Chapter 5

FIVE

BASH

“You do know how to handle this properly?” Stellan followed close behind me as we walked down the hallway toward the elevators.

I sighed and then winced as it sent sharp pain through my collarbones and down my shoulder blades. Mother’s newest gift needed more attention from the healers. “I do know how to ask questions properly, yes.”

We stopped in front of the doors, and I pressed the button to go up as we stood there waiting. I saw each of them in the doors’ reflection, yet none of them were looking. Beside me, Collins was fidgeting with the sleeves on her new white bodysuit. It was some kind of magic-infused garment that was meant to continue healing her weakened body while she wore it. I wanted to run my hands over the material, it looked soft like cashmere, but she was hurt so I didn’t dare touch her. She’d also slapped me a few minutes ago, so touching her wasn’t something either one of us wanted me to do.

My emotions were all over the place when it came to my soulmate. I loved her in an all-consuming way that made it hard to think straight. I was so worried I was angry. It made no sense. I forced myself to look behind her to the other Stone Keeper, Ellie, who might have been asleep standing up. On the other side of her was the mage-Nephilim Shylock, whose pale-blue eyes were locked on the ground. Finally, I looked over my own shoulder only to find Stellan’s green eyes focused on my back.

“All I’m saying is this is Lexington Prescott , the CEO of all technology used by the supernatural community.” Stellan ran his hand through his dirty blond hair. “He’s centuries old, the closest thing to a friend that Zuriel and Araqiel have, and rich beyond anything any of us can comprehend. This might require a bit of finessing, mate? A bit of diplomacy.”

Ellie opened her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, he’s like the Tony Stark of First Realm. You know what I mean?”

I scowled. “Have I met a Tony? What did he look like?”

Ellie opened her mouth, then shut it and frowned. Her purple eyes were a little tired. “No, he’s a famous superhero . . . comic books? You know?”

I shook my head. “No.”

She threw her hands up. “When this is all over, you all are getting a proper nerd education. Complete with movies and literature.”

“So this is a book about someone named Stark?” Sometimes having spent so much time in Third Realm put be behind on pop culture. I wasn’t entirely ignorant, but some things slipped through the cracks.

Ellie shook her head and ran her fingers through Collins’ long lavender and pink hair. “I can’t with this. You fix it. Want me to braid this later so it’s not pressing on your back?”

“Yes, please. ” Collins didn’t look at me, she just gestured in my direction. “And there is no fixing. You just kind of have to roll with it."

“All that to say, maybe it should be me doing the talking, mate.” Stellan scratched his scruffy beard. “I am a prince who’s been working in diplomacy my whole life.”

“I’m diplomatic,” I grumbled. “I’m also a lot older than you and have more experience?—"

“You were cursed and couldn’t talk. How much communication experience could you have?” Stellan shrugged. “Just saying.”

“I thought your way of dealing with the assholes of your realm was to kill them?” Collins peeked over her shoulder at him. She caught me smirking and huffed. “Not that Bash would handle it much better.”

“So, you’d like to deal with this then, Collins?” The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I stepped inside and used my arm to stop the door from closing, but I narrowed my eyes on my soulmate. “Because you know I can’t really help the way I was brought up.”

Those turquoise eyes glared at me. Even with a little less shine than normal, they held intensity. “I didn’t say it was your fault. I’m just saying neither of you seem well-equipped,” she snapped as she took the spot inside the elevator across from me.

“It was implied, my love.” I growled. The my love was a little passive aggressive, but my attitude seemed to be out of control at the moment.

I didn’t know what was going on between me and Collins, but right about now we wanted to wring each other’s necks. Her words grated under my skin, yet I didn’t want to be away from her. It could’ve been latent family issues. Perhaps I liked that it hurt so good. Or was I just so desperate to be around her no matter how snarky and annoyed she was.

Stellan, Ellie, and Shylock hurried past us to stand in the back of the elevator.

“Say what you mean or don’t say it at all, my love. ”

“Fine.” She arched one eyebrow and held her chin high as the elevator doors closed. “Locking someone in a room while we’re at war is one hell of a way to show diplomacy, my love. But what can I expect? Your mother is who she is, after all.”

An awkward silence settled over our group for a moment as the elevator began to move.

Stellan cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “I was raised for diplomacy.”

A cough of laughter burst from Shylock before he schooled his features and went back to silently watching us all. He then busied himself with inspecting the magical stitches on his chest wound that was visible over the top of his unbuttoned shirt.

“Because you did so well with Prince Riven.” Ellie leaned against the wall and raised her eyebrows at him.

“Bit harsh that is, love. All is fair in war and soulmates and all that.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “He’s the one who?—"

“Maybe you should leave this to us? The Stone Keepers,” Collins snapped. “This isn’t family politics.”

We both looked at her and sighed. “In the words of my friend here, bit harsh. Besides, it’s not like you have extensive knowledge about our world. You only just got here. I believe the pop culture term I’m looking for is . . . rookie.”

“Oh, look, he’s using his words so well.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m beginning to miss the days when you were silent.”

I sucked in a deep breath, trying for patience. Years of not showing my cards with my family gave me this skill, but there was something about hearing it from Collins that just grated against me like sandpaper. I lowered my voice to emotionless calm. “Your lack of experience makes you impulsive, which makes you a danger to yourself and others. So yes, locking you in a room when you’re incapable of making rational decisions makes perfect sense.”

“Shots fired,” Ellie muttered under her breath.

Collins shrugged and didn’t look at me. “Whatever.”

Ellie snorted. “Ohhhhh. Shots fired back.”

“How is this a shot?” Sometimes the way they used language confused me.

“ Whatever is like the equivalent of telling someone to fu?—”

The elevator dinged, cutting her words off. Shylock was the first to step out. He turned and faced us, blocking us from walking out. “None of you will start this conversation as it seems none of you can get ahold of yourselves. Let me make this perfectly clear so no one misunderstands, all four of you are acting like petulant children. Stellan, set your pride aside. This is not your fight. Ellie, they’re clearly having a moment. Stop instigating or I’ll have to remind you how well you handled every moment of our fight. And you two . . . for the love of Araqiel, I have no idea what crawled into those pointed ears of yours and died, but we’re all going to die if you two don’t figure out how to work together in the moments you hate each other. Lexington will not stand for this bickering. You will leave it to me. I will do the talking. End of discussion.”

He turned and began to walk down the hall. Stellan’s green eyes went wide. He swept his arm to the side, giving us all space to follow behind Shylock. Collins stepped out next and I fell into step beside her. Stellan followed with Ellie close behind. The hall was silent this early in the morning, and for a moment I wondered if it was too early to disturb Lexington. Nevertheless, Shylock strolled down the hall. There were no other doors or windows. Only a single lone door at the end of the hall.

He paused before the door and glanced at us over his shoulder, arching a single brow. He took the time to make eye contact with each of us as if silently urging us to behave. When he turned back to the door, he lifted his hand, and before he could knock the door flew open.

Lexington Prescott was a towering vampire with vivid blue eyes that almost glowed. Even though I was taller than him, his presence felt bigger. His black hair was combed back from his face in dark strands. He stood before us in a black three-piece suit, pressed white button-down shirt, shining dress shoes, and black tie. He held a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

He took one look at us and sighed. “What?”

Shylock inclined his head. “We need your assistance?—”

“I’m busy?—”

“Queen Vauntero sent us?—"

“Why?” He narrowed his blue eyes and scanned our group.

“We don’t wish to waste your time, but the situation is dire and requires an audience with you.” Shylock held his hands up. “It’s about Prince Riven.”

Lexington opened his door wide and grabbed his briefcase off the table just inside the hall. “Walk and talk. I’ve got meetings.”

We all took a step to the side to let him pass.

Lexington didn’t wait for us for even a step. He just marched down the hall like we weren’t even there. “ I said walk and talk, people. I’m walking,” he snapped over his shoulder.

We all cursed under our breaths, then scurried and caught up to him halfway down the hall already.

Shylock took the lead. “Bit of a private conversation, if you don’t mind.”

“You think anything you say in this building is private?” He glared at Shylock as he stopped in front of the elevator. He jabbed his thumb into the button.

We looked at each other but said nothing. When the doors opened, he stepped to the side to let us pile in, then he got in last.

When the doors slid shut, he pressed the button. “Talk.”

Shylock cleared his throat. “We are currently entangled in a battle to save Third Realm and all its inhabitants, but Queen Tephine has apparently bound herself to the realm, which means?—”

“—If she dies, the realm dies. I’m familiar.” We must’ve made faces because he sighed in frustration. “Children, you’ve come to me because you know I’m close to Zuriel. I don’t have time to waste, and quite frankly, neither do you.”

The doors opened behind him. With a sharp nod, he spun and briskly walked down the hall, not waiting for us to catch up. I matched each of his steps as Shylock flanked him on his other side. The hall was long with dark marble floors that matched the ones outside the portals. The walls were a benign gray color that was typical of a normal human office. He was at another door in moments and pushing through it. The room had tall ceilings and huge windows along the back wall. There were dozens of cubicles spread throughout the large area. There was no one in the offices at six in the morning, but this seemed like a habit for Lexington. He moved through the quiet office space toward a set of double doors at the back. When he pushed through them, he strode toward an opulent desk, sat in an oversized office chair, and leaned back.

We all stopped in front of the desk.

He rested his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers, waiting for someone to talk. “You have five minutes until my meeting. Speak, Prince Bastien. Your circus, your monkeys.”

He was right. It was my realm, my responsibility. I tapped Shylock on the shoulder and stepped forward. “If you’re truly familiar, then you know we need help to break Tephine’s tie to the realm. And for that we need Prince Riven’s help. Yet he refuses.”

Lexington cocked his head to the side. “What’s this got to do with me?”

“Queen Vauntero told us you have experience dealing with Prince Riven and you might be able to offer some insight on how we can get him to help.” I held my breath, hoping he would have some idea. If not, then we would be at a dead end. “She claims you have a knack for knowing what people want, and we need some of that wisdom right now.”

“Let me see if I’ve got this right . . .” Lexington arched one eyebrow. “You want to trick Riven into helping you despite telling you no previously, and you think I will provide said trick for you. Correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Shylock bowed his head. “We don’t wish to waste your time, so we won’t beat around the bush. If you cannot help us, we will leave immediately.”

My stomach rolled at the mere idea that this vampire wouldn’t be able to help us. “ Anything you might know would help.”

Shylock cleared his throat. “I have seen the two of you speaking before, so I know you have experience with him.”

Lexington sighed and turned his chair to face the floor to ceiling windows. The sky was still dark, but I could see it turning from the darkest of blues to a lighter purple. The sun would soon rise on a new day, and now we were dependent on another powerful vampire in this twisted world. A few seconds later, he spun back toward us. “What I’m about to say I do not speak of lightly and I am only doing so because I know —perhaps more than any of you do—what defeating Tephine means. Do you understand?”

We all nodded.

Lexington licked his lips. “Riven has been after my father’s journal since he died ten years ago, but I haven’t given it to him.”

“There must be something of great value in that journal to Riven,” Shylock said.

Lexington met his eye. “Undoubtedly.”

Shylock nodded. I saw his mind working in the sharpness of his blue eyes. “Why haven’t you used it as a bargaining chip before?”

He scoffed. “I learned in my first century of life that bargains with Riven were not to be made lightly.”

I frowned. “But if he wants it that bad?—"

“And I have not yet had a need so desperate to broach the trade with him.” Lexington shrugged. “More importantly, I don’t know if Riven can be trusted with its contents.”

I raised my hand. “What’s in this journal?” My curiosity got the best of me.

“I have no idea. It’s ancient.” His eyes darkened, and a muscle in his jaw clenched. “But it can’t be safe in the hands of a Realm Royal who used to kill Nephilim.”

We all sucked in a collective gasp.

Collins took a step forward. “Mr. Prescott, we wouldn’t be here if we had any other options. But you are it. He has the knowledge we need. Tephine must die and the only way to do that without committing mass genocide is to break the bond she has to the realm. We know Riven has the answers but—” She sucked in a breath and swayed on her feet, and for a moment pain shadowed over her face.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few of the crystals for strength that she’d created, then pressed them to her palm. I turned my gaze back to Lexington. “But nothing comes without a price from him.” I finished for her.

“Sometimes it’s better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don’t.” Lexington looked from Collins to me and back again.

“I know my devil well. She’s my mother.”

He raised his eyebrows at that. “And this is still your course of action?”

“I choose the path that destroys the monster who gave birth to me. I refuse to be like her, and therefore I must do whatever I can to save the other innocent lives in Third Realm.” I pressed my palm to my chest, right over the heart my mother had tormented and abused for decades. “Despite whatever devious deeds Prince Riven may have committed in his two thousand years, I know he is not the monster my mother is. The trade of the journal has to be worth the risk. It has to be.”

“And if it opens up a new war next week?” Lexington asked.

“Then we’ll be there to end that one too. But if we don’t kill my mother, then next week might not exist at all.”

“We will do it because we have to,” Collins backed me up.

“We are all here for that reason,” Ellie added. “To do what needs to be done no matter what. Whatever the consequences or side effects.”

“Very well. I shall consult the angels.” He rose to his feet and straightened the sleeves of his suit. “If they give their permission, you shall have it.”

“Lovely, then off we pop to the angels to retrieve it then?” Stellan said with almost a bounce in his step. “They’ll definitely agree. We get it, call Riven back, and hand it over. Done.”

Lexington held his hand up, stopping us. “Careful in your assumptions, Wentworth. If they approve, then we will have the journal. But it will not leave my sight or possession.”

“Then how are we going to use it as a bargaining tool with Riven?” Collins put her hands on her hips like she was about ready to leap across the desk and tackle him for the journal. “He’ll?—"

“I’ll hand it to Riven myself.” He waved a dismissive hand in our direction before any of us could protest. “You may go. Thanks to all of your actions, I have crisis control to handle on the Island right now. Go take a nap, children. I’ll come get you soon.”