Page 9 of Dream in Darkness
“Do you want to ask your brother to make this sacrifice?”
“No,” I say almost instantly. “No, I want to find something else. What do you see?”
She gives me a look, almost as if she isn’t going to use her powers, but then her eyes turn from gold to white, and I patiently wait.
The seconds turn into minutes and the minutes feel like hours as I watch her, those intense eyes tracking every movement in her mind.
My mind is racing, my heart pounding like thunder in my chest. I can’t help but wonder if Aida sees the same future I’ve been contemplating.
When Aida comes to, she gasps slightly, and takes my hand. “Khalid is not going to make this sacrifice. It is not in any version of the future.”
“Oh?”
“You are.”
Thank goodness.Why would Khalid have to make this sacrifice,when I’m right here? I could marry someone, or at least fake an engagement for long enough to form a treaty. I’m more level-headed than Khalid, and I think I want this more than he does.
Khalid has found someone he loves, I cannot take that from him. For all I know, I might die alone, so why not make a productive choice in the meantime? For the sake of my people.
Movement No. 4
Tempest
“Get up.” The sound of my father’s voice pierces the quiet before I can even open my eyes.
“What?” I groan, placing a pillow over my face. The fabric is soft against my skin, and I nuzzle further into it.
“Is that how you speak to your Alpha?” Fenris Capulet, his second-in-command asks.
I fight the urge to scream. “No, it’s how I speak to my father.”
Ever since the other packs migrated to Haeresis, I’ve realized our way of doing things isn’t the only way. Most children of Alphas don’t speak to their parents as though they’re speaking to their superiors; their relationships are much more familial. My father is different. He’s… traditional. But I guess he’d have to be. He grew up believing that nothing was more important than the pack—not even family. It’s why my mother left. It’s why my uncle is dead. And it’s why I’m so fucked up.
It’s thoughts like that I keep close to my chest, hidden from the rest of my pack, and the rest of Hel.
Lowering the pillow, I look into my father’s icy blue eyes.
“We are meeting with The Devil and Governor Raph today. You need to get dressed.” The door shuts behind them, leaving mecompletely alone to bask in my shock. Fear creeps into my bones, shaking me to my core.
I worked a late shift at The Cathedral last night, so I would’ve appreciated getting to sleep in, but I guess life has other plans for me. Honestly, life anddeathcontinue to surprise me.
The truth is, I’m scared. I was never supposed to succeed my father. I was raised with the knowledge that my cousin Tyrus was next in line for Alpha. I would run The Cathedral, help with general operations in Pack Escalus, and maybe, if I got lucky, I could aspire to be second-in-command.
That was until my cousin was brutally murdered by The Devil’s Masquerade. Now the expectation falls on me to take over when my father is no longer capable.
A burden I never wanted or asked for, but my burden all the same. I now have this massive responsibility on my shoulders, a weight I never imagined I’d have to carry.
I don’t really have dreams of my own these days, but I have hobbies. I enjoy making drinks, playing around with aerial silks and rope, and I even have the occasional girlfriend or two from time to time. Nothing serious—being the daughter of a pack leader makes that unwise. If I care too deeply for someone, this cruel world will just take them from me, but I still allow myself to indulge.
Standing up, I make my way to my closet, which is full of mostly cargo pants and jeans, to pick out something appropriate for meeting our supreme leaders. It’s slim pickings, but I finally settle on a pair of navy slacks and a vest.
Between my cousin’s death and the political uprising and tensions happening on our continent, my twenties feel like a death sentence. Every minute I’m not working, I’m supposed to be exercising, running a job for my father, or observing his or another pack member's movements.
It’s exhausting and strangely isolating. I’m surrounded by my pack, yet I feel entirely alone. I’ll no longer be one of the pack’smembers, or a second in training, but its leader. The person they’re supposed to follow—I will represent us and make every decision, and that is terrifying.
I’m afraid—afraid to take over, and afraid of what this surprise meeting could mean for my people, and selfishly, for myself.
Entering the conference room,we all get on one knee and bow for King Luc. “Our Infernal Majesty,” we all say in tandem. My father and I take our seats across from the hoard of demons, half-demons, and other beings.
