Grace, Hazel, and Seiji (I can’t rank them without feeling like a shitty person, so I'm going alphabetically)
I thought the difficult part of this conversation was over, but then I remember he saidthreekingdoms.
Angel scratches the back of his head nervously. I want to get this over with, so I ask him to blurt it out, and I promise to take whatever it is with stride.
“I took overConquerandWarat seventeen.”
I look at him absurdly. Why the fuck would he be crowned Conquer atseventeen, much lessWar? My face probably tells him there is no logic in what he said because he reels back to find the best way to go about this topic.
I know a decade is a long time to be gone, but I’m getting tired of waiting for bombs to keep dropping. My head fills with questions about why anyone would hand over not one, buttwokingdoms to a teenager. This is making my head hurt.
“WhyWar?”
I can come to terms with him taking over Conquer at just seventeen—which is challenging itself, but why the fuck would Uncle Henry let him take overWarwhen that’s Harvey’s blood-right.
Without my best friend here, I need to defend his rights, even if it’s my mate I have to stand against.
“He uh—Henry was sick. His health didn’t allow him the stress of such responsibilities anymore, so he asked me to step in.”
I can tell he’s holding something back, but I can’t ask him for more. How his eyes gloss over and warily study me, how tightly his hands are squeezing mine terrifies me from asking more. I’m not ready. I can’t deal with more bad news when I already have a ton of guilt from all I’ve caused.
When he silently asks if I want to know more, I shake my head slowly. Angel accepts my decision to keep the truth and looks glad to sit on it until I ask him myself.
“But when we find Harvey—”
“It’s his. The title, the kingdom,the piles of paperwork, and responsibilities are all his.”
The way he genuinely hates paperwork isn’t lost on me, and it makes me chuckle at how eager he seems about Harvey taking over.
The way they talk about how things would change once we go home with Harvey, something eases inside me. I hate that for a moment, I was worried Harvey would have to fight for his rights, and I would have to choose between my mate and my best friend.
All our lives, it’s been Harvey and me against the world, but with the people in this room offering a hand, I hope we can have more people on our side.
Anxo and Seiji share a mischievous glint that’s barely contained, and Hazel scowls at Grace when she bursts out laughing. Smirking like he knows something I don’t, Angel looks deep into my eyes before his voice echoesinsidemy head without his lips moving.
“What would you like for lunch, sweetheart?”
Wait a damn minute— “You can read minds?!”
Angel laughs loudly, and I’m staring at yet another magnificent sight. “Nuh-uh, just tap in for a private conversation.”
“Is that what you guys keep doing? And here I thought you all had a weird thing for constantly staring at each other.”
Angel chuckles. “After my coronation, along with perception alteration and creating barriers, telepathy was also one of my gifts. Since it was intended to stay between the Horsemen, it took me a while to be able to extend it. It’s easier with you and Seiji with our bloodlines, but now I can add Gracie and Hazel too.”
It’s a strange reminder that children from Horsemen bloodlines aren’t born with all their gifts—sure the strength, senses and the presence of our Divine come early on, but most of them are only awarded after Fates choose us. Unlike me, who despite lacking the Reaper gifts have others I can really control.
Kissing my hand, Angel smiles at me to get me out of my head, and by some miracle, I don’t die because I swear my heart stopped thudding for a good minute there.
Seiji clears his throat—unnecessarily loud, breaking our eye contact.Horrible timing, princess.
“Thatis nothing. I will show you something worth being impressed by.”
Before I can tell Seiji I’m familiar with his gifts, I watch in awe when he rotates his forefinger in lazy circles. The air around his finger follows his movements, and an adorable little tornado brews on top of his finger. What I saw yesterday was much more violent, but today, I see the delicate side of his powers.
I thought Seiji was going to stop, butno. He releases the little tornado off his finger and lets it roam around the room as he starts rotating hisentire palm, manipulating the air in the room.
The little tornado isn’t so little anymore. It grows bigger, dancing—more likedestroyingthe room. The windows shudder with the force, and even the furniture starts shaking. When the tornado reaches its peak, Seiji adds bright purple and pink lightning to the mix, and the tornado becomes a shade of black, which was an adorable white before.
