Page 4 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos (The Rossi Legacies #7)

Sienna

“ S o, why did you run out of the lounge like you were being chased by a wraith, or a crawler or something?” Allie asks.

We’re all in Heaven’s room since she wanted to see what the boys were doing outside.

They’re currently revving their engines, spinning their cars around or whatever, something Heaven said is called ‘drifting’.

Whatever it is, it’s stupid and loud. And them talking about engine sizes and admiring each other’s wheels – umm, weird. Boys are weird.

Who cares, I mean, a car is there to get you around; it doesn’t need to be fancy.

“Oh yeah… well, it was nothing really, just your scary cousin was there and I didn’t realise. He’s a lot scarier than a crawler or a wraith, I’m sure.”

“Oh, the one you run from like the plague,” she states as she drops onto Heaven’s bed with a big plop, making Heaven spin around from where she’s peeking out of her balcony and narrow her eyes at her.

“I don’t really… he just hates me for no reason.” I sigh.

Allie rolls onto her stomach and looks at me intently. “I don’t know if it’s hate per se.”

“It is.” I look up from the armchair at Heaven, who now closes the balcony doors, leaving them open a crack, allowing a wisp of air to make its way inside.

“I’m failing. His unmistakable contempt during training is obvious.

Although I’m at the end of the training hall, he’s always so observing, and it’s clear he thinks I’m pathetic.

I don’t even know why I’m there. It’s like everything has to be compressed into this festering ball, and if I somehow slip, it’ll unleash havoc. ”

They both know what happened the last time I lost control…

“You’re there because you deserve to be there,” Allie answers, giving me one of her blank flat looks that says, ‘Duh’.

“And you’re making progress with the excess power,” Heaven adds, her voice dropping. “We just need to keep at it, and with us being at the Academy, it’s going to give us more time, too. We’ll have your back.”

I nod, and the three of us exchange looks.

There’s something we’ve been working on, a way to stabilise and control my magic, but there isn’t much information on this kind of magic.

Witches can draw on the energies around them.

For example, Heaven is an earth witch, so nature is her calling, but how much power she can wield still depends on her own power, i.e.

the source. I have witch abilities, but like my mama, I channel more from my demon roots.

When I lost control of my power a few times, Heaven was the one who had wondered if there was a way for me to use sigils to help harness my excess powers, so they don’t get out of control.

We first saw mention of it in a history book Ahren got for us years ago when we wanted to learn something.

He never said where he got it, but it’s a tome that belonged to witches long ago.

“Well, what if there’s too much stored power? Either she’ll turn into a completely butterfly-covered, tattooed freak or she’ll go poof like a bomb. Neither option sounds great.” Allie looks up at us, and I look at Heaven.

“Well, I don’t think so. There’s a lot of power stored in each butterfly, and it’s not really inside of me, so I won’t explode, and I won’t be covered completely in tattoos. Half of these are empty, for now. And I do hope I can learn to control my powers, too.”

“Agreed, only seven are full, right, Si?” Heaven asks. I nod and she pouts thoughtfully, then waves her hand in a flourish. “And you know me, Allie. I wouldn’t have attempted it unless I knew it would work. I’ve tried it on other small animals, so I was confident.”

“True. And bottom line, if she poofs, she participated willingly,” Allie adds morbidly, making my eyes widen before I laugh.

“Yes!” Heaven agrees.

I smile and nod my confirmation. Because if there’s a way for me to fix what happened to me, then I want to try it.

“And both of your moms still don’t know, right?” Allie asks.

“No, they have enough going on, and charged sigils aren’t something used anymore, or more like it’s a forgotten practice,” Heaven adds.

“Or almost forgotten,” I muse, standing up and stretching.

I walk over to the doors that lead to the balcony and pull one of them open, stepping outside into the fresh air.

The sky above is dark, the weather cool and crisp.

The cold wind is pleasant, and I close my eyes for a moment as I place my hands on the balcony rail.

Out in the open, that’s where I feel most at peace, especially when darkness has fallen.

The revving of an engine makes me startle, and I look down, my eyes sweeping the vast grounds beneath us. I spot the sports car responsible, one I know belongs to Theo. It’s a blue-green, two-toned ride with neon lights along the bottom.

I shake my head. They’re so loud!

I can see Ahren leaning against his own dark red car, watching Theo’s. Tatum is talking to Carter and Renji. Ares is leaning over Tatum’s car, examining something, and Jayce… Jayce stands against a tree a few feet from Ares, his arms crossed, and his head turned towards Tatum’s car.

My heart skips a beat, and he suddenly turns, his head snapping upwards, and although I can’t see his eyes from here, I know he’s watching me. The familiar heat of his burning gaze rushes over me, and my heart thunders so loud I wonder if he can hear it. I slowly step back, turn and hurry inside.

Allie cocks a brow. “What happened to you?”

I shake my head, shut the door behind me and change the subject. “Nothing. So, hot chocolate anyone?”

A few hours later, the movie we were watching ends and I stretch, glancing at the clock. It’s nearly 1:00am. We didn’t go down for hot chocolate as Heaven was full, so we decided to wait until everyone had gone to sleep for the night.

I’m in my red, modal fabric pyjama set. Allie’s in black tracksuit bottoms and a sports bra, her hair braided back; she has a thing about sleeping with her hair open.

Heaven has her curls tied in a high bun on top of her head, so her curls don’t get crushed whilst she sleeps, and she’s wearing a floral blue, satin night dress that reaches mid-thigh.

“Hot drinks here we come,” Allie says, yawning.

“That movie was creepy,” Heaven muses, grabbing her matching satin robe.

“Mmm…” I curl up in bed only for Allie to swat me.

“Wake up; we’re going to go down.”

“But the bed is warm!” I grumble, refusing to let go of the duvet. Heaven snorts.

“Whether it is or not, you just want to sleep all the time.”

Sleep feels good. It doesn’t hurt…

I pout as I fold the bedding back carefully, knowing Heaven hates it when her things are messed with, and get up.

Allie slips her hands into her pockets as we quietly leave the room.

“This is the worst time to be out of your bedroom, especially if your parents…” she trails off as both Heaven and I raise an eyebrow, but her pause hits me as I realise what she was about to say.

The dreaded time one might hear something they wouldn’t want to hear from their parents’ room.

Both Heaven and I look at one another, and the usual controlled, stoic expression on Heaven’s face has dropped, her eyes glittering.

“Fuck, sorry guys,” Allie grumbles, and I know she regrets it because she puts an arm around both of us, hugging us both gingerly. Hugging isn’t an Allie thing. She hates it.

The pain in my chest only heightens as I remember Mama and Dad’s stolen moments in these very halls.

What I’d give for both Mama and Aunty to get their mates back, even if I had to put up with hearing the traumatic sounds that no child wants to hear from their parents’ room every single day. It would be better than the silence.

“It’s alright, I don’t want to hear your dad, which would be gross,” Heaven adds, shuddering. “He’s so old now, I’m surprised he can still, you know.” She wrinkles her nose in disdain.

That makes us both cackle, and I clamp a hand over my mouth to stop it ringing through the halls. Allie snickers. “I agree, he’s way too old. Maybe he takes Viagra.”

We all burst out laughing at the expense of Grandad Al, and the mood feels a little lighter.

“Ok, really though, that was a shit move from me, so to make up for it, I’ll watch whatever you guys want for the next three movies we watch together. Deal?”

“Deal!” Heaven says quickly, before hugging Allie. “It’s ok, don’t feel bad, but I do want you to watch some chick flicks.”

“Ugh, it grosses me out when they get all touchy-feely. But I’ll do it.” She grimaces.

“What about when you date?” I ask, raising an eyebrow, my bare feet silent against the cool marble stairs.

“Lock mouths with a dude? Eurgh.” She shudders as we reach the bottom and turn down the hall, heading towards the kitchen.

“I’m sure when you find the right person, you won’t care about germs,” I respond confidently before I grab her hands and spin her around as I begin singing.

“When you fall in love

You lose control

You can’t hang on and you can’t let go.”

“Si!” Allie shudders. Heaven smirks as she joins in.

“When you find the one

You hold on tight…”

“Not happening!” Allie growls as she runs off to the kitchen, and we run after her, singing loudly, no longer bothered if someone hears us.

“Cause you don’t wanna miss even one little kiss

And you couldn’t sleep, anyway

When you fall in love-”

We both come to an abrupt stop when we reach the kitchen, which is not empty.

Oh gods.

My entire body heats up as I find myself staring at the group of boys in the kitchen. My heart thunders loudly, my face burning hot as I single out Ahren and try to control my emotions, knowing if I look at anyone else, I’ll die on this very spot.

I hear someone laughing as Ahren’s attention snaps to Heaven. “Cover yourself,” he says in Arabic. His voice is light and casual, and unless you know the language, you wouldn’t have gotten what he said.

Dad and Jaddati were very big on our education. From a young age, the four of us have studied several languages, and we are fluent in them, too. Ahren and I know a couple more than Heaven and Tatum, but they still have nine besides English under their belts.

Heaven pouts, smoothly spinning, wrapping her satin robe around her and striding to the fridge. “What are you lot doing here?” Allie asks.

The smell of pizza reaches my nose, and I look around, realising they’re grabbing drinks, but I can’t see any pizza.

“We got pizza. Want some?” Renji asks as he now enters the kitchen, earning a frown from Ares.

“I think they’re doing their own thing,” Tatum remarks, raising an eyebrow.

Point made. They don’t want us here either.

“Yeah, we’re just here for hot chocolate. No, thank you,” I say quickly until Renji puts an arm around my shoulder.

“Oh, come on. How about this, we give you pizza, you make us hot drinks? We’re about to watch a movie?” He winks at me, and I can’t help but smile.

He’s the only one who doesn’t scare me.

“I’ll pass. I don’t need girls screaming their heads off because they can’t handle a bit of blood.” My heart thuds as Jayce’s voice comes from behind me.

“Oh, you did not just say that,” Allie growls. “We want pizza and we’re watching the movie.”

“Move,” Jayce commands, his voice so icy, forcing me to jump away from Renji and the doorway, making the youngest Westwood look at his brother in amusement.

My stomach plummets. Is he finding this funny?

Jayce pushes past him, his eyes simmering blue, and my heart sinks. Gods, he’s really angry…

I look at Heaven, who looks a bit uncertain, then at Allie, who is glaring at Jayce without even an ounce of fear, and Ahren, who simply gives me a small smile.

He’s letting us choose… he doesn’t mind.

So, I bravely turn. I’m probably going to pay for this back at school, and I’m ready to say: Yeah, pizza sounds great, what’s a movie in comparison to real life? But one glance into those cold, piercing, glowing, blue eyes that are full of rage, and I swallow my words and look away.

“You girls carry on, I’m going to grab my hot chocolate and head to bed,” I say, smiling at the girls.

Allie frowns, and Heaven observes me.

“No, I have a better idea, I’ll go get us some pizza and we’ll take it upstairs,” Allie says, leaving the room.

“Good plan,” Carter says, making me want to glare at him, but I don’t.

Heaven whispers a spell over the three mugs as she pours milk into them, and it’s instantly boiled.

“So, we don’t get hot chocolate?” Renji asks with an almost pout.

“No, you don’t deserve any,” Heaven replies icily.

Ouch.

She doesn’t like being turned down, and for the boys to make it clear they don’t want her here…

I wouldn’t want to be them right now. She begins whispering a spell, her fingers brushing against the milk bottle before she takes it to the fridge, puts it back in and brushes her hands over the other six bottles in there. Oh yes, she’s angry.

She just made the entire supply of milk curdle. Oh, that won’t be good for the morning…

Theo snickers as Tatum sighs. “Next time, Renji, don’t offer without asking everyone. Deal?” He goes to the fridge, grabbing the bottle Heaven had just put inside. “Mind if I take this?” He doesn’t wait for a reply, taking off the lid and instantly swears.

“Fucking hell, what did you do?”

Heaven’s eyes glimmer, but she doesn’t reply as the boys trudge out of the kitchen with their pile of snacks, drinks, and whatever else they have taken. Tatum cocks a brow at Heaven, who simply glares back, daring him to say something to her. He simply shakes his head and leaves.

I sigh softly, looking over at Heaven. She gives me a small smile, and I smile back, before sighing.

“Boys are such assholes,” I whisper just as someone enters, and I turn, expecting Allie, but it’s Jayce. He walks towards me, his eyes raking over me, his gaze slow and callous, drinking up every detail, probably thinking I look stupid, but still, he makes me feel nervous.

What does he want? He closes the gap between us, stopping less than a foot away in front of me.

He reaches behind me, his scent hitting me, and my breath hitches, the heat of his body and his proximity making me giddy.

My eyes flicker up, getting a perfect glimpse of his angled jaw from here, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

His arm barely brushes mine, and although he’s wearing his jacket, I still feel the goosebumps rise on my skin.

And then he’s moving away, and I realise he’s grabbed a phone from behind me. His eyes flick to mine, emotionless and cold, before he turns and leaves the kitchen.