Wicked Heirs (Electi Academy #1)

19. ~Orpheus~

19

~Orpheus~

Three Years Ago

The violent clang of metal upon metal echoed around the gardens of the palace.

I lunged, he parried.

It became a blur as we both found our rhythm with each other, having learned one another’s moves well over the course of the years that we’d spent dueling around the palace and its expansive grounds.

I managed to push back the experienced and formidable man before me.

Saryan Hart.

My father.

The almighty King of the Dark Fae.

He looked his usual edgy, yet somehow also regal self in a pair of silver leather pants and a sleek black open-collared shirt made of the finest silks in all the Realm, the color matching his spiky hair, the cut serving to highlight his spiky ears and the many earrings adorning them, almost more metal than skin. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows revealing his black Fae markings all over his arms, disappearing further beneath his clothes. Several chains hung around his neck with jeweled pendants, and rings encircling every finger, a whole lot of bling on display as usual—even when we were sword fighting.

“Well-executed, my boy. I’m impressed,” he said, smiling with pride.

Of course being the self-assured being that I was, I couldn’t simply leave it at that and I spun out of the reach of his sword just in time, then ducked and came up to deliver a faux deathblow and—

Only to have his sword press just a hair’s breadth from my throat.

Motherfuck.

He had me.

He pulled his blade back and gave the gesture for our battle being over.

Chuckling, he told me, “You overplayed your hand there. Careful, Orpheus, there’s a difference between confidence and arrogance.”

“A lesson you take far too much delight in teaching me.”

“You remind me of myself as a younger man. I know the dangers of that mentality and I don’t want you suffering for it as I did. It’s important for beings like us to be humbled once in a while.”

“You’re taking far too much pleasure in this.”

The glint in his eye said it all. I knew it well.

“Aww, my boy,” he said, slapping my shoulder, then wrapping his free arm around me while his other held his sword. “I’m overjoyed to have you home for a while. Since you moved out to your own place in the Realm due to your fierce independent streak, I’ve missed you dearly.”

“I’ve missed you too, Father,” I said, sinking into him, as we made our way out of the gardens and back toward the palace.

“Where’s Mom? She messaged me that she’d be out when I first arrived back from my induction in the human realm at Electi Academy, but I assumed she’d be back by now.”

“And what have I also taught you about assumptions?”

“That wasn’t meant literally and you know it.”

He grunted, “Who the Hades knows where she is?”

“Father,” I admonished.

He threw up his hands in a very uncharacteristic way for somebody known for being so collected and poised. “She doesn’t keep me abreast of her schedule these days.”

“Excuse me?”

“She’s… distant.”

“What? Why? When did this happen?”

“A few months ago.”

“Months? Why didn’t either of you tell me?”

“It was our business, Orpheus.”

“I beg to differ. Your marriage is in trouble?”

“It’s in a precarious state, but I can pull it back. So long as I allow her the space that she needs. That includes not tailing her all over the Realm.”

“No, she’d definitely feel your magic. And not even your guards are as stealthy as she is, she’d register them watching her.”

“Precisely. I’m glad somebody is seeing eye-to-eye with me.”

“Just not on the way this Kingdom is run, or how you wish me to continue running it once you step down.”

“You’re fortunate it’s my way when it comes to running things here and that I haven’t entertained your mother’s ideas. Hers have become very restrictive and highly domineering. I strike more of a balance. Her approach entails very divisive policies that would effectively subjugate the Kingdom. Much more than you claim that I do now. It’s nothing compared to what she wants. She’s always had a taste for power but something changed when she visited the human realm a few months ago. With me giving her the space she’d begged me for, I don’t know what that was.”

“I can look into it if you want.”

“No. Leave it be. I’ll see to her.”

“What if she’s been influenced?”

“She can’t be magically influenced due to my protective magic she’s imbued with as my wife.”

“But she could be influenced without magic. In a cult-like way, for instance.”

“As a way to undercut my reign? People using her to force their own agendas through her and the hold she has on me as my wife?”

“No. No, I’m not suggesting anything that nefarious, especially not from my own mother.”

“Well, now you’ve inadvertently brought it up, it’s also worth looking into.”

“Fuck, Father. This really won’t help the precarious nature of your marriage. This is Mom we’re talking about.”

“People change, Orpheus, for all manner of reasons. Failing to recognize that due to sentiment is dangerous.”

“I know, but—”

My words caught in my throat as he grimaced, then staggered back, at the same time as I felt what had just ailed him—a mammoth power rush.

“Elliot Sabre?” I uttered as it started to dissipate. Such power being expelled, especially without warning, caused other magical beings an uncomfortable pins-and-needles sensation to wrack their bodies. Those attuned enough to that sort of thing. Just like my father and me.

“No, El always provides a warning. He’s very respectful.” He blinked, shaking off the power hangover. “It must be Abigail.”

“That doesn’t bode well.”

“Yes, the Fallen in the Dark Fae Realm rarely does.” He looked past me at the doors back into the south wing of the palace, his eyes aflame with silver, obviously sensing her approach. And then he swept his gaze over my sweat-drenched purple muscle tee. “Go wash up ready for our celebratory feast while I see to the almighty Fallen’s unscheduled visit.”

“Father, if you need—”

“What I need is for you to do that,” he said, a little harshly, making it clear it was a command, not a suggestion.

He rarely brought that out with me because he respected me and viewed me as somebody with the definite capacity to become his equal one day, his revered heir.

It just showed how worried he was about this “unscheduled visit” by Abigail Rose, not merely a Fallen, which was bad enough, but also one of the leaders of Exemplar , the supernatural governing body to us all.

I grimaced and took one last look at my father, before teleporting away in a cloud of my shimmering purple magic.

A snap of my fingers to clean myself up and dress in appropriate clothing for dinner—a purple and silver tailored suit—combined with an illusion disguising the cloaking spell I’d enveloped myself in had enabled me to linger nearby as my father had greeted Abigail in our home.

I stood several feet away unbeknownst to them as my father lounged back on his silver wraparound couch in the living room while Abigail Rose stood with a worrying amount of authority in the middle between him and the stained-glass curtain wall framing the space and giving it an added regal air belonging to a palace. The paintings in the glass depicted great victories from battles and wars past, all achieved by my father, a true legend.

“If I’d known you were going to venture into my domain, Abigail, I would have prepared a welcome worthy of a being with such a formidable and revered status,” he spoke smoothly, looking her up and down as he did so.

She was wearing a bejeweled golden floor-length robe, the hood still up, strands of her curly blonde hair escaping it a little at the front. Beneath she had on a virginal-white peplum dress and a pair of matching colored heels.

Certainly fit the bill when it came to an angel.

Kind of stereotypical, really.

He was flirting with her. Well, really, trying to disarm her, possibly to undercut the clear agitation coming off her. She was definitely worked up.

She stepped forward then and bit back, “You should have been expecting me.”

“I should have?”

“Denial doesn’t become you, Saryan. You have your spies everywhere. You are well aware of what has come to my attention—to the attention of Exemplar .”

“I’m assisting Exemplar with my efforts.”

“Conducting secret meetings with the likes of Constantine Vale is not in the interests of Exempla r. Or the supernatural world as a whole.”

“If they had been secret not even you would know about them.”

“So you wanted us to know, to come here and arrest you for treason, is that it?”

“Treason?” he chuckled. “I am King of the Dark Fae. That isn’t a charge that can be levied upon me.”

“Treason to the supernatural world as a whole. Exemplar ’s jurisdiction, which exceeds yours.”

“You’ve wanted this for a long time, haven’t you, Fallen? To find a reason to dethrone me?”

“This isn’t personal.”

“Yet your distaste for me is.” His eyes flashed silver in warning. “What’s the matter, Abigail, afraid of a little darkness?”

She didn’t react to his provocations, keeping her composure.

Somehow.

I’d never seen anyone he’d come at manage that before. It was as impressive as it was unsettling, given her revealed reason for coming here—to arrest my father.

“Your fondness for darkness is what concerns me in this matter.”

“There is no matter. Like I said, I’m assisting you and Exemplar . The supernatural world as a whole, as you like to term it.”

“How so?” she pressed in a tone that made it clear she was certain that he couldn’t possibly provide a satisfactory answer.

My father snapped his fingers and a glass of smoking vodka—a spelled concoction—was in his hand in the very next moment.

He took a leisurely sip and slung his free arm over the back of the couch as he looked out at her and said, “Constantine is preparing to act. Should he do so, it will be catastrophic for us all. His goal is utter ruination before he then intends to take command of the supernatural world. He’ll destroy Exemplar , he’ll raze the supernatural community, including key locales and individuals. And then he’ll find a way to trap you and El as well. Not to mention what he’ll do to our children—the heirs of those he despises.”

“We’re aware of his intent. He doesn’t possess the means to do as you’ve claimed.”

“You’re wrong. He wields power comparable to Elliot Sabre, along with the abilities of a Vampire Elder. Not to mention, he is a gifted tactician.”

“And we are Exemplar .”

My father scoffed. “The lot of you aren’t as invincible and infallible as you’ve led yourselves to believe.” He took a few more sips of his vodka. “That’s why you’re here. You’re so afraid of what it would mean to the balance of things if I was actually in league with Constantine. Alone, he stands a very good chance of being able to make his threats a reality, yet with the Dark Fae King at his side, it would come very close to being a sure thing.”

“That is not for you to determine.”

“I beg to differ. We are all at risk here.”

“And Exemplar will see to it that you’ll all be kept safe.”

“That’s both arrogant and idealistic. Most definitely not reality, though.”

“The arrogance is yours. Thinking you could meet with Constantine Vale and remain untouched.”

“Oh, Fallen, I’m far from untouched.” He smirked. “Are you?”

The innuendo wasn’t lost on her. “I have a daughter.”

“I meant since your husband died.”

“That’s not your concern.”

“Ah, I see. You’re not comfortable admitting to your dirty desires for El.”

She swept forward, seething. “Mind your manners.”

My father whipped his glass at the wall, shattering it under the brutal impact, and he shot to his feet, seething right back at her. “You come into my home leveling accusations and threatening me with arrest! How dare you? To expect a warm reception after that is yet more angelic arrogance!”

“Why were you consulting with Constantine Vale? An explanation! Now!”

“Why the fuck do you think? To gain his trust, to make him believe I’ll work with him, so I can gain intel and cut him off at the knees before any of this really gets started.”

Abigail blinked and took a step back. “That’s incredibly dangerous.”

“I am King of the Dark Fae. I don’t shy away from dangerous endeavors.”

“It’s dangerous on many fronts. And also unbelievable. You could quite easily desire the power of such an alliance for yourself, to separate from the law of Exemplar just like Constantine.”

“You’re really reaching there, Fallen.”

“Am I? Then what was your planned response should you gain access to Constantine’s intel?”

My father’s gaze bored into hers. “To end him.”

“Absolutely not.”

“It’s the only way to effectively eliminate a threat of his caliber.”

“We don’t murder our enemies.”

“Really? What about the wars of ages past?”

“That’s regrettable, obviously. But with this you’re talking about premeditated murder of a threat.”

“The distinction is bullshit.”

“Not to Exemplar .”

“Do you really think sentencing him to Valmont, your ivory prison in the mountains, is going to suffice? No prison can hold him!”

“That’s your assumption, not a fact.”

My father scoffed. “Come on, Abigail.”

“No,” she said, holding up her hand. “You’re forbidden from meeting with him again. Should you violate that, you’ll face charges yourself.”

“Your arbitrary moral lines will sentence us all to destruction. He needs to be eliminated.”

“Denied.”

He glared at her. “You’re a Fallen for a reason. Live up to that, instead of leaning so heavily on the former angelic aspect. We’re not in the heavens. We’re down here where things are complicated and gray, not black and white.”

“I’m sure that’s what you tell yourself when you have your detractors here in your kingdom tortured to within an inch of their lives.”

“Those are just rumors.”

Actually, they were far from just rumors. It was one of the things we disagreed so fiercely on when it came to running the Kingdom. His harshness and brutality.

But as far as Exemplar knew, there was no proof that he’d done anything like that. Just hearsay.

“Regardless, you will be charged and arrested should you continue to meet with Constantine Vale.”

“This is your personal vendetta against what the Dark Fae Kingdom stands for.”

“It’s the law.”

“No, Fallen. It’s your law. Your foolish law. If I don’t do something here, we will all suffer.”

“And as I’ve imparted to you, it’s not your job to do anything. Stick to your kingdom.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then you run the risk of losing everything. I already have you on consulting with him. That’s enough to besmirch your name, to cast the kingdom in a negative light, and to make the Dark Fae Realm the pariah of the supernatural world. It will ruin you.”

“You mean you will.”

“You won’t listen to reason, you leave me no choice.”

“Then so be it.”

I choked out a gasp.

He was essentially making himself an enemy of Exemplar and taking the entire Kingdom with him.

My father, with his sensitive Fae hearing, heard me and swung his head in my direction.

He didn’t say anything and ordered Abigail instead, “Get out of my home.”

“You’re making a mistake,” she warned.

“I know exactly what I’m doing and one day you’ll come to me admitting that you should have listened, that I was right about it all.”

She sneered, then teleported out.

My father shoved a hand through his long hair, then sucked in a breath and waved his hand in my direction.

It shattered my illusion right away.

“You were there for the entirety?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

He surprised me as he smiled, bittersweet. “Good. At least somebody bore witness to that, because nobody else will believe my word on what just transpired. Especially after she poisons my name and the Kingdom as a result.”

“Father, I’m so sorry. What can I do?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “Absolutely nothing. Don’t involve yourself in this.” He walked to me and laid his hand on my shoulder. “It’s just become clear that I do actually need to let you take your leave for Electi Academy. It’ll be the safest place for you and a place that won’t be tainted by what’s about to come.”

“Father, I can’t leave you while this is—”

He squeezed my shoulder. “You have to. But you’ll need to play the game. One of my former army commanders under my charge a few years back is a professor there. Ingratiate yourself to him, pull on your revulsion for some of my ruling tactics and make him believe that you don’t condone anything I do when it comes to the rule of this Kingdom.”

“You want me to denounce you?”

“In a way. Just for now.”

“I can’t.”

“You must.”

I threw my arms around him and he returned my embrace, holding me tight to him.

I couldn’t believe this was happening, that it had come to this.

The sad part about the whole thing was that he was right.

About all of it.

Abigail Rose was determined to tear my father down.

And she was going to destroy us all in the process.

I eased my hands away from either side of Alena’s head as I finished allowing her to see that part of my memory.

I looked out at her as I came back to the immediate moment after conveying the details to her about where my hatred for her mother stemmed from.

“After that, my father was blacklisted in the supernatural world. Alliances and trading ceased, the Kingdom fell into a bleak and dark period and faced attacks and a whole lot of malice from those loyal to Exemplar. Through it all, my father became enraged and depressed, and it really didn’t help my parents’ fragile marriage at the time. They split up and my mom left the DFR altogether. She disappeared into the ozone and used some of my father’s magic that she stole on her way out to cloak herself so he couldn’t seek her out. It broke his heart. The whole thing did.”

“Wow,” she said, grimacing. “That’s… a lot.”

“It was for me too. With it being your mom… seeing her in a negative light… I can’t imagine how hard it is to wrap your head around it.”

“She’s not perfect.”

“What?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve heard things, seen things. She’s made mistakes. This isn’t my first foray into that side of her.”

Off my startled expression, she rolled her eyes and told me, “Nobody is truly infallible. Not even those with angelic blood.”

I nodded. “Constantine did strike, as you know. My father was vindicated a little when he was proven right, but by then the damage was already done. The Kingdom was in shambles. It was just by sheer force of will that he managed to claw it back over the last few years. But it doesn’t take away from the damage itself, or what it did to him. He lost that spark and he became bitter and paranoid. Your mom shattered my father, Alena.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I just wish I’d recognized that sooner and made the distinction between you and her immediately. It’s even worse, given that I hate it when people treat me like I’m the same person as my father, not because I revile him or anything, but because it’s important to me to be seen as my own man.”

“You did. Eventually. You saw me as my own person.” She reached out and took my hand as we both stood at the edge of the turret looking out over the serene view through the dark night. “And, just so you know, I wouldn’t have reacted the way that she did. Then again, I don’t have the pressure bearing down on me of the entire supernatural world on my shoulders that she does.”

“Ignoring the part about you making excuses for her and putting it down to her being your family, what do you mean you wouldn’t have reacted that way?”

“I mean that I would’ve wanted to put Constantine Vale down too.”

I couldn’t hide my stunned reaction. “My father’s intent was to murder him in order to put him down . You understand that, yes?”

“Perfectly.”

The corner of my mouth turned up. “Well, then.”

She was on the right track that I needed her to be.

We were compatible—in many ways. But in this case, from an Obsidian standpoint.

Little had I known beforehand that Alena Rose would become the missing link we’d been needing all this time.

The one who was going to change everything.

The one who was going to fix everything.

When Cornwell had first gotten word that she’d be coming here, I thought it would be an uphill battle, even a losing one, to even bring her close to what we wanted from her.

But it turned out that she was a far cry from her mother, a real rebellious force in all honesty. She was fucking perfect for us.

For everything that I had planned for her.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me what happened?” she asked, easing her hand from mine and eyeing me curiously.

“Because there were elements of my vulnerability, something I’m not good with, or comfortable with showing to others.”

“Why did you change your mind then?”

“You aren’t just others. I knew if I couldn’t do this then I’d lose you before I even got to fully have you.”

She smiled. “That memory humanized you. I liked seeing you that way.”

“Weak and unsure?”

“No,” she said, reaching out and cupping my face. “Open and loving. And brave. You were prepared to go against my mom alongside your father.” She grinned. “That’s no small thing, as you say.”

I grinned back at her. “I guess it’s not, little angel.” I grasped her hand on my face, stroking her fingers. “ My little angel.”

She stretched up onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips over mine.

I sank my fingers into her hair, kissing her back, savoring her taste, her lips moving against mine, giving herself over to me in such a raw way.

It was slow and sensual and unrushed.

Deep and all-consuming.

Just. Like. Her.

As we pulled apart, I asked her, “When was the last time you released your wings?”

Realization shone in her eyes. “So, that’s why you wanted to have this conversation up here?”

“That and the added privacy without needing to erect a glamour or an illusion. So, how long has it been?”

“A little over three years.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t look so shocked, you know about me putting my powers and abilities on lockdown.”

“Your wings are a different matter. They’re a physical part of you that you’ve been clipping. And you know what? I have a similar issue.”

“What? You’re giving me shit and it’s the same for you?”

“I said similar. I don’t use my wings as much as I used to. Ever since I came here, with the dome and all the restrictions, flying just feels wrong. Like I’m an animal in a cage when I bring them out. I did get the urge the other day, but it’s rare where that’s concerned.”

“For me, it’s the worry of feeling too free, too powerful, and what it might do to my head. It’s dangerous with my level of power, not to mention if I reach my full potential.” She stepped right to the edge and gazed over our surroundings below. “But we’ve talked about my fear of the dark and all of that, and I don’t want to live with all of that holding me back anymore.”

“You’re already making great strides, using your magic again, relaxing into it and enjoying it, excelling at your studies here—yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on your progress. You battled a raging phoenix, slept with the Dark Fae Prince, you’re sleeping with a vampire now too, you managed to win Talon over. Through it all, you’ve handled it exceptionally well.”

“Wow, high praise, especially from you.” She frowned at me, suspicion sparking. “Hold up, what do you want?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do people always think that? I can be nice without having ulterior motives.”

“You can, huh?” she said, nudging me.

I tickled under her chin. “Yes, I can, little angel.”

She released the sweetest giggle and it rolled right through me in the best way.

In an all-consuming way.

She grasped my hand, stopping my tickling.

“Let’s fly.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, then moved a few feet away from me.

I called my wings forth, spreading them wide.

Her jaw dropped.

It was an odd sensation—I’d never felt exposed before.

But standing here now with them on display in front of her I did, and I realized I cared about what she thought of them. Of me in relation to them too.

“Wow,” she said, studying them intently. “They’re extraordinary, so darkly beautiful.”

Relief rolled through me.

And something else.

Pride, it seemed like.

That they’d gotten that supremely positive reaction from her.

That they’d pleased her.

Fuck, I had it bad for her.

I smiled out at her. “I’ve shown you mine…”

Her eyes sparkled at me.

And then she unfurled her own wings.

I choked.

Magnificent didn’t even cover it.

They were shimmering gold extensions of her beauty and strength. The feathers looked so ornate and the gold was interspersed with white sparkling flecks.

I wanted to reach out and touch them, to feel their softness, imagining how perfect they’d feel in my fingers.

But she was too excited now she’d brought them out that I didn’t get the chance before she executed an extremely bold move—especially for her—and jumped off the turret.

I watched, my heart pounding in my chest, primed at any moment to sweep down and catch her with my uber speed when in flight, as I watched her plummet toward the ground of the quad below.

At the last second, she soared up into the air, spun rapid-fire, her wings putting on a stunning dance performance in the air, before she stopped and faced me, hovering there.

“Missed it, huh?” I called out.

“I didn’t even realize just how much until I took the literal leap with them.”

“Then let’s do this moment justice.”

“Absolutely,” she said, her excitement out in full force and turning full-on infectious.

She crooked her finger at me. “Come on, show me what you’ve got.”

I ran and leapt off the turret, soaring into the air at extreme speed, putting me in front of her hovering form within split-seconds.

Her eyes widened. “Wow.”

“ Wow won’t begin to cover it, little angel.”

“Then show me.”

“With pleasure.”

Absolute fucking pleasure.

As always when it came to her.