Theo caught me staring and grinned, clearly enjoying the fact that I was, once again, a bundle of frayed nerves. I shifted in my seat, pressing my thighs together in a futile attempt to ease the tension coiling low in my body.
Caelan’s chair scraped back suddenly.
“Right,” he said, pushing to his feet. “I’m going to remove myself from this table before the sexual tension becomes any more aggressively heterosexual than it already is.”
He grabbed an apple on his way past. “Do try not to combust while I’m gone.”
Something changed.
I looked over to Auretheos and apparently he had felt it too.
The air felt thicker, almost suffocating, a weird pressure filled my ears.
“Someone is here,” Theo said quietly and looked over at Cae who drew a dagger from his boot. Nothing happened for a while, making me wonder if we were starting to get paranoid. A dark rumble came from the end of the room and heavy black smoke emerged out of thin air. Theo was in front of me in a heartbeat, shielding me with his full body, not taking his eyes off of the dark corner.
The smoke slowly cleared and three people became visible in the corner. They were Heralds, clad in dark red uniforms. Two women and a man now stood in our dining room and looked straight at us. A sword appeared in Theos hand and Caelan reached for his dagger.
“Good morning, Lord of Wisdom,” one of the women said and smiled at him teasingly. “How dare you appear inside my private home unannounced,” Theo responded with thinly veiled disdain.
“Excuse us for popping in unannounced, but after what happened to poor Ignara, we weren’t sure you’d grant us an audience,” the man said, and he was definitely right.
“We have come to ask you once again to hand over the wordsmith and join the Fraction,” the first woman spoke up again before the third woman took a step towards us.
“It’s not too late to be on the right side of history, my lord.”
Auretheos relaxed his stance and laughed, his voice tinged with anger.
“How considerate of you to extend the invitation. And yet, as I’m sure you’ve already surmised, I have no intention of aligning myself with your band of deluded miscreants. My wordsmith remains at my side. So, I suggest you return to whatever pit you slithered from before I begin the rather meticulous process of dismantling you, piece by piece.”
I knew it was the wrong place and the wrong time, but I leaned in just enough to murmur, so only he could hear, “Fates above. That was…unfairlyhot.”
Standing behind him, I couldn’t see his face, but his shoulders shifted, only slightly, as if he were fighting a laugh.
“Before you so eloquently send us on our way, my lord, let me remind you that this is the last time the Fraction will make you the offer to join their cause. If you are not with us, you are against us.”
Theo bristled at that. “Are you threatening me in my own home? Tsk tsk tsk, that’s not polite at all. And who, pray tell, is the Fraction that wishes to have my support?”
The woman who had spoken first smiled. “You will find out soon enough, God of Wisdom. I am asking you for the last time: Are you going to hand over the wordsmith and accept our invitation?”
Theo lifted his sword and said through gritted teeth, “Be gone. And do inform your Deities that if they desire anything from me, they will have the courtesy to speak with medirectly. The wordsmith remains under my protection, and that will not change. Should harm befall her, by intent or accident, you will answer to me and the full weight of my army. I trust I’ve been clear?”
The man smiled weakly, “As you wish, my lord. We will leave you to your breakfast. See you on the battlefield.” And with a swoosh they disappeared the same way they had come. The second they were gone, Theo turned around, seething.
“How the fuck did that happen? How did they get through the shields?”
Something had to seriously be wrong with me, because hearing him say the word “fuck” made my knees buckle. It was embarrassing how under-touched I was.
Caelan merely stood there, looking as clueless as I felt. “I will go and check our shields right now,” he said and hurried out of the room.
Auretheos took a deep breath and downed the last of his coffee.
“I am sorry about this. Are you all right?” He asked.
I nodded. “Of course, don’t worry about me.”
“I always worry about you. I need to go and make sure this won’t happen again, will you be all right?”
I smiled at him, “Yes, go! I think I need to go for a run again after you went all hot God in here.”
