Page 22 of Unleash Hades (Ungoverned Spaces #5)

Calissandra

JFK Airport, New York

T he hum of the plane’s air conditioner set me on edge.

There was no such thing as silence in the modern world.

There was always a motor, machine, or electric current that ran through everything, even in the most rural of places.

There were always cars, radios, machines, or even the slight hum of someone’s headphones as it rested in the conch of their ear.

There was nothing natural in my world. Everything was manufactured.

That was especially true of the plane to England. Unlike Richard, my boys and I flew commercial airlines - though we indulged in first class.

In many ways, my family considered England home. It was ancestral, after all. An old thing passed down in the family on my mother’s side.

Before I shepherded my boys into the towncar, I had dropped off food for Rafe, and told him I’d be gone. But the doorman would have breakfast for him while I was gone.

Today’s fortune cookie wisdom was, “Before you worry about the world, worry about the world that lives in you.”

I thought that was nice. Or maybe it was a criticism? I wasn’t sure.

“Did you call Aunty Chloe?” Romulus asked, his eager eyes gazing at me from his seat.

My little rule follower was already buckled in, a book in his hand as people in economy class shuffled down the aisle between us.

“Oh!” I said, as if I had forgotten that task. I hadn’t. I had just been putting it off.

My father had been French. Anglo-French.

He had roots on both sides of the channel.

But his ancestral home was Calais, and my mum was an English barrister.

When my Mum passed from a stroke, he leaned more into his roots.

In a way, it was a crutch. He raised us in a way that made him more comfortable.

I smiled, thinking about how my sister had that adorable French accent. She sounded just like our father. Maybe I didn’t talk to her much anymore, but she did interviews. I had watched the footage of her kidnapping again and again. I tortured myself with it to feel the pain of our separation.

Feeling the pain was better than just the quiet absence.

And each time, I admired her strength, her stubbornness. I admired the way she stared death in the face and cussed it out in that beautiful voice.

“I’ll call her right now,” I said, pulling my phone from my purse, my shaking thumb hovering over the button.

“Coucou!” A high-pitched voice called.

Bellamy came, dressed from head to toe in green and gold phoenixes. His luggage matched his outfit as he placed it in the overhead bin. “I am so excited that you decided to tack our mission into your family trip.”

Bellamy belted himself into the aisle seat beside me, squishing me to the window.

“Yoohoo, Rom,” Bellamy said with a little finger wave. “Are you excited to go to Cambridge? Does the semester really start so early?”

“No,” my son said with a smile. “We’re going to the family house in Leeds first, and then mum is going on her trip. Are you… are you going that way?”

“No,” I said, at the same time Bellamy said, “Yes!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, because I knew what was going to happen next. I saw it like a trainwreck, because I had raised Romulus to be a good boy.

“Where are you staying, Lu?” My boy asked.

Remus sat beside him, thumbing through a book about singularity.

“At a quaint little hotel,” he said, playing with the ascot at his throat.

“Why don’t you stay with us?” The excitement in Romulus’ voice was almost contagious. Almost. “Mum, can Lu stay with us? There must be enough rooms, surely?”

I let my cheeks pull on my lips so I could force the smile.

“Of course, darling,” I said, because there was no way to be a good Mum, and tell Bellamy to sod off.

“Absolutely delightful!” Bellamy clapped his hands together with a giggle. “I look forward to it!”

We all settled as the final passengers came aboard. The last few stragglers came in a rush of agitation.

“You should call her,” Bellamy said, looking down at my phone which still hovered over the call button. “She’d love to hear from you.”

“How do you know that?” I said, quietly, so that the boys didn’t hear.

“Because I do.” And that high, melodic voice was back. “I look good, and I know things. That’s my curse.”

He placed the back of his hand on his forehead as if he was about to faint, then smirked at me, humor on his face, even if it wasn't in his eyes.

He then took bright green ear pods from his pocket, bouncing them in his palm.

“Do it,” Bellamy said, with a smile. “You’ll be glad you did.”

Then he plopped the earbuds in, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.

I looked down, knowing we’d only have a few minutes left… so I pressed it. The ringing was fast, and my herat was in my throat.

“Hello?” A frantic voice came from the other end. “Calissandra? C’est toi? Vraiment? ” It’s you? Really?

I almost wept.

“ Oui, c’est moi. ?a va? ” I lowered my voice so that the stream of passengers couldn’t hear - or if they did, they wouldn’t be tempted to snoop.

I didn’t want to linger on the phone. I knew I could explain this call as something for the boys, if Richard ever snooped into it. But I didn’t want to take chances that it was too long. I didn’t want Richard to see it and think that it was a conversation.

“It’s so strange. I’ve often looked at your contact, waiting for that call and now it’s here…” Chloe’s voice filled me with a soft, warm light that I hadn’t felt in a long time. The joys of being an older sister. “I can’t believe it.”

Neither could I.

“We’re going to the house in Leeds,” I told her quickly, staying in French. “And I’m bringing my boys.”

“My nephews?” She answered, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Oh, gosh. How old are they?”

“Almost eighteen.” Did she understand the significance of that age? Did she… “Romulus wants to meet his aunty.”

There was a quick silence - a moment of dead air that made panic rise to my throat. Maybe she would say no. Then it wouldn’t just disappoint me - I’d be crushed - but it would hurt my sweet boy as well.

“Of course,” Chloe said, her sweet voice breathy. “Does he speak French?”

“Badly,” I laughed. “English is preferred.”

“Aunty Chloe can work on that.”

I wanted to cry, and laugh, and scream, all at the same time.

This was a warmer reception than I deserved, and I knew, deep down, who I could thank. Hugo. It was all Hugo. My guardian, my hero, my sweet, sweet Legionnaire.

“When do you fly in?”

I looked at my watch - an electric thing that I had bought in some bazaar. “Maybe ten hours?”

“So soon!” Her voice got fast. “We will come meet you.”

“We?” I asked, sitting up. Lucien had said she had a son. Would I also get to meet my new nephew?

“Me and Asa.” Then I heard that warmth in her voice. The smile that hadn’t changed since she was a little girl. Since she was the gift I received before Christmas - the sister I always wanted. “He’s used to seeing you on television. He’d like to meet you too.”