“I’m hurt that the council I built has been reduced to such a state that they’d target another member’s progeny.”
A man’s honeyed tone echoed through the room, bringing a brief halt to the proceedings. The council members who’d been contemplating our deaths a moment ago went as still as rabbits caught under the gaze of a much larger predator as a man walked into the ballroom.
The stranger effortlessly attracted the notice of those present. His every movement containing a level of charisma I’d only ever seen equaled in Thomas.
There was something familiar about his features that I couldn’t quite place. Like I’d seen him before. But his wasn’t a face I’d forget.
His hair was a deep brown and styled to reveal a broad forehead and a strong bone structure. His skin was a light brown and his eyes a memorable hazel. He looked like he was from a different region of the world. The middle east maybe?
“Wait—are those your clothes?” I asked Connor, recognizing the shirt and pants the man was wearing.
“Yes.” The word sounded like it had been dragged from Connor as he glared at the stranger with a heat that made me realize the man’s identity.
“How?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
The distance between the cement factory and my house wasn’t that far for an ancient of Ahrun’s age. He could have gone back to a familiar place. In this case, my house. Showered. Changed. And then returned to the Gargoyle.
His wet hair seemed to prove my theory.
What I found more surprising was how much he’d recovered in the short hour since he’d left me beside Connor. His features and body had filled out until he no longer looked like a bag of skin that had been stretched over a skeleton.
“Boys, I’ve missed you,” Ahrun said, placing a hand on Liam and Thomas’s shoulders to give them a warm once over. He pulled them both into a hug, not seeming bothered at the two’s stiff responses.
I don’t think anyone knew what to say as Ahrun released them, acting like he’d been gone a year rather than a few centuries. The confusion on Liam’s face matched my own as Ahrun focused on the council with a predatory expression that raised the hair on the back of my neck.
“I go to sleep for a few centuries and this is what I wake to?” Ahrun purred, observing Sophia and Vitus from beneath lowered eyelashes. “There are a few new faces since I’ve been gone. Perhaps that’s why my council has forgotten their ruler.”
Jabari and Tse’s expressions remained neutral as Ahrun looked away, his gaze landing on the council member standing slightly apart from the rest.
“Navya,” Ahrun breathed in pure delight.
The woman barely reacted as he stopped in front of her, reaching up to circle the fragile column of her neck with his hand.
“I would have thought you, at least, would be the voice of reason,” he crooned.
She lifted her chin to give him better access in a bold move that showed her lack of fear. “Much has changed since you’ve been away.”
Jabari and Tse’s faces were blank, as if they weren’t watching a member of their council being threatened. Sophia looked uncertain for the first time since I’d known her, taking her cues from the rest.
Ahrun’s smile was chilling as he shot a glance at Vitus. “It would seem so, if you’ve let one my cast offs into your ranks.”
“He won his seat through the proper channels,” Navya told him in an unemotional voice.
That was code for “he killed the person who possessed the seat before him.”
Ahrun released Navya’s neck with a cryptic smile.They fear me so they seek to destroy me.
I blinked, keeping the reaction to his voice in my head off my face as much as I could. I’d really hoped his reading my mind had been limited to when I was invading his internal world.
“Why did you threaten my sons and their children?” Ahrun asked, his gaze still on Navya’s but his question meant for Vitus.
“Your madness is a threat to us all,” Vitus started.
Ahrun arched an eyebrow at the woman in front of him. “Do I seem mad to you, my old friend?”
Her forehead furrowed, something like surprise briefly flitting across her face. “No, you don’t.” Her frown deepened as Vitus gave a startled jerk. “I’d really like to know how you did that when I know better than anyone how far your devolution had progressed.”
He lifted a finger to his lips in a playful manner that reminded me of Liam. “A happy accident one could say.”
