Page 29 of Until the End of Ever (To the Cruel Gods #2)
LUCIAN
“ T hat kid is far too excited about blood rituals,” I grumbled.
Kleos bumped my shoulders with hers. “Kid? Lucky’s only four years younger than me.”
My mind had some trouble processing that, given the fact that I had seen Lucky in azure pigtails what felt like yesterday, but she was nineteen, and therefore, fully entitled to perform any blood magic she’d like. I certainly did at her age.
“She’s super short,” I countered. “That ought to remove three or four years.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it works.” Kleos grinned wickedly. “But if you must ask Silver whether her five foot one affects her maturity level, make sure I’m around to watch.”
I knew better. The last time I pissed that crazy chick off, she went after my roast leftovers.
We’d returned to the manor after Night Academy, armed with a few references to check theories—mostly Lucky’s.
She announced she needed a couple of days to prep the Perthro Root before returning to her classes.
For myself, I was grateful for the break; I needed a couple of days to look into it.
Not that I didn’t trust Lucky, and I certainly had heard of spells designed to check lineage, but I’d never heard of a ritual such as what she’d described.
Something that would have made the kid in question, along with others, wander in the forest and connect with nature? Whatever it was, it didn’t feel safe.
While Kleos checked the forced marriage runes, I looked into the Perthro.
Or at least I tried to. Except we were alone—or as alone as one could be, with a demon cat playing with a night fox and a semi-divine grandfather somewhere in the house.
And Kleos was still wearing that damnable top, teasing me with the knowledge that I could access her skin so easily.
I had the right to, now. She liked me . And yes, we absolutely had not defined our relationship beyond that, but my understanding was that I was given leave to touch however much of her skin I wanted to.
Right now, I wanted.
The irresistible creature had slid her dainty feet out of their ballerina flats, crossing them at the ankles while she reclined on one end of the sofa, so very close.
Who gave a damn about the details of the blood rituals? I needed my hand on her skin now. Right this second.
An alarm rang just as my hands reached her shoulder. Damn it!
Kleos sighed. “She’s never going to stop if I don’t answer.”
“Hm?” My thumb started to knead her muscle, finding it too taut.
“My mother. I put my phone on Do Not Disturb for two hours; it must have run out. She’s called me, like, a dozen times since yesterday.”
No wonder she was tense. Wordlessly, I brought my arm around her middle and dragged her to me, spreading my thighs to fit her between my legs.
Then I got to work, thumb pressing on the trapezius, working its way up to her neck.
Kleos moaned, the sound shooting straight to my cock, but I didn’t let the little minx distract me from the very important task of making her feel better.
First, I needed all the stress eliminated.
Then she could scream my name while I fucked her into next week.
“Why not answer?” I suggested. “Get it out of the way.”
She grunted. “I know exactly what she’ll say. You remember the Velvet Lounge. You know what she’ll say too.”
I chuckled, recalling the events that had the idiot who dared to think he was good enough for her scurrying and pouting. “Poor Castor Pendros-Valmont.”
“I don’t feel particularly sorry for him,” Kleos confessed, making me smile.
The phone rang again. With my hands on her, I could directly feel her shoulders contract under my fingers the moment Zenya’s name flashed.
Wasn’t it strange, that her mother was entered on her phone as Zenya Pendros?
“Answer. Tell her you’re being courted by Lucian Regis, and therefore, unable to accept further suitors.”
She laughed out loud. “Courted!”
I tried not to let it get to me. “That’s the word I’d use, yes. Alternatively, you could say, fucked within an inch of your life at any opportunity, exclusively and for the foreseeable future.”
Or the future, full stop.
“Lucian, I truly wish it were that simple. But if I don’t play her game, take her suitors, my mother will withdraw her guardianship with the council.”
I stopped moving.
Fucking seriously?
“I’ll be listed as dangerous,” Kleos pressed on, as though she hadn’t completely turned my world off of its axis with that revelation. “She’s threatened to, many times. My not playing by noble rules gets her in the shit with her family, so she holds that over my head. That’s why I do it.”
I…couldn’t compute that. Breathe , I willed myself, feeling my rage bubble into a bottomless source of power. It was lucky Kleos was the only one present. I might have sucked the life out of anyone else.
“She’s your mother ,” I finally growled.
Wasn’t it the simple, natural duty of a parent to protect their child? Against anything, really, but especially systematic discrimination? Then again, Elias’s mother wanted to have him for dinner. But they were dragons; brutal instincts were expected from them. Zenya was just a bitch.
“Yeah, well,” Kleos said with a shrug, “she thinks that title should come with complete obedience on my part.”
“Hera’s tits,” I growled. “Kleos, I’ll handle the guardianship, all right?”
“You can’t. It can’t be a—” She blushed.
That made me break into a slow smile, despite still very much wanting to murder a certain blonde bitch. “A what, love?” I prompted.
“You know,” she muttered, fidgeting.
“Do I?” I was torturing her and loving every second of it. But the conversation was too important, so I finally relented. “I won’t sign up myself. There’s a list of available guardians. Ronan has access to it. We’ll find you someone.”
I kissed her shoulder, finding bright blue eyes gleaming when I looked up. “Really?”
“Silly witch. Yes , really.” I couldn’t help adding, “As your whatever you meant, it’s my privilege to ensure you’re care for, safe and free. You won’t have to deal with your mother’s nonsense again.”
Hadn’t she yet worked out that there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her? Handling a little administrative matter was easy as pie. I was more than eager to get it sorted, given the fact that doing so freed her from the bitch and all her machinations.
“It’s not that easy. I live with her. I mean, she’s rarely there, and these days, nor am I, but trust me. She knows how to make my life as inconvenient as possible.”
“Ugh. You’re just never going to let me help you relax, are you?” Those shoulders were harder than concrete, various bumps and knots firmly stuck in all her tension points.
“Breathe,” I demanded. “Forget about Zenya Pendros and breathe .”
I focused on my task, all the while attempting to summon a product from my lab, but closing my eyes and bringing my attention to my many shelves, I couldn’t locate the right one.
A vague levitation charm without a clear direction could easily break my shelves and bring the wrong flask to me, so I gave up on getting a calming balm, relying on only my hands to massage Kleos’s defiantly rigid muscles.
It took a while, but with patience, the knots started to loosen one by one. I was so focused on the task, I didn’t even notice when Kleos’s warm body had slumped against mine, until an ungraceful snore disturbed the quiet.
I grinned at the sleeping woman in my arms, but my smile soon faded, as I remembered the reason why it had been so hard to make her loosen up.
Zenya Pendros was going to have to be dealt with.
If it were anyone else, I’d jump to murder, but she was an active member of the council.
I couldn’t kill any council member—not without the agreement of the council of elders.
And that in itself wouldn’t have stopped me, if she wasn’t also Kleos’s family.
The woman was amazingly accepting of everything I was, but assassinating her mother in cold blood might just exceed the limit.
If I couldn’t remove her from the equation, the simplest solution was to remove Kleos from her influence immediately, permanently.
I looked down at the red waves with four braids, each one twisted in a different style.
I’d warned her I’d kidnap her if she wasn’t careful. And I was a man of my word.