Moments later, she came floating out, now wearing a leather jacket and tenderly carrying a thermal coffee mug. I couldn’t help but think of her touching me with such gentleness—or not.
As I turned the car out of her narrow driveway, making tracks in the fresh snow on the way to the main drive, she spoke softly, almost for herself.
“I hope I don’t see this stuff for a few days.”
“You won’t. I gather you brought sunglasses?” I asked, grateful for the road to keep my eyes on.
“And a swimsuit… I don’t plan to be all work and no play, if I’m missing the holiday.”
That was exactly the opposite of what I planned to be. We needed to find Valerie, send for Cinder, and do the deed as quickly as possible. But when it came to Tulya, my resolve was becoming nonexistent.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Tuvy take a long sip of coffee as her brow furrowed.
“Euro for your thoughts?” I couldn’t help myself.
“We’re going to the States. Even I know they use dollars,” she flung back.
We typically dealt in euros in Rubia since we didn’t have our own currency. No exact reason as to why, but they always had been preferred. Plus, we enjoyed the exchange rate.
“I know exactly what they use in the States. I was offering you a euro, which is worth more than a dollar, in exchange for what you were thinking so hard about.”
I passed Tulya’s family’s castle of a house, complete with the turrets on top, a true contrast to the Spanish stucco-type homes lining the streets of Rubia. When I made a turn onto our main highway leading to the small airfield, I noted Tulya seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, only private planes flew in and out of Rubia, making it easy to schedule a flight wherever, whenever one wanted.
“If I can’t do whattheywant, I’ll be punished. I’m not even sure I can do it, and yet here I am, being sent on this wild mission for a sole purpose. One that will test every boundary or limit I have ever had. And I’m not like you. I don’t want to hurt people.” She spoke softly, pulling on my absent heartstrings.
Squeezing the steering wheel, I fought back the desire to send an electric shock to Ezza. “I don’t want to necessarily hurt people either.” I tossed Tulya’s words back to her. “I didn’t ask for this to be a part of my abilities, just the same as you didn’t beg for your magic.”
“Well, I use mine for good.”
“You mean, your more noble power is wielded at the bidding of your mother.” I couldn’t help but send a zinger. I never liked when I was pigeonholed as evil for the abilities I’d been assigned at birth.
“I don’t see Ceci asking you to use yours on this mistress of Magnum’s. You’re nothing more than a glorified chaperone on this trip.”
I felt my foot press on the gas pedal and pulled it back. Fury began to furl in my belly. “My mother doesn’t tell me when to use my magic. Ever.” My temper was beginning to flare, not because Tulya was wrong. She was right. In our little Rubian empire, my family used me for my leadership but didn’t boast of my capabilities. I’d been given a “forceful power,” and it was perceived negatively. I had to prove my value other ways.
“I see your mind ticking away.” Tulya continued to challenge me, and I secretly loved it.
“Go on, shrink me. Is that another one of your do-gooder skills? Maybe your mom has you going around using that too?”
She glared at the window in front of her, the anger running through her veins palpable. “So? It’s not like you’re here on your own. Ceci demanded you follow through on this problem.”
“I’m not denying we are shackled to the wishes of our respective mothers, but you seem to be caught up in the wholesomeness of what you can do—at the expense of anything decent for yourself.”
“What do you know?” She swiveled sideways, her gaze meeting my profile.
I couldn’t tell if I loved or despised her silver-gray eyes drilling into me. Did she see through my ultra-thick façade?
“It’s easy to grasp—you sidestep any happiness for yourself,” I said through gritted teeth, knowing I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
“You don’t know anything about me,” was her weak rebuttal before crossing her arms over her chest, abandoning her coffee in the cupholder and staring straight out of the windshield until we arrived at the airstrip.
It occurred to me that nothing upset me more than Tulya being hurt.
Tulya
The delicious Florida heat licked at my exposed midriff as I relished a glass of red wine, all by my lonesome on my balcony. We were staying in one of the hotels Donovan’s family invested in, and while I was annoyed to be sharing a suite with him, I did have my own bedroom complete with a small wet bar. I’d be taking full advantage of that feature—avoiding the one in the main sitting room as much as possible.
