Blood Stained Tranquility (53 page)

“I’ll go check on Soleria for you. I’m sure she’s in the medical wing. It’ll give you some time.” Zen rubbed his thumb along her jaw. “Meet me in the hall where the others are. Okay?”

Evesse pressed her lips to his and nodded. Zen disengaged them, placing her gently on the floor beneath them. His armor reappeared on him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded again. Connecting with him just then had gone a long way to centering her. She was shaken from the reminder of everything that had happened and was happening still, but she now had the strength to function, at least. “Please . . . just . . . go find her. I need to know she’s okay.”

Zeniel gave her one last kiss on the cheek before dematerializing.

Eve armored back up, making her way to her feet. She totally understood why Zeniel had put his armor back on. Right then, wearing it made her feel shielded. The battle might have been over, but she knew damned well that the fuckmess the Aviraji had created still had to be dealt with.

Chapter 38

-Enzyria, Main Hall.

Dimithinia was sitting on the last step of the stairs leading up to the second floor when Evesse dematerialized down into the main hall. Her arms were crossed and a miffed glare was aimed at Eve. The look in Dimi’s eyes said it all:

Fuck you for telling him. I barely got away in time.

Where was Crius though?

Beings were pouring into the hall by the dozens.
Sesengts
loitered on either side. There was at least two hundred of them and counting.

They weren’t the only ones coming in either. Another wave of immortals was next, and this time, she recognized who was leading them into the hall.

Dago marched in, his stride full of so much purpose that he looked like he was about to lay a smack down on someone. The
Vy’shi
behind him were just as determined, and all of their eyes were locked on one person: Ismini. They kept on going until Dago had come to a stop in front of her, and the female and male witches following him stopped behind him.

Then, as one, they all fell down to one knee, bowing before Ismini.

Dyletri’s growl rumbled softly through the hall, but he had the grace to keep himself from attacking any of the males paying homage to his female.

“Flux,” Dago said, tilting his head back to stare at Ismini. “We are yours to command in all ways. It is our greatest honor to have you before us once more.”

Cyake had to smack a hand across Dy’s chest to stop the jealous male from taking a step forward. Although Cyake was holding Dyletri back from harming Dago, his golden eyes were anchored on the
Vy’shi
and were promising a world of hurt.

Dago’s light blue eyes moved from Ismini to Cy, locking on him with the same exact message.

And Evesse knew instantly what all the aggression was about.

Spari.

Dago was rising to his feet when Crius materialized into the hall, Hades close behind. Crius’s eyes had returned to their silver shade, his pupils once more hidden, but there was no mistaking where those eyes were focused.

Dimithinia pointedly ignored him, her arms crossed. She was still wearing her black coat, so her arms were hidden, and so were the damned bracelets that would give her away.

Evesse could understand her not wanting Crius to know about her being mated to him, but Eve had seen how he’d reacted when he’d thought Dimi had been dead. She was going to have to have a talk with Dimithinia soon.

As everyone was moving to the side, and a huge hundred-foot-long marble board table—of all things—appeared in the middle of the hall, XreakLi stormed in, flanked by two other
Sesengts.

One of them had golden skin, gorgeous hazel-green eyes, and tattoos covering the sides of his neck and going up to his bald head, where they swirled and covered every inch of it. He continued walking forward, even as Xreak and the other
Sesengt
veered off to the left. That stare of his was intense, borderline teary eyed, and it was also focused on—

“Agathen,” Dimithinia gasped, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Agathen marched up to her, his face resembling stone even as he blinked back the tears in his eyes.

Dimithinia’s lips parted, and her arms fell to her sides. She looked like she could barely breathe. “Agathen?” she repeated, dazed.

The guardian nodded, then fell to one knee before her, bowing his head in total submission. “My queen.” His tone was as much a pledge of respect as it was an affirmation of devotion.

The entire hall went quiet.

Eve practically
heard
Crius’s blood pressure skyrocket.

Dimi’s eyelids slid over her eyes, threatening to dislodge the tears gathering there. Her skin had gone pale white and she’d begun to shake. “Agathen.”

Agathen remained as he was, leaning on the closed fist he’d braced on the floor, his other arm resting on his bent knee. His stare was locked on the floor in a show of utter reverence. “I had not known you had already been brought back amongst the living, your highness. Had I known, I would have come sooner. Much sooner.”

Dimithinia’s eyes focused back on him, relief starting to overcome the shock. “After you died . . . They made you a
Sesengt
.”

Agathen nodded, not looking up from the floor.

“You survived,” Dimi whispered in a wet, grateful voice.

“I only regret that I was not able to save you that day. When they told me I could have a chance to protect you in the far future, I agreed to return to life and become a guardian. I had to make up for my failure. I was not worthy of being part of your royal guard.”

Dimithinia pressed her hand to her mouth, her shaking intensifying. “That is not true. Please rise. I am your queen no longer,” she said, her voice muffled.

Agathen shook his head vehemently. “You shall always be my queen.”

The tears Dimi had been holding back burst out of her, and she hugged herself with her free arm, her hand still cupped around her mouth.

The sound of a scuffle made Eve’s head turn.

Hades had wrapped his arm around an extremely pissed off Crius, and was clearly doing for him what Cy had just done for Dyletri.

“You were my friend,” Dimithinia whispered, lowering her hand. “Back then, you were my only friend.”

The fist Agathen was leaning on tightened and the sound of his leather gloves squeaking seemed really loud.

“And you live.” Dimithinia’s lips parted in a tremulous smile.

Then she decided to put the poor guardian’s life in danger, her arms wrapping around his head as she hugged it tight to her chest.

Agathen’s body went rigid . . . his arms raised off the floor slowly, as if he was too shocked to move any faster, and then they were wrapped around Dimi’s small body as she pressed her cheek to the top of his bald head, her tears falling onto his skin.

“I thank everything out there that you live, Agathen.”

“And I do as well when it comes to you, my queen. No one deserves a second chance more than you.”

The possessive, animalistic sound that left Crius was low and nasty, and still powerful enough to be heard through the entire hall. That motherfucker might have been in denial, but there was no way he hadn’t already begun developing his own mating-slash-bonding symptoms. And at the rate he was going, he had better get used to the idea of kissing his celibacy goodbye.

Not that Dimithinia pulled away from Agathen. Oh, no. She was too lost in the fact that she’d been given back someone who had obviously been a good friend.

Boots hitting the floor made Eve’s head twist around. Zeniel came up to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into him. “I checked on Soleria. She’s still unconscious, but she’s somewhat stable.”

Evesse snuggled deeper into his side, feeling weak with relief.

“All right. All right. Break up the smushy shit. I don’t deal well with it unless it’s a special occasion,” Nylicia said, appearing in the hall. Actually, she was sitting at the end of the marble table that had appeared. And by “the end”, Eve meant she was sitting right on the damn table. “I convened this meeting for a reason. And pissing off Crius was only part of it.”

Twin glares were leveled at Nylicia, one from Dimithinia, and the other—well, that was obvious. Crius looked ready to commit murder.

Zen placed his hand on the small of Evesse’s back and led her to the table. They passed a confused and scared looking Makayla on the way there. She looked so out of place, and Eve didn’t blame her. She was about to make her way over to Makayla, when Ismini passed by with Dyletri and grabbed her hand, leading her to the table with the rest of them.

Eve’s heart expanded. Damn, her friends were awesome. There was no freaking doubt on that one.

“I need to see Soleria,” she whispered to Zen. That’s when she realized that Ianthen was nowhere to be seen. She hadn’t caught sight of him on Enzyria at all. Was he already in the medical wing with Soleria?

“Vedlyl is still looking her over. After this, I will take you right away.”

She kind of wanted to argue with that, but one look at Nylicia’s expression stopped her. Any and all mirth was wiped clean from her face. Evesse had seen Nylicia look pissed. She’d seen her look hard.

This went so far beyond that.

The female looked ready to destroy a planet, her multicolored eyes staring unseeingly at the table as most of the beings in the hall sat down. Those that couldn’t fit at the table stood behind the seats, and everyone was watching Nylicia, waiting for her to speak.

Cyake broke the silence, impatience morphing his features. “Where is she, Nylicia?”

Dago, sitting across and eight seats away from him, tensed.

“This is not the time and place for that, Cy.”

Cy slammed a hand across the table. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m going to start getting symptoms, Nylicia—”

If looks could kill, Dago would have had Cyake melted into a puddle of blood and meat at his feet.

“And you will wait.” Nylicia continued to stare at the table, her voice as calm as her expression was dangerous.

Dago’s hard voice carried down the length of the table. “Is she all right, Nylicia?”

Cy’s eyes flashed momentarily blue. Hades placed a hand on his shoulder, sensing that Cyake was about to do something really stupid with those powers of his.

“She is none of your concern,” Cyake growled.

“There’s a reason she left with
me
when you went all barbarian–prophet on her. “

“Guys . . .” Nylicia said.

Hades rolled his eyes and shifted so that most of his weight was now on Cy.

Dago’s head swiveled back around to Nylicia. “Why did you give her to him? We all know you sent her there that night on purpose.”

Nylicia slammed her hand onto the table, and it actually shook with the force, despite her being un-whole. “This is not the fucking time for that!” She paused, eyes coming up, and staring regretfully at Dago. “And it was destiny.”

Cyake threw Dago an insolent, pleased smirk.

“She is not yours, yet. You might be showing symptoms, but there is still time.”

There was no mistaking what Dago meant by there was still time.

Cyake shoved Hades away from him and almost flew out of his chair.

Pink, hazel, aqua, and light blue energy shot around Dago and Cy, anchoring them to their seats.

“I will find a way to will you dead, fucker. Don’t tempt me,” Cy growled behind the rainbow cloud, his eyes flashing metallic blue again. A part of the energy surrounding him broke free, and slapped around his mouth like a strip of duct tape, shutting him up.

“XreakLi, please come up here and explain to them all you know.” Nylicia’s small face looked ancient right then.

Xreak nodded and stepped up to the table, standing beside where Nylicia was sitting. “The Aviraji have declared all-out war with this battle. There is no doubt left.”

“But the treaty,” a male protested at the other end of the table.

“Is now null and void in every way that counts,” Nylicia countered, scowling. “They want complete control. They always did. And we all know where they’re going to start. Actually, considering who is the acting, reigning sovereign of South
Eren
, I can safely say they have already started.”