There was a shift in the air when he arrived.
Her teeth ached with need to sharpen, even as she kept still. She waited for
him to speak. His appearance was not unexpected. There had been whispers of his
return for months now. Lord Tenon Char had been released from his prison by calling
in markers nearly as old as time itself.
Playing with the stem of her blood filled
wine glass, she sighed. Men had no business in positions of power. They thought
with their cocks instead of their heads. It was all about their “manhood” and
honor. All she cared about was survival.
Honor was not capable of keeping one’s head
firmly attached to the rest of their body. Intellect and a keen sense of where
the wind would blow next. Her people trusted her to ensure they did not fall
when enemies came knocking on their door.
“You are still as beautiful as always.”
Riela took a sip of blood before standing.
He was as good as ever. She doubted her guards were aware of his presence
though she would have them reprimanded anyway. Tenon was a threat they should
be weary of. She’d have to call Talia and request stronger safe guards were
placed on them. He should never have been able to get on her land without
setting off the alarms put in place.
There had been a time, long ago, when she
would have burned the world just to see him. Tenon could have asked her to rip
her heart out of her chest and she would have done it. He meant that much to
her.
Eventually a time came when she would have
hid just at the mention of his name. When the sounds of his footsteps caused
uncontrollable tremors and his laughter brought flashbacks of pain. He was the
one who taught her sex and power were tools of a trade and nothing else.
It was late. The only light in her room came
from the fire she’d been sitting beside. Her thoughts on just how she should proceed
weighed on her shoulders. The Council was gathering and this time she’d
received an invitation to the exclusive meeting. Every leader had. Something
was brewing and it had the animals rattling their cages.
Her flawless chestnut brown skin glowed gold
beneath the red and orange tinge of the light. She was not wearing clothes. She
never did when she wasn’t in mixed company. The feel of it was just so
constricting.
They were born onto this world naked and
exposed… And from that moment on others pushed clothes as if it were a
necessary second skin. There was no part of her body, Tenon hadn’t seen or hurt
once upon a time. To cover up now would cede some of her power over to him.
“This is not a place you should be.”
Tenon stepped of the ledge of her window and
smiled at her words. He knew he wasn’t welcome, he just did not care. He did
what he wanted to who he wanted and everyone else just had to live with the
consequences.
“I want to propose an alliance.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“This is not a time to hold grudges.”
Riela laughed and circled her chair, “I am
not the one holding a grudge Tenon. I know where you have been. We all have.”
A thousand years he’d spend in that isolated
prison with his people. Locked away from the world he’d wanted to decimate and conquer
for his own. Who knew the shifters were capable of pulling together such a
concentrated amount of power?
Instead of learning from the very mistakes
that had led to his imprisonment. He would rush head first into another plot
for revenge. Dragging his people down that dark path right along with him.
“We were betrayed.”
“You were reckless,” Riela taunted.
The Chars had been used as a lesson. Attempt
to upset the balance between magic and mortals and be prepared to spend
eternity buried where none would ever find you. She did not love being told
what to do by the chattel, but she did know better than to try their hand.
Besides, she and her coven own seventy
percent of the blood distribution banks. Humans were a major source of her
wealth. That and the plasma substitute her scientist had cooked up fifty years
ago. Wiping them out and enslaving what was left would put a major dent in her
profit margin.
“This time there will be no council to stop
me.”
“Many things have changed since you were
imprisoned but the council has not. Try what you attempted to do before and
they won’t need a witch to bring you low. They will tear you and anyone who
helps you apart.”
And she would help them just to hear his
screams of pain. She could not think of a man she hated more than Tenon. No
amount of time would change it. He was a reminder of the weakness she had to
burn away.
The face of an angel surrounded by a halo of
platinum curls, he looked so deceptively sweet. His surface hid his twisted
nature. Though his eyes were finally starting to turn. She could see the perverse
darkness in his gaze.
“Not if I destroy them first.”
The Council could be a thorn in her side.
They were so protective of mortals. Always issuing threats when her people did
what came natural to them. There was nothing like the feeling of terror mixed
in with the blood. It was almost as much of an aphrodisiac as the taste of
stated lust.
But they also served a purpose. The Weres,
the elves, every magical being on this earth needed to be kept in balance. Not
for the sake of the mortals but for the sake of all magic. Allow one faction to
gain too much power over the others and there would be all out war.
“You could try.”
“I will succeed.”
Riela shrugged nonchalantly, her high firm
breast trembling from the movement. “If you are so sure of yourself. Why are
you here?”
“It is only a matter of minimizing
casualties. If we combined forces…”
“If we combined forces, you would betray me
the second the last of the council members bodies hit the floor.”
“Is it a betrayal if you expect from me,”
Tenon asked with a predatory smile.
His platinum blond hair reflected silver as
he took another step toward her. She did not step back. He would not intimidate
her. She was stronger now. More than capable of protecting herself.
“No one would join in an alliance with you,
Tenon. You are a marked man.”
“Do you bow to the dogs now?”
She ignored the taunt.
“Rejecting my offer is a mistake.” He said
as he took another step closer. He thought he was intimidating her by closing
the distance between them.
Instead she closed the distance and smiled.
“When the Council recaptures you, I will watch as they drown you in holy
water.”
Tenon scowled as she pointed toward the
window he’d come in through. “See yourself out before I call my guards.”
“If you are not my friend, you are my
enemy.”
Her fangs lengthened and her nail elongated
at the obvious threat. “I am not the same woman you abused and you are not the
powerful general you once were. Leave this place before I prove how weak you
truly are.”
Tenon looked stunned as she raised her hand
and scrapped the side of his face with a single nail slowly. Blood slipped from
the wound and down her finger. She’d questioned attending the summit before.
Unsure why she’d trouble herself with the affairs of shifters and mortals. But
he was planning something and Riela was curious to see it play out.
He jerked away from her and lifted an arm as
Riela slid her hand over his heart and tested the skin with her nails. “Before
that blow lands I will have your beating heart in my hand. Leave Tenon. Before
I finish you here and now.”
He’d made a mistake coming into her home
alone and now he knew it. He could see her threat was a real one. She was not
the whimpering fool she’d been for him.
Tenon left and she stared at the blank space
before her. Perhaps she could garner good will with the animals by informing
them their prisoner had indeed escaped. It never hurt to have friends in low places.
Jen A. Durand
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