Okay, not subtle, but I wasn’t expecting an answer. I’d hoped the blunt question would summon a memory I could dive into without him knowing. The string of emotion was promising, but unfortunately, no memory.
Damn.
Aram stared down at me before grabbing a few things and arranging them on my plate. Then he poured a glass of blue liquid I could almost guarantee was Blue Magic. Or at least something like it. To be safe, I wouldn’t touch it.
“You’re not being very subtle, little hybrid,” he taunted.
“Not really my style,” I retorted with a shrug, fiddling with the things on my plate. I played up my boredom, but it was all a ruse so I could search our connection for anything I could exploit. “You were the one who wanted a chance to prove who you are, so prove it. What happened with your family?”
My gut twisted as his expression darkened and he took a sip of what was in his cup. Anger blossomed inside my head, but as if he’d wiped it away with a glance, it was gone. “It’s not a tale fit for our first outing as mates, but should you truly want to know, once we’ve returned to our chambers—”
He was cut off by Kate gagging next to me. Something she’d been attempting to eat fell out of her mouth onto the plate. “Ew, gross. That’s a texture I didn’t even think possible, and one I hope never to have in my mouth again.”
I couldn’t help myself. Kate brought out the immature girl in me. “That’s what she said.”
Kate was in the middle of washing down the bad taste in her mouth, but that, too, ended up on the plate. “My dude! That’s cheating. You can’t drop a joke in the middle of enemy territory.”
Aram laid his cheek on his hand like he wasn’t the pretend god of an entire realm, just a dude out to dinner with two chicks sputtering nonsense. “Is that how you really feel, little mate? That I’m your enemy? What has the Daughter of Shadows and Dark King said about me, I wonder…”
Before I could reply with something vague, Kate, being the ever-astute Watson she was, immediately replied, “Oh, a lot. You’re one crazy mofo. And just so you know, I might be human, but I once stalked a guy across town who called V a ginger whore and kicked him right in the balls. Right. In. The. Balls. You don’t scare me with your charming Sephiroth act, mister. I see right through you, and my foot was born ready to bring hell upon your balls.”
I covered my mouth with a hand, so close to breaking down into a snickering mess. I was a goddamn Hunter and I still couldn’t stop my shoulders from shaking. “Pretty sure he ended up in the hospital, didn’t he?”
“Oh, yeah. Police got involved. Parents. It was a mess, but I don’t regret it. I hope I sterilized the bastard,” she rambled.
I’d nearly forgotten about Aram until he chuckled, and it brought my eyes back over to him. “I’ll endeavor to remember your threat and act accordingly.”
Kate narrowed her eyes, then slowly reached for her cup. “See that you do.”
The melody changed, and so did the dancing. I was momentarily lost to the sight, magic sparking and swirling through the air. I counted a few pixies in the crowd despite Big’s assurance the Nether Royals weren’t fans. Interesting. Then my eyes locked on a pair of wings that felt oddly familiar.
Wait a second…
“Goth Tinkerbell Dude?” I mumbled, caught on the giant in the middle of the swaying mass, his familiar eyes on me. But as if he’d never been there, he was gone.
Kate sniffed a piece of food that resembled bread, not trusting it in the least. I wanted to ask her if Big followed us here, but I couldn’t risk it in front of Aram.
“V?” Aram said right into my ear, and I went rigid. “Recognize someone?”
I worked hard to keep my pulse slow and calm. “Speaking of that, how did you recognize Jo?”
“Jo?” His head tilted with the name.
“Uh, Johara,” I went on, testing her name on my tongue. “The Daughter of Shadows.”
“Ah.” His smile faded. “She’s the spitting image of her mother.”
I gasped as another flood of emotion washed through my head. A swirling memory took root. I didn’t think, just reached out to it and fell into a confused vortex of images.
I was suddenly not in the ballroom with Aram and his court orgy. Cobblestone stretched from my left and right but became blurry and unrecognizable after a few feet. Faded and colorless. Only bits of what was in front of me were crystal-clear.
In front of me was a woman who was nearly identical to Jo aside from marginal deviations in her face shape and mouth. Her green eyes blazed, darkness sweeping around her like an angry cloud, crawling up her hour-glass figure like the hands of Hell reaching for freedom.
On the ground was another woman with long black hair that shifted over the stone like a river. One arm was draped above her head, the other falling across her waist. She was breathtakingly beautiful and clearly a Fae, but for some reason she didn’t sparkle like I expected. Her face had paled and was directed straight up at the sky, her red eyes open but lifeless. The word ‘dead’ echoed inside my head.
This was Aram’s mother.
I—no,he—dropped to his knees, a powerful influx of his magic making the ground beneath him quake.“You’ve killed them all, and for what, Hera?”I heard him snarl, my mouth moving with his.“Power? Well, you can’t have it. I’ll destroy you the way you have my clan, mark my words, Eishic.”
