“Rahu, is that true?” one of them asked.
I pulled my wraith lord pendant out for them to see. “It's true, but if you need more proof, I'm happy to oblige.”
“Ember, please,” Vex said. “These are my people.”
“I'm trying to solve this peacefully,” I said. “I don't want to hurt them.”
“Just go,” he growled. “They think you need me to fade you.”
“He can fade?” another man asked.
“I'm a fucking wraith lord!” I snarled. “I've already proved it to your friend over there, but he refuses to accept it.” I summoned a wind tunnel around Vex and me. It was a non-confrontational way to protect us and prove yet again that I had magic. “There!” I shouted over the wind. “Do you believe me now?”
“Damn it, Ember!” Vex grabbed me.
He didn't say another word, just faded us back to the Wraith Lord Citadel.
Chapter Three
“What the fuck was that?” Vexen growled at me as he followed me out of the arrival chamber on the bottom floor of the citadel.
“Exactly! What the fuck was that? You're friends with those assholes?” I turned to face him.
Vex glanced around, saw that ta few wraith lords were passing through the entry hall, and grabbed my hand. “Not here.” He led me to the stairs and up two flights in silence to his bedroom on the third floor. I would have gotten my hopes up if he hadn't looked so fierce.
As soon as the door was shut behind us, Vexen said, “Why did you threaten my people?”
“I didn't threaten them!” I gaped at him. Then I blinked. “Not entirely. Just a little. Because they were threatening us!”
“They're my clan. They wouldn't have hurt me, and you—”
“And I what?” I snarled at him. “What, Vex? And I would have survived an attack because I'm immortal now?”
“No.” He went still. “I mean, yes, of course, you're immortal. But they never would have gotten the chance to hurt you, Ember. You know how powerful you are. They don't.”
“Why do you think I was showing them what I can do? I was trying to warn them off.”
“You were only antagonizing them.”
“Oh, so I should have done nothing? It's all right that they wanted to hurt me because I could have defended myself?”
“No, it's not all right, but I brought you there, into their territory. That alone was seen as a threat.”
“Yeah, you took me there.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So, if you understand them so well, why did you do that?”
“Because I wasn't going to introduce you to anyone.”
My arms fell to my sides. “You were going to hide me?”
“Ember, I'm not embarrassed of you,” Vex said. “But I know they aren't ready to see me with a human.”
“And still, you took me there.”
He waved an arm helplessly. “It's my home. I wanted you to see it. It's where I go to be most comfortable. That's where I wrote a lot of the letters I gave you. I built that house myself and much of the furniture in it. I'm sorry if I wanted to share that with you, but not share you with them.”
I sighed. “Vexen, that's sweet, and I love that you wanted that. But it hurt to hear you call me a friend.”
“I knew how Rahu would react. But I still told him.”
