Page 11 of Daughter of the Ninth Line, Part Three

Eleven

Hayle

A fter listening to Avalon’s conversation with her friends that morning, I was ready to burst out of my skin and tear out Vylan’s throat.

It was a delicate balance, though, this ecosystem we’d created inside the walls of Boellium War College.

If Vylan died, the power vacuum it’d create would be messy.

Plus, his father would probably punish my Line in the most brutal way possible.

No, Vylan and I needed to talk. We tended to avoid it as much as possible, both for optics and because it was hard to be civil with the self-obsessed asshole, without wanting to punch him in the face.

Any issues that needed to be resolved between our Lines were usually discussed between our seconds.

They got along far better than we did, but even then, I was pretty sure Shay had to stop herself from tearing out Lucio’s tongue at times.

I didn’t even blame her really; Lucio had that effect on people.

Not everyone found him as endearing as I did.

However, this conversation couldn’t be done through messengers. I needed to talk to him face to face, preferably somewhere without prying ears. That really narrowed it down, but the roof could be the only place in all of Boellium that the other Lines couldn’t access.

I grabbed him as he came out of the Advanced Ethics and Battle Strategies lecture. Looking down at my hand on his arm, he raised a single eyebrow. “Get your hand off me, Taeme, before I remove it permanently.”

Fuck, he’s a dick. I held my hand there for a beat longer, just so he knew he wasn’t my boss, then dropped it to my side. “We need to talk.”

He didn’t react at all. Not one muscle on his face even twitched. I realized he was waiting for me to continue.

I rolled my eyes. “Obviously, somewhere more private. Preferably with no ears.”

We all had our spies. Mine were creatures who’d agreed to share their intel with me, but I had a feeling that the First Line could use their elemental control to pick up sounds far away on the wind. Plus, Shay was resourceful in a way that was terrifying.

No Line fully admitted the extent of their powers, so I was always cautious.

Sighing heavily, Vox turned on his heel, striding down the hall toward the back stairs that would lead directly to the roof. Clearly, he expected me to trot after him like a faithful puppy, and I ground my teeth that I would be forced to do so.

Then I remembered that this was for Avalon, my Soul Tie. I would crawl across broken glass for her.

He was up on the roof by the time I climbed the ladder, and I knew he was flexing his powers. Everything was a show of strength. “Well, Taeme. I’m here, and this is as private as it’ll get with all those talismans around your neck.”

The tals my family had gifted me before I came to Boellium had a range of uses, depending on each charm. The best one, though, was protection against the First Line’s magic. It had cost my Line a lot, but had been forged and imbued with some of the strongest magic ever created.

I shrugged at Vylan’s annoyed expression.

Annoying Vylan was one of the many joys of my life.

“This will be fine.” Stepping closer, I lowered my voice anyway.

We were similar heights, and this close, those ice chips he called eyes were even more cutting.

As I watched, his pupils blew wide, and he sucked in a breath.

Interesting.

Keeping my voice low, I tried not to growl as I told him, “Stay away from Avalon Halhed.”

His shock was almost comical, but it quickly folded into his normal scowl. “Fuck off, Taeme.”

Gritting my teeth, I resisted the urge to headbutt him. “I mean it, Vylan. She’s mine, so keep your fucking hands off her.”

“No.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why should I? She isn’t yours. She’s not of your Line, she’s not in a relationship with you, and even if she was, you don’t own her. If she decided to stop rolling around with animals and find her way into my bed, you’d have no recourse for it. She’s her own person.”

I curled my fingers into fists, resisting the urge to throw a punch at his smug face. I couldn’t tell him that she was my Soul Tie. The existence of Soul Ties was a Third Line secret. “It’s not like that with Avalon.”

His snort was dismissive. “Find another new conscript to fuck, Taeme. I happen to like the little Ninth, and she’s very… handy.” His pause was exaggerated, and the beast inside me rose up, the urge to rip the throat from our rival almost overwhelming.

“You will speak of her with respect,” I snarled, making the smug expression on his face falter.

He inclined his head. “I meant no disrespect, Taeme. I find Avalon refreshingly without artifice.”

Whirling away, I paced, trying to burn off the rage bubbling in my chest. “She’s more than refreshing to me, Vylan. She’s more… everything. We have a connection.” It was as close to the truth as I’d allow, and even that made me vulnerable.

He paused. “Perhaps I understand the feeling more than you’d think.” He sighed. “Stop prowling around. We can have a civilized conversation about these things.”

I wasn’t convinced we could. Still, I sucked in a deep, calming breath and sat down on one of the long couches that dotted the rooftop. “I’m not sure there’s a solution here, unless you agree to release her from whatever arrangement you have going on.”

He slumped onto the couch beside me. “Scared she’ll like me more?” I snorted, but didn’t say anything, and he shook his head. “I understand what you’re feeling perhaps too well. It’s like she’s dragging you toward her, even though she hasn’t done anything but simply exist?”

He couldn’t possibly feel what I did, because the First Line didn’t have Soul Ties. The idea of mates was exclusively a Third Line thing. But did the First Line have a similar concept?

I dismissed the idea immediately. They married off their females for political gain, like they were worth the same amount as two mules and a bag of grain. They definitely didn’t believe in the idea of divine-ordained soulmates.

Despite that fact, I couldn’t discount Vylan’s feelings.

Maybe I should just murder him. I could make it look like an accident, right?

“Whatever you might feel for Avalon, nothing can come of it, and we both know it. All you can offer her is heartbreak. Or do you think Daddy Vylan is just going to accept a girl from the Ninth Line as an acceptable wife for you? An Heir she might be, but we both know that your family wouldn’t accept her. ”

It was rhetorical. We both knew they wouldn’t. The way Vylan’s jaw audibly cracked from the way he was clenching it told me everything I needed to know.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, and yours would?”

I gave him a smug-as-fuck expression. “Absolutely.”

Vylan was an annoying bastard, but he was smart. He knew there was something I wasn’t saying; it was in the calculated way he looked at me. I knew there were things he wasn’t saying as well, but I respected the pompous fuck enough not to beat the answers out of him.

“You’re right,” he said softly, and honestly, I would’ve been less surprised if he’d taken a swing at me.

“What?”

He huffed something that might have been a laugh.

“I said, you’re right. Anything I could have with Avalon would have an expiration date.

My family wouldn’t accept even an Heir from the Ninth.

” He leaned forward, his hands on his knees.

“Even if she’d been from the First Line, she probably still wouldn’t be acceptable.

I won’t have a choice in who I marry. I’ll be forced to spend my years with some conniving little social climber, or some poor soul who doesn’t want to be with me either, and we’ll resent each other ‘til death do us part. There’s no chance of anything as fanciful as love or desire, or even mutual like. ”

He waved a hand at the rooftop. “These short years are the only freedom I will get, Taeme. This is what has to sustain me for the rest of my long, miserable life. And if that means I have to fight with you to spend time with a woman who makes my blood sing in my veins—for reasons I don’t fucking understand—then I will. ”

His eyes weren’t like ice chips anymore. Something was burning inside Vox Vylan, a rage that spoke to the beast inside me. I slumped back against the couch, shaking my head in disbelief. Did I feel pity for him right now?

Unlikely.

Well, maybe. I’d met his family. Met his father, who was a cold, cruel psychopath.

Met his mother, who was about as maternal as a dishmop.

Met his brother, who made me shudder with revulsion.

There was no question in my mind about why Vox had turned out so cold, even though there appeared to be something human left inside him.

However, there was no level of pity I could feel, no amount of empathy in my heart for him, that would make me give up Avalon.

I’d rather give him my left hand than step back from my Soul Tie.

We only had a year left here at Boellium.

Then we would go off to our respective Lines and only ever see each other at Conclaves.

I couldn’t step back from Avalon Halhed, but could I share her?

I wet my lower lip, really examining the idea of sharing Avalon with Vox. I imagined her hands on him and gritted my teeth. Maybe not.

Then I imagined him pleasuring her with his mouth, or holding her legs open with his elemental magic as I fucked her.

My cock twitched. Well, okay, maybe then.

I couldn’t believe the next words that came out of my mouth. It felt like someone else took possession of my lips and tongue as I said, “Well, I guess we could share her for the next year.”

For the first time in my entire life, I saw Vox Vylan truly shocked. His jaw fell open, his eyes went wide, and he puffed out a soft whoosh of air. “ Excuse me? ” His voice must have gone up an entire octave.

I cleared my throat, shaking off my own disbelief.

“For the next year—until we graduate and go off to our respective Lines for our familial duties—we share Avalon Halhed. If that’s what she wants,” I added quickly.

This might be all extremely redundant, considering pinning down Avalon was like catching a shooting star.

She mightn’t want either of us, let alone both of us.

Vylan stared at me for so long, I was sure he was going to disagree. In which case, I’d have to sneak into his dorm in the middle of the night, incapacitate him, then take him out to sea and drown him. Consequences be damned.

Finally, as if he was just as shocked, he nodded. “I guess you’ve got a deal, Taeme.”

I smirked, feeling suddenly lighter. This felt right. “If we’re going to be co-boyfriends, you should probably call me Hayle.”

He groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I take it fucking back already.”

Oh, maybe this would be fun.