“Maybe you should reconsider taking some of us along,” Silac suggests, his tongue flicking in and out in agitation. “Xavier could glamour us as Vilaxians.”
“That still wouldn’t help. You need special clearance to attend a tribunal. Only the queen, her council members, which are my family clan, and the offending parties are permitted.” Then an idea comes to me. “And any witnesses if needed.”
“So Link could go as your witness. He was the one who had to restrain you, and he has the footage of the two females releasing him from his sedation,” Caspian suggests.
I purse my lips in thought. It is perfectly reasonable for me to insist on such a thing. “Yes. I think that would work.”
“And maybe you might want to mention that Lila will be taking on the mantle of goddess of death in the near future and, as one of their creations, it would behoove them not to get on her bad side.” Zeydan leans against the window frame, much like I had done in my room, his attention split between our conversation and the ship docking. Lila had kept it a secret for a day or two, but she eventually told us about becoming the goddess of death and how terrified she was of it.
“That is good thinking.” Ghosie points at the deity. “They can’t argue with that.”
“But that means admitting we plan on taking care of the current goddess of death, and if Vivax has her spies amongst your people, it could get back to her and mess up our plans.” Tirrian is keeping a cool head for a change, which is slightly surprising but not totally unexpected since he is military trained as well.
“Can’t we just pretend none of this is happening?” Echo whines, and Maxsim snuggles his pregnant mate closer to his body.
“Lila has been through so much shit. If your aunt refuses your clan dissolution, then I’m not sure she won’t go ballistic on them,” Maxsim growls. “Are you prepared to go against your family?” Maxsim asks, voicing something that has been plaguing me, but I can answer without hesitation.
“Absolutely. I’m ninety-nine percent sure it won’t come to that, but I would walk away from my family without hesitation,” I assure him, and a small sound behind me has us turning to look at the hallway to our bedrooms.
I just about swallow my tongue when I see Lila standing there. Her eyes are shiny, and she clutches a hand against her chest. “You would give up your family for me?” She sounds awed, and I use my speed to get to her.
I take her clasped hand and press a kiss against it. “I would do anything for you,” I tell her before running my eyes down her body. “You look incredible.”
I release her hand, and she uses it to tug at her outfit. “Nobody told me Vilaxian formal wear was synonymous with stripper chic or harem girl casual.”
She’s wearing my colors, silver and black, and they look gorgeous against her beautiful hair, which she has left long with a loose curl to it. Her skirt is a gauzy swath of material with slits up both thighs, allowing her legs to show every time she takes a step. The bodice is mostly just a bra with beading and a small amount of floaty gauze covering her stomach with a slit through the middle so you can see her belly button. She’s wearing a chain around her waist, and a jewel dangles enticingly over her crotch, drawing the eye to it.
My skin itches, and my fangs drop into place. Neither of us have fed from one another for a few days, and I feel the overwhelming urge to sink my fangs into her neck and my cock into her body. A rumbling growl reverberates through my chest, and Lila’s eyes widen before she smiles, showing her own fangs to me.
“We probably should have fed before we left,” she says, slapping a hand over her mouth. “They are a little hard to control.”
“That was deliberate,” Link says behind me, and Lila turns her attention to him. I don’t think I could form words at the moment to explain why, so stunned I am by her beauty.
“What do you mean?” she asks as I step out of the way and offer her my arm.
“An old Vilaxian tradition, one you may be asked to perform, will be proving to the council that Saxon’s blood rose, who was previously not Vilaxian, is capable of sustaining him,” Link explains, wincing slightly.
“What do you mean?” Lila asks sharply. She’s a smart girl, and I think she knows what he is going to say, but he explains anyway.
“You may be asked to feed him in front of the tribunal.”
“But feeding leads to fucking.” She looks from me to Link, and I’m still too fucking chicken to say anything. The great General Saxon of the Vilaxian army has been reduced to quivering in fear from his wife’s temper. Link glares at me before nodding his agreement to her words.
“Yes, it does.”
“I’ll have to fuck in front of the whole tribunal, witnesses and all?” Her eyes widen, and she looks at me for confirmation. I nod, resisting the urge to adjust my cock. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to know how much I like that idea.
“We will have to fuck in front of his family, clan, and aunt? Hell, his brothers and sisters and cousins too?” She sounds appalled. “I’ll never be able to look them in the eye again. Fuck it! Let’s blow this popsicle stand and take our chances as renegades.”
She whirls around, ready to hightail it back to our room, and my heart sinks. Although I said I would give it all up for her, I really don’t want to. I don’t think it will be a problem, but I want the chance to make sure.
“Lila.” Ghosie steps in front of her, not letting her pass, and she won’t risk touching him at the moment, so she stops in place.
“Ghosie…” She growls in a very bear-like way, and he just smirks at her.
“You know you aren’t going to run away. You are one of the bravest females I know, and if a little fucking in front of Saxon’sfamily is what it takes to prove that you are meant to be together, then I know you will do it.”
“But I’ll never be able to sit across the dinner table from them at Christmas and look them in the eye,” she whines and looks at him with pleading eyes.
