“Thanks, Brander…?” I paused before tilting my head innocently. “I don’t know your last name.”
“I didn’t offer it,” he shrugged, smirking, and left the house before I could question him more.
Great, more shit to deal with for coming back to this place of hell. Like we weren’t having enough issues coming home?
Chapter 7
I explained the situation to the others, and instead of listening to everyone complain about the lack of power in the middle of summer, I made my way to my room where I washed in a bucket of cold water from the creek out back to freshen up, since there apparently was no water either. Two hours later, I stared into the mirror, impressed that I looked even somewhat alive. No coffee had been brewed, no breakfast had been cooked, and the little water I’d gotten from the creek was ice-cold this early in the morning.
As if this homecoming hadn’t been a mental fuck of ungodly proportions, it had also been the most inconvenient, sour event of the last twelve years of my life. I picked up my phone, staring at the red battery that flashed on the screen’s corner, and set it back down.
On the dresser was a bottle of three hundred-year-old scotch, which had once been wasting away in the cellar. It was the one bottle I’d been saving for a celebration, but considering the clusterfuck we were in, I doubted that would happen anytime soon.
I couldn’t change the situation, but I could be thankful for the asshole that was extending an olive branch, even if it was laced with thorns. Knox had been right; we couldn’t call in an actual electrician since the altar couldn’t be moved no matter what happened to the house. We had built the mansion around the altar. Add-on after add-on had been built until Freya and Aurora were happy with the result, which to a sane person was a mess.
The altar had been the central power source of the house before they added electricity. Instead of placing the electrical panel away from the altar, they’d damn near placed it on top of it. The floors were mazes of doors and hallways. Trying to find your bedroom drunk? Damn near impossible to achieve. It wasn’t unheard of to end up in your sister’s bedroom on the floor because you ended up lost in the maze.
I slipped on soft black sandals and took one last glance at the black skater dress I wore, checking my reflection before grabbing the aged bottle of scotch and heading downstairs. Fifteen minutes of zigzagging through the doors and hallways, I paused in the front room. No one had moved yet, not even Aine, who had Luna’s foot in her face.
Exiting the house, I paused briefly to take in the people who sat on their porches, watching me. Welcome to Freakville, population unknown.
I closed the front door behind me, whispering a spell to seal it against harm before I started toward the largest house on the block. Okay, I wasn’t sure it could be considered most impressive since it was gated and appeared to be larger than the entire block, which was saying something since all the houses here were huge mansions. It sat back further, hidden behind gates and shrubbery, unlike the others.
At the gate, I pushed the intercom button and waited, staring as the gate opened without a single noise. I walked up the driveway, noting the articulate landscaping and fountains that made up his yard. Parked in front of the house was the dark SUV he’d showed up in last night, and beside it sat a Bugatti Chiron Sport, which cost more than I’d made in my entire life. It wasn’t shocking that it was a pretty ocean-blue in coloring, or that it said King One on the license plate.
I grabbed the metal knocker and pounded three times before stepping back. A man in a black tux opened the door before I’d even made it the full step back. He had keen gray eyes, and his graying dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, away from his face.
“You’re unexpected,” he said, annoyed by my presence.
“I came by to apologize to Knox about last night, and to thank him for his help,” I offered in the way of explaining my unannounced presence.
“Who is it, Greer?” A cultivated feminine voice asked.
“A guest for the master.” Clearly annoyed, he stepped back, pushing the door open so she could see me.
“I see,” she stated.
The woman had midnight-colored hair that hung in soft waves to her ass. Her eyes were outlined in dark kohl, and ruby red lips pursed with something more than disdain as she took me in. Her outfit, if you could call it that, was a sheer nightgown that left little to the imagination. Emerald green eyes studied me before settling on the bottle of scotch and then turning as power exuded into the room.
“Who is it?” Knox asked, coming down the stairs in lounge pants that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
“The trash has come calling, darling,” she said in a sickly sweet voice. “Take it out, please. It stinks.”
I bit my tongue while plastering a smile on my face to keep from returning the insult. I was on a peace-keeping mission, and calling her dirty names wouldn’t achieve that goal. Knox leaned against the wall on the large, opulent staircase and studied me before his gaze dropped to the bottle of scotch.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“I came to apologize for last night. I think we got off on the wrong foot.” I noted the way his stare locked with the female before slowly settling back on me. “I brought a peace offering.”
Knox watched me carefully. “I doubt you have a right foot to stand on.”
“Obviously, this was a mistake,” I turned to leave only to find the door closed before I could get through it.
“Leaving so soon, Aria?” Knox asked huskily.
Magic exploded through me, making me jolt as it hit me. It was dark magic, slithering through my entire body as the witch watched with a look of triumphant victory shining in her eyes as my whole body trembled from the turbulent force of it.
I coughed on something, grabbing my throat as I spun on my heel, staring at the female who smirked, regarding me as I began gagging while something worked its way up my throat. I coughed again, dropping the bottle of scotch to shatter across the floor as I reached into my mouth, pulling a slithering, slimy snake from my throat before tossing it onto the marble floor. I stepped closer, smashing it until blood exploded, disturbing the otherwise pristine white marble floor.
“Lacey, what did I tell you about snakes in my house?” Knox asked in a soft, tender tone.
“Open the fucking door!” I snapped at Greer.
“Not unless the master says it is time.”
“Your master and his witch can get bent. Open the door unless your master is willing to break the covenant of the original bloodlines. Open the fucking door.”
“Let her go, Greer.” Knox grinned roguishly. “Before she cries.”
The door opened with magic, and men started pouring into the room. One stopped in front of me while the others passed by as if I didn’t even exist.
“Jasper?” I asked in a whisper, past the swelling in my throat.
“Hells bells, Aria Hecate? You grew up.” Peering at something over my shoulder, he looked back at me. “You grew up real nice, pretty girl.”
“Where’s your mom?” I asked, knowing his mother was one of the few here who were decent.
“Dead,” he shrugged as if it didn’t bother him. “She couldn’t keep her head on, I guess you could say.”