Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(35)

“Nonsense, it’s so refreshing to see a woman not afraid to eat. The skeletal girls you used to bring home were like little twigs. I was always afraid a strong breeze would crest the cliff edge and snap one of them in half.”

“Stop it,” Terran snorted, “they weren’t that bad.”

Terran’s mother raised a brow and set the platter down in front of me. When I caught her gaze, she tilted her head toward Terran and mouthed, ‘Yes they were.’

“I saw that, Matera.”

I laughed and pushed away my plate. “No. He’s right, Gaia, I really am stuffed. It was delicious, but I couldn’t eat one more bite.” Gaia bowed her head, visibly crestfallen and I looked at all the food still sitting on platters. “But I’m not sure where I’ll be staying when we get back to Attalos. Would it be terribly rude of me to ask for a care package for later?” Well, that fixed things. Terran flashed me a smile as his mother began buzzing around gathering plates.

Rowan swung his head around, an unattractive crease between his eyes. “What do you mean you don’t know where you’re staying? You’re returning to the palace. The Queen will—”

“The Queen can kiss my rockin’ white ass. I’m not going back there.”

Demos choked, his after-dinner drink spritzing amber down the front of his tunic.

Terran clapped his hand on his father’s back as the man’s face blotched pink. “I warned you she had a wicked tongue, Pater. She’s not like the others.”

“No.” He coughed again. “That’s why she’s eating from my hearth. I wouldn’t spare a withered prune on any of those other Noble females.”

Rowan scowled deeper. “The Queen will be expecting you back. Don’t push her, Lexi.”

“I’m not,” I said, and I meant it. “Not even the Queen—narcissist that she is—would believe I would just lie down, marry Zale and accept her killing my best friend. She’ll expect a period of resistance.”

“And you’re willing to bet on that?” he snapped.

I stood and pressed my palms flat on the table. “I teach strategic thinking for a living, Rowan. So, yes, I am.”

“And if you’re wrong?” He strode behind Terran’s chair and glanced to the floor where Coal was playing with the family dog. “The Queen doesn’t do things out of the goodness of her shriveled, black heart. There’s a reason for everything.”

“I get that.” Coal’s goofy grin ripped my heart in two as the scruffy mutt licked every inch of his dinner-splattered face. The Queen gave me custody of Coal as leverage, a weakness she could exploit to her own advantage. Or so she thought. “Do you honestly think after what happened to Tham I would let—”

An electrical charge crackled in the air.

Instinct kicked in hard and fast. In a blink, I was airborne; my blade unsheathed my focus on the little boy playing on the floor. I vaulted over the table and landed in a crouch. My Guardian sliced through the space between me and the golden mist solidifying in front of us.

No one would hurt my boy ever again.

“Lexi?” The brunette with iridescent skin fidgeted with her long braid. It took a moment to rein in the urge to kill. She shuffled back a few steps, her gaze wide, her ice blue gown swirling like smoke around her feet. “Lexi, it’s me.”

I sheathed my blade and straightened, my chest still pounding like a war-drum. “Shit, Zo, you scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?”

Her ethereal expression fell as her eyes brimmed far too glossy. “I was tending to the tapestries. Is it true? Did someone kill Tham?”

The tears in her eyes threatened to trigger mine, but there was no way I was going there. Abruptly, I rammed a mental stopper in that bottle, trapping the grief and regret for another time. My next steps were simple. Stay focused. Search out the bastard who dared to kill someone I loved. Make them pay.

The tug at my belt loop brought my attention back to the room. No one was moving . . . or breathing. Right, these people weren’t accustomed to a goddess manifesting in the kitchen. Coal’s alarm was clear. Terran’s parents looked like they might faint. And Terran and Rowan looked from me to each other and shook their heads.

“Um . . . sorry everyone. This is Zophia. She’s one of the four Fae Fates. Keeper of Lives in Progress.”

Zophia curtsied low, her arm flowing out to the side with a grace that only a Fae goddess could manage. “I apologize for intruding uninvited, Sir. I shouldn’t be here at all. My only defense was my state of distraught. It’s just, Tham . . . I needed to know for certain.”

I swallowed. “It is true. He died early this morning. Was it your sisters?”

Zophia shook her head. “No. I checked each of their Fate pools before I questioned them myself. Whatever happened to Tham was not of the Fates, it was the free will of someone within the realms.”

“I figured as much.”

Zophia wiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed. “Tham was so dear to so many.”

“Unbelievable,” Rowan said, a flash of annoyance darkening his features.

“You can say that again.” Terran stepped around the table pointing. “Did you see her flip over the table? I’m supposed to be her personal guard. The woman scares me. She truly does.”