44. Zendaya

Chapter 44

Zendaya

T he queen leans back in her chair as the platters of sweets are swept off the dining table. She strokes the curve of her wine goblet as though it were a lover's jaw. The thought has my stomach churning and my gaze cutting to Enzo, who's barely spoken a word, out loud or through the bond.

"Tell me, Justus, why are you still here?"

"Am I not allowed to revitalize myself in your lovely queendom, Sumaca?"

Her polished, pointy nails scrape up the sculpted gold. "You told me you came to visit your daughter." Down. Up. Down. "The same daughter who left with your wife in haste. Yet, you remain."

"I actually came to inform them that their house in Tarelexo was ready. You should've seen how excited my wife was."

"I hear Agrippina didn't seem all that excited to depart."

The guard beside Abrax shifts from one foot to the other.

"Naturally," Justus says calmly. "Agrippina doesn't remember that house since she moved in after her mind was damaged. Not to mention that her packmates remain in Shabbe. She didn't particularly want to leave, but Fallon promised to carry her back in the morning."

The queen's eyes remain fastened to the general, who sits there, perfectly unperturbed.

Before she can succeed at perturbing him, I change the topic. "Taytah, when were you going to tell me about your tryst with Enzo?"

Her pupils flare wide as she pivots toward me.

Enzo slumps in his chair, muttering, Did you really have to bring it up in front of everyone, Day?

Sorry, but I wanted to take the heat off Justus.

"I was waiting for Enzo to tell you, actually." She smiles, but it's as tight as the pearl choker she wears. "I'm glad he finally did. I don't like keeping secrets from you, emMoti." She reaches over and tries to capture my hand, but I drop it onto my lap and nestle it in the black folds of the outfit I selected for what's to come tonight.

I'm tempted to remind her that Enzo's nineteen and that she's several centuries old, but then remember that Fallon and Lorcan have the same age difference, as do Cathal and?—

And not me.

Not me.

"Be kind to him," I say.

"Day," Enzo mutters.

I smile at my red-faced shifter. "Sorry, Enzo, but I'm protective like that. Better learn to live with it. Anyway"—I push away from the table and stand—"I've not slept all day. I wish you all a pleasant evening."

Keep her entertained tonight. Until I tell you we're done, do not leave her side.

He slides his teeth from side to side. She wants to introduce me to the others . I don't want to meet her others. In all honesty, I don't even want to ? —

One more night. Please.

He murders the stone tabletop with his gaze. Fine. I'll use my body to distract her. If she brings anyone else in the room, though, I'm leaving.

Tell her you aren't interested in orgies, Enzo. You've every right to have your wishes respected.

Do I?

My heart misses a beat that he'd think differently. Yes. You do. It's your body. Not hers.

She's the queen, Day.

Perhaps, but you're not one of her subjects. Never forget that.

He finally looks up and meets my stare. I try to smile but guilt keeps the corners of my lips from tucking up. I'm about to apologize when I recall how he yelled at me the day I did, telling me that it was unfair to apologize for something I wasn't actually sorry for. So I bite my tongue and stride back toward my bedchamber, Abrax on my heels.

"I'm worried about you, Daya," he says, as he pulls open my bedchamber door. "You seem troubled."

"I've just got lots on my mind."

"Is it Cathal? I saw you two arguing when he dropped off Justus."

I give him a sad smile. "It's Cathal. Enzo. Agrippina. Taytah. It's that serpent poison and the Lucin war. It's Kanti. Behati. Meriam. The list of my troubles is rather endless, but nothing a little sleep won't fix."

"I wish I could help."

"You help just by being there and not adding to my troubles. Goodnight, Abrax."

"Goodnight, Daya."

As we smile at each other, I cannot help but wonder if he'll still smile at me come morning, or if this is to be our last moment of companionable friendship, since freeing Meriam won't earn me any points with the Shabbins.

My rooms are quiet, yet I feel a presence. Two presences.

The flames shiver along their stalks as shadows glide around me and press me into my bathing chamber. Since I know who they belong to, I don't flinch when they close my door. The same way I don't balk when Fallon adorns the walls with sigils.

"Done," she says. "No one can hear us."

I stare at Lorcan as he reknits into a male and leans against my sink top. "I hear your grandmother and Behati deceived us."

"You heard correctly."

"And you hold this information from the Cauldron?" my daughter asks, sucking on her fingertip.

"Yes, Fallon."

"Are you certain it's the Cauldron speaking and not Meriam?" Lorcan asks.

I'm about to say yes, but what if it is Meriam? "I…I… They spoke of Meriam in the third person."

"Meriam is cunning and manipulative," Lorcan says.

"Perhaps, but she doesn't have the sight, does she? She couldn't have foreseen that Agrippina would be attacked," I counter.

"She can use Agrippina's eyes, Mádhi. Meriam might not be able to fore see, but she can see."

I run the beaded tassels of my belt through my fingers, the faceted black diamonds glimmering white against the black silk. "How could Meriam speak into my mind?"

Fallon pushes a lock of her dark auburn hair behind her ear. "The same way she speaks into Agrippina's. She must've spelled the connection into existence that day in the Temple. Or maybe she did it after she sent your soul into a serpent's womb? I don't know. All I know is that we shouldn't put it past her."

" It isn't Meriam speaking, Zendaya. It is me. The Mahananda. "

My heart ratchets up.

" I see doubt in your mind. My keeper should never doubt herself or me. Perhaps you don't deserve to become my keeper. Perhaps you don't deserve immortality. "

"Mádhi?" Fallon touches my arm, making me jump. "The voice is speaking with you, isn't it?"

I don't nod. I don't have to. My daughter has learned to read me just fine.

"Ask it what it showed me the day it welcomed me into its depths."

" What did you show Fallon the day you undid her obsidian curse? " I ask.

" You dare question me? " The anger that rises from the disembodied voice rattles my temples. " You don't deserve my guidance. You don't deserve for your species to endure. And you certainly don't deserve Priya's crown. Goodbye, Zendaya. Do not seek out my mercy for I have none to give to those who doubt me. "

"No," I squeak. " Wait. No. " I imagine the Mahananda's surface rippling before becoming hard as stone.

"What is it, Mádhi?"

"It told me I was undeserving. It told me not to seek it out. I've doomed my species." I palm my mouth. "What if I've doomed yours too? What have I done? What have I done ?"

"The Cauldron may be temperamental, but it's fair, Daya," Lorcan says calmly. "It would never doom one of its children for asking questions. Which strengthens my conviction that the voice you're hearing is Meriam's. Not to mention that your eyes didn't whi?—"

The ground suddenly rumbles, bleaching Fallon's complexion. "What if we're wrong, Lore?"

Day! Enzo's shout grips my heart and holds it in a vise. Day, where are you?

In my bathing chamber. Where are you?

I'm with your grandmother but—but…oh. Holy. Mahananda.

What? What's happening?

Silence.

Enzo? I screech. When he still doesn't answer, I close my eyes and concentrate on our mind link until it becomes as firm as a rope, one I scramble up until I feel him. His heartbeats are slow and even. Enzo? I shout again. He must've lost consciousness. "Something happened." My whisper is as tremulous as my limbs that rattle as I stalk toward my door. "Something's happening." I seize the handle. Locked. I twist around to find Lorcan and Fallon exchanging a grave look. "Open the door, Fallon. Something's happened to Enzo. Open the door."

She doesn't.

"The door!" I yell just as her mate dissolves into smoke.

"I'll go find him, Mádhi. Be right back."

"No! Fallon!" With a growl, I bang my fists against the wood. Another tremor shoots through the earth. It's so strong it almost buckles my knees. "FALLON!" My throat burns from how shrilly I call out her name. ENZO!

"Do not rage against her. She is only trying to protect you."

I whirl because the voice that has filled my mind for weeks is now filling the air. "Meriam?" I gasp.

"Hello, my beautiful daughter."