Page 18 of Until the End of Ever (To the Cruel Gods #2)

LUCIAN

“ T his place is a bloody maze,” I grumbled as I joined my mother by the large column in the entry hall of the Hall of Truce.

Before she’d texted me, I’d walked to Gideon’s office, finding it empty, unless one counted his new partner—which I didn’t. Also, had it always smelled like a particularly sweaty rat died in there?

Next, I checked the trainee center, suspecting I’d find Kleos with Silver—but of course, neither were there. When Hendrix, adorned in a fresh pair of pants, mentioned they were checking on their friend in the healing ward, I was back up there again, feeling foolish and frustrated.

I had Kleos’s number, but she didn’t answer her phone.

I would have headed home, fairly certain she’d follow after, but I was still deeply uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her alone, even in broad daylight. Even between the Guard and the Hall of Truce, surrounded by warriors. Perhaps even especially not here.

The Hall of Truce might now be the heart of the vale’s political center, but at the core, it would forever remain a temple.

And gods could enter temples unbidden.

She was fine. She had to be. I would know if she wasn’t.

It occurred to me that I never got around to talking to her about emergency situation procedures.

Yes, I’d installed a contingency, but what good did it do if she didn’t know how to use it?

I hadn’t brought it up, because, well, how does one say, “ See that specific thing I wrote on your skin? That’s my stalker button.

Use it and I’ll know exactly where you are. ”

Just like that, I supposed.

I couldn’t hide my surprise when my mother called to inform me she was with Kleos , waiting to get back home.

I ran all the way, knowing that every second could be another toddler story told, or worse yet, a formal betrothal contract presented to the poor, unsuspecting chick.

Yes, I hadn’t revealed Kleos’s name to my mother.

No, Cassiopea was not an idiot. I was certain she knew who I had ensconced in the manor for the last week—if only because Ronan and Cassius are tattletales.

“Hey, kid,” I said to the boy between my mother and Kleos, both flanking him like bodyguards.

I recognized the look—scanning anyone getting too close, narrowed eyes, always angling their bodies to ensure his was protected, magic already called, ready to attack or defend.

I was just not certain why it was necessary here.

“Are we dropping you off?”

My mother shot me a cautionary stare. Again, I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I opted to stop digging, just in case.

“The council has ideas about where Elias belongs,” my mother said, squeezing the boy’s shoulder. “I’ve reminded them that as a founding family, we Regises can house and care for any ward of the city-state pending a formal trial—if one is necessary.”

Ha. That explained it. And with that , Elias had three guards. I straightened up, making myself smile for the kid’s sake.

“Word of advice, kiddo?” I told him, activating the transport shaft. “My father makes the best roast potatoes in this world. Second to none. Maybe let it slip that you didn’t get a chance to eat for half a week. It’ll be worth it.”

Elias grinned. I didn’t know much about the kid, but it was clear food was the way to his heart—which I found relatable.

The Regis carriage awaited my mother in all its splendor, with four footmen and two drivers, which I used to think was overkill.

Then, I went shopping with her one day, insisting we didn’t need more than two staff members.

As she refused to let me shrink any of the bags, in case I messed up the reversal spell, it proved an experience I would never forget.

I never argued against the extra staff again.

“Shall we drop you off first?” Mother offered.

Elias turned his red eyes to mine. Looking at the great big orbs, I was fairly certain even his dragon form could manage puppy dog eyes. “Drop…off?”

The words were awkward and slow, but spoken in English.

“You learn fast.” As a dragon, I knew he could understand me, and I him, even in his mother tongue, but I hadn’t expected him to catch English words on day one.

“Yeah, Mother lives on Night Avenue.” I gestured in the general direction of their gate.

“I’m on King’s Avenue, exactly on the other side of town. ”

Mother and Father lived on Night because when they first got married, Mother came with a fortune, but Father, not so much. They built on one of the cheapest parts of town, slowly morphing it into a well-respected, upmarket neighborhood.

We’d learned it reassured people to have Regises accessible on both sides.

“You can come visit anytime you’d like. Just ask for the carriage; don’t go off wandering before you know your way around town. This place is huge.”

Elias looked around and shrugged.

I chuckled. “Maybe not that huge for a dragon, huh?”

Remembering the size of the members of his horde, the town circle might perhaps fit fifteen of them, at most—and they’d struggle to squeeze into through the Gates in their beast form, whereas we could fit two carriages driving on each side of the road, the tram tracks and large footpaths.

“Why don’t you come home tonight, Luce, darling?” Mother suggested. “You can help Elias settle in your old room. Besides, we haven’t had Kleos for dinner yet. I’m sure your father would be delighted to prepare us an impromptu feast, with so many lovely guests.”

I rolled my eyes at my mother. “Don’t you start with the soft tones, Mother. You know it doesn’t work on me.”

“Could we go? Please ?” Kleos asked, pouting and giving Elias a run for his money as far as the puppy dog eyes were concerned.

Ha. Hydra’s shit . I hadn’t considered the fact that Kleos wasn’t used to Mother’s ways.

“I would have thought you’d want to get back to work, as we were interrupted.”

I was fairly certain, outside of my mother’s influence, Kleos’s answer would have been yes, absolutely, let’s return to Theke. But she just shrugged. “It’s late. And we need to eat, don’t we?”

I was outnumbered, outsmarted, and frankly, not inclined to protest all that much. Father was a hell of a cook. “All right. But if we’re having a party, I’m telling everyone.”

Mostly because if I didn’t, I would get cursed, kicked, and denied freshly brewed gin.

“The more the merrier!” Mother said as she helped Elias into the carriage.

I let Kleos get in first, and we sat opposite Mother. “You ought to know,” I told her, “that my mother is one-quarter siren. She doesn’t make a habit of abusing her power, but her charm conveniently convinces people to do what she wants nonetheless.”

My mother grinned, unabashed.

“A quarter siren?” Kleos gasped. “How is that possible? I thought all sirens were female, and whatever male they chose to reproduce with, the child would be a female siren.”

“A common misconception, dear,” Mother said.

“Sirens can have both male and female children. It’s just that, well, most eat the males.

They end up inheriting none of the siren powers, you see.

My grandfather was spared—unusual, to say the least. The details are vague, but I believe the sirens might have been attacked close to his birth, and the sailors brought him to their ship.

When he, in turn, had a daughter—my mother Mira—she inherited some of the dormant power in his veins.

And so did I.” She lowered her mouth to Elias’s ear and whispered conspicuously, “Thankfully none of the taste for man-flesh. Though I do like my meat on the rare side.”

Elias shrugged. “ The horde eats the unfit. ”

It was said casually, in his own language. Kleos, my mother, and I exchanged a look.

“Unfit?” Kleos repeat.

“ Useless to the horde. Weak. Small. I would have been eaten too, after the drowning. ”

Breathe. In and out. Slow.

Mother, thankfully, was better at keeping her shit together. “That’s very wrong, darling. And we won’t let anything happen to you here, do you understand?”

“Why are you kind?” Elias asked, not even suspicious, just genuinely surprised. “The men and women upstairs didn’t wish to be kind. It is not a characteristic of your world, is it?”

A pertinent question.

“No, not everyone in this world is kind. And most people up in the vale would call us anything but,” I added. “We can be ruthless. But one of our very important rules down here is that no innocent child is to be harmed.”

Elias drew his knees to his chest. “I’m not useful. I won’t birth dragons. I won’t wed. I’m a waste of meat.”

I should have murdered the dragon bitch.

“With all due respect, boy? No one gives a flying fuck.” That made it the seventh time I’d ever heard my mother utter the word “fuck” in my life. “Children don’t need to be useful. They just need to be children.”

“I’m sixteen. I won’t be a child soon. What then?” The fear in his voice was heartbreaking.

“I am three hundred and twelve. You’ll be a child for as long as I say you are,” Mother stated primly.

“Yeah—good luck getting her to treat you like an adult in the next ten years or so. I’m twenty-seven, and she’s only stopped about a year ago.

” The carriage slowed at the door of the last building on Night Avenue.

“And when you’re no longer a kid? You’re one of us.

Then it’s your turn to protect those who need it. ”