“She asked me to give you this.” He held out an envelope, the paper shimmering with the seal of two warhorses over the fold. I opened the envelope and pulled the parchment free. I frowned at the name.
Moira,
For too long, have these Kyrios gone without the rule of a queen.
Prove to these males that, though beautiful, you are lethal.
A queen. I wasn’t worthy of that title. Lethal? Did she really think that of me? It was strange to think the goddess I’d met a few months ago, one who’d written me off so easily, would send me a letter like this. Why did she call me Moira? I tilted my head to look at Damien. “Selene really wrote this?”
He nodded, uncertainty in his eyes. “What does it say?”
“She wants me to remind The Council of their place.”
“Shit,” Vincent drawled as he lowered his hood, revealing his dirty blond hair that hung in loose curls just below his ears.
I stifled the giggle threatening to burst from my throat as he gaped at me in the foyer. Sometimes I forgot Vincent was an immortal and likely hundreds of years older than me.
His pale eyes widened. “Damien’s gonna keel over when he sees you.”
Barrett entered through the front door, his eyes lighting up when he saw me. It was in a way I’d never seen him look at me before. Close behind him were Thalia and Zephyr, clad in the armor warriors wore to hunt darklings with a half cloak hanging from their right shoulder. They all wore their Elythian leathers proudly, the black armor cloaking them in the same darkness they hunted in each night.
They carried different weapons than normal, though. Strapped to one side of their hips were black, ornately decorated short swords. They reminded me of Moira’s sword sitting on display in our room. On their opposite thighs hung equally beautiful, yet deadly, black daggers, much like the ones we used to slay darklings. I took them in, armed and deadly, ready to keep peace at the meeting, ready to defend their king and his mate if the need arose, which almost worried me.
“Damn. Our little spitfire cleans up nice. I hardly recognized you without the dirt and grime on your face,” Barrett said, taking my hand to twirl me around. The base of my skirts danced around my feet as I spun, and spontaneous laughter spilled from my lips, overriding the urge to roll my eyes.
Zephyr stepped through the door as Barrett released me, and he leaned in to lay a tender kiss to my cheek. Warmth filled my chest. “You look beautiful, Cas.”
My heart leapt, and I wondered if it was Elena who felt overjoyed to hear those words from her brother. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you.”
Ethel had worked wonders on my hair and makeup, and it honestly felt like I was looking at a different person in the mirror. My hair was pulled away from my face in braids that overlapped over the curls that cascaded down my back, leaving a few delicate strands of hair to sweep over my collarbones.
Thalia winked as she passed by, her cornsilk hair pulled back out of her face in a braid that stretched down her back, leaving the scar stretching down her right eye on full display. I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed more visible, as if she’d been covering it with makeup all this time, but no longer did so. “Damien’s a lucky male.”
I giggled. “You got my back today, Thalia?”
“We’ve all got your back, Cas,” Zephyr said with a striking calm. “Always.” The tone in his voice was like a vow, like I’d never even had to ask it. I knew they’d always be there for me... no matter what.
“Selene made this gown for you?” Thalia asked, lifting the skirt to look at the delicate glittering fabric.
I looked down at myself. “Yeah.”
I feared the gown might be heavy with all the material and crystals, but it had been crafted by a goddess, and it was nearly light as air. The neckline was an invisible layer of tulle, gemstone vines full of jasmine flowers breaking free on my breasts and shoulders, layers of tulle spilling out and down from my shoulders in long sweeps. I’d feared it might be too revealing, had nearly chickened out and decided not to wear it after all.
“You got a hidin’ place for a dagger under all those layers of fabric?” Barrett whispered.
I crossed my arms, wondering how he’d guessed I had one of my daggers strapped to my thigh beneath the layers of chiffon and tulle. “If any Kyrios decide to piss me off, you just might find out.”
A taunting grin crossed Barrett’s face. “Twenty bucks says you chicken out.”
“Probably not a good idea for Cas to off a Kyrios in her first meeting,” Vincent said, kicking back in a nearby chair. Laughter poured from each of them as they continued to joke and place bets.
I opened my mouth to argue with Barrett’s particular bet, but I didn’t get the chance as Damien’s voice drifted in from the stairway. “Fates spare me...”
I turned to him, brows raised. He stood at the foot of the stairs, his eyes wide as he took me in.
He wore all black attire I’d never seen him in before; a black coat decorated with intricate silver patterns along the collar and the hems of his sleeves. The coat reached down to his thighs, revealing sleek black pants and tall black boots. My gaze passed over the details of his coat, the material so complexly woven that when it hit the light just right, more patterns could be seen in the fabric.
He was breathtaking, positively beautiful.
