Chapter 44
Alex studied her extended family while shoveling food in her mouth. The entire clan, including the weird witch, had settled around the large, glass dining table. Neeren's staff served them a breakfast of fruit and pastries.
Neeren refused to speak to Collum after hearing that under dragon law, Collum and Alex were considered mates. Collum rubbed it in by touching Alex every time her brother glanced their way.
She swatted his hand away from her hair as Neeren grimaced . . . again. He wore a permanent grimace that morning. Honestly, she was still trying to understand it herself. She knew there was a different set of rules in the immortal world than the human one. But even though logically she knew she wasn't, she still considered herself, a human. Twenty-six years of living as a normal young woman weren't going to disappear. She'd told Collum as much when they finally calmed down enough to talk.
She'd agreed to dating, seeing where this thing between them went. She might be falling hard for him, could barely concentrate when he wasn’t around, but she wasn't considering herself married yet. For that she'd need some time. And they'd both need to survive whatever came next.
Her grandfather was a source of confusion as well. He sat at the head of the table. For all intents and purposes, appeared to control the world. But she’d had first-hand experience with his erratic behavior. Still, somehow, he’d played them all. Pulled all the strings necessary to get them in one room. He caught her eye and smiled, almost as though he knew what she was thinking.
His voice carried across the table to the assembled group. “A plane carrying the remaining council members has landed in Athens.”
Silence descended over them as they looked at him with varying degrees of dismay and acceptance.
“Neeren,” he said. “I think it best if you extend an invitation to visit your kingdom.”
The table broke out into a frenzy of activity as Neeren stood. His trademark smirk fell from his face and he released a long, slow breath. Alex wondered if he’d held that breath his entire life.
Neeren nodded crisply and replied, “I'll see to it,” before leaving the room.
Alex grabbed Collum's hand. “I thought we'd have more time.”
He squeezed her hand and turned to Domhall with a scathing tone. “Was this always the plan? To bring them here and eliminate them?”
“What did you expect? That we’d hide with the Parthen forever? It's the only way my family can be truly free. You know that.”
“So, you lied to everyone. How many more lies, Dom?”
“Who is lying, Collum? Who has always been lying?”
“Don’t go somewhere you can’t back down from, Dom.”
The two men glowered at each other before Domhall broke eye contact.
“Are you going to let Neeren kill them all?” Collum asked. “You know I can't condone that. If you invite them on to your land it becomes murder. I have to judge that.”
“They tried to kill my daughter. They destroyed my family. What would you have me do?”
Collum pounded his fists on the table and roared back, “Find another way, Domhall.”
“There is no other way. Don’t you think I’ve thought of this? We can’t involve the entire race. You were all I needed, the last puzzle piece really. Jesus, don't you see that I'm trying to stop the bloodshed.”
Alex studied the group, turned to her Aunt Quinn. “Did you know his plan?”
“I did. Trust me when I say I'm telling you the truth. I have no love for my father, but I love you with all my heart. I will do anything to protect you and the rest of this messed up family.”
“Grandfather?”
When he finally looked at her, the pain in his eyes was easy for Alex to see.
“They would have found us eventually, you know that. Taurin and Ealian have darkness in them.” He sighed before looking at Collum again. “And the first thing they would have done is gone for your lover’s heart. I need you to understand. I cannot live with this any longer. The stain on my heart . . . knowing what I was party to. I’ve barely survived. I'm prepared to answer for my choices. Justice must be served.”
“What about the justice I’ll be called to serve when this all comes out?” Collum asked.
“Leave it to someone else,” Domhall replied.
The air in the room tightened. Alex saw the change in Collum. It scared her.
“You know, there is no one else,” Collum growled.
“Do I?” was her grandfather’s reply.
“My role in this begins and ends with Alex,” Collum said, anger ringing in his voice. “You put her in danger with this foolishness. They’re coming for her, you idiot.”
Neeren walked back into the dining room as the two men stared each other down. “I have sent ambassadors to meet them at their hotel. I've extended the invitation to discuss our situation tomorrow morning.”
Collum questioned, “Did you know your grandfather called them? And what happens tonight? Do you sneak into their minds and eliminate them?”
“Of course, I knew. This has always been the only outcome. You know that as much as I do,” Neeren said. “In answer to your last question. If you must know, I can't reach them. I've tried but they are protected by wards similar to the kind that hid Alex all these years.”
Alex watched everything in a kind of trance. But she grinned when her brother turned his attention to the witch slurping her coffee in the corner.
“I suspect you had a hand in that,” he said.
The witch licked pastry sugar off her fingers, raised her eyes, and gave a little shrug. “Go figure witches, hey? Always getting involved where they shouldn't. Keeping people from committing acts of murder and mayhem.”
Alex choked on her coffee as laughter bubbled up. It felt good to laugh. If she managed to stay alive over the next few days she planned to do it more often.
Domhall replied, “Those wards are there for a reason. I wouldn't let Mar pull them down even if she could. Look at me all of you. I have my family under one roof. Alive and well. With new friends to keep things interesting.” He winked at Mar, nodded slightly to Collum. “Tomorrow is a new beginning for us. Raise your glasses in a toast to the future. Whatever it may look like.”
Fire pulsed against Alex’s heart. The purr of the Parthen built under her skin. She raised her glass in salute.