so easily forgotten. Not when he held her prisoner here for over a month, left to rot. Not when he branded her and her House. Not when he twisted not only her heart, but Raheem’s, and Ian’s as well.
“I think I’ve been waiting for more backlash for sixteen years,” Alivia admits. “I’ve been waiting for you to show up at my doorstep and torture everyone in my House again because the memory of what happened between us might surface. I’ve been living in a degree of fear for a long time, Cyrus.”
His gaze floats back to Alivia, and I see, he’s now realizing the power and influence he’s always held. He’s been thousands of miles away from Alivia, on the other side of the world, but she’s lived in constant fear of him.
He’s held an ache in his heart over what she did. But it’s nothing in comparison to the panic and fear she’s dealt with for so long.
“Our feud is over, Alivia Conrath,” Cyrus says. The words aren’t easy for him to promise, I can hear it in his tone. “Unless you give us further reason to doubt your commitment to our kind, you have no more to fear from me.”
I see it in her eyes. Like something lifts out of them. Like the burden of her fear just rose off her shoulders and dissipated into the air.
“I’m sorry I made you hope,” she whispers as emotion rises in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I was such a tyrant.”
Those may be the biggest words I’ve ever heard Cyrus speak.
And it’s a huge miracle I’m witness to, when Cyrus reaches his hand forward, and Alivia shakes it.
Holy shit.