Kieran handed me into the front seat of a white golf cart with a bench seat across the back. He sat in the driver’s seat and Thane climbed onto the back. The kids got in with Zorn and Dylan, and I had no idea who took the cats. Everyone else took their rides and off we went.
Watch out, magical world. Here comes the pajama-wearing Soul Stealer with her overgrown white cats.
4
Kieran
Kieran stepped out of the golf cart as the rest of his people parked, the spacious lot already half-full and alive with activity. The people who’d shown up early would be on the lower half of the status scale. This walk wasn’t mandatory, after all, and its main purpose was to allow leaders to gauge worth in the eyes of those around them. Those of high status already knew their worth, and many of them didn’t bother with the first night’s walk within the gardens reserved solely for this. Or so Kieran had heard.
This was all part of the game. Every movement and action had a purpose. Every slight or smile hinted at what was to come.
Kieran would glean a great deal from tonight, and not just from the way he was received. This was also Lexi’s debut. She was a loose cannon, clueless about many of the protocols of the magical world. They had ensured it was so—preparing her only for certain aspects of the Summit. The people here lived by rules, and the unpredictable threw them off. She would throw them off.
Her greatest defense wasn’t her magic. It was people’s fear of the unknown.
He was walking a fine line with this approach. Magnus’s not-so-subtle hint that Kieran should educate Lexi in the ways of the magical world had not failed to make an impression. But he’d decided this was the safer strategy for her—walking the fine line between knowing and not knowing.
A team of over two dozen congregated on the sidewalk at the edge of the garden promenade, and though Kieran couldn’t see who led the group, he assumed it was a someone with little power or status. Only someone who lacked confidence would bring such a large group to this event. It showed weakness. That, or they were new and hadn’t done their homework, which also indicated weakness.
Another group half the size gathered at the other end of the sidewalk, much more organized and streamlined. A woman in a sparkling dress stood at the front, her head held high, her people businesslike and purposeful. Given the distance, Kieran couldn’t make out who it was, but she was clearly not a novice.
Other teams were still assembling in the parking lot, some teams finding their places quickly, like his, others less organized.
The breeze ruffled Lexi’s hair as she took her place by his side. His mark glowed on her soft skin, amplifying her natural beauty. Her dress moved and shifted as she did, pressing against her breast one moment, and against the swell of her hip the next. It was like a peep show, alluding to delights hidden between the folds of fabric. In the same breath, the viewer couldn’t help but remember that her magic held hidden horrors bubbling beneath the surface. The dichotomy was electrifying. Daisy had her own hidden talents.
He entwined his fingers with Lexi’s.
Her eyes widened a little as she looked up at him. “I thought only married leaders were supposed to hold hands with their partners?”
“Fuck ’em.” He grinned, feeling light as a feather. They were likely going to break a great many rules this week, so why not blatantly start now?
“Ready, sir,” Zorn said.
Without a word, Kieran led the way, cutting through the parked golf carts to the sidewalk, where the large group still struggled to organize. Why getting in a line was so difficult, Kieran couldn’t say, but their disorderliness no doubt spoke to how their territory was run.
“Any news?” Kieran asked as the breeze picked up, flaring Lexi’s skirt around her legs. He struggled to take his eyes off her.
“No important sightings yet,” Amber said from directly behind Kieran. Zorn walked next to her, taking Lexi’s back. The kids would be right behind them.
They took the path between the hedges, only wide enough for two or three people, depending on size. Palm trees lined the way, flanked by hedges, until they reached a curved walkway within an extravagant garden. Flowers bloomed every which way, flares of color. Trees and bushes not native to a tropical paradise reached over the path or wept beside it. To the left of the path, a willow’s leaves arched over an outcropping of seats. Demigod Arnold—mortal and showing it—sat there with his people fanned out around him, analyzing everyone who passed.
The moment the older Demigod noticed Kieran’s team, his eyes widened. His limbs shook, as though he intended to expend the effort and get up.
Kieran let his gaze slide by. Arnold was of low status and not someone to engage. Kieran had bigger fish to hook on this walk, and limited time. Only the desperate stayed out here all night.
Lexi tensed and then rolled her shoulders. “Do you feel that?” she asked quietly.
“What?” he asked.
She peered beyond him, then to her other side. “I don’t know. It feels like…pressure, kind of. Like we’re being watched.”
He clued in, putting all his senses on high, but only his nervousness for what was to come registered. “Do you feel any souls?”
“Not that I can see.” She shrugged and moved her hair across her shoulder. “I’m just keyed up.”
“We’re all keyed up.” He squeezed her hand.
As they reached the main promenade, a wide path set into the various flora, Kieran paused to let a team of twelve saunter past. He couldn’t see who led the group, but his or her team was made up solely of high level fives. One of those, a woman with deathly pale skin, hair so blonde it looked white, and eyes the palest of blues, glanced their way. Her gaze lingered on Kieran for a moment before sliding to Lexi. Her eyes widened and her step hitched, her gaze zipping back to Kieran again before her mouth moved subtly.
Another team member looked back, a man with fire-red hair and eyes so dark they looked like the night sky. His gaze moved from Kieran to Lexi to the rest of the crew.
“Yeah, keep staring, jackass,” Lexi mumbled, and Kieran barely suppressed a laugh. She likely didn’t realize she’d just said that out loud—she often reacted aggressively to unsolicited attention, the effect of trying to stay invisible all her life, he wagered.
“Left,” Amber said softly. She knew most of the inner circles in this place, having come here with Valens for years and years. Given she was walking away from the group that had taken notice of them, their leader wasn’t on her short list of potential allies.
The next team they came across was an overly large group led by a high level five. As Kieran walked by, avoiding the man’s searching gaze, his father’s voice thundered through his head: A level five as a territory leader? I’ll never understand the point.
He shook it off, continuing on, but when they passed another group—a Demigod with a disorganized, ramshackle crew—it happened again.
She should be ashamed of herself. What a waste. If only there were a way to strip people of their magic.
After that came Demigod Helga, her expression just as severe as her name, and her people perfectly in line.
“Pause if you can,” Amber murmured softly behind him.