Page 34 of Rhuyin

“Okay, ask away,” I said, taking a drink from my canteen. “I reserve the right not to answer, though.”

“Fair enough,” he said, his face going somber.

“The way you and Elex interact… You… You like him,” he said. “I mean, like as inreallylike, right?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I said with trepidation. Here it comes, I thought. He’s going to tell me I’m notgood enough for his brother. He was probably right, but something about the Mageian with the dark hair and startling blue eyes just drew me to him.

“I— I’m glad,” he said. “Really. After his mom and Erix died, he didn’t have anyone other than me. There were three years when he was in the Legion alone, and he had no one. I wasn’t allowed to see him. So I’m really glad you two are hitting it off. I just want to make one thing crystal clear. ”

All his good humor vanished, and his face went deadly serious.

Some subsonic dissonance grabbed my attention, a low ache in my jaw as some vibration began from deep beneath the earth. A flock of birds took off from nearby trees just before the ground around us began to vibrate, a rumble emerging as the earth began shaking violently. Parts of the road lifted and moved, the earth seeming to flow like water, causing huge cracks to appear in the battered pavement under us. I’d been here for three years and had never experienced an earthquake like this.

The cracks spread throughout the courtyard radiating out from the center where we stood, opening deep chasms. The statues at the four corners toppled forward, falling down into an abyss that had opened at each corner of the courtyard before the ground slowly ceased its shaking and the earth seemed to flow and flatten back out. The statues were gone, as if they had never been.

I turned and looked at Luke, who seemed unaffected. Luke began to speak, his voice low, an echo of the power that had just remade the courtyard reverberating in his tone.

“You fuck my brother over and no one willeverfind your body,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. “Got it?”

All I could do was nod. Luke was scary powerful, and he wasn’t even Bonded yet.

***

“You with me?” Elex asked, squeezing my hand and bringing me back to the present.

“Yeah,” I whispered as we followed Beatrice through a set of glass doors.

The halls were strangely empty, the result, I assumed, of Bea’s coded orders.

I wasn’t sure what she was trying to keep hidden. It was an open secret in Nymphaeum that we had had an influx of foreign Mageia. We’d been doing our best to pair them all with Somas in the hopes of creating additional Tesseris Mages. Every unbonded adult Soma in Illyria was being summoned to Nymphaeum in an attempt to make matches.

Bea escorted us to the elevators. I had been in the lower levels of the building before, but had never seen them this empty. I usually restricted myself to the infirmary areas where I could at least do some good.

The elevator doors slid open and we stepped in, Elex and I quietly observing. Bea pushed the button for the thirtieth floor, and my nerves returned in full force. Everyone knew that the thirtieth floor was where the highest levels of leadership worked.

“Gee, the penthouse? You shouldn’t have,” Elex snarked.

“It’s where the War Leader’s offices are,” Bea said coolly.

“Seems like that would make this location a high value target,” Allard said.

“We have our own defenses, Alexandrian,” she said stiffly.

He just pressed his lips into a thin line. After a few moments the elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

I had never been here before. This floor was obviously for executives. The carpeting was plush, the lighting soft, and instrumental music whispered from the hidden speakers. Oddly, there was no one in sight here, either. Elex looked at me, but again I shrugged. This was all new to me.

Bea led us down a corridor to a conference room marked “WL-30”.

“Stay here,” she said. “Someone will come get you, but it may be a little while.”

She didn’t slam the door behind her, but it was a near thing. I was actually surprised when I didn’t hear a lock click.

The room was large and open on one wall with windows overlooking the city. A door led to what looked like an attached office. The conference room was tastefully decorated. There was atable with a dozen chairs surrounding it. The wood positively gleamed. I could tell the workmanship was exquisite. Woodworking had always been my hobby. If it hadn’t been for the war, I don’t think I would have ever become a doctor. I’d much rather have been a carpenter but needs must.

“Do we sit?” Elex asked.

“If you want,” I said. Allard took a seat, seemingly unflappable, but I had too much energy to sit. The uncertainty of why Polemos wanted to meet me was grating on my nerves.