Page 17

Twenty-One Years Old

“Good morning.” Ryanna barged through Marlena’s door unannounced. “Get dressed. Your father and I need to talk to you.”

Marlena peeled one eye open, fighting the urge to pull the covers over her head. She didn’t groan because she didn’t have the energy to argue with her mother about it if she did.

“Groaning makes you sound uncivilized.”

She and Arlet hadn’t gotten home until the early morning hours after their vehicle had broken down. By the time the guard came back with a replacement ride, the girls were wasted off the inn’s cheap ale.

They were both curled up in Marlena’s bed, cozy and warm, when Ryanna’s gaze finally landed on Arlet, who could sleep through anything, sleeping soundlessly beside Marlena.

Marlena sat up, tracking her mother’s gaze. It wasn’t unlike the girls to have sleepovers, but it had been years since they’d had a real one… Or at least, that was what everyone thought. Marlena and Arlet had begun to have them again.

Regularly .

And last night, nothing else happened. Their moment in the cab of the military van had come and gone—but the feel of her lips hovering over Arlet’s pulse still lingered.

“She had one too many drinks waiting for the new escort last night.” Marlena waved her mother’s harsh gaze away, pulling herself from the bed.

Marlena had had one too many drinks too, but she wouldn’t let her mother see that.

That would lead to another unnecessary argument.

“What’s so important that you had to rush in here at…” She paused, looking at the ticking clock on her wall. “Six in the morning?” Marlena rubbed at her eyes, trying to rid herself of the sleepless daze she was in.

“Just get dressed and get to the meeting room.” Ryanna stormed out, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the walls and decor hanging on them. A mirror wiggled off a nail and crashed to the floor. Somehow it didn’t break.

Marlena could only imagine what was waiting for her in the meeting room if her mother was this agitated so early in the morning .

Arlet stirred, groaning at the light coming through the open curtains. “Five more minutes.”

Arlet and Vega were so similar sometimes.

Marlena smirked, rolling her eyes as she slipped out of her sleeping gown and into a quick outfit.

She opted for a flowy emerald dress, with a black belt that cinched her waist and gave her chest a lift.

“I have to meet with my parents,” she told Arlet, running a hand down her exposed arm. “Sleep. I’ll find you later.”

Marlena quickly zipped a pair of black thigh-high boots up her legs, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail before quietly making her way out of the room. Once she shut the door, her demeanor changed. She didn’t walk on quiet footsteps. She owned the space she took up .

Her parents were waiting for her when the doors to their study opened, but they weren’t alone.

Ryanna’s younger sister was sitting next to her, and beside Marlena’s aunt was her cousin. Ivelle Fugere.

Her chartreuse eyes, which were almost the exact same color as her mother’s, met Marlena’s, and she held her stare, glaring like she’d been forced against her will to be here.

Ivelle was a few years older than Marlena, and despite being family, she didn’t come around much—from what she understood, Ivelle was known to be a bit of a problem child.

Marlena would bet money that her bad attitude was linked to the fact she was missing out on a Curia seat.

If it weren’t for Marlena and her double abilities, Ivelle would have been next in line for Amora.

Though, somehow, Marlena was sure her parents would have manipulated a way to sneak Vega in over Ivelle.

It was never meant to be hers.

“Marlena.” Celeste Fugere smiled, lighting up the room. “Long time no see. You’re as beautiful as ever.” Her red hair matched her daughter’s, but the smile on her face was polar opposite of the scowl on Ivelle’s.

Marlena cocked her head to the side, ignoring Celeste’s kind words, and focused on her parents. “What’s this about?”

“Have a seat, Marlena,” Jonan ordered. Marlena had fallen asleep on cloud nine, wrapped up in the sheets with Arlet… hoping for a much different scenario upon waking up.

Now, Marlena stood rigidly across the table from the rest of her family. “I think I’ll stand.”

Her mother rolled her eyes, huffing through her nose. “Must you two girls always be so difficult?”

Ivelle gawked at Marlena’s brazen lack of fear of her parents. Marlena returned her gaze with a raised brow, as if she were saying, What are you looking at?

Ivelle snapped back to the grumpy child she was portraying herself to be, looking away first, while Marlena stayed the ice-cold future leader.

Jonan spoke, stealing the attention of the room with his booming voice. “Marlena, we have a proposition for you. One we think you’ll really, really like… if you’re up for a little challenge.”

I’m always up for a challenge. “And that proposition would be?” she asked.

“Control of Amora.”

Marlena’s attention became real in an instant.

“Partial control, of course… We’d still be behind you, helping .

” Ryanna purred the last word, reminding Marlena of the act she was putting on—of the little secret they planned to keep from everyone.

“Since you’ll be so young, you’ll need all the help you can get.

” She reminded Marlena that she would always be nothing but a puppet.

“But you must take Ivelle under your wing. Help her stay out of trouble and learn that tarnishing an original name comes with consequences.” Ryanna’s eyes sparkled with unsaid words.

Words she didn’t have to say out loud for Marlena to hear.

She wanted Marlena to teach Ivelle to behave—just like she’d taught her.

Anger crept up her spine, a tingle of rage waking the part of her brain she wanted to keep dormant. Take what you deserve.

Ivelle scowled, ready to speak up before Marlena held out a finger and silenced her.

“What are the requirements of this agreement?” Marlena asked, pinning Ivelle in her seat with nothing but the look on her face.

Celeste sighed, reaching out to squeeze her daughter’s shoulder, who ducked away from her touch.

Hurt rippled over Celeste’s features. “I need Ivelle to learn poise, to learn that her actions have serious repercussions.” She never took her focus off Ivelle.

“I have tried everything I can to get her to see that she is hurting the people who love her, but it’s not sticking.

” Her eyes watered as she fought back tears.

“I don’t know what else to do. I’m desperate to break into that brain of hers. ”

Ivelle crossed her arms and sank further into her chair. It almost made Marlena chuckle, how bratty she was being. “There’s nothing wrong with me. You’re just overbearing and don’t know when to leave me alone.”

Celeste sighed, and her hurt was written in the lines of her face. “She’s self-sabotaging.”

Control of Amora, the little voice whispered. And for the first time ever, Marlena grinned at the words it hissed.

Accepting her parents’ offer was a no-brainer. This was the start… and they couldn’t keep her caged forever.

Her eyes locked on Ivelle, who met Marlena’s stare with a matched coldness. “I accept your offer.”

And when Marlena turned to her parents, she saw the exact moment a flash of worry for their decision caught them by surprise.

What kind of daughter had they raised?

Marlena’s smile started at one corner of her mouth and snaked over to the other side slowly. “When’s my induction?”

Okay, so I have to move to Amora. This was worth it—no matter how cold and miserable she would be there… it would be worth it. Control of a territory at twenty-two years old would be worth it.

There had only been one other member who took over their seat at a younger age, and he still held it hundreds of years later.

Nero wasn’t a fighter—he was a fucking know-it-all who really did know it all.

Sometimes, nearly all the time, it was insufferable.

But Marlena knew it would be nice to have someone like him on her side.

When all of this blew up, she would need someone with millennia of knowledge willing to follow her around like a puppy afraid to get kicked by its owner. And he would when it came down to the end and he realized who was winning.

After hours of planning, Marlena finally left the meeting room for the first time. She was starving, really wanted a shower, and had been thinking about her night with Arlet any chance she got.

Marlena had to leave immediately, ready to take on the role of Fugere babysitter. Ivelle was in for a surprise if she thought she could walk all over Marlena.

No one would ever take advantage of her again.

The door to her room was ajar when she approached, and a maid scurried out with a few gowns draped over her arm.

All of her things were gone, wiped clean. Her room bare. Memories of nights she hadn’t thought of in years flashed in her mind while the emptiness of the room started to consume her.

How quickly had her parents wanted her washed clean from their home?

Marlena swallowed, spinning a circle until a maid interrupted the downward spiral she was nearing.

“Oh, Miss Marlena. I’m sorry. I was sent to grab the last of your wardrobe.”

All she did was nod, watching as the woman quickly grabbed the last few dresses hanging in her closet.

And just like that, Marlena was removed from the Aeris home.

She wouldn’t be taking over until the first of the year in Amora—she would’ve come home for the holidays. There were nearly ten months from now until the start of her Amora rule, but she got the message loud and clear.

Get out. The unwanted voice didn’t help ease the worry that her parents wouldn’t stop here at erasing Marlena from their everyday lives.