Page 58 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos (The Rossi Legacies #7)

Jayce

A few days have passed since Sienna’s birthday, and classes have continued as normal.

Commander Maria, as we are calling her, and I find the title far more fitting than Headmaster, is fitting in well, visiting every class and discussing things with students and teachers.

I’m confident she’s going to be excellent as the Head Commander of this Academy.

I went to see Mom and Dad two nights ago. It was nice to be home for a while. Mom liked the surprise, too, and I got to talk about Egypt with Dad.

Sienna, on the other hand, has been pretty happy, and I fucking love that. Despite being stuck in her demon form, she hasn’t let it worry her too much. Her mom and aunty are working on an amulet that will work better than the glamour spell.

Aside from having a lot of fun, she and I have been working on the passages from the book that was stolen, and we’ve figured out where the location that we need to go is. We sent the information to Leo, and now we’re just waiting for his confirmation on when we’ll be heading out.

The wait makes me restless. The urge to go there is growing incessantly.

What is in Egypt that has my intuition pushing for me to go?

“You okay?” I ask Sienna softly as we sit in training class.

We’re behind the partition. We’re working on her control again, as we have every single day.

We’ve returned to evening training with the group, and she gets an extra hour as well.

Sometimes it’s distracting, but we’re able to complete our sessions, or almost complete them.

“Yeah.” She smiles up at me, and I kiss her lips softly.

“You got this, Darling.” I’m sitting behind her as I guide her on channelling the chaos of emotions from around us and focusing them into her own control.

“You’re doing great. Don’t suppress their emotions; let them surround you, not as chaos but as a shield, a blanket caressing your skin, protecting you…

from the world,” I murmur, brushing my hands down her arm.

Her power sizzles, and I can see the red glow shimmering around the shadows that wrap around her.

She’s breathing slow and steady, even though I know my touch is distracting her.

“Focus on me,” I murmur. The fighting is intense today. I can sense the emotions myself, the anger from several fighters out there.

Her control falters, but she breathes steadily and holds.

“You’re doing great,” I murmur.

She takes another deep breath. “I’ll be okay. You go train. I need to learn to do this on my own, and I want to see if I can last the entire lesson on my own.”

“Nice, you sure?” I ask, tucking a curl behind her ear.

She’s fucking beautiful.

She nods. “I am.”

That isn’t a lie.

“I’m proud of you,” I murmur, taking her chin and tilting her head up to meet mine as I kiss her softly.

She lasted almost a full lesson yesterday, but that was with me beside her. Something tells me that today she’ll get it.

I walk out from behind the screen just as a dagger shoots towards me. My eyes flash as I catch it between two fingers, my eyes snapping to Ian’s, who is grinning in my direction.

“Almost got you there!”

“Far from it. Let’s spar.” His face drops as he stares at me. I’m really going to enjoy this. I crack my knuckles, and he swallows hard.

“Shit, no, that’s not what I-”

“You almost got me, right?” I smirk, and he steps forward as the others laugh. I spot Tatum watching me, an unimpressed expression in his eyes. He hasn’t really liked the fact that Sienna and I are a couple, same with Ahren, but they took it better than I was expecting. Tatum will come around, too.

I now step onto one of the sparring mats and look at Ian. “Lucky for you, I’m in a good mood.”

“Thanks, Sienna!” Ian shouts before I motion for him to come at me.

“So what’s this about?” Theo asks as he pulls up a chair in the conference room we’re in. It’s dimly lit, the blinds drawn on the windows, and a long table that can seat 12 covers most of the room. A large screen is on one wall, and the floor is carpeted.

It’s late in the evening, but we’ve been called for a meeting with Leo. Ares, Carter, and Renji are here as well, and so are Artemis, Brock, and Sienna.

“Egypt,” I say the moment the door shuts behind Renji.

“No shit, really?” Theo looks surprised.

I glance at Ares. Things have been tense between us, but I’ve not managed to get him alone to talk to him. Tonight I need to at all costs. If Leo wants him on this mission, then I need to have a word with him prior.

We’re silent as we all sit down, waiting. Soon, Leo, Ahren, Dante, and Dad appear in four boxes on the large screen. Fuck.

Sienna is sitting next to me, but I hope he doesn’t question that. She stiffens at the sight of Dad, and she’s doing her best not to look at me.

“Alright, there are two more on the team, but they won’t be joining, so we’re good to go,” Leo says, running his hands through his hair. He looks tired. He’s in his man cave from what I can tell, his legs up on the table, smoking a cigarette.

“Dante, my man, sorry - I mean Goliath. How you doing? It’s been a while,” Theo says.

Dante smirks. “It sure has. You still rocking the blue hair?”

“Obviously, it brings out my eyes,” Theo says cockily, making Ahren smirk.

“It’s late, Theo. Shall we get to this?” Dad asks. He also looks tired. His hair is wet, he’s clearly fresh out of the shower, but I can tell he’s exhausted, too.

“Did something happen? You and Leo both look like shit,” I remark.

Leo sighs. “There was an attack on a smaller pack up north, but it’s under control.”

“How bad was it?” Ares asks, a frown on his face.

“Thirteen dead.” Leo frowns.

The room falls silent until Dad breaks it. “Kiara and Kataleya managed to save seven times that.”

I nod slowly. So it was bad.

Kataleya’s healing is more of the soul than physical, but for those who lose mates- I cut my thought, the reminder of what I saw crushing me once again.

I don’t want to think about it. She has the ability to help those who have lost their mates to live on…

“Alright, let’s get to this. I’ve organised a team for the trip to Egypt, and not all five of you are going,” Leo begins, looking at my brothers. “Jayce is, and from you four, I need two of you. Work it out between yourselves. We’ll also have Sienna, Artemis and Brock.”

Artemis nods as Dad gives her and Sienna both a warm smile when they are named.

“Then we have Dante, Ahren, and Liam. Liam will be in charge,” Leo continues. Dante nods, but I am curious why he wasn’t put in charge.

“Poor Goliath…” Theo whispers, and I cock a brow. “I call dibs on going.”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Carter adds, frowning at Theo.

“I’ll skip,” Ares says with a shrug.

“Cool.” Theo snaps his fingers. “Carter, you should go. It’s going to be hot; your hair will get burned.”

Carter frowns, and Renji looks at him. “Do you want to go or shall I? I don’t mind,” Carter asks him.

“You go,” Renji answers him.

“Yeah, I’d like to go as well. I don’t get why only three of us can go. Consider us the limbs of one body.”

“Theo.” I give him a pointed look, and he sighs.

“Hey, I love the night. Not my fault that you all are too tired or too impatient to get back to bed.”

“Alright, this is the plan,” Leo says, sitting up.

“You leave in three days; you’ll only learn of your route and how you’ll get there on the given day. When you get to Egypt, the plan is clear: locate the destination, conduct a thorough search, and whatever you learn there, protect it at all costs.”

“I’ll be there in case that bastard decides to show up,” Dante says coldly. Sienna gasps, and I wonder if it’s because she’s never heard Dante swear.

“There are a few rules that Liam will let you know of, and I expect them to be obeyed. If things do go downhill… I don’t want heroics; I want you out. Enrique and Kataleya will be joining you, but they’ll be making their own way there,” Leo continues.

We’re quiet, listening to him.

No fighting… because we don’t stand a fucking fighting chance.

“Our priority is finding out why Egypt. We’re going for answers as to why you need to go there, not to fight. The fewer who know about this mission, the better. Understood?” Leo finishes.

“Understood,” a few of them murmur. I simply remain quiet, remembering that man.

“Jayce?” Leo says. I look up at him. He’s waiting for me to agree.

“Understood.” My voice is hard, but I get it. It’s already going to be risky…

“Alright, we’re done. You won’t need any supplies, so don’t go packing bags so everyone knows you’re leaving.”

“Well, this is going to be fun,” Ahren hums, strumming his fingers on the desk before his screen goes black first.

The call ends, and we sit back. “They literally said we aren’t allowed to engage,” Brock says.

“The enemy really is fucking powerful,” Artemis agrees.

“Yes, so we follow the rules. We stick to the plan, and like Leo said, we prioritise safety.”

“Aye, boss,” Renji agrees with a nod.

“You aren’t even going,” Theo scoffs.

“I was going to say we should have more witches, but we have El Rey Carmesí, the King of Witches. That’s a powerhouse,” Carter says.

“Yeah,” I say. Still… I need to make sure everyone returns safely.

We all get up to leave, and I mind-link Renji. Can you get Sienna back to the dorm? I just want to have a word with Ares.

Sure thing. This is nice; you finally don’t mind me accompanying her. Not jealous anymore? he teases, but I just give him a pointed look, and he grins. Alright, alright, you’re not in the mood, but on a serious note, I’m glad you’re going to talk to Ares.

Yeah, I know, I reply before looking at Sienna. “Head back to the dorms. I’ll be there soon.”

“Sure you will, meanie,” Artemis says with a pout. She’s a little salty about the whole room situation.

“Ares, can I have a word?”

Ares stops midway to the door and cocks a brow. “Sure.”

That’s a start.

Everyone leaves the room slowly, and Sienna places a hand on my arm fleetingly before she leaves the room as well. The door shuts, sounding loud in the room that is now very silent.

“Look, I know the last few months haven’t been the best between us, and I’m sorry for whatever I did-”

“Don’t fucking do that then. You don’t know what you did? Then why are you apologising? Because you’re a fucking saint?”

“Alright, then tell me. Tell me the issue, and I’ll fix it,” I try again. I’m fucking frustrated, too. It’s as if he has no interest in fixing things between us.

“You’re the genius. Figure it out,” he says, standing up and walking towards the door.

“Ares.” He stops, and I walk towards him until I stop in front of him, blocking his path.

“Look… I’m sorry for always acting like I’m in charge or telling you what to do.

I know I’m not that much older, but you’re still my brother, and I’ll keep on looking out for you, even if you hate it.

I’m not trying to piss you off, Ares. Can’t I fucking genuinely give a shit about you? ”

He frowns, looking at me before he shakes his head, shoving past me and storming out.

I sigh heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose. At least he didn’t argue… that’s a start, right?