A stroke of blackfire along the sensitive parts of my mind was my only answer from her. I took a deep breath, pushing past the arousal heating my blood. Tendrils of blackfire seeped into my body. I could feel Nahomie entrenched in my soul. Ravishing hunger for my wingmate consumed me.Rot. I was ready to go home.
I shook my head clear. Pushed to my feet. It was time to focus.
In one sweeping motion, I leapt into the air. I landed on a branch high above the clearing floor. As I settled into my hiding place, two angels headed for Beauradèl Manor floated into the clearing below.
Chapter 24
Tassarion
“I can’t believeJacques would do such a heinous thing!”
“I can.” A casual flick of the wrist. “He never liked Richard. And you know as well as I do Marcèllian was waiting for Richard to grow up so he could pass the Beauradèl inheritance to him.” The female angel sashayed her hips in the air as she kept floating. “Marcèllian would leave Yvette and Jacques comfortable, of course, but Richard was expected to take it all.”
I huffed a quiet laugh. There was nothing like island gossip to get you going on a rough twinight. I lifted from my hidden perch, trailing the two angels. Scampering through the trees, I followed them as they floated through the woods along the trail, oblivious to my presence.
“And Yvette! Poor thing. She’s a mess over it all. You know she and Jacques were close.”
“Too close, if you ask me.”
The first Madame turned to her friend, tilting her head while daintily waving her fingers.
“And what in the Elledellien realms is that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t be daft, Minali. She’s too fond of him. I never liked it. Jacques is young, but still old enough to be Yvette’s Papi.He took enjoyment in her presence too much, especially for a brother. I can’t believe Inayah never put her foot down.”
Minali blinked at her friend. Her face wrinkled at the thought.
“You’re looking too deep into their closeness, Esthèl. Jacques is simply protective.” Another wave of the hand. “And why would Inayah interfere? Should a Manmi worry about such nefarious activities among her younglings? A Manmi can only wish for her younglings to be so close. To carry that bond of friendship into their maturity.”
“Jacques was always a greedy, pompous fool.” Esthèl kissed her teeth so long the woods hissed back. “He tried to take Yvette as his wingmate, and I bet he wanted everything Marcèllian was going to give to Richard.”
“Esthèl! You don’t know that to be true.”
“I know patterns, and that’s enough.”
I trailed the two gossips until they reached the Beauradèl garden. On this side of the manor, the garden had an open courtyard with a fountain at the center. All around the courtyard were cloudchairs. The billows of single-seater clouds hovered above the stony ground. Twilight above cascaded below from the three large moons. Almost every cloudchair had an angel sitting on it. They were all Mortents. Every one of them once served in Papi and Manmi’s Ministeri.
I pressed my lips into a thin line.
These angels used to frequent Everthorn Manor. Some visited alone, but the majority would come with their younglings. Younglings who would become Tovares, Vitani, and I’s friends. They had been loyal to Manmi and Papi since the Fifth Age. Would come with gifts. They would bring their younglings, who could play with us. Some even traveled with us on family vacations.
Until the Beauradèls betrayed us.
When I returned home after escaping Zemshaza, the sight of my disfigurement was all it took for the angels to forsake us. To forsakeme. I found the bastardizing culprit and chuckled with glee. I would ruin him for what he had done to us.
Marcèllian Beauradèl floated by the back doors of his manor, his face worn down by grief. By anxiety. His hazel eyes were wide. Wild. Stress was eating him alive. I leaned back on the branch I sat on, watching the tribunal proceedings unfold. It seemed I got here right on time. How Obsidian discovered this was going to take place, I would never know. But the Gargorètti would forever have my thanks.
“Please,” Marcèllian was begging the present audience. The Madames I had trailed found two empty cloudchairs and joined the proceedings. “Jacques would never do such a thing. I need you all to listen to me. This verdict of death is outrageous!”
“He murdered your last born. Yet here you stand defending the ogre. That’s what I find outrageous!”
I found the source of the outburst. A stout female who flapped her ivory wings and shook her coily mane of matching pearl that tumbled down her spine in glorious vines. She donned a pretty sky-blue dress that showed just how round she was. She was so short, her feet hovered above the ground like stubs while she shifted around in her seat, the cloudchair moving with her. I knew who she was immediately.
Madame Karoline.
“Honestly, Marcèllian. It wasyouwho tried convincing us any display of monstrosity should be dealt with severely.” Karoline pointed a stubby, ringed finger at Marcèllian. “We’re supposed to change what we believe now because this brute is your son? Youarethe dim-witted fool of this Age.”
I smiled. Manmi and Papi would have been proud. One thing about Madame Karoline: she never cared. It didn’t matterwho you were, she would tell it like it is. She held everyone accountable and never backed down from her beliefs.
