Ollie, Ollie Hex 'n Free (9 page)

I transported to the side of the house and listened. Multiple sets of footsteps sounded from the porch. Either she already had them or she hadn’t come alone.

I looked around the corner of the house. A dark-haired woman followed Jessica inside, leaving two huge men standing sentry at the door. They were both well over six-feet, with thickly corded arms.

I willed myself invisible to the human eye and vaulted onto the porch. One by one they looked at me with inhuman eyes. I withdrew my sword from my holding, finding comfort in the weight and balance of the blade in my hand.

They moved with an ease that was unnatural for their size, but not particularly quick. The first one swiped his huge paw at me and I shifted, slicing through his wrist as easy as air. His hand landed at my feet with a thump, seconds before he howled. I buried my blade deep into his neck as the other one rushed me. I pushed off of the fallen man with my foot, pulling the blade free and burying it deep into the side of the other. In mere seconds the fight was over. I walked past the bodies and toward the door, confidence streaming through my veins—then my ear twitched. I whipped back around, just in time to see a giant fist crashing into my face.

“Kalan, welcome.” Cheney walked with me through his office door. “This is unexpected.”

Though his voice was pleasant and his face passive, I knew my husband. This wasn’t an unexpected visit. He had known this day was coming since Tahlik died. He had been waiting and preparing for this moment, when the threat was finally made. Cheney was relieved.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” Kalan held out his hand to me with a warm smile.

“Selene,” I said. His grip was firm and dry.

“It’s an absolute pleasure, your majesty.”

“Selene, please.”

He laughed. “I understand completely. You and I weren’t raised for titles, were we?”

“And yet you are running for Erlking. How can you stomach it?” Cheney asked dryly. “May I get you a drink?”

“Please.”

Cheney led me to the couch, then poured each of them a drink. Sitting next to me instead of in his usual chair, he looked at Kalan and waited. So the game began. I slipped my hand into Cheney’s.

Kalan stared at the violet liquid in his glass; it turned iridescent around the ice cubes. It was an elitist—and strategic—move on Cheney’s part. He was putting Kalan gently in his place. The drink itself was exorbitantly expensive, but that wasn’t the worst of it. It was made from all sorts of fermented flowers and plants, including an incredibly rare and poisonous flower that if handled incorrectly could turn the bottle of alcohol into the equivalent of arsenic. Cheney didn’t even like it, the bottle had been his father’s, and yet that was the drink he chose to serve them.

“Extraordinary,” Kalan muttered, shifting the glass so the ice moved and the colors swirled. Then he blinked and looked up at us as if he just remembered we were there. “It seems we have a problem that can’t be ignored,” he said, sitting the glass to the side without tasting it.

A slight smile curved Cheney’s lips. “Is that so?”

“It would seem that Selene’s past, recent and distant, have brought up questions.”

“I believe we settled that this morning. You were there.”

“The problem isn’t Selene’s”— he pursed his lips—“shall we say,
adventures.
It’s the fact that you have gone out of your way to hide them.”

“Is that so?” Cheney stated mildly.

Kalan looked at me. “How can either of you be trusted to rule, when you hide the truth from the people you represent?”

I took a deep breath. “Are you prepared to share every aspect of your personal life with every single fae and watch them overreact and cause panic, which might end in people getting hurt?” I splayed my fingers in front of me. “Would that be responsible?”

“What my wife is saying is that sometimes we have to make decisions for the good of everyone. Had we announced that the Pole of Charon was in the Abyss, what would have happened?”

“People would have been upset.”

Cheney shook his head. “No, people would have panicked, which is problematic enough—but we also would have alerted every single being—who might want to use it for their own purposes—that an instrument of tremendous power was in the Abyss.”

Kalan sighed. “There are only two acceptable outcomes for this election. Either I win or the two of you do. The other candidates would mean the fae races would break apart. People aren’t going to drop this subject just because you declared they should.”

“And you believe you can hold them together? You honestly believe the elves would follow a half elf?”

I started, feeling the jab he had only intended for Kalan. I was a half-elf too, damn it.

“They will follow Selene. They will follow me as well. My girlfriend is a full elf, just like you. And even if the elves won’t, all the other races will. The elves would weaken themselves if they broke away. I have faith they know that. I believe what you have been campaigning. I have lived it. Acceptance of all is the only way forward.”

“Then step aside and support us,” Cheney said.

“I almost did. I wanted to. At first I wasn’t sure you actually meant what you said. Then I wasn’t sure if you only believed this for your wife’s benefit. Then after the debate when you spoke just as passionately about equality even when she wasn’t in attendance, I intended to bow out. That was why I came this morning.”

“What stopped you?” I asked.

“The witch.” He frowned. “Her presence and your support of her this morning was unacceptable. I don’t know if you can win the election now, and frankly, the fact that you would not only bring someone dangerous into our world, but also give her the protection of the castle, tells me you aren’t the leaders we need.”

Cheney’s gold eyes churned as he looked at Kalan.

“Either you and Selene need to come completely clean with the fae about everything, as well as recommit to our people and send the witches away, or I will have no choice but to raise these issues publicly.”

“No,” Cheney said. “What makes you think they will believe anything you say?”

Kalan smiled. “I have a witness. Someone with inside information that would ruin you.”

Cheney stood up. “There is a third choice. I will not let you threaten me or my family. I will find and deal with the witnesses myself and leave you with nothing.”

“And what will you do with the witnesses?” Anger edged Kalan’s voice.

“Silence them,” Cheney said.

“I will not allow you to abuse your power for any reason. They speak what I believe to be the truth. I will protect them with my life.” Kalan stood, anger hardening the angles and hollows of his face.

“Stop,” I said, rubbing a dull pain on my chest just below my collarbone. “Sit down both of you. Cheney doesn’t mean he’s going to kill anyone, do you?” Cheney didn’t look at me so I kicked him. “Tell him.”

“No,” he said. “I hadn’t intended on assassinating anyone. But I am curious as to why your mind leaped in that direction. What does that say of you, Kalan?”

The baby kicked and squirmed and possibly used my bladder as a trampoline considering how suddenly and urgently I needed to use the bathroom. All of which made me irritable and left me with zero patience for male posturing. “Enough. Seriously. Okay, look, I don’t know what we are going to do, but if you have questions, Kalan, then ask them. We have nothing to hide.” I squirmed. “Just as soon as I get back from the restroom.”

I pushed myself up and waddled my way to the restroom. As much as I wanted to get this baby out of me, the idea still terrified me. Talking to Corbin made me feel a little better, but I still wasn’t convinced that she would come out normal. There was another sharp pain while I was washing my hands. I lifted my shirt up and looked at the spot, but there was nothing.

I made it a few feet down the hallway before there was another pain in the exact spot, but this time it was so intense I sank to my knees. Within seconds two guards were to me, helping me stand again even as I dug my fingernails into my palms. I took a few deep breaths and the pain was gone.

“Thanks, but I can walk. The baby is just very active today. Must have hit a nerve.” I pulled out of their grasps. They followed me closely, ready to catch me if I fell again. It’d be sweet if it wasn’t so annoying.

Cheney’s half-sister Lily had joined Kalan and Cheney by the time I got back to his office.

“Whoa,” Lily said looking at me. “You look uncomfortable.”

I smiled. At least she didn’t tell me I was glowing. “I am. When did you get here?”

“Just a moment ago.”

I took my seat on the couch and looked at Kalan with resignation. “Okay, what’s on your mind?”

“Did you really go to the Underworld? How and why?”

I nodded. “I did and Frost, the necromancer, was my ride. She touched me, but then held onto my spirit enough that she could pull me back out when my task was complete. I went because, well, it’s complicated—but it was life or death. It wasn’t an experience I would choose to repeat.”

His mouth fell open. “You’ve actually been to the underworld?”

“It’s not as friendly as it sounds. Any other questions?”

He nodded. “So many. What about plotting to kill the Erlking and Prince Cheney?”

Something very near a growl sounded in Cheney’s throat.

“It’s not quite as simple as that. No, I didn’t plot to kill them, but yes when I was young and naive I was misled by another half-elf to believe that we could bring about change through revolution. Part of the plan was getting close to Cheney, but then I fell in love with him and that changed everything. I was able to see where I had been wrong.”

“Something my father could never do,” Cheney added. “But none of what has happened really involved anyone other than the two of us. It has not taken away from our ability to rule.”

Kalan nodded. “I only have one more question. How many people have died because you brought the Pole of Charon here?”

His words hit me like a slap across the face. My hand actually rose to my cheek. “Too many.” It was the best answer I could give. I honestly didn’t know. We were still dealing with the ramifications of the pole being here. Its presence opened a gate for a demon to enter, it killed people in every race, and it probably did a lot more that I hadn’t seen, besides. Was the cost worth it to save my life? No, probably not. But would I do it again? As much as I would have liked the answer to be no, that wouldn’t be true. The truth was I would do it again. In a heartbeat. I was a survivor.

Kalan looked down at his hands, then stood and gave us a meaningful look. “I think the right path is clear. I will expect your resignation.”

Cheney laughed and Kalan’s frown deepened. “Why would we step down?”

“Because if you don’t, I will make my next move.”

“What’s that?” I asked. He probably wouldn’t tell me, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“I’ll petition to have the two of you put on trial for your crimes against the fae. By your own admission, people died because of you.” He gave me a sympathetic smile. “I don’t want to hurt you. You seem like an incredible woman who I would like to know better, I think.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it before leaving.

Cheney shook his head. “You admitted to treason, a trip to purgatory, and being an indirect cause of countless deaths and you’re the one he wants to know better.”

“It’s a gift,” I mumbled. “What are we going to do?” I couldn’t allow Cheney to be put on trial for my crimes.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

Lily crossed her legs beneath her. “So I take it the election is no longer going smoothly?”

“A bump in the road. We’ll recover,” Cheney told her with false confidence. “What brings you here?”

“Rumors. I wanted to tell you what I heard in the club last night, but I take it you already know.”

We looked at each other. Cheney was much better at politics than I was. I was good in person and one on one, but political maneuvers were second nature to him. “I think we need a prepared statement of some sort to slow Kalan down—one that preferably comes on the heels of capturing Jessica and that’s worded in such a way that we are protected, so none of this can be used against us. If we can do that, then I don’t think anyone will listen to Kalan or whoever his witness is.”

“So you need a miracle,” Lily said. “While I can’t do miracles, I could give you a bit of luck.”

“No,” I said quickly—possibly too quickly, actually. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the offer, but it wasn’t as easy as that. Lily could give temporary luck only by taking whatever luck you already possessed away for a time. Her ability made her casino the perfect business for her, but we couldn’t chance any negative energy right now. Not with the baby arriving any day.