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Kara cups my forearm, inserting calmer energy into our fray. “To be clear, we’re not breaking out the marshmallows, Arden. So why are you here again? Is it that dire?”
I steel myself for more pompous posturing from her once-betrothed. But I’m more tense when he’s got nothing for Kara but a somber stare.
“Direis an outstanding way to say it.” He finishes by drawing a measured breath. Along with the slow release, he fixes his eyes on Kara. His features, as patrician as his cashmere sweater and pleated khakis, have completed their steady turn into somberness. “It’s Kell…”
Before he finishes, Kara’s knees buckle. I keep her upright until the wave of anxiety passes. “I knew it,” she says. “Ifeltit when Mother wouldn’t let herself finish any of those sentences.”
“But Hecate cut her off too.”
I don’t like that I’m the one to mention it. Even more, I hate that Arden’s supporting it with an emphatic nod.
“Hecate was so set on derailing the subject, I’ve started to wonder if she had something to do with the whole thing.”
“The whole thing?” Kara demands. “As in what?”
Arden’s expression only changes in one way. His frown is tighter. His posture is stiffer. His nod is more defined.
Troublingly so.
“Kell’s in trouble. And Jaden too.”
“Wh-What do you mean?” Kara blurts.
“I mean that your sweet siblings arenotin a sweet situation—and at this point, you might be the only one who can help them.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KARA
Maximus tightens his big hands at my waist, but I don’t sag into him this time. Sagging isn’t an option now. Peace, solitude, even enlightenment…all no longer on the activities calendar. That truth is evident in every corner of Arden’s gaze. In the zero-bullshit timbre of his voice.
In the warning that he’s gone through a lot of effort to relay. Yes, behind Mother’s back.
But why?
I don’t waste time on the pretense that he’s in it for noble concerns. So what else? What’s he gaining from this?
Arden’s eyes narrow as if the skeptic in my soul has escaped into the air. If it has, in some arcane way, I don’t care.
“Arden, please. If you came here to do the obtuse and obscure dance again, then cut the record short and go back to Mother now.”
My attempt at dark wit sounds more like it rolled in the prickly eucalyptus bark at our feet, but I still don’t care. My system can’t handle this apprehension.
“You’re suspicious,” he finally says. “Understandable, but unproductive. Because like it or not, I’m nearly a member of the family now. And believeit or not, that’s something I take seriously. Family gets protected—at all costs.”
After a long pause, I relinquish my answer. “All right. I believe you.”
But believing his words doesn’t mean trusting his intentions.Family gets protected. Okay. Sneaking behind Mother’s back is one thing. Betraying the demonic bureaucracy is another. How far is he willing to take that grand rally cry?
I can’t afford the time to push for that statistic. Not right now. I’ve committed to believing him, and the urgency in his expression makes me commit anew to the effort.
“Physically, Kell is fine. But geographically, there have been some unforeseen challenges.”
“Challenges…geographically?” Maximus’s tone is thick, conveying how deeply he shares my bafflement.
Arden braces his hands behind his back. It lends him more of the arrogant air I’m used to, despite his diplomatic nod. “The powers that be…well, at least enough of them to count as a quorum for a vote…ordered that she be transferred.”
“What?” I snap. “You mean, out of the family villa?”
