36. Zion

CHAPTER 36

ZION

Clan Daddy: Seconding the emergency meeting.

Well, look who's back behind the wheel again.

With a slow exhale, I smoothed a hand down the front of my dark gray suit, hoping I looked the part for this canon event.

The part of a real clan leader.

Like how Wolfgang looks.

Usually…

I couldn't throw too much shade at my fellow clan leader for his sudden costume change. I'd also been acting out of character lately, but that was because the beast I normally kept neatly caged beneath my skin had not been happy in light of recent events.

It didn't help that I'd been consumed with investigating every possible lead on the approaching storm and the normie's murder, instinctively knowing both issues were related yet struggling to connect the dots .

Aside from Izzy being accused of both.

It would have seemed like a cut and dry case, but then my brother made some offhand comments during his interrogation, and I started to suspect I wasn't going to like how this all shook out.

Because someone is lying to me.

That was what burned me the most. Every guest on the island was either a Salah, a Suarez, or closely connected to either clan. Thanks to Wolfgang and his creepy lawyer, the stacks of paperwork protecting our combined interests were enough to fill the infamous archives I knew he had hidden beneath his house.

He's really perfected those evil villain vibes.

Given how heavy-handed Wolfgang was known for being, I was shocked when he left interrogating Izzy up to me. On the one hand, he had tried to calm me down, but on the other, he'd deferred to my authority fairly easily. Too easily.

Maybe he wants my clan to destroy itself from the inside out…

Chill, Zion.

Wolfgang is on your side.

Maybe…

"You good, Z?" Baltasar called out, snapping me back to the beach.

I turned to where my inventus was stretched out on a lounge chair, catching the last rays of afternoon sun as his Gambit crop top and scandalous short shorts fluttered in the concerningly increasing wind.

Not that I'm complaining.

Not about the outfit, at least .

"I'm fine, beautiful," I purred, not wanting to cause him any additional stress when we'd only just made up.

While I was still slightly put out that Baltasar hadn't wanted to "bother" me with the physical changes he'd been dealing with lately, it was hard to stay mad at my perfect mate. The anxiety he lived with was a slippery beast and, most importantly, now he was even more perfect.

I knew he'd look hot in scales.

"Oh! There they are." Baltasar leaped from his chair and began waving his hands overhead, as if the others wouldn't see us a mile away.

My plan only works if we're out in the open.

Like easy prey.

Once again, I was going off-script without consulting my mate, but whoever we were up against seemed to always be two steps ahead, so I needed the playing field to be level when I ripped the rug out from under everyone.

Let's see who stumbles first.

Xander had pulled me aside earlier today, rambling about the storm and how he suspected Kai was the target of that as well. I promised I'd look into it while internally making the executive decision to use this intel to my advantage.

Just like a clan leader would.

I followed Baltasar's gaze to where Wolfgang and Simon were walking down the beach, closely flanked by Luca, Ziggy, and Micah—all deep in conversation. Kai and Violentia trailed far behind— holding hands?— with Xander and Butch circling overhead, no doubt taking advantage of how we'd forbidden the resort staff from accessing this part of the beach after a certain hour .

Not that we need to worry about anyone wanting to be out here.

Not with how that cyclone keeps getting closer.

I glanced at my watch as the dread in my gut burrowed deeper—like the cancer that killed Mikki. Unlike how that loss almost destroyed me, however, I silently vowed to allow whatever happened here today to only make me stronger.

Now we just need all the players to show up.

"Greetings, Lacertus." Theo's voice suddenly sounded in my ear, not two inches away, and I scowled as I involuntarily flinched.

Don't show any weakness!

"Fuck, you're creepy." I turned to face him, noticing the twins standing behind him and annoyed I hadn't taken into account that the Stellarians could appear and disappear at will.

It's fine.

They're not the ones with skin in the game.

Or… any skin at all.

"Yes. I am," he replied cheerfully, unbothered by my glare and already looking past me to watch the others approach. "But where is your lovely mother? Hasn't she been on this beach day in and day out, tirelessly working to keep that frightful storm at bay?"

I rolled my eyes, not fooled by his bullshit one bit. "Yeah, well, maybe she decided to take the night off."

Bet.

A wide smile that didn't reach his eyes stretched across Theo's deceptively human face—reminding me of how he'd looked in the moments before he blew up his entire factory… wi th me inside. "And miss such a perfect opportunity? Doubtful."

What the hell does that mean?

"Can you not be so cryptic all the time, brat? It's not as cute as you think it is." Dre huffed before canting his chin past the approaching crowd. "Tempest is right over there."

I spun, softly cursing that she'd appeared—just as expected—while I'd been distracted by these fools.

Way to let down your guard, Zion.

My mother had taken her usual post at the water's edge, her stern face in profile as she intensely stared at the cyclone now breaching the reef.

Maybe she is having trouble containing it.

Maybe I misjudged everything.

"You think everything about me is cute," Theo muttered, but his words—my entire world—slowed to a crawl as I spotted someone who wasn't supposed to be at this meeting.

Daisy.

"Why the fuck is my kid here?!" I hissed under my breath, desperately trying to mask my panic before Baltasar picked up on it.

"What's the problem with D being here?" my inventus growled—going into a hot as fuck ‘second daddy' mode that was pretty fucking inconvenient at the moment. "Why exactly did you call us together, Z?"

Fucking hell.

"Ohhh, this is fabulous!" Theo chuckled. "I was hoping we weren't just gathering for a boring, old family meeting. Things haven't been nearly dramatic enough for?— "

Whatever nonsense the alien was about to spew was lost in the wind, as I was already sprinting full-speed toward my daughter. Baltasar was on my heels, yelling something about taking a time out, but I was too focused on how frightened Daisy looked—how she'd been strategically positioned within the circle of the supes surrounding her… as if they were caging her in…

Holding her hostage.

"Zion!" Wolfgang called out, placing his body between me and my goddamn kid like a man with a death wish. "We need to talk."

"We can talk when you hand Daisy over," I growled, stopping a few feet in front of The Hand of Death, wondering if I should test the intel that he couldn't kill me instantaneously. "She shouldn't be here?—"

"She needs to be here, Zion," Simon hissed with a backward glance at my mother, and rightfully so. "Our little queen saw?—"

"My little queen," I snapped, feeling my beast clawing beneath the surface, ready to emerge and lay out every one of these assholes if need be. "Not. Yours."

Deep down, I knew the Suarez clan had treated Daisy like one of their own from the moment they met, while my family had barely acknowledged her existence. Unfortunately, my beast didn't give a fuck about the facts.

Must get her to safety.

Ziggy was observing me like a hawk eyeing a mouse in the field, but Micah— my own blood —was the one who stepped forward to intervene. "Bro, please… you gotta let Daisy talk. She doesn't feel safe?— "

"NO SHIT SHE DOESN'T FEEL SAFE!" I roared, needing to get Daisy out of here before shit hit the fan. "One of our own is behind all of this?—"

"HELP!!!" A cry of alarm directed everyone's attention back down the beach to where my mother had dramatically fallen to the sand. "I can't… I can't hold back the cyclone any longer!"

Showtime.

Now that Lady Tempest was no longer holding it at bay— if she ever was —the tropical cyclone abruptly narrowed, morphing into a tornado-shaped funnel and racing for shore at an unnatural speed.

Directly at Kai.

Fuck.

I definitely misjudged this.

Chaos erupted. Wolfgang shielded Simon as Luca lunged for them. Ziggy tried to grab Micah, but my brother danced out of his reach for some unknown reason. Xander descended at lightning speed to scoop up Kai and Violentia while Butch headed for Daisy.

Just like she's one of their own.

I really fucking misjudged this.

Grabbing Baltasar, I skirted around Wolfgang and Simon, desperately reaching for Daisy, intending to protect the two of them— as many of these fools as I could, actually —with my supe form. Just as my already clawed hand wrapped around her tiny bicep, the wind stopped, leaving silence behind.

Dead silence.

What the …

"Amazing…" Ziggy breathed, and I followed his dick-drunk gaze to where Micah—little baby bro Meeks—had apparently just created an invisible shield around us.

Around the entire island.

Holy. Shit.

"P-pretty cool, huh?" he stuttered, giving me a strained smile as his hands shook from the effort. "It's a little t-trick I learned while on badass space adventures with Zig."

"So fucking cool," Gabriel echoed, appearing beside Micah and echoing the alien's ridiculous heart-eyes.

"Truly the most impressive creature I have ever encountered in any galaxy," Ziggy vehemently whispered, staring at my brother like he wanted to eat him alive, completely unbothered by his father's mate ogling his man by his side.

Maybe Stellarians are into that.

What the fuck do I know?

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Lady Tempest bellowed, and the dread that had been building within me for the past twenty-four hours—for decades, really—dropped into my stomach like a lead weight.

I'd really hoped I'd been wrong—that every subtle hint and flashing billboard along the way were figments of my paranoid imagination.

I should have ended this long ago.

With a growl, I turned to face my mother. "How could you? Creating a storm to distract from the fact that you were planning to frame your own son for murder. I didn't think you could get any lower than what you did to me with the serum, but here we are?— "

"Empty-handed, as always," she scoffed, eyeing me disdainfully. "Any evidence you've possibly gathered against me this past week would be circumstantial at best. There's no motive, no physical proof. Isaiah has already admitted on the record to being the only one who ever handled his deadly hot sauce, and when would I have meddled? Every guest will corroborate that they saw me on this beach day in and day out, tirelessly working to keep that frightful storm at bay."

"Told you," Theo huffed, although he still looked like he was enjoying the show.

Drama-hungry diva.

"Excusez-moi?" Simon interrupted. "You are quite literally villain monologuing in front of all of us. There are multiple witnesses here who can take the stand—including a high-ranking official of the supe council. Just how exactly do you see yourself getting out of this one, Tempest?"

My mother's lip curled in a self-satisfied smirk. "Who will believe any of you when they learn of Wolfgang's decades-long plot to murder his own parents? A scheme he hatched with the help of this supposed high-ranking official, no less!" She sneered at Luca, who stared back impassively. "He's not even a supe! He's an alien who infiltrated our highest office, most likely with plans to take over the Suarez clan and then the entire planet."

"And where's your proof, Jacqueline?" Luca calmly asked, and I choked on a laugh at how he didn't even consider her enough of a threat to use her supe name. "Who would believe such wild claims from a disgraced matriarch of a jealous family who has always seen themselves as inferior to the Suarez clan—and rightfully so?"

Burn!

But… fair .

Luca knew exactly what he was doing, as my mother flinched at his incredibly accurate accusation.

"The Suarez lineage should have died off with Signe and Ender," she hissed before her scathing glare landed on where Kai stood huddled between Xander and Violentia. "And if I have my way, future generations will be wiped out as well."

There's the motive.

Before anyone could address this blatant confession, Lady Tempest continued, "The Suarez clan may have had some advantages over ours…" A sly smirk spread across her face the same moment Major Obscurity appeared beside her—where he'd probably been lurking all along. "It's too bad we've always had the perfect spy in our midst. One who can gather evidence of their own, undetected."

Fuck.

Wolfgang hissed, but Luca simply pointed at Daisy. "We have a perfect spy now too—one who has also been gathering evidence, undetected."

Say what?

I glanced down at my daughter just in time to see her disappear before my eyes.

WHAT?!

Daisy reappeared a moment later and smiled at me. When I smiled encouragingly, she took my hand and bravely faced her grandparents—the ones who'd never seen her as good enough to claim as their own—before lifting her chin defiantly.

Like the future clan leader she is.

"I am the perfect spy," she spoke, her little voice steady and clear. "Because I saw your spy in the kitchen last night, putting poison into the hot sauce. Then, I overheard both of you talking about how you convinced Uncle Izzy to bring the sauce so he could share it."

She'd just confirmed what Izzy had told me during the investigation, which meant I had no choice but to deal with this betrayal head-on—like a clan leader would.

But first, my baby gets to shine.

"Leave no crumbs, D," I growled. "Show them this is our house."

She nodded once before straightening her shoulders and nailing the final nails in my parents' coffins. "I also heard you say how you've been pretending to stop the cyclone when really you created it with your powers. You messed with my family, Lady Tempest." She took Simon's hand in her free one to illustrate her point. "And now, you're gonna find out."