Chapter Two
Blaire punched in the code to her family’s mansion and kept her head down as lights flashed outside of her car in an effort to catch even a glimpse of her face through the window. She growled low in her throat at the paparazzi and yanked the hood of her black sweater up over her head. As soon as the gates opened wide enough she revved her engine and her car ripped up the driveway.
Blaire sent a flash of sizzling lightning across the gates to warn the civilians of the consequences should they decide to venture closer. Just on the off chance that the guards surrounding the entire property palming automatic rifles weren’t enough to keep the onlookers at bay. Blaire weaved up the driveway to the mansion sitting on the top of a hill surrounded on all sides by walls of stone that rose fifteen feet high.
She parked her car in the driveway and slid out of the sleek black vehicle with tinted windows. The sprawling fortress before her was so big that she had to turn her head fully to see both ends. It was completely unnecessary for a family of five, especially since neither she nor her younger brother lived at home anymore. Her mother and father inhabited this goliath of a house with only her little sister.
But so were the perks of having a daughter in the Aequitas.
They could afford all the luxuries of the world that she paid for with blood.
Blaire rapped on the front door and had to wait for only a moment until the butler swung it wide. His eyes widened for a flash to see her standing on the front step before his weathered features resettled into polite indifference.
It really hadn’t been that long since she’d last visited…had it?
“Hello, Cyrus.” Blaire nodded in acknowledgment as she stepped inside.
The old butler dipped his head in respect but did not dare speak to her. Blaire had always been polite but she suspected his continuous silence toward her was evidence of his fear. But whether he was afraid of her or of the female to which Blaire reported she couldn’t be certain.
She pushed thoughts of the butler out of her head and strolled through the halls of the mansion until she reached the kitchen. It smelled delicious even before she stepped inside the cavernous room lined with rustic stone and wide windows that displayed the rolling fields beyond the house. The wall around the property was little more than a smudge on the horizon in the distance.
“Blaire!” A screech echoed throughout the kitchen, drawing her gaze toward the small bundle sprinting toward her. Blaire let a genuine smile cascade across her lips as she bent to pick up her little sister. The grin felt foreign on her face but it didn’t make it any less real.
Kaia was stunningly beautiful even at such a young age. Her skin had a perfect burnished mocha complexion that offset her white teeth always shining in a smile. Wide grey eyes that were twin to Blaire’s own shone with affection for her older sister. Kaia twined her tiny fist in Blaire’s thick hair that waved down her back looser than her little sister’s tight black ringlets.
“Hello.” Blaire cooed at her mini-me before placing a kiss on the crown of her head. Kaia wrapped her arms around her sister’s neck and pressed their cheeks together until Blaire laughed.
When she looked up her mother and father were standing before her looking ecstatic to see their daughter.
Blaire’s stomach roiled.
It always made her feel nauseous to visit her family and see their innocent faces while she knew that their lives were bought with the suffering of the Divinity’s enemies. Every privilege and every safety they took for granted was because of the mask Blaire slipped on day after day to fight the evil that dwelled in Rithoria. After which she had to come home and pretend she wasn’t a living, breathing weapon at the end of a leash.
Sometimes she forgot in which reality she wore the mask. It was getting harder to tell whether her disguise was that of a bloodletting warrior or a smiling daughter.
Thoughts like this often came to her when she was falling asleep at night and made it that much more difficult to wake up in the morning.
“Mother, father.” Blaire shook her head to clear her mind and leaned in to kiss her parents on the cheek. Her mother had skin that was a few shades darker than her children’s thanks to the fair hue of Blaire’s father’s complexion. But it was like looking into a mirror when Blaire made eye contact with her mom to see sparkling granite eyes staring back at her.
“Come!” Her mother ushered her over to the kitchen table where food was already splayed out. Blaire swept her eyes over the spread and her arms tightened around her sister accidentally. Kaia squeaked in protest and wiggled until Blaire released the five-year old.
Something was happening.
The way her mother bustled around the kitchen and her father grinned with pride…. Her parents had said they had something to tell her over the phone when they had called earlier but Blaire had dismissed the statement as unimportant. They could have been referring to anything but now she wasn’t so sure. Her mother was avoiding Blaire’s gaze the way she always did when she didn’t want to spill a secret and even Kaia was vibrating with excitement.
“What’s going on?” Blaire was instantly weary as she scanned every corner of the room and the muscles in her shoulders bunched. The exits were clear and nothing appeared out of place since the last time she had been here. A spark flickered across Blaire’s knuckles and Kaia stared at her hand with wide-eyes still amazed after five years at the lightning that sang in her sister’s blood.
Blaire’s father waved her off. “Relax, we’re just waiting for – ”
“Me.”
Blaire’s eyes slashed to the door of the kitchen and shock froze her system to see her younger brother leaning against the doorway. Cassius folded his arms across his chest and smirked at her with all the arrogance of a cocky eighteen year old. Blaire ran her eyes over every inch of him instinctively searching for any sign of harm. But all her assessment yielded was a poignant sense of self-satisfaction that seemed to drip from her brother like an aura.
Blaire wrinkled her nose.
Her mother set another plate of food down in front of her but Blaire barely looked at it. She clashed eyes with her brother and the tension in the air was immediate. Her lightning flared up and the scent of ether rose from her skin like an early morning haze clinging to the surface of a lake. Cassius clocked Blaire’s narrowed eyes and he grinned in a way that looked more like baring his teeth.
“What is going on? Why are you here?” Blaire demanded sharply. Her voice pulled tight with authority. Her mother and father stilled at the chilly dominion of her tone but Blaire was focused on her younger sibling. Kaia looked nervously between her brother and sister.
Cassius, on the other hand, snorted.
He pushed off from the doorway and swaggered over to the table as if he knew his bored gait would irritate Blaire all the more. Her brother leaned forward and plucked a couple grapes from the bowl in the center of the table. Blaire grit her teeth as he plopped them in his mouth and chewed slowly. No other member of her family spoke and Blaire knew they would wait for Cassius to break the silence.
Blaire was certain her eyes were probably glowing with rage by the time her brother swallowed and licked his lips.
“We wanted to surprise you, Blaire.” Cassius threw himself down in the chair at the head of the table and leaned back with his head propped on one folded arm. His smile was feline and Blaire knew he had learned it from her.
“I hate surprises.” She tried to keep her voice neutral but couldn’t stop the irritation from seeping through.
Cassius’s stare sharpened. “I know.”
Blaire threw an impatient look in her parents’ direction. “I didn’t come here to play games. I have important things to do.”
Her brother sneered. “Of course you do. Sorry to drag you away from the esteemed work of the Court of Justice.”
The siblings glowered at each other in a way that made Blaire feel like she was fifteen again instead of twenty-five. Her mother blew out a breath.
“Oh, just tell her already Cassius and put her out of the suspense.”
Blaire’s brother pushed his chair off the ground so that he rocked back on the two back legs and his smile softened from cocky to slightly hesitant, probably against his knowledge.
“You know I was selected to train and hone my abilities in one of the best camps in Rithoria.” Cassius started slowly with his gaze fixed firmly on Blaire. A crease began to appear between her eyebrows as she wondered where this was heading.
In her family only Cassius and she possessed any ability at all.
At a young age it was discovered that Blaire had a unique gift to harness lightning and summon storms that could shatter the earth. That had snagged the attention of the Divinity, ruler of their cherished nation and it had changed her family’s life forever. When it was discovered a few years later that Cassius also possessed an ability it was to the family’s eternal delight but his path had curved in a slightly different direction than Blaire’s.
The way Rithoria and most of the other nations worked was when someone was found to be gifted he or she was sent to one of numerous camps to train and master their skills until they were deigned worthy. From there they served their rulers as warriors of the land and devote their lives to their nation. It was one of the most honourable professions a citizen could be born to fulfill and so few were gifted enough to have the opportunity. There was almost no greater prestige….
It was second only to being chosen as a member of the Aequitas.
These elite champions were selected and favoured by the Divinity herself. They were trained not in camps but by tutors that held the knowledge of the world and were destined to serve the Divinity herself as spies, assassins, peacekeepers or whatever was necessary.
The Aequitas reigned as the Goddess’s Court of Justice.
“I know.” Blaire responded to her brother as her eyes flickered over her family’s faces while she waited.
Cassius sucked in a breath and suddenly he looked nervous. That offset Blaire more than his arrogance. “Well, today her Divinity sent a message to the family that I have been selected to attend a special training camp for Rithoria’s most promising prodigies. She intends to groom me for the next generation of elite warriors. She would oversee my progress directly.”
For some reason icy fear settled in Blair’s stomach. All she could do was stare blankly into her brother’s hopeful eyes as dread pooled under her skin like spreading venom.
“No.” That was all she said.
An expression like a storm passed over Cassius’s face.
Their father stepped forward with a confused expression written into his features. “But Blaire this is great news. We thought you would be happy your brother is following in your footsteps and may one day be favoured by the Divinity.”
But Cassius was sneering now. “Somehow you still manage to surprise me with your selfishness.”
Blaire was still reeling so she let that comment slide off her with barely a blink. She stood up from the table and planted both palms on the wood as she leaned over her brother where he was tilted back in his chair. The lights in the room flickered as sparks danced up her arms and Kaia stepped behind their mother’s legs.
“You are telling me that the Goddess of the Night, Ruler of Shadow has recruited you specifically to join some special training camp?” Blaire couldn’t stop the disbelief from lacing her words and her brother flinched like she’d struck him.
“Yes.” He spat between clenched teeth.
“Nyx wants you.” Blaire’s elbows almost gave out as that icy feeling started to spread from the pit of her stomach to her extremities. Her mother gasped and covered her sister’s ears as Blaire murmured the Goddess’s name. It was considered blasphemous to speak the Goddess of Shadow’s real name, even though she wasn’t actually a divinity. Nyx was no more a goddess than Blaire was but she was still one of the most powerful beings to ever walk the earth.
And she had noticed Blaire’s younger brother.
“No.” It was the only thing she seemed able to say.
The front legs of Cassius’s chair slammed on the floor as he stood up too and towered over Blaire. She blinked up at her brother in surprise. When had he gotten taller than her?
“You think you’re so special because you’re one of the Aequitas but are you really so egotistical that the thought of the Divinity noticing anyone but you is abhorrent?” Her brother’s voice cracked with rage. Blaire’s face twisted at his words.
“I’ve never even heard of this special camp for prodigal warriors. As far as I know it doesn’t exist but if it did then why wouldn’t the Aequitas have heard about it? Why would the Divinity not tell me she was interested in recruiting my brother?”
These questions raced through her mind and she spoke them as they passed.
It was her mother that answered her question. “The letter said that the camp was covert and was utilized for exceptional purposes. Only the families of those invited know that it exists.” She whispered.
Something about those words set of alarm bells in Blaire’s mind.
“Exceptional purposes?” She repeated and shook her head. “What could those possibly be that I hadn’t heard of before?”
Cassius slammed his hand on the table. “Have you ever considered that the Goddess doesn’t tell you every fucking thing she does? You may be the blade she uses to kill her enemies but that’s not all it takes to run a nation.”
Their mother picked up Kaia when she started crying and walked out of the room.
“Language.” Her father growled at her brother but he didn’t dare get in between his two volatile children.
“You think I don’t know better than you what it takes to run this nation?” Blaire snapped as her temper started to fray. Her blood hummed with electricity.
Cassius sat in his chair again and balanced precariously on the back legs. He stared hatefully at his sister. “You’ve always been the chosen one, I get it. You and the eight other assholes that hold more power in their pinkie than this whole city has combined. But I have a chance to be something too and your narcissism isn’t going to stop that.”
“This isn’t about me.” Blaire clenched her jaw together tightly as sweeping dread washed over her.
“Bullshit.” Cassius flicked his wrist in dismissal. “Everything is about you.”
She’d approached this all wrong. Now Cassius would never listen when her disapproval was all he needed to solidify his resolve. But something about this invitation made the hair rise on the back of Blaire’s neck. If only because she knew better than most what fate had in store for those favoured by the Goddess of Night.
She’d been living the nightmare for almost her entire life.
Blaire threw her head back and laughed a cruel sound. “And now the truth comes out.”
Her brother smirked. “It’s always been the truth you’ve just never taken your head out of your ass for long enough to listen.”
In an instant, Blaire’s temper snapped completely. She hooked her foot around the front leg of her brother’s chair and twisted it out from under him. Cassius went crashing to the ground with a shout but he didn’t have time to reorient himself before Blaire had pinned him to the floor. Her face was alarmingly blank as she wrapped a hand around her brother’s throat.
“Blaire!” Her father’s plea was drowned out by the darkness surging to the surface of her mind. It was the same darkness she battled everyday to keep at bay until she was ordered to unleash it on enemies whose faces she never forgot no matter how many victims she added to her list.
Blaire leaned down to whisper in her brother’s ear as he struggled beneath her and panted through his teeth with resentment. “Do not accept that invitation. Do not do anything else to warrant the Divinity’s attention. If I find out you went to that camp, I will raze it to the ground.”
Cassius screamed and lightning flared around the siblings but it wasn’t Blaire that called the crackling embers from her blood. She gasped as her little brother gripped her wrists and drew her power as easily as a battery drew charge. Blaire’s father dove for cover as lightning streaked through the room and left scorching patterns of black across every surface it touched. Ether burned the air between the siblings.
Blaire snatched her hands away from Cassius.
Her brother was breathing heavily where he lay on the ground staring up at the ceiling. His eyes shone with violent tears but Blaire just rose to her feet. She refused to look too deeply into the void that was yawning within her because she wasn’t sorry.
She stepped over her brother, having already said her piece. Blaire stopped for only a moment on the way out of the kitchen to make sure her father was alive. When she saw him staring back at her with horrified eyes she simply turned away.
“If Cassius goes to that camp I will blame you.” She told her father as goodbye.
Blaire let herself out of the house, unable to face her mother and little sister after the outburst in the kitchen. It wasn’t completely her fault that she had left the place smoking behind her, since Cassius had been the one to borrow her power. He had the ability to share any individual’s gift as long as he was making physical contact with their skin. But as Blaire got into her car and stared through the windshield at the mansion before her she vowed to keep her family at a distance from now on.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep the monster under her skin.
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