Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

40. Slade

40

SLADE

M y whole family was waiting to greet us when we got to the mansion the next day. My Sire was standing in the foyer with his arm around Lyrah , who was giving us a big, fake smile that didn’t reach her poison-green eyes. My half-brother, Hrake was standing behind his mother, still as shy as ever. My little sister, Jessina , was standing on the other side of my Sire , as far from our stepmother as she could get. I didn’t blame her a bit.

Lyra pounced on us before we could even get through the front door.

“ Well , hello, you two!” she exclaimed, coming forward with her arms out.

“ Er , hello.” Aurora submitted to being hugged but when Lyrah put out her arms to me and cooed, “ Slade , sweetie!” I just glared at her.

“ Hello , Lyrah ,” I said shortly, not making any move to accept her hug. I wanted nothing to do with her.

She made a face and dropped her arms.

“ Anyway , we have the best suite in the East wing all made up for you. In fact, I’ll have the servants take your bags there now.” She clapped her hands and two burly males and one maid, all dressed in gaudy green and gold uniforms, came to take the luggage.

I would have held onto mine if I’d brought anything sensitive. Knowing Lyrah she would have someone look through it to see if she could dig any dirt on me to present to my Sire . But I was wise to my stepmother’s ways. Any sensitive documents I had access to had already been sent to Rive , my Second in Command , to store in a secure location. So I just nodded as the servants carted away our luggage.

“ Hey , big brother.” My little sister, Jessina , took the opportunity to give me a hug.

Jessina doesn’t look like the rest of the family—she takes after our mom, who was half Yerbishian . So instead of having a grey skin tone like the rest of us, her skin is a smooth, even brown. She has the same black hair as the rest of the family though and she has wide golden eyes that can tell you every emotion she’s feeling the moment she’s feeling it.

My sister is only about five years my junior but she was still living at home, unmarried. Why , I didn’t know. But I suspected it had something to do with Lyrah —she wanted to have a say in who Jessina got Bound to but my headstrong sister wanted nothing to do with any of her choices. Not that I blamed her— Lyrah has horrible taste in people—it’s even fucking worse than her taste in decorations and that’s saying something.

“ Hey , Jessina .” I hugged my little sister and nodded at Aurora . “ Aurora , this is my sister, Jessina . And Jessina , this is my Fated Mate and wife, Aurora .”

Jessina gave Aurora a shy smile, which my wife returned.

“ It’s very nice to meet you,” she said.

“ You too. Anyone who can make this big lug happy is all right with me.” Jessina grinned at her, looking genuinely welcoming.

“ Oh , thank you.” Aurora blushed. “ Well , I’m doing my best. So far he’s not too hard to please.” She looked up at me and winked, which made me grin despite myself.

“ Really ?” Jessina’s eyes opened wide. “ Slade , not hard to please? I’ll believe that when I see it.” She looked at me. “ Remember the time you?—”

Luckily whatever embarrassing story she’d been about to tell was interrupted at that point.

“ Now then, how about a welcome home drink?” Lyrah chirped—she hated it when people had conversations that didn’t include her. “ Who wants a Slothian gin fizz? Or how about a Franglish whisky? Oh but not you, my dear,” she said, simpering at Aurora . “ Now when you might already be carrying the heir!” And she patted Aurora’s stomach lightly and smirked. “ I see at least you’ve gotten some new clothes! That dress is so much better than that dowdy gown you had on the other night. Though I’m afraid it shows that little bit of extra weight you’re carrying. But I dare say it’s just from the baby—right?”

“ Oh , um…” Clearly Aurora wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t blame her. We couldn’t exactly announce to my family that I hadn’t yet Bred her. It was rude of Lyrah to even make mention of the fact that she might be pregnant. As for her saying something about Aurora’s curves, well that really pissed me off because I knew my wife was self-conscious about her weight—though she shouldn’t be. She was fucking perfect just the way she was.

That was my stepmother, though—she never had any fucking tact.

“ I’ll take a whiskey,” I said, to draw her attention away from Aurora . “ Neat . And my wife will have a virgin ladybird.”

“ Oh , very well. I’ll put in the drink orders.” Lyrah made a face and headed towards the droid-tended wet bar at the far side of the living area.

Glad that my stepmother was occupied, I put an arm around Aurora and guided her through the marble foyer into the large living area.

“ It’s certainly, er, very decorative in here,” she said in a low voice, her eyes traveling around the room.

I snorted.

“ Yeah —you could say that.”

The highly polished, dark gray parquet floor made of boomsa wood from Sri’ex Four had been my mother’s pride. Other than that, Lyrah’s taste now reigned supreme.

There were bright, colorful paintings on all the walls displaying more wealth than taste—looking at them hurt my eyes. Even worse, the round living area had an expensive antique exercise couch—the kind that had been popular in the Court of Imperius the Fourth —in the center.

This prized piece of furniture was big enough to seat eighteen comfortably or twenty if you didn’t mind being crowded. It was also covered in slippery, bright orange mohisha hair which made it damn difficult to sit on without sliding off.

The couch had been designed for lazy nobles of the Imperium who didn’t like to exercise on their own. So the minute you took a seat on it, it molded to your body and started moving your limbs all around. If you weren’t damned careful, you would spill your drink all over yourself and wind up ass-first on the floor.

But the couch—as impractical and gaudy as it was—wasn’t the worst thing Lyrah had done to my family home. Standing around the perimeter of the room in a semi-circle were about twelve “living statues”—which was the latest stupid trend in home decor for people who had way too much money and time on their hands.

The “statues” were naked, semi-sentient clones, all of them painted with a marbled pattern to make them look like they had been carved out of stone. Every five minutes or so they would shift their positions, taking new poses to create new “art.” It was ridiculous and un-fucking-fair to the clones, as far as I was concerned. But my Sire had given Lyrah free reign with the decorating so she could do anything she wanted.

My Sire took a seat on the couch, which immediately gripped his legs and began exercising them by scissoring them back and forth, which looked fucking ridiculous. Lyrah took a seat beside him and the couch began moving her arms and legs too. She looked up at the rest of us still standing and made a face.

“ Well , Hrake —have a seat!” she commanded her son.

Reluctantly , my younger half-brother had a seat on one end of the couch. I could see him tensing up, but it didn’t do any good. Once the exercise couch had him in its grip, it started moving him all around. Only myself, Aurora , and my sister remained standing.

“ Well , what are the rest of you waiting for?” Lyrah demanded. “ Have a seat—this couch is excellent for circulation.”

“ No thanks, I’d rather stand,” I said dryly.

“ Well then, I’m sure you two girls would like to try the couch—right?” Lyrah asked, looking up at Jessina and Aurora eagerly. “ It’s an antique!”

I was about to say that Aurora would rather stand too, when she spoke up for herself.

“ Er , actually, I was hoping to find the ladies room? I hope you don’t mind—it was a long flight over here,” she added apologetically.

“ I’ll show you where it is,” Jessina offered quickly. “ This way.”

And the two of them went off together, leaving me alone. Not that I blamed Aurora — I wanted her to get to know my little sister. She was the only sane one around here, as far as I was concerned.

I hoped they would become friends.