Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale (MxM)

Chapter 13: The fumbled Meeting. [Edited]

Cassandra Pope.

The trees outside my bedroom window started shedding their crimson, leafy coats, announcing the start of autumn. Since my brief meeting with councilor Vance, I waited anxiously for any word from him. But to date, he has not replied or attempted to reach out to me. Who was I kidding? Why would he even entertain the idea of meeting with me? I was such a fool.

I lied on my bed working through stacks of paperwork my dimwitted brother threw on my lap. Goddess! Did he do anything except slither around after my father all day long? I guessed so with all the work I had to handle on his behalf. And no doubt, as the sun rose in the east, he would try to take credit for all of my arduous work. Not that I wanted my father's praise, not at all! It had been a long time since I had cared anything for him, except to plunge a dagger in his throat and to see him slowly drown in his blood.

The subtle rustle of a page turning drew my attention to the beauty who sat on a chair reflected in the mirror. The real chair was vacant, but its reflection wasn't. I had placed the mirror in the proper place so that I could see her from my bed. A book I bought for her levitated in front of the mirror. I also enchanted it, flipping automatically when she uttered a command to turn a page. She was currently reading one of her favorite books, a soppy love story. My heart tightened in my chest. She would never fall in love again. My brother never courted her. My father and Aveny's family had arranged their marriage to strengthen alliances between her family, the Blackthorns, and mine. It was a common occurrence amongst high-ranking magical families and she did what any dutiful daughter would do, she went along with it.

From the get go, my brother was smitten with her, but she did not reciprocate his feelings. They never slept together other than to sire an heir, their one and only child, Alex. She told me once that she hated every single moment of her marriage to him and the times they appeared in public acting all lovey-dovey made her skin crawl. I asked her once why she stayed if she was unhappy. She then answered that she did it for her father. Her words made me mad. Not at her, but at her father.

Mr. Blackthorn wasn't a cruel man. It was actually the opposite. But the Blackthorns, as well as I, knew that you didn't act against my father's wishes. I never found out what type of leverage my father held over the man who ended up offering his daughter as a sacrificial mouse to a venomous snake. Mr. Blackthorn was, after all, an Elder with enough political power to obliterate my father. So why would he have agreed to the union?

"So? Are you enjoying yourself?" I asked, coming up for air from my thoughts.

Her heavenly blue eyes softened when she looked at me. A small smile crept across her face when she pulled a few strands of hair out of her face. "I am. Thank you very much for getting the book for me."

"No thanks needed." I smiled as I hopped off the bed. "I was no big deal. If you need anything—"

A chime on my cellphone interrupted me. I picked up the damn thing and read the message that flashed across the screen.

"What's the matter? Your scowl's going to ruin that beautiful face of yours," she said.

My mouth dried up immediately while my heart froze at her words. My eyes darted at her as she giggled. Goddess! She had an amazing laugh I wanted to record and play to my heart's content.

I quickly calmed down and said, "I've been waiting for the councilor to take me up on my offer to meet me but that's too much of a leap of faith. Now I'll have to take the plunge and go meet him. One of my agents had just updated me on Vance's location." I walked over to my walk-in closet and retrieved a blood-red evening gown and matching high heels. "It seems I'll be dining out tonight."