Escaping Death

Solana

“It’s official. I have nothing to wear.” I complain lightly from within my walk-in closet.

Eli and Hunter vocalize their amusement from atop one of my dressers where they’ve been seated as I comb through racks of gowns, discarding every dress I see.

“Sunshine, you could wear a paper bag and still be the most beautiful woman in the room. Just pick a dress so we can get to the party some time tonight.” Dean says gently and I cast him a doubtful look. He strains to keep his hands from landing on the small of my back in reassurance.

In fact, since the hot springs two days ago all of the guys have been actively avoiding physical contact. The only time anyone touches me is when Ace pulls me to him in his sleep and we wake together as a messy tangle of limbs. Then when he finally shakes the sleep from his mind he’ll roll out of bed as if I’ve burned him and stalk to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Knock knock!” Rhys’ voice calls from the threshold of my bedroom door. Ace moves to Eli and Hunter and teleports them out. Tate slips into the shadows leaving me seemingly alone with Dean in my closet.

“In here,” I call to Rhys whose smile rounds to shock for a split second when he sees me in nothing but a towel, alone in my closet with Dean, before it curls back up into a much more mischievous grin.

“Wipe the grin off your face, Rhys. They literally never let me leave their sight.” That was the wrong thing to say because his grin only broadens.

I roll my eyes in exasperation and throw one of the discarded dresses at him for being so unapologetically himself, but he blocks my attack with a large gift box.

“I yield!” He laughs from behind the box, thrusting it towards me like a peace offering. “Mom sent me up here with this in case you didn’t have anything to wear tonight.”

I eye the box skeptically, but nevertheless lift the lid to see what it is she’s offering. My movements slow the moment I catch sight of the colorful fabric contained within the box.

I’ve seen this gown before — only in pictures, but still I’d recognize this dress anywhere.

I’m speechless. I look mutely between Rhys and the box several times, incapable of vocalizing any sound at all. Dean takes note of my shocked state and comes to my rescue.

“Everything okay, Sol?”

“Uh-huh.” I nod still dazed. “Dean, would you —“

“Say no more,” He throws his palms up, understanding what I’m asking without making me ask it. “I’ll be across the hall with the guys.”

Once the door closes behind Dean I look back at Rhys, “I can’t wear this dress.”

“Because it’s a color other than black?” He laughs at my expense.

“No, idiot. Don’t you know what this is?”

His eyebrows pinch together in genuine confusion, “uhh, a dress?”

I resist smacking a palm to his forehead to knock some sense into him. “This is the dress mom wore to her Centennial.”

“Okay?” he drawls, still not connecting its significance. “I don’t see the problem. You need a dress. This is a dress. Problem, meet Solution.” He shoves the box into my arms and turns to walk out. “You have 15 minutes before dad comes and drags you downstairs. And you better be wearing more than a towel alone in a closet with one of the guys when they do get up here or else Death will be missing a letter.”

Tate appears out of thin air in front of Rhys, taking him by surprise. “Fucking hell!” Rhys chuckles with his hand clasped over his heart. “I’m going to need to put a bell on you.”

“You really shouldn’t make threats for other people,” Tate is halfway out of the shadows blocking Rhys’ exit with his lips pressed in a sinister slash of red across his face.

My brother gives him a patronizing pat on the shoulder, “that’s a promise, my friend. I’ll see you all down there.”

Once they’re sure my brother has left the other four guys rejoin us in my room. I kick Tate out of my closet so I can slip into my mother’s gown.

The dress itself is not unlike what I prefer to wear. Sleeveless, almost no neckline to speak of, and a high slit that shows off a lot of leg. It’s the color that’s uncharacteristic of me. It’s meant to look like the sky at twilight, with pinks and light purples near the horizon darkening gradually to a galactic blue at the top.

It seems only right that I wear my natural hair color – the same pearlescent white that my grandmother, mother, and sister all share. Throw on a pair of nude heels from Tate and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

Walking into the main area of my room where the guys are all waiting for me, the air in the room warms by several degrees. The guys strain to keep their hands fisted in their pockets and their feet planted in place. Even I can feel Ace’s crushing aura holding them back. I just don’t understand why he feels the need to do that.

“Ready?” I ask, eager to break away from this stalemate we’ve been engaged in for the last two days.

Wordlessly they collapse into a huddle around me so Ace can teleport us just outside of the great hall.

“You clean up well,” my mother’s underhanded compliment greets us as we orient ourselves. “I’m glad you chose to wear the dress, it suits you.” She says to me and pulls me in for a tight hug.

“Gentlemen,” my fathers greet Death, minus Hunter, with a nod. “While we appreciate your dedication to your job, feel free to take the night off. This is her home, she’s safe here.”

Sensing that they’ve been dismissed, the guys reluctantly head into the great hall without me.

“I hear you’ve been giving them hell,” my mom says conspiratorially, earning disapproving glares from my fathers.

“Don’t encourage her, Love,” my father Varian says to my mother but the wink he sends me reveals that his words don’t have any real weight.

“Tell me the truth, Solana,” my father Rohanor’s tone is deathly serious, making me feel like he can see through my soul to all the truths I don’t even admit to myself. “Did you kill one of them?”

I’m so shocked and relieved at his question that I burst into uninhibited laughter. “No, daddy. I promise I didn’t kill any of them,” I say sincerely before adding under my breath, “but it’s not from a lack of trying.”

“Xander was right, you really have met your match.” My mom says.

“Or,” Ro grunts, “we chose the right people for the job. So long as they keep focusing on the guarding half of ‘bodyguard’,” he pins me with a scrupulous gaze and it takes every ounce of strength I have not to crumble under the intensity of his scrutiny.

They can’t find out that Ace is my mate. The mate bond is everything to them, so much so that they encouraged my then-fiancée to give his mate a chance.

There’d be no escaping Death then. My fathers would see to it that Ace claimed me, and even if I was willing to admit that I had feelings for Ace and the rest of the guys, I don’t want him to claim me because he was forced to — because my fathers made him, or because I’m pregnant with his pup.

“Mags, is that you?” Xander teases me upon approach, taking me by the hand and giving me a twirl. “You’re the spitting image of your mother at her Centennial.”

“It’s easy to look like mom when I’m in her dress,” I rationalize. I’ve been compared to my mother my entire life, and the older I get the less I believe that I’m worthy of that honor. My mom makes everything look so effortless; her radiance, her commanding presence, juggling two mates and four kids, oh and being Queen to an entire colony.

My mom gives my hand a squeeze and me a sympathetic smile, because on top of being a grade A badass she also always seems to just know what my siblings and I are feeling. “I think your sister is looking for you. Have fun tonight, okay?” My mom says and nudges me towards the great hall where my sister is waiting just inside the door.

Calla is stunning in a strapless barely blush white gown with layers upon layers of tulle skirting with gold flowers. At first glance it’s an elegantly simple dress, but the details in the flower embroidery make it exceptional. When I finally look at her face I expect her to be beaming from ear to ear, considering this is a day she has been looking forward to for the better part of a year now. But she doesn’t look happy at all. She looks almost angry.

No. More like she’s trying to look angry to mask something else, something more painful. Sadness.

“Hey, I thought you’d look happier right now,” is my best attempt at sounding compassionate.

She scoffs but not unkindly, “of course she gave you her dress.” She begins to make her way towards the bar at the center of the great hall. It’s a circular bar that wraps around the fifteen-feet-in-diameter trunk of the 150 foot tree that grows in the center of the hall. Ace stands on the opposite side of the bar just within view, making me feel oddly at ease knowing he’s close.

“I didn’t ask for it, Calla,” I explain hurriedly as I follow after her, imploring her to hear me out. “Rhys literally thrusted it at me twenty minutes ago. Do you want me to change out of it?”

“No, of course not. It’s just quietly heartbreaking.” Her admission floors me as much as it confuses me. Calla is heir apparent. If she wanted the dress so badly she should have worn it herself.

“Calla, I don’t understand. I only came here for you. Otherwise you know I would have been more than happy to stay out of the Grove.”

“Well not all of us have that luxury,” her words are like frostbite, prickling painfully at my skin.

“Luxury?” I physically recoil from her. “That’s not fair and you know it.”

“No, what’s not fair is being the only one in this family who doesn’t belong and the only one who can never leave.” She throws back two shots and orders another round. I’m about to order a few of my own when I catch Ace shaking his head at me, mouthing a firm “No.”

“Cal, you’re arguably the one who belongs the most. Where is this even coming from?”

“When people compare you to mom it’s because of how similar you are to her. Both of you are strong, confident, and unapologetic. When they compare me to her it’s how I’ll never measure up to the Queen that she is. Cole takes after Ro, Rhys takes after Varian, and of course you take after mom. And then there’s me, the odd one, the piece that doesn’t fit. But because I’m their first daughter it’s on me to take over, much to everyone’s regret.” She downs her next two shots while I stand there in stunned silence. I never knew she felt this way. Her life has always seemed so planned and perfect.

I risk placing my hand atop hers on the counter and I’m relieved when she doesn’t try to move away from my touch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way. But, being like mom doesn’t mean I’m capable of doing her job. The Grove needs someone with unwavering loyalty and devotion, someone who is selfless and gracious. Someone like you.”

Calla thumbs the condensation on the glass of her fifth shot but doesn’t respond so I continue. “I’ve always thought you were more like grandma Ianthe, anyway. Poised and polite, the perfect child. Following in the footsteps of the woman who made the Grove what it is today.” I look quickly across the bar noticing that Ace is gone from his spot. I scan the crowd as quickly and discreetly as I can but I don’t see any of the guys.

“You shouldn’t want to be like mom, Cal. When the time comes, the Grove will need you. Not another her.”

Calla’s eyes are glossy with unshed tears, or maybe that’s the alcohol taking effect. Either way, she crushes me with a hug akin to a snake coiling around its next meal. I share my feelings so infrequently that on the rare occasion that I am coerced into vulnerable conversation I’m left feeling emotionally drained, and in need of a stiff drink.

My signal to one of the bartenders is thwarted by Ace who somehow snuck his way up behind me. “No drinking, Sol. Not until we know.” He whispers huskily in my ear. I don’t get the chance to ask him what we need to know because he sweeps his hand subtly over my lower belly before shifting me to the side of him.

“You must be Calla. Happy Birthday. Congratulations on your Centennial.” Ace says smoothly to my slack jawed sister. “Would you mind if I stole Solana from you?”

“Of course not,” she mewls when she stops drooling long enough to formulate full sentences. “We good, Sol?” She asks.

“We’re good,” I reply and allow Ace to lead me away from the bar and over to the center of the dance floor.