Lucien, moving at vampire speed, punched Len on his shoulder, his green gaze piercing as he scowled. “Speak for yourself. Nothing soft about me.” He dropped his gold sweater and ran a hand through his blond hair, sending the smooth strands into attractive tousles. He was wearing all black, as he often did, perpetuating the human’s take on vampires as creatures of the night. His species did have some similarities, hence where the original myth came from, but they also had tons of differences as well.
“Simone,” Len coughed out between laughter, not even remotely annoyed by the punch. “Softie.”
Simone was Mera’s shifter best friend, who was currently on Earth. Something had happened between Lucien and her, but none of us knew the details. Mera had asked, of course, but Simone had said that most of it she’d been compelled to keep secret—a gift only the most powerful of vamps could use—and that the rest wasn’t worth mentioning.
Mera hadn’t been too happy with the secrecy, but for now she was trying to “respect the stupid decisions people made” and had stopped asking.
“I’ve told you all before, Simone was under my protection, but that was it.”
Lucien was the epitome of “he doth protest too much,” but before Len could push him until war broke out, Reece moved out of the shadows. “I know we’re here for this celebration,” he said, looking like he wished he was anywhere else, “but I also need to talk to you about… well, I don’t even really know, but I think something is going down in the Desert Lands.”
What is it?Galleli asked as he lowered himself from where he'd been stringing lights and tinsel up high and tucked his gold wings behind him. Galleli, who’d also chosen not to wear his sweater, was a transcendent from the Honor Meadows. But unlike the rest of us, he never spoke out loud. I didn’t know the exact reason why, but there was talk that his voice had, at one time, been a weapon that the weaker would succumb to.
Reece shook his head. “The deserts are uneasy; their sands of time drift through my energy. I’m being called into the depths of the Delfora.”
“Have you spoken to the other dynasties?” Lucien asked turning more serious.
Reece nodded, stance strong and sure even if his words were not. “Yes, but none of them have noticed anything, which doesn’t surprise me. I have the strongest connection to the sacred lands, and if trouble is starting there again, then I’d be the first to know.”
“When is your next meeting of the dynasties?” Len queried, and I was grateful that many of the questions running through my mind were being asked without me having to say a word. Wouldn’t want him to think I had any cares left for him.
“It’s in six new-moons,” he said shortly. “Which is also odd because we weren’t due for at least another thousand or so moons. Someone has pushed up the timeline, and that in itself is suspicious.”
The room fell silent, outside of another two or three goblins in Santa hats chatting as they hurried past.
“The Desert Lands is one of the oldest worlds,” I finally had to say. “There are many powers there that cannot be disturbed, especially in the Delfora.”
I knew that better than any; the powers under those sands had cost me my sister. Reece didn’t look at me, but he also didn’t sneer, which was an improvement.
“Yes, and with that in mind,” he said stiffly, “I have a favor to ask. Will you all accompany me to this meeting? If my senses are correct, this could be a huge issue, and it’s best if we deal with it straight away. We must ensure there’s never another dynasty war.” His eyes, blue embers of fury, met mine briefly. “The last one nearly destroyed us all.”
“Of course, you don’t even have to ask,” Len said, slapping a hand on Reece’s shoulder. “As Mera said, we’re a pack now, and packmates stick together.”
Reece let out a short laugh. “Yeah, she used that emotional blackmail to get us to hang up her damn Christmas lights, but I’ll take it. I know Shadow won’t want to bring her while she’s pregnant, but with all of us there, she’ll be safe. I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”
That had me standing a little taller.
Truth of the matter, I was curious about this meeting of the dynasties, especially if there was trouble afoot in their ancient and sacred Delfora. But curiosity wasn’t enough to get me to voluntarily spend time with Reece in the world where I’d lost it all…
Unless Mera was going to be there. Where Mera went, so did I.
This time when my eyes met Reece’s, there was a moment of understanding between us. I would go to the Desert Lands in six new-moons, back to the place where our friendship ended. The place that held our past hurts and losses. The place my heart remained buried from more than just the loss of Leka.
Maybe, this time, I would exorcise the ghosts of the past, dig up the fragments of my heart, and finally let our feud go.
For good.
2
After a few hours, Mera returned with Shadow, and all of us listened as Reece discussed his plans. It took some convincing, but eventually Shadow conceded under the force of his mate’s conviction that this plan couldn’t go ahead without her.
“We should have Christmas today, though,” Shadow added, “since we need to prepare for this journey and Reece has to head home to pave the way for us to be there.”
Mera swallowed hard but didn’t argue. “It’s basically set up anyway,” she said with a forced smile. “No reason not to go ahead.”
I exchanged a look with Len, who let out a sigh and reached down to find his sweater. I followed suit, and one by one we all pulled them on, bringing a true smile to her face.
“Okay, this is perfect,” she sighed.
