Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Sarah

“ I f you don’t mind, I must see to one more thing before your companions join us, Sarah,” Rex said as he left me in the doorway to the dining room.

I gave him a curt nod. “Of course, whatever you need.”

He raced away, leaving me alone, and I was grateful for the reprieve after that odd encounter between us in the garden. After that slap across his face, Rex had backed off with his flirtations, realizing that I wasn’t to be trifled with. Still, the fact that he’d even had the audacity to try and seduce me in that manner didn’t sit well with me.

It also didn’t sit well with me that I’d felt his kiss so thoroughly, considering he was a ghost.

But after that incident, our conversation had taken an interesting turn. One I was eager to share with Deacon and Jac.

I exhaled a deep breath, and since this was really the first moment I’d had to myself in a while, I relished the quiet and solitude. I strolled around the dining room, studying the tapestries, and marveling at the fact that I was in a house that was fancy enough that tapestries felt appropriate to the house. I hadn’t taken that into account the night before—I was a little drunk.

One tapestry depicted some kind of bright green garden with flowers, but in it, were men chasing a scary creature. The creature had horns where components of a face should have been, but there were no obvious eyes, nose, or mouth. Only horns. I wondered whether they had hunted the creature, or the creature had hunted them, but they had turned the tables.

The next one was mostly blue and featured a battle at sea. It was a stormy day with choppy water—like the first time I had gone kayaking. A small fishing boat had two men, one to operate the boat, the other to use a spear on some half-seen animal in the water. A spear protruded out of it already and the water around the animal was red.

Both tapestries haunted me in a way I couldn’t explain at first. But I came to realize both were about people overcoming the odds against nature, and the thought was unsettling. We should be living with nature, not against it. I wondered whether that was why Rex was so adamant about the conduits. According to Omen, they were close to nature—many used elements of nature in their abilities or lived within nature instead of the cities, back when they were alive on Orhon.

But Rex’s art spoke volumes about him. Going against the natural. Fighting until there was no fight left. The fishermen in particular—they looked haggard and rough. There is a kind of honor in that, I suppose. Never giving up, no matter the odds.

“Do you like my tapestries?” Rex’s deep voice rumbled closely behind me.

I jumped from the surprise of him, not caring for the easy way in which he could sneak up on me. “I’m not sure.”

“I believe the best art can be described that way,” he said, glancing up at the tapestry I’d just been admiring. “When it makes you think…that’s when an artist has you in the palm of their hand.”

“I guess that’s true,” I said, because I’d just done exactly that.

“Your companions will arrive shortly,” he said, then waved toward the dining table. “Care to take a seat?”

I smiled and followed him to the head of the table. “Thank you for this, Rex,” I said, once we were both settled in our seats.

“For what?”

I thought back to our conversation in the garden, the one that happened after the slap. “I did not believe you were a man who could compromise.”

He chuckled. “Life, and as it turns out, death , is a series of compromises, Sarah. The same is true of power, as well."

I tipped my head curiously. “How do you mean?”

“You have found yourself with some power, so from one powerful person to another, you may find that compromise works better than shields.”

I had never thought of it that way. As I mused on the idea, Deacon and Jac walked into the dining room, their eyes on me. I wasn’t sure what had happened since I’d seen them last, but by their expressions, it wasn’t good. They both looked…haggard.

Concern gripped me. “Guys, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jac muttered as he sat next to me.

“Later,” Deacon said, shaking his head to indicate he didn’t want to discuss the issue right now, either.

I huffed, annoyed they wouldn’t tell me what was wrong right then, but I assumed it was because Rex was with me, which had been the source of their annoyance since we’d arrived on Faithless. “Fine,” I said, then flashed them both a smile. “We have some exciting news—”

Deacon narrowed his gaze as he cut me off. “ We , as in you and us, or we , as in you and Rex?” His voice dripped with judgment.

“Sarah and I have come to an arrangement of sorts,” Rex said, his voice dropping to a purr, which I knew was to goad my companions.

And it worked, because Jac glared at Rex and growled, “What kind of an arrangement ?”

“Rex is going to help us hunt down the last remaining conduits,” I replied quickly, hoping to keep things civil when both Jac and Deacon looked as though they wanted to stab a bone knife into Rex and kill him all over again.

“Oh, is he now?” Deacon asked sarcastically. “Why would Rex do anything to help us? What does he get in exchange?”

Rex’s brows rose. “You assume I’m getting something out of this?”

“I know you,” Deacon snarled.

“That you do, Deacon, that you do,” Rex replied in a too intimate tone before continuing. “You see, the conduits have tried to assassinate me on a few occasions, and if I were to help you… neutralize them, then I’ll no longer have anything to worry about.”

“We don’t need your help,” Jac said, his jaw clenched.

“Oh, but you do,” Rex countered smoothly. “I happen to know that those loathsome conduit females have built a new temple, one in the swamp nearby. They are trying to rebuild their powers once more, so they may supplant the new Mother—”

“Queen,” I corrected him.

He smiled serenely and nodded once, acceding to my request. “The new queen and come after me again. They have been operating in that temple for close to a month.”

Deacon leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “And how do you know all of this?”

Rex shrugged. “I have someone on the inside.”

I smiled at Jac and Deacon, but they were less than impressed by the new development.

Jac finally broke his intense stare with Rex and shifted his gaze to me. “Sarah, are you really trusting that he has a spy with the conduits, when Justice Bateen could never get one himself?”

I frowned at both of my men. “How else would he know about the temple? Why would he lie to me?”

“I’m just spit balling here,” Jac said facetiously. “But maybe to get you to trust him so he can get in your panties?”

Rex chuckled. “You do turn a phrase when you’re in a mood, don’t you, Jac?”

“I turn a bone knife even better,” Jac shot back.

A flash of discontent wavered over Rex’s face, before he went back to his usual smirk. “Regardless of your doubts, my boys, I am deeply motivated to put an end to the conduit women who would end me. Seems only fair.”

I gently reminded him of the other part of our agreement. “But, they’re going to have a choice. Right, Rex?”

“Right, right. The choice.” He sighed, leaving me with the distinct impression that he didn’t like the choice.

Too bad. I smiled again at my doubting companions and explained. “Rex is going to help us find them, and if they want to fall in line under my authority, then he will leave them to my custody and I will ensure that no harm will come to him from them.”

“Why give them the option?” Deacon asked, his tone skeptical.

“Because they’ve never had a choice before,” I said, trying to turn both of their misgivings into a more open minded approach. “To my knowledge, the conduits were always the slave assistants of the Mothers. They never had the opportunity to live their own lives or be their own people. That’s not right. Power does not give someone the right to put people, or in this case ghost conduits, under their thumb like that. So, I believe they should get to choose. They can work for me, or be on their own, in which case, Rex or fate or whatever will happen.”

“For some reason, she believes the good in people,” Rex grumbled. “It’s obnoxious, but I have decided to allow it for now.”

Without thinking, I smacked the back of his hand to chastise him, and he quickly jerked his arm back. “I am not obnoxious.”

He grimaced. “No, but you have a hell of a slap.”

“How the fuck did that just happen?” Jac said, his voice raised in disbelief.

“Oh, me being able to hit Rex?” I said, trying to make light of the situation. “We’re not sure, but it seems that I can touch him, even without his permission.”

Deacon’s mouth gaped in shock. “That…that’s not possible.”

“It appears it’s possible for me.” I didn’t want to tell either of them how I figured it out—they would probably forbid me from being around Rex, if they knew he had kissed me.

“It is because you are the most powerful conduit of all, Sarah,” Rex said in a flirtatious tone. “Your position comes with all kinds of abilities, I’m sure of it.”

I smiled at him. “It does indeed.”

“I would love the chance to learn more about them—”

“I’m sure you would,” Deacon cut in with a low growl in his throat. “But we need to discuss things as a family in private. I’m sure you understand.” He abruptly stood.

Rex sat back, ignoring Deacon’s tone and concern, and shifted his gaze to my other companion. “Jac, did you have a good swim?”

“What swim?” I asked, glancing at Jac.

“How did you know about that?” he asked, all but glaring a hole through our host.

Rex shrugged nonchalantly. “I took a moment to peruse my monitors before you boys joined us.”

“That moat is a safety hazard, Rex,” Deacon snapped angrily.

“You’d know all about safety, right, my boy?”

Rex’s comment flustered Deacon, and he seemed to lose his train of thought and fell silent, which I found incredibly odd.

I glanced between the two of them, confused. “What do you mean by that, Rex?”

“I’ve known Deacon his whole life. He was always safety-conscious, even as a boy, always making sure no one spilled anything on his mother’s rugs, making the children promise not to tackle each other too hard when they played split disk, all that.”

I grinned at the adorable description of his young self, but when I glanced up at Deacon’s reddened face, he was livid.

Rex went on. “The truth is, we go back much further than the war, Sarah. In fact, our families have been friends for thousands of years. We were the original Ladrians, you see.”

I whipped my gaze back to Rex, certain I’d misunderstood him. “I don’t understand.”

“Ladrang and Terian,” Rex said the two names in almost a lyrical voice. “They took the front half of the word, we were left with the back end, so we got more letters, L-a-d from them, r-i-a-n from us.”

I looked up at Deacon in shock. His eyes were full of simmering hatred for Rex. The name thing was definitely something I should have known about before that moment, but more importantly, it was obvious there was far more to their story than just ancient history. Something had happened between the two of them, and I didn’t know—

Oh my god. Were they a couple?

That realization made so many things make sense. The animosity, the jealousy, Deacon’s freak out last night …I didn’t want to ask right then, for fear of things blowing up in my face. But I was frustrated and hurt that Deacon hadn’t told me before. I had been making a fool of myself with Rex, thinking things weren’t somehow tainted between all of us.

He should have fucking told me before now. Or Jac should have—I’m sure he knew.

More than a little pissed that I’d been left in the dark, I cleared my throat and forced myself to smile at Rex, as if his exchange with Deacon hadn’t shattered something inside of me. “Would you excuse us, Rex? I have many, many things to discuss with my union. Privately.”

“By all means. Take all the time you need. It’s not like a group of highly trained, brilliant assassins are after you, too,” he said, his eyes dancing with humor. “Oh, wait. They are.”

I staged a laugh at his poorly executed conduit joke and stood up. “This will likely only be a few minutes. We’ll be right back.”

Turning to my companions, I snapped, “Move. Now,” before I marched out of the dining room, confident they were behind me.