Escaping Death

Eli

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Tate chastises me as soon as we’re in the club. In the daylight while it’s completely vacant, I’m finally seeing Caligo properly for the first time. Usually it’s too dark to see anything except for whose body is in front of yours, but it’s actually a really well-decorated space. Metal railings, dark stained wood, and a gray slate floor.

“You’re just mad you didn’t do it first,” I volley back at Tate.

Tate shakes his head and rolls his eyes, “E, we’re supposed to be her body guards not her boyfriends. We have enough shit going on as it is without the wrath of her Alpha daddies steamrolling the house.”

I hate that he has a point, I hadn’t considered that when I kissed her. I just couldn’t stand watching her shoulders slump a little more every time her brother and Griffin doted over her sister. “Don’t worry, those two have their heads so far up Calla’s ass they probably didn’t even notice.”

Sol beelines for the bar right as Calla suggests we all go upstairs to the lounge where it’s more comfortable.

“Sol, come on you’re supposed to be spending the day with me, not working.” Calla complains to her sister.

“Then come sit at the bar. I can multitask.” Sol says over her shoulder as she flies up and over the bar.

Calla’s heat flares but their brother intervenes, “pick your battles, Calla.”

“Fine. As you wish.” Calla’s smile is forced as she reluctantly takes a seat at the bar in front of Sol. Tate leaps onto the end of the bar’s counter and perches himself there while Solana busies herself with menial tasks and small talk with her sister, leaving me with Griffin and their brother Rhys.

I find myself transfixed on Sol. Her whole body is different here. She’s relaxed, at ease with herself and her surroundings, she’s happy. Gone is the permanent frown on her face, and beneath the occasional roll of her eyes her lips curl into a smile whilst talking to her sister.

“So,” Rhys sidles up next to me, “you’re the guys in charge of babysitting Sol?”

I keep my focus on Solana, not wanting to miss a single second of her true self. “And you’re the guys in charge of babysitting Queenie.”

Rhys hides his laugh from his sisters, “I haven’t heard that name in a while. I’m surprised Sol told you, she usually packages up The Before rather tightly.”

“Rhys, that’s enough,” Griffin’s words are a thinly veiled command. Even the smallest, most obscure references to her days with Hunter get crushed immediately. I thought it was just Solana and her way of dealing with their fallout, and I can’t blame her for it because it’s exactly how I felt when I found my mate, but the entire family is keen on sweeping his name under the rug.

It really makes you wonder if maybe there’s more to this story than the one he’s told. Maybe he’s not the person we thought he was. Why else would so many people be so averse to the mere mention of anything related to him?

Rhys and I join Calla and Griffin at the bar and since Tate has conveniently disappeared I’m forced to shoot the shit with everyone by myself.

“Mom and dads have been pulling all-nighters for the last two weeks,” Rhys tells Sol when she asks about how the bounty hunt is going.

“Mom says hi, by the way,” Calla says with a flip of her perfect white hair.

“No she doesn’t,” Solana says unamused.

“Okay, she doesn’t. But grandma Ianthe does.”

Solana’s brows furrow tightly, “why are you bothering her? She’s a breath away from being named Elder, she has better things to do than meddle in this bullshit.”

The group falls silent, each of them looking at one another playing a silent game of “not it” whilst avoiding Solana’s piercing gaze.

“What’s with the weird looks, what don’t I know?” Solana asks.

“Ianthe was passed over for Elder…” Griffin says cautiously.

“The fuck? For who?” Solana is outraged.

There’s another pregnant pause, tension building like a coiling snake with every passing heartbeat.

“Elena.” Griffin mutters like he’s apologizing for having to say the name.

I swear Sol’s eyes flash bright green before she sucks on her lips and takes a deep, calming breath.

“That is literally impossible, Rimori named Ianthe as her successor a century ago. They’re best friends —“ Solana begins but is quickly cut off by her brother.

“Rimori’s dead. Official reports say her fire burnt out, which we all know is a load of shit but it’s almost impossible to disprove. And allegedly her last decree as Elder was submitting in writing her desire for Elena to succeed her.”

“When the fuck did this happen?” Solana is incredulous.

“I don’t know, like 2 or 3 months ago?”

Solana pinches her eyes closed tight, her chest heaves violently as she tries to breathe through her fury. Like metal being heated, Solana’s hands glow red, shifting to a bright yellow-orange with her ever increasing heat. I do my best to cool the counter trapped in her molten grip, but her heat is winning out.

Suddenly, she screams out in rage and stabs the wooden bar top with another dagger, the force of which pulls her hand down slicing her palm open on the embedded blade.

Tate appears by her side in an instant, clutching the wound to stem the bleeding. “I think we’ve had enough fun for today, eh Sunshine?” He ties a cloth around her hand, knotting it in place with skilled fingers.

“Sol, for what it’s worth I’m sorry…” her sister calls out to her as she and Tate head for the front door.

“Thanks Calla, always a pleasure,” Solana says with saccharine sweetness.

“Hey, do me a favor?” Rhys obstructs my path to the exit, “I know catering to her feelings is beyond your job description but go easy on her, alright? She’s going to need a day…”

Rhys shakes my hand and slaps me on the back with the other.

“Just out of curiosity, who is Elena?” I ask him.

Rhys tenses for a moment, his throat visibly bobbing as he swallows nervously, looking like he’s going to be sick. “She married our mom’s uncle, so that would technically make her our great aunt. But to Sol, Elena is the mother of her ex’s mate.”