29. Kellen

Chapter 29

Kellen

Their car advanced towards the golden gate hedging the Kilic estate, a majestic structure of unparalleled grandeur that rivaled the opulence of Avatia itself. Towering arches rocketed above them, engraved with intricate carvings and filigree work that replicated flames licking up the gilded bars. Beyond the gate, leading to the entrance of the manner, lush gardens bloomed with exotic flowers that withstood the swell of snow, their florid perfume saturating the air in a heady fragrance. Fountains of crystal-clear, limpid water danced in the sunlight, casting polychromatic sprays of spiraling light onto the few patches of snow that survived the spell placed on the gardens to persist even in the winter. Kellen saw Noella’s eyes widen beneath her mask, drinking it all in.

When one of Miya’s sentries approached their car, Kellen’s hand slid onto Noella’s leg. His fingers lazily settled between her legs, stroking the interior of her thigh through the satin of her gown, a casual display of possession. Noella adjusted her posture to appear smaller by curving her shoulders inward. Her lashes tickled her cheeks as she lowered her head and hunched over in her car seat.

The ugly face of Miya’s sentry, composed of harsh, nasty lines, fogged up the window at Kellen’s left.

Kellen rolled the window down, then hissed in a voice he reserved for dealing with these disgusting people, “I assume I don’t need to introduce myself to you, Krystofer, considering this is my house.”

“Your friend does,” Krystofer sneered, tipping his chin towards Noella. “Who is she?”

“She’s mine,” Kellen asserted with a flash of his fangs, giving Noella’s leg a sharp squeeze in conjuncture with his assertion. Noella’s fingers flew to wrap around Kellen’s forearm, dragging his hand back between her legs and grinding her ass against her car seat while loosing a breathy, deliberately loud moan, thrusting her hips closer to where his fingers pushed into her, greedy for more friction. Kellen glided his hand up her chest, fondling the path skyward with veneration, these selfish, fake actions differing from the way he wished to truly worship her. He then slipped his middle finger between her lips without breaking his eyes from Krystofer. Noella’s mouth suctioned around the digit, her teeth sheathed behind her lips, and clamped down around his finger, a throaty purr traveling deep from the back of her throat and vibrating through his finger.

Krystofer was so horrified by their tasteless display that he delved no further into Noella’s identity. He hurried them along with a wave of his hand and a lurid flush billowing up to the tips of his ears.

“You know where to park the car,” the sentry bit out, then scuttled off into the night to tend to his flaming cheeks.

Once the sentry disappeared, Kellen’s finger retreated from Noella’s mouth. She fixed her posture with a stuttering gasp, and they both squirmed in their seats. Kellen’s dick ached, not unaffected just because the demonstration was a farce.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, guys,” he tossed over his shoulders at the twins and Eyal, who’d been defenseless witnesses in the backseat.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jarion assured him. “We’re not babies. Also, I wasn’t looking.”

“We know the plan,” Laya confirmed, her own disguise of detachment inhabiting her sweet features.

Are you okay? Kellen asked Noella as he wove the car through the gardens to the front of the estate. His assumptions about Miya making this evening a spectacle were confirmed by the sea of random faces plaguing the grounds, strewn through the garden in their most expensive, lavish garb.

I’m fine, she answered in an abrupt manner that Kellen had a difficult time trusting.

I hated doing that to you. His power caressed her mind as he whispered, I promise not to kiss you tonight. I’ve told you I will wait until you’re ready, and I won’t take that control away from you. I want to earn that honor when you’re ready to give it to me. Noella’s bottom lip trembled.

The entrance to the estate was guarded by a massive wooden door, reinforced with iron bands. Above the door, the castle’s coat of arms, a grisly, gargantuan dragon rampant upon a field of gold, gleamed under the graceful rays of sunlight spilling across the fabric. Kellen parked the car and waited until Laya, Jarion, and Eyal had climbed out of the vehicle and were lingering on the path outside before he made any moves to reach for the door handle. He stole a precious moment to steel himself, swallowing large gulps of oxygen to brace for the evening ahead.

Any words of encouragement before we do this? he begged Noella.

You’re Kellen fucking Kilic, she pronounced. You are the Varmin department head of Delmarth Academy. You’re the dragon whom Aros Cavalian wanted for himself in his personal cadre. You are better than her. You will walk away tonight with the twins at your side, and she will be left with nothing.

Kellen’s chest tightened.

With that ringing testimonial, he nudged open the car door and lifted out of his seat, slipping on his own invisible mask—the son of Miya Kilic, the heir to the Kilic empire, the most powerful dragon-shifter of this generation.

Noella had asked him the night before why he felt the need to play a cruel character in front of his mother and her social circle. He reminded her that what was valued in Cavale wasn’t your ability to get people to like you. It was your ability to get people to respect you, through whatever avenues you needed to take. Cruelty was admired in Cavale if it led to the obtainment of more power.

Power was all that mattered, so for Kellen tonight, his power needed to shine through most of all.

The power he usually underplayed to keep from acquiring unwanted attention from the Gods rushed up to the surface of his veins. It streamed out from his pores, showering the world in unfettered crimson energy before his wings broke free from his back, tearing through the fabric of his button down and suit jacket. The blackish-gold, leathery membrane unfurled, flexing between gales of wind and hacking through the current from the ferocity of his power unleashed.

He felt Coz slacken inside him.

Every muscle in his body breathed a sigh of relief at no longer needing to contain the scope of his ability.

Every single eye of his mother’s guests, all congregated out in the garden, was pinned on him. On the vehement power emanating off him in scarlet ripples. Even his siblings’ eyes were round with shock.

Kellen buttoned his jacket and gave the avaricious onlookers a cocky nod of acknowledgement. He then began rounding the car, embellishing the arrogance of his gait, and reached Noella’s door, which he opened slowly for her. Before she rose, his fingers skated under her chin, his thumb smearing across her lips, careful not to smudge her lipstick. Her eyes raised to him, pupils expanding and bleeding black into the grey hue.

Beautiful, he echoed in her mind, a promise to her separate from the performance they were about to put on.

Using his grip on her jaw, he tugged her into a standing position. Then, with his eyes sweeping across the crowd, he trailed the top of his tongue up the column of her neck and suckled at her throat, her skin tasting faintly of cherries. It took everything inside him not to groan and fall to his knees, because that would show the throng of spectators that he belonged to her, not the lie they intended to create, that Noella had submitted to the Primordials and was the obedient whore they all wanted her to be.

Fuck, you taste good, Rose, he crooned in her mind.

Noella’s head tipped to the side as she rolled and elongated her neck, offering him more access to her throat.

It’s my moisturizer, she answered, her voice in his head breaking apart through an aroused stutter.

His hand wandered down her back to settle over her ass. He pushed Noella’s body into him while his teeth inspected her slender throat. He was momentarily distracted by how her every curve and contour fit perfectly against the nooks and valleys of his own figure, further confirmation, not that he needed it, that this woman had been fashioned for him, his counterpart in body, heart, and soul.

His eyes scanned the crowd before snagging over his mother.

The practically translucent material of Miya’s royal blue gown left little to the imagination in terms of her physique, a sight Kellen could’ve lived his whole life not seeing and would have been happier for it. Her silver hair, spun like moonlight, torrented down her chest in voluminous waves, like lightning leaking across a pavement, alive with the same sort of crackling energy. Her own power radiated out of her the same way his did, though not as potent. Kellen took pride in knowing he was the stronger of the two of them, that by the time his powers fully came into their own, he was already out of her house and not in a close enough vicinity for her to try and squash them.

The truth of their power imbalance simmered beneath every interaction they had. It seethed in her green eyes now as she felt his power bandage the garden and shove against hers, the force of it making her falter back a step. She could have the entirety of Cavale at her beck and call, could have every law enforcement officer wrapped around her finger, but when it came down to physical strength, if it all came down to an actual fight for the twins, she knew her power came nowhere close to Kellen’s—not when he fully unchecked it, as he did now, for the world to see.

Kellen pulled his lips away from Noella’s neck. He flipped over his hand and extended it to her.

Noella slid her dainty fingers into his. He tucked her hand in the gorge of his elbow as he led her over to Jarion, Laya, and Eyal, the twins using Eyal’s armor as a shield. Kellen nodded to his siblings, and they nodded back before stepping out from behind Eyal’s armor and positioning themselves beside Kellen and Noella on either side. The four of them created an impenetrable wall that not even Miya could perforate.

As they approached Miya, Eyal following in their wake, Kellen drawled, “Were you waiting for us to begin eating?”

“Quite the show you’re putting on, darling,” Miya said with contempt beneath a feeble mask of enthusiasm, her red painted lips bending into a grin. To the outside world, the smile she presented him looked like a mother who hadn’t seen their son in ages and was admiring sunlight for the first time. Miya simpered at Jarion and Laya, but the two of them were looking at the wall over her shoulder, so anyone around them could be tricked into thinking they were meeting her eyes, but they refused. “My babies. My sweet angels. It’s been too long.” Laya tensed. Neither of them spoke. Miya’s jaw ticked. “Neither of you have anything to say to your mother after two years of separation?”

“They were required to be here,” Kellen spoke for them, plumes of smoke smoldering from the sides of his mouth. “There was no prerequisite for them to speak to you if they don’t wish to.”

“Maybe you should let them decide that for themselves,” Miya hissed, though her tone of voice remained artificially friendly with all the eyes glued to their conversation. She admired Laya’s dress. “Laya, you look beautiful, my love.” Laya’s eyes coasted to meet their mother’s before she raised her chin.

“I finally found a dress that fits,” Laya barked. Miya’s jaw dropped at Laya’s belligerence. Through their mind connection, Kellen felt Noella’s approval resonate, even as her expression remained blank.

So proud of you, Laylie, Kellen encouraged his sister in private. Laya’s lips twitched in acknowledgement of the praise. Now look away. Don’t give her the satisfaction of an opening to respond.

“Eulaylia—” Miya began, but Laya twisted her head to the side in dismissal of her mother.

Miya, as someone who didn’t actually care to win her daughter’s affection back, moved on from Laya and looked to Jarion next. Jarion’s eyes were glassed over in disassociation, his mind—or possibly his dragon—protecting him from fully experiencing this moment. If Kellen had the time or space, he would pull Jarion into his arms and buffer him from this himself, would offer his body and soul as reinforcement.

Miya snarled at Kellen, “What did you do to them?” All Kellen gave her in response was a curl of his lips. Miya’s eyes finally flitted to Noella. “Care to introduce us to your friend?” she spat.

Noella lifted her head to Kellen, giving him a doe-eyed, submissive look, the same kind of look Oliviana used to give him that did nothing for him. He missed her fire. He craved her pushback. He reveled in her tenacity and her ability to cut so deep with words that you feel them score your soul.

He hated putting a leash on her.

He hated painting a picture of her for Cavale that was so far from the woman he’d come to worship, but if this fake image helped his case in any way with the Court, if it showed that having a human around the twins hadn’t weakened them in the way Miya had suggested it did, Kellen and Noella both knew it was worth a try.

Kellen shifted his body to face her, gliding the tips of his fingers up her checks. His fingers crawled to the ribbon tied behind her head and unraveled the bow Laya knotted to keep the mask in place.

He tossed the lace guise away, revealing the irrefutable beauty that was Noella Rose to the garden of Primordials.

Everyone lost their fucking minds.

Screams echoed from all corners of the garden, reverberating from the very earth itself as everyone, everyone, recoiled from Noella like she was an infection they were terrified of catching. Some of the guests fled the garden and sprinted to the gates to escape Noella’s presence. Miya’s silver wings ripped through the fabric at the back of her dress and expanded into the night along with a rush of fire now drenching her hands, prepared to launch at Noella. It took all of Kellen’s strength not to leap in front of her himself, relying on Eyal to do the protecting for him to maintain their act. Eyal unsheathed his sword and lunged in front of Noella, which forced Miya to take a single step back in deference to Aros Cavalian’s envoy, though the flames at her fingers didn’t disappear.

“You brought that thing here?” Miya bellowed, spitting at Noella, who was so used to this type of treatment that she didn’t bat an eye. Kellen placed his hands on Noella’s shoulders to move her in front of him.

“She goes wherever I go.” Tendrils of his fire snaked out in the form of fingers to clasp Noella’s jaw. He used the flames to raise her chin so she had no choice but to look directly at Miya. His fire wouldn’t harm her—to Noella, it would feel like a gentle caress, like a feather tickling her skin. Against her ear, his teeth teasing the lobe, he murmured, “Isn’t that right, my pet?”

You are no one’s pet, Noella Rose, he told her mind-to-mind. You are not a plague. You are a gift.

Noella’s body melted into his chest, surrendering to his will, to their act.

His hand—his actual hand, not the hand composed of fire still gripping her jaw—slithered down her stomach and splayed across the expanse of space between her hips to push her back against him. Her head tipped back onto his shoulder, his lips lithering up the lean column of her throat. He sucked at the skin of her neck hard enough to leave a swollen mound of flesh in his wake, a marker of his conquered territory to everyone watching. Noella let out a yelp when he pulled his teeth away.

I’m sorry, sweetheart, he apologized in her head.

Stop apologizing, Kilic, she snapped at him, wiggling her ass against his crotch as punishment. I’m okay. Focus.

“Speak,” he ordered her aloud, nipping at her jaw. “Tell them who you belong to.”

“Kellen Kilic,” she stammered in a small, fragile voice—nothing like his Noella. Damn, she played her part well.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Kellen,” Miya roared. “You think we can’t smell your desire for her?”

“Can you blame me?” His hand of fire licked up her chin, dragging a thumb composed of flames across her bottom lip. “Look at these pretty lips…they’re even prettier when they’re wrapped around my cock. Who wouldn’t find pleasure in having a weak human submit to their will?”

“If you don’t get her out of here right now, Kellen, I will tear her to pieces,” Miya thundered, her eyes transmogrifying to the slits of a dragon.

“If any of you lay a hand on Noella Rose, I, or Aros Cavalian’s envoy, will rip you to shreds and toss what remains of you into Terminus. As a matter of fact…” Kellen’s lips sprawled out in a depraved, callous grin before he stepped to the side. “Go ahead.” He gesticulated to Noella, even as every fiber of his being shrieked at him to go to her, to defend her by throwing his life at her feet. “Try and touch her,” he goaded, his voice rasping in warning. “I will delight in separating your limbs from your body.”

“I will not stand for this,” Miya stressed.

“Fine,” Kellen replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, skating one hand into the pocket of his trousers before he gestured to the house with his other hand. “Don’t stand. Go find a chair to sit in instead.”

Jarion didn’t try to stifle his grin. Miya burst out, “You little—”

“Careful, mother,” he cautioned with mock care. “You wouldn’t want to make a scene now, would you?”

Miya became aware that everyone who still remained in the garden was carefully studying this interaction—more specifically, her infuriated outburst, where a tiny crack in her perfect fa?ade revealed a glimmer of the darkness underneath. She smothered a bogus smile over the gash in her armor, even as the flames in her eyes fired inflammable hatred at Noella, whose gaze was stuck to Kellen so she didn’t even notice.

“The food must be getting cold now,” she shouted to all in the garden, a slight tremor honing her words. “Everyone, let’s gather inside for dinner. The kids can only stay for two hours before they have to return to school.”

Miya flicked her gaze away from Kellen and Noella with a huff, lifting the end of her dress to ascend the stairs that led into the manor. Kellen scanned his siblings’ faces for how they were doing.

My loves? Check-in, he spoke into their minds.

How long have we been here and when can we leave? Jarion stammered, his voice breaking apart at the seams.

Not long enough yet, buddy. You guys are doing great.

Is Ms. Rose okay? Kellen adored how worried Laya sounded, how much his sister cared for Noella.

Ms. Rose is strong. She can take care of herself. We all can. Laya nodded her head in agreement.

You’re doing amazing, Kellen hailed Noella as he shepherded her up the staircase and held the door for her to enter the estate.

I’ve had practice at this, she said with deep sadness in the underbelly of the response. He knew she meant more than just dealing with Primordials, but with what she experienced at her mother’s hands.

I’m sorry you ever had to. Her eyes cinched with his. He found his sanity within the warmth of her gaze.

Stepping inside the massive wooden doors, a hushed veneration settled upon them, accompanied by the gentle echo of footsteps as the other guests made their way to the dining hall. Sunlight filtered through stained glass windows, casting a mosaic of piebald colors upon the polished marble floors. The entrance hall, vast and imposing in both height and width, boasted hundreds of tapestries that breathed life and memories, recounting all the different patriarchs and matriarchs of the Kilic family who graced these very halls. Candle sconces perched between the draperies, carrying lambent flames. An ornate chandelier hung like a crown above, its crystals capturing and dispersing the light, crafting a starlit illusion onto their heads when they passed under the configuration. Ascending a spiral staircase, Kellen escorted Noella into a spacious chamber with a high-vaulted ceiling, which was overlaid in a mural depicting the Cavalian Gods in their grandiose glory. Beneath the celestial panorama lay a long banquet table, ornamented with silver and crystal, with enough seats arranged around the rectangular counter for fifty people to dine.

Miya, of course, claimed the helm of the table.

She’d reserved the two seats next to her for Jarion and Laya, their names scrawled on place cards in immaculate script handwriting. Before Miya could argue, Kellen and Eyal grabbed the backs of the chairs on her left and right so neither of the twins would be forced to sit next to her.

“My pet,” Kellen cooed to Noella, signaling her forward with a curl of his index finger. “Pull out my chair for me.”

He stepped back so Noella could draw the chair out for him. She stood a few paces behind, clasping her wrist behind her back, and waited to sit until Kellen was fully settled, occupying the chair on his right. Once she’d situated, his hand collapsed on top of her thigh, massaging the soft satin.

Jarion lowered into the chair next to Eyal, while Laya sat beside Noella. Laya’s hand twitched near Noella like she was about to reach for her. Kellen subtly shook his head, so Laya’s hand retreated. He watched his sister stare down at her fingers and then choose to slide them under her on the cushion, sitting on them to hold herself back from the temptation of seeking comfort in Noella.

I’m sorry, Laylie, Kellen said into her mind. We’re trying to undermine Ms. Rose’s influence so they don’t view her as a threat. It won’t help anything to see how connected you are to her.

I hate this. His sister’s lips fought a frown.

Me too. He would tell her and only her, I hate having to diminish her like this. All I want to do is lift her up and let the world see how amazing she is. I…I have very strong feelings for Ms. Rose.

Kellen, Laya laughed, though in reality, her expression was plain, her mouth a flat line as she folded her napkin on her lap. You’ve made that really fucking obvious. I’m just waiting for you to tell me you guys are officially together so I can scream it from the top of my lungs and make banners.

No banners, he snarled. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

“Dinner can commence,” Miya announced before a swarm of servers flocked the room. They whirled silver trays atop their heads, performing an orchestrated dance as the servers lowered platters in front of the guests with luscious meat and fillets of salmon and beds of steaming rice.

Noella’s eyes narrowed over the rice before she licked her lips. You like rice, Rose? he asked her.

I’m a carbs girl. Rice. Bread. Noodles. Potatoes. If it was healthy, I’d eat carbs and nothing else.

Kellen reached for the bowl of rice and scooped several spoonfuls onto her plate, trying to ignore how fucking good she smelled this close to him. He then portioned for himself a mound of beef.

“Cut my food,” Kellen demanded her, then willed his gaze to look away from her despite it being painful to separate his eyes from what they most desired to regard. He felt Noella reach for her fork and knife to begin slicing his steak into diced squares. While Miya’s guests chattered down the line of the table, veering off to have their own side conversations, Miya watched Noella with boiling aversion.

“I’m curious, earthborn,” Maya seethed at Noella, who remained focused on cutting Kellen’s food despite being spoken to. “How do you like being in our lands?” Kellen scraped his eyes over Noella’s face.

“Speak, pet,” he commanded her. Noella’s eyes elevated to Miya. She withdrew her fork and knife from his plate.

“I am humbled to be exposed to beings with such immense power and strength,” she answered, highlighting the features of Primordials that they as a species valued most. “I am respectfully aware of my own shortcomings, as a human, and understand that I could never hope to find a place amongst your kind. I do not plan to make a home for myself in Cavale. I only wish to finish out my contract and survive the school year so I can return home to the Earthly Plane, where I belong.”

Kellen’s teeth ground together.

While the beginning of Noella’s speech was a farce to placate his mother, he sensed that her end statement was true. They had yet to discuss what would happen at the end of the school year, and hearing her say now that she planned to return to the Earthly Plane threw him into a tizzy.

You’re not leaving Cavale, he declared into her mind.

Noella’s eyes recklessly crashed into his. She tore them away before she got lost in his fervor and entertained this discussion in front of all these people, cementing her focus back over his mother.

“And why is it that you can’t return now?” Miya pushed.

“I signed a contract that’s bound me to the school, and Cavale, for the entire school year.”

“There’s no way to break that contract?”

“No, I’m afraid there isn’t.”

“Hm. Pity.” Miya stabbed her meat with her fork. “And what exactly are you being paid to do?”

Noella sipped some water to clear her throat. “My job is a school counselor,” she answered after setting her glass down. “I provide social, emotional, and academic support to the students.”

“Not that anyone actually lets her do her job,” Kellen chimed in with an unkind laugh, though under the table, he squeezed her hand. “The students hate her. She’s practically invisible.”

Every lie wounded his heart to utter. Jarion, from the corner of Kellen’s eye, balled his hand into a fist.

“What’s your impression of Ms. Rose?” Miya asked the twins. Neither one of them offered a reply. Laya stuffed her mouth with salmon so she wouldn’t have to lie. “You’re really not going to speak a word to me?” she hissed.

Jarion’s shoulders strained in a way that concerned Kellen that he was fighting his dragon off.

Jare? You okay? Kellen asked.

Don’t ask me if I’m fucking okay, Kellen, Jarion growled at him. Jarion’s fire—which Kellen was startled to learn was quite potent in its early development—flowed through the conduit between their minds to singe him with disapproval. I have to sit here with our fucking mother trying to make cruel small talk and watch you belittle Ms. Rose and do nothing about it while fighting all mine and my dragon’s urges to unleash myself on Miya. I’m not fucking okay. How can you treat Ms. Rose like this?

I hate this just as much as you do, Jare. I’m not doing this to hurt her. I’m trying to protect Noella.

That’s bullshit. You’re enjoying this. You’re enjoying demeaning her. You’ve never liked Ms. Rose, and you used her kindness towards us to get her here so you can cut her down and make yourself look better. You’re acting just like Mom.

JARION— Jarion shut down their mental line of communication. Kellen’s heart fractured in his chest.

“This charade you’re playing is almost convincing,” Miya said, dabbing her mouth with her napkin before leaning back in her chair. “I think you’re forgetting, though, that I know certain things. Like the fact that Jarion’s dragon took over his body and Noella Rose was there with him when it happened.”

All four of them went stiff. You could’ve heard a pin drop from how deathly quiet the atmosphere grew.

Shit, Kellen gasped to Noella. I forgot she knew about that.

You FORGOT?! Noella screamed in his head. How could you forget about that, Kellen? Her knowing that undermines the whole plan!

A blanket of silence swathed the room as all Miya’s guests awaited the answer to her next question.

“You told me,” she looked at Kellen, her smile outlined by spite, fully aware that she’d trapped him in his own lie, “that Noella Rose saved him. That Jarion’s dragon would’ve killed him without her intervention. Does someone want to explain that, if Noella Rose is seemingly so useless at Delmarth?”

Jarion’s eyes flew to Kellen, pleading him to be honest, to stop their act, to defend his school counselor.

Kellen suddenly realized that Jarion was right. This was stupid. This charade made no sense. This wasn’t helping his own image or Noella’s. This wasn’t proving that her presence in Cavale hadn’t been an impediment to the twins’ progress. The only thing that would prove that was being honest about her impact on them, to show the room, and his mother, that her influence had made them all stronger.

“Yes, it’s true,” Kellen finally declared, relinquishing his performance. Noella’s eyes rounded in shock. “Noella Rose saved Jarion’s life that day. If she hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would’ve happened. She is not useless. She is not an invisible presence at Delmarth. She has made a massive impact on the student body, in a positive way. Attendance rates are higher than ever. We’ve seen a reduction in students struggling to keep up with their coursework by fifteen percent, which may not seem like a lot, but that’s fucking huge, considering that number hasn’t budged in all the time I’ve worked at Delmarth. Our students are happier with her around. She’s been a gods-send to our school and lives.”

“Yet you said she was useless.” Miya plunged the knife deeper. She repeated his words for the room to underscore his deceit, to shrink his authority and diminish his credibility. “You said the students hate her.”

“Some do,” he admitted. “Those who haven’t gotten over their hatred of her to see how important she is. Same with the faculty. Those of us who have let her in, who’ve stopped judging her, see how amazing she is.”

Kellen first looked at Jarion, trying to convey in that singular gaze all the emotion he carried in his heart for Noella, the emotion he hadn’t found words for yet, but planned to spend his life searching for. Once he believed the message had been received, his eyes ascended over Noella.

“There is nothing useless about Noella Rose,” he asserted, permeating her mind with an influx of his admiration, her grey eyes shimmering with emergent tears. “She is not useless. She is essential.”

“What I’m failing to understand,” Miya said, destroying the adoring way Noella had been looking at him, “is how this human, this thing, saved the life of my son when you weren’t able to, Kellen. I think that says all I need to know about you as a parent.” Kellen’s heart plummeted into his stomach.

“Don’t you fucking dare say that about my brother!” Laya roared, rising from her chair to bellow at her mother. Miya had never heard Laya assert herself like this, so the shock was apparent on her face. “Kellen has done nothing but love and support us. He’s taken care of us in a way you never did. Allowing us to speak to Ms. Rose was the best thing he ever did for us. I will not tolerate hearing you diminish his character or try to paint him as a terrible parent when he is the best person, the best parent, the best everything I know. At least he’s never laid a hand on us that we didn’t want there. At least he’s never told us how worthless and small we are. At least he knows what love actually is. He is not a terrible parent. The only bad parent in this room is you.”

Kellen’s chest burst with pride. Noella’s hand found Laya’s under the table.

She then cinched her eyes with Jarion and mouthed, we can do hard things. Jarion’s gaze softened.

“Um, excuse me,” Miya fumed, slamming her fist into the table to break Jarion and Noella’s quiet look of understanding. “What the fuck did you just mouth to my son, you repulsive cunt?”

“She was being supportive, you malicious bitch.” Kellen, Noella, and Laya turned in unison to look at Jarion, who’d chosen this moment to speak for the first time all evening. Miya’s jaw fell agape, but Jarion wasn’t done, his fingers curling dangerously around the stem of his fork. “She was being the real Noella Rose, not the meek version of her you’ve been seeing all night. The real Ms. Rose is kind. She is strong. She fights for us, even when we can’t fight for ourselves. She’s been more of a mother to us the last few weeks than you have our entire lives. She is the best thing that’s ever happened to Delmarth, the best thing that’s ever happened to Cavale.” Noella’s eyes glimmered. Jarion looked at her, then said, “Stop hiding, Ms. Rose. Show them who you really are.” Noella peeked up at Kellen, silently asking for permission to let go of her mask.

Kellen gave her an approving smile and nodded his head. Go on, baby, he encouraged her. Rip them to shreds.

“Well,” Noella laughed, shaking her hair out of her face now that she was no longer playing the role of unassuming whore. “That was quite the endorsement, Jarion. I better make it count.” Her eyes, their usual warm kindness superseded by cold fury, descended over Miya. “ You,” she said almost curiously, leaning back in her chair and trailing her eyes down Miya’s face in a sluggish, purposefully drawn-out manner that had Miya fidgeting in her seat. “I’ve been thinking all night of what the best word to describe you is, and all I can come up with is that you’re so…unimpressive.”

“ Excuse me?” Flames ignited in Miya’s eyes.

“I expected so much more from you, given your reputation, and what I saw the other week.” Noella swept her eyes across the room, landing on each individual face whose attention she had enveloped around her finger. “For those of you who don’t know,” she said flippantly, “Miya Kilic tried to kill her children three weeks ago.” Gasps resounded from all corners of the room.

“That is NOT—” Noella lifted her index finger in the air to silence Miya’s counterblast. Her compliant mask had completely disintegrated. What took its place was a queen in complete control. Miya’s jaw unhinged.

“I was there,” Noella told the room. “I saw the whole thing. She tried to shoot them down in the sky when they fled Delmarth, which they had to do because she first attempted to walk onto a campus she is banned from and steal them. Do not let this woman trick you into thinking she’s an involved mother. Do not let her trick you into thinking she cares about her children’s welfare. Do not let her trick you into thinking she’s worthy of your support. She’s not.” Smoke ballooned from Miya’s flared nostrils.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you, Noella Rose,” Miya snarled, flames clobbering the silver strands of her hair.

Eyal reached for his sword.

“Go ahead and try,” Noella dared her, Miya falling back against her chair in surprise. “Maybe you enjoyed Terminus and want to make it a permanent stay. Your children won’t miss you. Actually…” She propped her elbow on the table and rested her cheek against her palm. “I think no one in this room would miss you. I think they all secretly hate you. They only spend time with you because they fear you.” Kellen felt every person in the room flinch at her words, at the resounding truth dangling in the ether. “You know what they say about tyrants who value fear over respect…those who love to be feared are more afraid than anyone else.” Noella cocked her head. “What’re you afraid of, Miya? Are you afraid everyone actually sees how weak you are behind your mask of violence? Are you afraid you’re not as special as you’ve convinced yourself you are?”

Miya only scoffed, but something about the gruff sound told Kellen she wasn’t unaffected by Noella’s verbal assault of her character. “Where do you get off speaking to me like this, earthborn?”

“I’m actually getting off quite a bit,” Noella quipped, standing with a seductive freedom to the slow rise from her chair. She drew her fingers affectionately across Kellen’s back as she began striding over to Miya, staking a claim to everyone in the room, showing them that he belonged to her, not the other way around like they’d been pretending all evening. “I’ve waited years to tell off someone like you. A person who conflates love and cruelty. A person who doesn’t view the role of mother for what an honor it is. Someone who would take three of the most pure people ever created and purposefully make them feel small just to feed your own ego. You’re not special, Miya Kilic. There are actually a lot of people just like you, though this universe would be a far lighter place if there were no people like you. And your three kids? Who you’ve spent so many years shoving under your boot to make them feel worthless? They are more special than you will ever be. It has been my absolute pleasure getting to know them the past few months. Laya…” Noella spun around to smile at Laya. “Laya is kind. She’s so in touch with the world around her. She is so full of light and joy. She deserves to feel the love and warmth she showers onto everyone else.” Her eyes passed over to Jarion. “Jare…he’s so funny. So intelligent. So strong. He deserves to be made to feel worthy of being part of this world, because this world would be so dark without him.” The twins choked on sobs, their love for her overpowering the air.

Her eyes finally found Kellen.

“And Kellen…” Noella’s voice was noticeably softer when she spoke his name. “Kellen is not the cold man you’ve seen tonight. He is so selfless. So warm. So brave. He deserves to have someone fight for him the way he fights for everyone else.” Kellen’s eyes burned. He felt the absence of her gaze when she swung around to look back at Miya. “You had nothing to do with the making of these three incredible people. You don’t get credit for their successes. Their achievement doesn’t make you special. They became this in spite of you, not because of you. You are nothing. They are everything.”

The subsequent events transpired in such a rapid succession that Kellen’s mind struggled to keep track of the current moment.

Miya’s fire submerged her entire body, overpowering her humanoid flesh so none of the light brown coloring was visible beneath the flames before she lunged out of her chair and pounced on Noella. The entangled women toppled to the ground as everyone flung their chairs back and dove to get a good viewing of the skirmish. Kellen’s own fire sprinted to the surface to envelop his fingers, but Eyal surprisingly held out a hand to halt Kellen from launching his own power in defense of Noella. The back of Noella’s head crashed against the marble floor as Miya’s bony fingers enfolded around her throat and burrowed into the tendons of her neck, scorching the delicate skin with her flames, corroding the soft tissue. Noella did nothing to fight against her, her fingers splaying out on the floor, her body limp beneath Miya’s weight crushing her stomach.

Kellen started forward, but Eyal stepped in his path. Wait, Eyal snarled. She needs to draw blood.

What’re you— The realization of what Noella was doing, what she was sacrificing right now to give the twins a life free of their mother, washed over Kellen. His heart exploded in his mouth. DID YOU TWO PLAN THIS? Kellen nearly hollered out loud.

It was Ella’s backup plan, Eyal admitted. Kellen’s stomach roiled in horror. If the first part of the plan failed, she intended to provoke your mother into attacking her to give me a reason to arrest her. Once Miya draws blood, I will be shipping her off to Terminus, and you will never see her again.

Kellen tasted relief on his tongue, but it was overshadowed by the piquant flavor of terror.

DO NOT LET HER DIE, EYAL, OR I SWEAR TO AROS, I WILL KILL YOU BOTH MYSELF.

I would never, Eyal promised, watching Miya and Noella closely. His hand curved over the hilt of his sword, waiting for the perfect moment for extraction. It is in Cavale’s best interest that Noella Rose does not die.

Kellen could do nothing but stand there as his mother squeezed the life out of the woman he loved.

Oh fuck.

The woman he loved.

It hit him like a truck barreling into his stomach, his chest, his soul, watching Noella’s cheeks drain of the color he worshipped, watching the verve empty from her eyes, the emotion he’d been struggling to name finally thwacking him in the gut, overpowering his lungs. He loved her. He fucking loved her. He loved everything about her, her stubbornness, her kindness, the fact that she even formulated this plan behind his back and would willingly flirt with death just to get his mother sent back to Terminus. All of it made him fully confront how deeply he’d fallen for her, how every morsel of his being had become beholden to her. The extent of his love created earthquakes through his whole body while his legs struggled to maintain their upright position.

In this moment, he understood that she hadn’t been made for him. He’d been made for her.

His life was bound to her. Without her, there was no him.

The second Miya’s fire slit through Noella’s chin and sketched a gash down her jaw, a drop of her blood splattering on the floor, Eyal moved. A hand cloaked in silver titanium lashed out to grab the back of Miya’s neck. He wrenched her off Noella and lifted the Varmin in the air, as if Miya were a weightless doll rather than a being who could transform into a twenty thousand pound dragon. Once Miya no longer smothered Noella, Kellen ran forward and fell to his knees beside her, reaching out his hands to pull her into his arms, arranging her in his lap. Her arms wound around his neck, a strangled wheeze heaving off her tongue.

“Miya Kilic, I hereby sentence you to Terminus indefinitely for your attack on Noella Rose,” Eyal announced before pulling Miya’s arms back and slapping handcuffs onto her small wrists. Eyal turned to the audience congregated around them and said, “Take your leave. This shambolic excuse of a party is over.” The twins laughed through tears as the iron cuffs girded around their mother’s flesh.

“INDEFINITELY?!” Miya screamed, thrashing in Eyal’s grip, kicking her legs out to try and reach where Noella and Kellen sat on the floor, yearning to get one more hit on Noella before she was lugged away. “NO! YOU CAN’T TAKE ME BACK THERE! YOU CA—” Gilded vapor bordered Miya and Eyal’s feet, swimming up the length of their limbs before the haze consumed them whole and they disappeared from the room.

“Enjoy Terminus,” Noella laughed, then collapsed against Kellen’s chest with a groan.

“MS. ROSE!” Laya yelled, the twins’ knees crashing onto the floor as they knelt beside Kellen. “Are you okay?”

“I will be in a second.” Her hand floated up her chest and squeezed the amulet around her neck. Filaments of silver that Kellen recognized as Headmistress Dyer’s power snaked out of the pendant to encircle Noella’s neck in what resembled iridescent ribbons. When the threads retreated back into the safety of the amulet, her neck had returned to its spotless glory, healed of any scars from Miya’s power, including the hickey Kellen left earlier. “There,” Noella sighed. “Much better.”

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Kellen spluttered, shaking his head. Into her mind, he asked, Why didn’t you tell me?

Because I knew you wouldn’t let me, she answered. It took hours last night after I left your apartment convincing Eyal to agree to this. It would’ve taken twice as long to get you to agree.

Because I never would’ve agreed to you hurting yourself, Noella. Still, he was overcome by gratitude, which she felt and acknowledged with a tired, beautiful smile, resting her head on his shoulder.

“She’s gone,” Jarion stammered, his laughter merging into sobs. “She’s really gone.”

“She’s gone, buddy,” Kellen cried, cupping the side of his face. “She will never bother you again.”

Noella extended her wearied arms out to the twins.

Jarion and Laya fell into her embrace, burying their faces between the crook of Noella’s neck and Kellen’s chest. Kellen closed his arms around his three favorite people, around his whole fucking world, and sent a prayer of thanks to the King of the Gods for the gift of their liberation.