I felt the blood drain from my face and sent a look of utter shock at Bea. An Alexandrian Elusian. Here.
“Sir—” she began to speak as if she wanted to explain something.
“Take him,” I barked at the Somas beside me, taking an involuntary step back from the man. I’d felt the agony of Suppression too many times over the years to give this bastard a chance. My brothers had brought afuckingElusian into the middle of our stronghold. The damage he could do here was unimaginable.
Allard didn’t respond, just looked at me, a small smile on his face.
“I am not here to harm you or yours, War Leader. If anything, I come seeking asylum.”
Allard’s gaze didn’t leave my own even as my guards moved. The tension in his body belied the calmness of his gaze.
“I don’t give a shit why you’re here, Alexandrian. You’re the enemy!” I growled.
Giva didn’t wait to hear the rest of the conversation. She flowed like water past me as she dropped and swept her leg out to knock Allard off his feet. Den shot forward at the same moment; his fist headed straight for Allard’s head in an attempt to knock the Elusian out.
Somehow the man just…wasn’t there when my Soma’s attacked. In a move almost too fast to follow, Allard grabbed Den’s wrist, yanking him forward and off balance. The Elusian shoved the younger man to the floor where he landed on top of Giva’s outstretched leg. I heard her yelp as something cracked and her face became a grimace of pain.
In a flash Allard’s boot was on the back of Den’s neck, his heavier body effectively pinning both Somas on the floor.
“Am I, though?” Allard asked calmly, completely ignoring the threat of my Soma guards. “If I was really your enemy, I could have killed anyone in this room before you had a chance to say hello.”
“Release them, Elusian” I demanded, my arms at my sides as I summoned fireballs to my hands. “Or I will burn you to ash.”
Allard’s gaze held mine, the Elusian’s face still oddly unconcerned. If anything a glint of humor glowed in those emerald eyes.
“If I had a credit for every time someone threatened me, I’d be averyrich man. And as you noticed, I am, indeed, Elusian. If I chose to, I could snuff your magic before you could stop me. You are obviously not a Tesseris Mageia, you couldn’t stop me. Your people need better training,” he said after a moment before stepping back, removing his boot from Den’s neck. “An Alexandriandokimoswould know how to avoid that move.”
I narrowed my eyes at the condescending asshole. Den and Giva were two of the best fighters we had.
“Well, this isn’t Alexandria, old man,” I replied, reaching down to help Den up.
“Obviously,” he said, his cool gaze raking over the surroundings. “In Alexandria, you’d be dead already.”
“Really?” a voice asked as the click of a pistol cocking echoed through the room. Beatrice had stepped to the side and her firearm was held steadily aimed at Allard’s chest. “I don’t think so, Andinos. You’re not the only soldier in the room.”
“I’m sorry, sir, I should have told you—” she began, but was interrupted when I was suddenly shoved forward and stumbled, turning to face the new threat only to stare into Elex’s familiar gaze, Helios close behind him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growled at me, his dark hair flying around his face.
“He’s an Alexandria Elusian,” I responded. “He’s the fuckingenemy. How could you bring him here?”
“Do you really think me so stupid as to bring someone into Illyria that was going to harm anyone?” he demanded. Power seemed to pour off my twin. His hands glowed with rings of earth, air, fire and water. I could almost see the steam boiling from his ears. “He saved our lives. He saved the lives of Illyrians. He is a fuckingfriend.”
Fuck. My brother was a Tesseris Mageia. The shock made the fire fade from my hands and I stepped to the side, hastily tugged my clothing into place. Suits were not made for hand-to-hand combat. Den and Giva shamefacedly got to their feet with Helios’ help. Allard wisely stepped back toward the windows, his hands up as Beatrice kept her weapon aimed.
Helios approached Giva, who was leaning awkwardly against Den, unable to put weight on her right leg.
“Allow me?” he asked formally, holding his hands out toward her. Giva glanced at me, then back at Helios before nodding.
He laid his hands on her knee, which had already started swelling. He closed his eyes to focus and a golden glow appeared around them.Shit. He was Bonded and was using his healing abilities to fix her knee. The last word we’d had was that he had not found a replacement for his dead Bonded, which was why I had ordered him back here.
I saw Elex’s quick glance at Helios while trying to keep me in his sights and everything clicked into place. I sighed in resignation. Ofcourse, they were a Bonded pair. There wentthatpipe dream. The hope of finding a Soma to activate my own ability to block suppression was fading quickly.
“You vouch for him?” I demanded of my brother, disappointment sharpening my tone. He nodded.
“Fine,” I growled. “He’syourresponsibility. If he hurts any of my people, brother or no, I will end you both.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Elex said.
