10. Ashe

ASHE

Inavigate us to the patio, my senses heightened, every nerve tingling with anticipation. The midday sun casts dappled shadows through the grand windows, bathing the estate in a soft, ethereal glow. Around me, the chatter of the luncheon guests fills the air, a symphony of polite conversation and tinkling laughter that belies the tension simmering beneath the surface.

Cassandra walks beside me, her presence a comforting anchor amidst the swirling currents of tension rising in me. I clamp it down, making sure she doesn’t sense any of it through our bond. She’s already nervous enough. At least she isn’t the only one obviously nervous, since the rest of the guests are fluttering around the area like anxious hens. Except these hens both crave and fear the attention of the fox.

Rhys, to Giuliani’s chagrin, is holding court on the far side of the long, stone dining table set for lunch. It doesn’t seem to bother Aeternaphiel, as he drifts through the guests. The archangel moves amongst his guests with the effortless grace of a predator stalking its prey. His eyes, sharp and calculating, sweep over the assembled company, missing nothing as he holds court with the ease of a man accustomed to command. Yet he gives up their attention to Rhys, seeming unperturbed that he is not everyone’s focus.

He reminds me of a wolf searching for the weakest of the herd.

Alfonso Giuliani, his human representative, stands at the edge of the group, a sycophantic smile plastered across his face as he plays the role of the gracious host. He gestures towards the array of delicacies laid out on a wicker buffet, his words honeyed with flattery as he extols the virtues of his employer’s hospitality.

Every word makes me sick, but I force myself to smile and nod as Timothy Farr would.

Beside me, Cassandra’s hand brushes against mine, a silent reassurance that bolsters my resolve. I hate that she’s at risk here. If I could do this without her, I’d lock her in our suite at the clan house.

Instead, I follow her to the side and follow her example in making a plate for myself. I hardly notice what I’m choosing. It’s not as if I’m here to actually have lunch. Another couple splits from Rhys’s enthrallment to file in behind us, chatting quietly with each other.

“Here,” I say, nudging Cassandra with an elbow to suggest sitting at the middle of the table but still far enough from where Aeternaphiel has set his drink to prevent much attention, hopefully.

The moment we sit, Alfonso comes to stand beside Cassandra, sculpting his wrinkled face into something he thinks passes as charm. As much charm as a snake.

“Enjoying yourself, Mrs. Farr?” Alfonso Giuliani’s slick, oily voice makes my lip twitch, but Cassandra remains steady, smiling politely.

“It’s wonderful,” Cassandra replies, and I can feel her brittle nerves through the mate bond.

“And you, Mr. Farr?” Alfonso’s beady eyes settle on me, and I resist the urge to punch him.

“The spread is wonderful,” I say, mimicking the conspiratorial tone I used with him the night before. “The company as well.”

Alfonso preens at the praise, oblivious to the lie. Beside me, Cassandra barely swallows a snort, and her amusement eases the tension churning within me.

“Alfonso, thank you for such a wonderful surprise. I didn’t expect you to remember, let alone invite my favorite musician today!”

It’s a woman’s voice, a shrill, annoying pitch that sets my teeth on edge. Alfonso turns towards the speaker, his smile slipping. Cassandra and I share a look, and I can’t help the smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth. I steal a glance at Rhys. Somehow the male has conjured a guitar out of thin air, his fingers strumming idle notes while he deploys his signature charming smile at the small audience. Not even Aeternaphiel seems immune.

“Susana, what a pleasure. Let me introduce you?—”

“We met last night,” the woman snaps, her voice dripping with irritation. She glares at my wife and I’m hard-pressed to not growl at her. She turns her attention back to Alfonso, her bright smile returning. “Come, I insist we sit together during the performance.”

Unwilling to surrender the credit the attractive woman is giving him, Alfonso’s demeanor shifts. He gives Cassandra an apologetic look. “We’ll talk more later, my dear.”

Susana tugs him away, a smug look on her face, and Cassandra chokes back a laugh. I meet her eyes, a smirk twitching at my lips. She leans against me, her mouth going next to my ear. I breathe in her scent, wrapping it around me. I ignore the pang of fear when I notice the sulfuric scent of Eris has grown more faint.

“It seems Rhys hasn’t lost his ability to charm crowds,” she murmurs, her lips caressing the shell of my ear. I lay my arm across the back of her chain, brushing my knuckles against her shoulders.

“If anything, giving him permission to get on stage in front of thousands of people has only made him worse,” I reply, amused. Rhys may have left the Barrows in anger, but letting him travel and hone his musical talents has let my friend grow in ways he would never have otherwise. “Are you ready to explore?”

She nods and straightens. I let my eyes drift over the area with a pleasant expression, as if enjoying the company. I make note of the server near the buffet, keeping the food area tidy; the server keeping track of the carafes of water and fresh fruit juices; the discreet human security guard in a white polo and khaki slacks at the end of the patio. Cassandra grabs her water glass and, just before she brings it to her mouth, fumbles it, dropping it all over herself.

To be entirely honest, my mate is clumsy enough I have absolutely no idea if it was on purpose or not.

The two servers rush over as Cassandra and I stand, Cassandra apologizing repeatedly. Alfonso looks over his shoulder at me, a frown adding more wrinkles to his forehead. I wave him off, rolling my eyes at Cassandra pointedly. He gives me one of the good ole boys looks of sympathy before letting Susana and Rhys take his attention once more.

“Come on,” I grunt out, gripping Cassandra’s upper arm. I give the uniformed woman trying to help Cassandra clean up a glare. “Where’s the bathroom?”

The brunette woman stutters under my focus and points back to the door we came through. “Inside, the second door on the left in the main hall.”

I don’t bother thanking her and she doesn’t seem to expect me to. She takes a hurried step back, letting me practically drag Cassandra inside. The moment we’re out of sight, I drop my hand to hers and give her a wry grin.

“Really? Spilling water all over yourself?” I tease. I slip the small earpiece out of my pocket with my other hand and press the discreet piece of technology into place.

Cassandra grumbles, her face bright red. It only adds weight to my suspicion it wasn’t planned and I smile wider.

“Do you read?” I whisper under my breath, conscientious of potential security measures.

“Copy,” Malachi’s voice comes through clearly. “Lan was in control of the security programming before you reached the front doors.”

The earpiece picks up Lan’s voice but not clearly. The derisive tone tells me his opinions of the security well enough.

“Keep an eye on Rhys. Let us know if he goes overboard.”

Malachi scoffs in my ear. “When doesn’t the man?”

Cassandra and I slip through an open doorway into the aforementioned main hall. Just as she said, another door is ajar so the bathroom is obvious. Towards the entrance foyer are stairs up to the next floor. Places like this often don’t have basements because of frequent flooding, but if there is an old root cellar, it’ll be harder to get to.

“Which way?” I ask my wife, listening to all the heartbeats in the area. Being considerably younger than Ambrose and Kasar, I can’t hear as far. I’m powerful enough to track the few staff in the busy kitchen, the fellow guests we’ve left behind and the security detail posted outside the front door. There’s even a cat sleeping soundly a few rooms away. We might be alone now, but we can’t linger.

Cassandra closes her eyes and, in spite of the situation, I wish she looked like herself. Part of me gnashes my fangs that she doesn’t look like my mate, that if she has only days left, she shouldn’t be disguised. I shut those thoughts down, refusing to consider we might fail.

The small frown smooths from her forehead a moment before her eyes flutter open and meet mine. “Upstairs, definitely.”

“Mal?” I ask. Using the main stairway in the front of the estate is too high of a risk, one I want to avoid if possible.

A moment of silence and then Mal reveals a narrow stairway just outside of the kitchen entrance. It’s closer to people, but the staff have no reason to be on guard. They’re too busy focusing on feeding the entitled sycophants.

I grab Cassandra’s hand, keeping my touch gentle, and lead her down the stairs. My steps are silent, a skill mastered over the years working for Ambrose. Cassandra sneaks as quietly as she can, wincing when one of the floorboards creaks under her toes. I have to bite my cheek to stop the smile at her frustration. She hates it when I’m better at something than her.

“How did you get so sneaky?” she hisses accusatorially when I reach the service stairwell. Its entrance is disguised in the wall, the paint and edging flowing almost seamlessly together. The wealthy never want to be reminded of their staff, no matter the era.

Double doors three feet away are closed but the sounds of the busy kitchen and staff talking are loud enough for even Cassandra to hear. Any minute one of them could walk out and find us here. A lie is already prepared on my tongue; we wanted a recipe or we got lost looking for the bathroom. My heart beats steadily but my nerves are on edge.

Experience with this style of house has me pressing my fingertips lightly to the middle right. A click sounds like a bullet in the quiet hallway as the hidden door swings inward and we both freeze. I wait for someone to come out of the kitchen or one of the guards out front to walk in. It goes unnoticed, and I push the door the rest of the way open and guide Cassandra inside. I don’t answer her question until I’ve eased the wall panel shut again.

“I’ve learned a lot of new things over the years.” I give her a grin and raised brow.

Even in the soft lighting of the service stairwell and under her glamour, I see her cheeks redden. The side of my lip climbs higher and my fangs tingle as the blush travels down her chest. The scent of her arousal is sharp and sweet. I crowd her against the whitewashed walls, bracing my forearms beside her head. Dipping my head, I trail my nose along her delectable neck. It’d be so easy, so sweet, to sink my fangs into her.

“I know it’s been awhile, but if you two could keep it in your pants for a bit longer, I’d appreciate it,” Malachi says with a drawl. “Then again, I don’t mind listening if you don’t.”

I bite back a growl, glad Cassandra can’t hear Malachi’s commentary. He’s right, though. We don’t have time for this.

I touch a knuckle under my mate’s chin and brush my thumb over her parted lips before stepping back. I tilt my head towards the stairs, and my will is tested when her pretty pink tongue darts out to wet her lips. The thought of that tongue of hers on my cock—no, I need to focus. I don’t need an erection while skulking through an archangel’s mansion.

I take the lead again, the stairs so narrow my shoulders almost brush the walls. At the first landing, I look over my shoulder in question. She purses her lips before shaking her head and pointing upwards. Nodding, I keep climbing.

We’re almost to the next landing when Cassandra pauses and presses a hand to the wall.

“What’s on the other side of the wall?” I ask while she focuses. This time it’s Lan who answers.

“It should be a mezzanine balcony.”

“Cassandra’s got a lead,” I say after she gives me a nod. I try to hear past the wall, but whatever is there may as well be ten feet of concrete. “We’ll check it out.”

“Copy,” Lan says. “Wait thirty seconds before exiting. You’ve got a guard bored at his post wandering around.”

I send my senses out opposite the silent void and, sure enough, there’s a single heartbeat moving aimlessly nearby. I hold a hand up to Cassandra, and she waits obediently as I creep the rest of the way to the landing. If only she was as obedient all the time. Then again, she wouldn’t be the witch I love if that was the case.

The stairwell is quiet, the air hardly moving around us and the midday heat making it stuffy. But I don’t move, tracking the guard’s heartbeat with single-minded focus. The guard finally reaches the end of the hall, his pace never faltering as he begins to explore another wing.

“We won’t have much time,” I warn Cassandra before I open the panel door. “We assess the situation quickly and retreat to plan.”

“Got it,” she says, her face hard with determination. Her nerves radiate down our bond and I’m damn proud of my mate as she refuses to hesitate.

I move to open the door, freezing when she’s suddenly beside me gripping my wrist.

“What?” I murmur, flicking my gaze towards the wall as if I can see through it.

“I don’t know,” she answers just as quietly. “I thought I felt something, but now...” she trails off, uncertainty eroding her determination.

“Lan?” I ask. She’s close enough to me for him to have heard.

“Scans show nothing,” he confirmed. “Same with thermal. It’s an empty hall.”

Conflict wrestles with my instincts. I want to make Cassandra stay here, to stay safe from any potential threat. Except I want—need to save her, which means I need her beside me. She must sense the internal battle I’m waging with myself. Her small hand touches the back of my shoulder, pulling me back to her.

“Together,” she whispers.

She’s right. Together. Like it’s always been.

Resolved, I ease the door open, this one swinging out into the hall. The hall is empty and we leave the stairwell.

I look in the direction the guard went then towards where Cassandra is heading. Whatever balcony was there before, it isn’t now.

“There’s an addition,” I tell Lan, wanting to curse. Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be an unmarked room?

Cassandra stops before the plain wooden door, no different in appearance than the two others in the hall. She raises her palms, hovering them a few inches from the door, and closes her eyes.

The air shimmers behind her. Then a figure just fucking appears out of nowhere. It grabs Cassandra by the throat and lifts her off the floor.