Maxon (14 page)

“She didn't ask for any,” I say.

“I heard it, clear as a bell,” says G.

Sure, she did.

G rushes to the credenza and starts fiddling with teapots and spoons and shit. “Milk and sugar, my dear?”

“Yes, please.” Lianna looks at me and smiles like a cat who just chomped down one big-ass canary. “I can't wait to learn all about Maxon.”

I wink at her and mouth the words ‘payback to you, too.' She sticks out her tongue at me. It should be funny, but my mind goes right into the gutter again. Her tongue is cute, pink, and hot. I picture her licking all the way up my thigh and shiver. The way my body wants this woman is something I haven't felt in a long time. Maybe ever.

More footsteps sound down the outer hall, breaking up my internal peep show.
Not good.
I step into the doorway to find Mom and Dad heading toward me. Like G, they're in full royal get-up. Dad looks like a total king with his black tunic, broad chest and graying hair. Mom looks otherworldly in her Scala robes and black over-gown. Her tail waves at me over her shoulder.

I try to act surprised. “Hey, what're you two doing here?”

“Octavia sent for us,” says Mom. “The guards say she's in the library?”

“That's what they're saying.”

Dad shakes his head. “Didn't think it sounded right, either. We never come to your chambers, let alone while wearing our formals.”

G's sing-song voice wafts in from the library. “I'm in here, children. Who wants tea?”

Dad's eyebrows lift in surprise. “You invited your Grandmother over for tea?”

“For the record, that's a big no.”

“I invited myself over,” calls G. “And Maxon has a girl in here.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose.
I can't believe this.

“He does?” asks Mom.

“You do?” echoes Dad.

They both try to peer around me.

“Yeah,” I say. “There's a girl in here.”

“Wow,” whispers Mom.

“What kind of girl?” asks Dad.

“Thrax.”
Sort of.

They start trying to peep around me, so I step back again. “Come on in, guys. Who's next? Hildy?”

“Nonsense,” says G. “You know she's off building her new school in the Wastelands. Walker's coming, though.”

“Walker?” I repeat.

“Yes, Walker,” confirms G with one of her ‘innocent old lady' grins. She waves to my parents. “Well, come on in already. She won't bite.”

My parents cautiously step past me, like the library holds a mythical creature that could bolt at any second. Huh. You'd think I never brought a girl home before.

Oh right, I never
have
brought a girl home before.

“Lianna, these are my parents. My parents, Lianna.”

They barely finish shaking hands when Walker rushes into the room.

“And Walker here's too,” I add. I'm ready to introduce them when the old ghoul wraps Lianna in a big hug that lasts way too long. Like I could change the oil on my bike in the time he's got his arms around her. I've got to say something, so I try to talk without sounding like a jealous bastard.

“Huh. I guess you already know each other.” My voice comes out low and deadly.

Not sure I did a bang-up job with the jealous bastard stuff.

Walker gets all gooey-eyed as he looks at Lianna. “I'm so glad to see you again.”

“Glad to be seen.”

“I told you that you'd make it,” says Walker.

“That you did.” Lianna gives him one of those smiles that should really only go to me. My hands clench into fists on their own, not that I try too hard to stop it. I'm pretty sure teatime is about to turn to shit when G claps her hands. The moment gets broken up before I do anything stupid. G's smart like that.

“Now that we're all together,” says G. “We can discuss why I brought you here. I have an announcement to make.” She smooths out her black velvet gown, all the better to drag out the moment. “Lianna is…” G taps her chin as if she's forgotten something. “What is your title again, my dear?”

“I'm the Monarkki of Water.”

At this news, Dad puts his ‘this is bullshit' face on. I should know. I wore the same one when Lianna first showed up, too.

“There hasn't been a new Monarkki of Water in twenty thousand years,” says Mom.

In reply, Lianna turns blue. I'm talking hair, dress, skin, everything.

“There is now,” Lianna says. “And it's me.” She leans back on the couch in her blue robes, daring anyone to say shit. My parents can hardly control their smiles. They like feisty as much as I do. Maybe more.

“Trust me,” explains Walker. “She's the new monarkki. Remember the girl I told you about? The one I was constantly relocating?”

Dad nods. “You said you were doing a homemade witness protection program.”

Mom snaps her fingers. “She had some guy after her, right?”

“That's right.” Walker hitches his thumb at Lianna. “This is who I was talking about. She's not a witness; she's the next monarkki. And the guy after her is Zephyr.”

There's a long pause while my parents process this information. G has already adjusted, of course, but she's not exactly wired like the rest of us. My G runs at mental double-speed.

Dad turns to Walker. “Why didn't you say anything before?”

“Namare swore him to secrecy,” explains Lianna. “She swore everyone.”

“I told you as much as I could,” adds Walker.

My parents share a long look, and then give each other small nods.
That means they're cool with this, which is good.
Walker's like a little God in my family. He could say Lianna's the fucking Easter bunny, and they'd buy it. Hell, I'd buy it, too. There isn't a better guy in the after-realms, which is easy to admit that now that I'm not feeling jealous as fuck.

“Since we're all together,” announces G. “Why don't you tell us everything, my dear? In your own words.”

G doesn't need to ask twice. “To begin with,” says Lianna. “I'm from the House of Tärkein.”

“Born here in Antrum?” asks G. “Because there's no record of you.”

I half roll my eyes. Leave it to G to already have checked the birth rolls.

“No,” answers Lianna. “I was born cloud-side in Colorado. It was just me and my parents in a little log cabin in the mountains. They wanted to be close to the elements. I don't know much about being a thrax, other than who you guys are, of course.” With that admission, she gets a little blushy, which is cute.

“Where are your parents now?” asks G.

Lianna picks at the lace on her white sundress. “That part's hard to explain.” She swallows and doesn't finish her sentence.

She doesn't want to talk about Silas.

What I do next is a reflex. Before I know it, I'm sitting next to Lianna and taking her hand in mine. “Want me to cover this part, beautiful?”

Lianna nods.

“Here's the deal,” I begin. “Lianna's family got marked by a Class A Incarnate. He killed her parents and took Lianna for harvesting.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder and give her a gentle hug. “Her parents made a trade with Silas for her life.”

Lianna nods. “They agreed to go down without a fight as long as Silas promised not to harvest me until I was sixteen. They gave him the right to my life energy. The trade was sealed with black magic.” She exhales a shaky breath. “It wasn't much of a trade, but we weren't in a position to argue.” Lianna stares at her lap for a long time. After that, she straightens her shoulders and looks my family straight on. There's steel in her gaze. My chest swells with pride. This woman is strong.

“How did you escape?” asks G.

“Namare found me when I was fourteen,” Lianna continues. “She freed me by making another trade with Silas. Namare wouldn't kill him and in turn, Silas gave up his rights to my life energy. After that, I went into training to be the next monarkki. There must have been, oh, fifty apprentices when I started. There were five when Namare transferred her power to me.”

Her words seem to suck all the oxygen out of the room. Rage zings through my nervous system. To Lianna, those people were her peers. To my family and me, they're our people. Our responsibility.

G shakes her head. “We knew that the Tärkein had a high death rate, but we thought it was due to their silly practice of wandering cloud-side every chance they got.”

“Zephyr killed them all, didn't he?” Dad turns to me. His eyes glisten with righteous anger. “Give it to me straight, son.”

“Yeah, Dad. Zephyr killed ‘em.”

My father rounds on Walker. “Why weren't we told? Fifty thrax from the House of Tärkein? That's outrageous!”

“You have to understand,” says Walker. “Namare was obsessed with keeping things quiet. She thought it was the only way to protect her apprentices.”

Dad's mouth thins to a determined line. “I would have told her differently.”

I could step in and tell my father to cut Walker some slack, but honestly, I'm pissed at Walker, too. My neck muscles clench with held-in anger. I can't believe how long this has been going on. We had no idea our people were being slaughtered.

“It wasn't that easy,” counters Walker. “I had to follow Namare around for a year before she'd even talk to me. She had her own magic, too. If she got a whiff that I'd broken my word and said anything to you, I would've lost the ability to help Lianna.” Walker rubs his hand over his buzz-cut scalp. “Believe me, I wanted to tell you both.”

G nods. “He's right. The elementals are notoriously closed-lipped.” She gestures to Lianna. “No offense.”

“None taken. It's one of the things I hope to change.”

Walker's voice quivers with grief. “You have no idea how hard it was not to tell you all.”

Mom leans over to pat Walker's hand. “We understand that now. It's just a shock.”

“Myla's right.” My father sets his hand on Walker's shoulder. That's Dad's ‘we're cool again' move. Walker offers him a feeble smile.

“Let's not cover old ground,” says G. “What else do we need to know now?”

I lean back on the couch. “You ask me, I'd like more intel on Zephyr.” I turn to Lianna. “Who is this guy, anyway?”

“Zephyr was originally a thrax in Roman times,” explains Lianna. “Part elemental, House of Tärkein. His parents lived cloud-side in Greece.”

“Ancient times,” says G. “Lots of thrax lived cloud-side then.”

“Zephyr's family got killed, but not by demons. When Julius Caesar invaded Greece, he killed off women, children, and the elderly. The strongest locals were forced into the Roman Army. Zephyr was one of those.”

“Almost makes me feel sorry for the man,” sighs G.

“Don't,” says Lianna. “Zephyr soon found he got a thrill out of murder. He decided to become the Caesar of the elemental world.”

Mom frowns. “I've seen that type before. Always looking for the next big high.”

“Well, Zephyr found it, that's for sure,” says Lianna. “Elemental rulers store power in stones called Kristalli. Zephyr has been using those stones to shoot up with elemental energy. Once he's done, he kills everyone around, often including his own guards.”

“So, where's your Kristalli?” asks Dad.

“Hidden in my Water Palace.”

The small hairs on my neck stand on alert. Something about that answer sets my inner wrath demon humming. There's trouble with the Kristalli, in the Water Palace, or both. I watch Lianna's features carefully as I ask my next question. “Is your stone safe there?”

“I'm sure it's fine,” Lianna says too quickly. “Fisk is there and he's guarding it along with the rest of the Valta.”

Fisk. I really don't like the way Lianna says that name.

G sets down her teacup. “I'm afraid you're going to have to translate that reply for me, my dear. I don't yet speak elemental.”

“Oh,” Lianna chuckles. “Elemental guards are called Valta. The Water Valta are at my palace, along with Fisk, who's their general. They're all protecting the Kristalli of Water, which can store my power.” She starts fiddling with the lace on her dress again, and I know something's bothering her.

More and more, I'm getting a good read on what the trouble is.
My money's on Fisk.

“Are you visiting the Water Palace soon?” I ask.

“Sure,” Lianna answers. “I'm going tonight.”

The words of Silas's warning ring in my head. If Lianna tries to leave Antrum, Zephyr will definitely make his move. There's no way I'm letting her fly solo.

“Great,” I say. “I'll go with you.”

Lianna shakes her head. “My people don't trust outsiders. I need to go alone.”

Like hell she is.

“You don't know what you'll find at the palace,” I say. “And we both know that my lightning powers can help you in a fight.”

She tilts her head to one side. I grin at her for all I'm worth. She worries her lower lip with her teeth.

I'm wearing her down. I can tell.

Which is good, because if she doesn't agree, I'll have to follow her anyway. That could get weird.

“Maybe,” she says.

“Hey, what's the point of being monarkki if you can't drag your favorites to court?”

She gives me a million-watt smile. “Who said you're my favorite?”

We stare at each other for what feels like a second or two. I guess it's more than that because before I know it, my parents, G, and Walker are standing by the door, waving me over.

I walk over to G first. “Must be annoying, being right all the time.”

“So you admit I was correct in holding this impromptu tea?” asks G.

“Don't be a sore winner,” I say.