Chapter Twenty One

**Rory’s POV**
I attuned my ears to the surrounding sounds to make sure that nobody was near before knocking softly on the large oak door before me. Not that I was doing anything wrong. We had just chosen not to announce the fact that the Queen and King Bastion’s mate bond was broken. As it stood, only close family and friends were aware, and none of us were planning on changing that. My ears caught on to the pitter patter of socked feet on hardwood headed towards the door, and Jesse’s heartbeat sounded in sync with it.
In seconds, the door was creaked open, the wooden moon emblem on the door swaying with the motion. Jesse peeked out, his reading glasses fallen to the bridge of his nose.
“Oh, King Rory. It’s you. Come in.” He said politely, widening the gap for me to enter. He had always treated me with the utmost respect, and I wondered if it was my status as King or the fact that I was a supernatural that made him that way. Regardless, I appreciated his kindness. He was one of the few people on our court that I felt completely comfortable being myself around, and that was saying something.
I glanced around at our chapel, otherwise known as Jesse’s office. The back wall housed a lit display of each phase of the moon set on bright white argon filled glass bases. This almost gave off an eclipse effect, with the moon faces being the darkened shade rather than the light. Honestly, it was a goth’s dream decoration, and made the room feel a hundred times more creepy.
In place of pews were rows of armchairs, their deep crimson shade complimenting the black runner of the aisle. The side walls which were once white were no longer recognizable as such, seeing as they were covered in floor to ceiling books, most of which I was pretty sure were fiction depictions of our species instead of actual historical accounts.
In order to confirm my suspicions, I took long strides over to the right casing, scanning the titles until one caught my eye. A deep chuckle left my lips before I could control it. I pulled it off the shelf, flipping it open and smirking at the mocking pages.
“Interesting choice.” I poked, hearing the blood rush to his face as he sat at his desk.
“It’s important to research human perspective and lore as well.” He claimed weakly, stretching out the collar of his t-shirt to get better flow.
“Mm. Maybe, but I think they really missed the mark here. I hardly sparkle in the sunlight.” He laughed at my point, raising one of his own.
“True, but they got some things right. You’re strong, fast, and draw in women like moths to a flame. Also, her depiction of the wolves being native Americans was pretty clever. I’m not half convinced she didn’t have insider knowledge.” He shrugged, picking up his pen and tapping it against his lips.
I cringed at his assessment. Romance writers always liked depicting our kind as these mysterious and sexy tortured souls who just want to find love. I was sure that most humans would be sorely disappointed to know that we were just businessmen in Sin City who liked making money, smoking expensive cigars, and getting laid. It was leagues away from a story book setting, and much more boring.
I unbuttoned my left sleeve, rolling it up when I felt the heat of the chapel getting to me.
“You sure keep it hot in here.” I complained subtly, following with my right, but he only shrugged, hiding his smile behind a hum.
“Yea, well, the mansion is always freezing. Its winter, you know. I shouldn’t have to wear a coat inside.” Behind his snarky remark was a playful undertone. That’s why I enjoyed spending time with the guy. He was like a dulled out version of Dylan, without all of the promiscuity.
“I won’t complain anymore.” I promised, holding my hands up in surrender after replacing the book. “Did you happen to get in contact with the Moon Goddess?” His sunken face told me all that I needed to know.
“No, I’m sorry. She keeps saying that she’ll contact me when ‘the time is right’, but I never end up hearing a peep. Lord Lysander on the other hand…” An involuntary snarl left my lips at the mention of the bastard’s name.
“He’s been talking to you? About what?” I demanded to know, a bad feeling making its way across my chest and taking a deathly hold on my lungs.
“He informed me about his, um, transfer of power. In detail.” His nose scrunched up and his face burned with embarrassment. I ran my hand down the front of my face in utter frustration.
“Did he tell you that the dick had us bound and gagged as we watched him shove his tongue down her throat? I swear, I thought I was going to have a fucking coronary.” He bit his cheek, clearly trying not to laugh at my obvious exaggeration. “Is he always like that?”
He nodded, scribbling some words down before answering verbally. “Judging from a mix of personal experience as well as witness accounts, The Sanguine One has always been a bit of a rowdy god. He likes to provoke people. The guys got a knack for getting under peoples skin, exploiting their weaknesses so he can strike most effectively. Sure, he can be… challenging. But honestly, that’s what makes him so potent. The man can talk his way in and out of anything he wants. His power is in his words.”
Everything he said lined up perfectly with what I had witnessed so far of the mischievous god. I considered Aria’s defense of him more carefully. She said that he was trustworthy, but not necessarily likeable. In other words, he’ll have your back, but he’ll fuck with you while he’s at it. Something about that didn’t sit well with me. I would honestly rather ditch the attitude and have a god I could fully respect.
“Honestly, I’m surprised he revealed himself to you at all. The guy is crazy secretive. Aria must really have his favor to have been able to talk him into something like that.”
“Ugh, please, don’t say shit like that. I’m still not convinced the guy isn’t into her. Speaking of, does he have any history of having relationships with mortals?” Instead of looking at me like I was crazy, he stood from his desk, crossing to the bookshelf beside me and reaching high to grab a large encyclopedia looking book. He flipped it to the center, turning over a few more pages before landing on an ancient looking drawing of a man that somewhat resembled the Lord and an attractive young woman.
“Anica Joan. Vampire, 1652 AD. She grew up in present day Pittsburgh. Rumor says that she was scheduled to be hung for witchcraft, but Lord Lysander saved her by burning the town to the ground instead.”
“Damn.”
“Yea, that’s not all. Apparently, after the ordeal, she ended up running off with his father in exchange for immortality.” I nearly choked on thin air.
“The Dark King? That father?” He nodded, turning a page and angling the book so I could get a good view of the same woman, looking much more exposed, hanging on the arms of a dark haired man with glowing white eyes. He had on old English attire, and his hair was tied, cascading down his back flawlessly.
“So what happened to her?”
“Don’t know. Nothing is said about her following the imprisonment of her lover. Some speculate that she was murdered by Lord Lysander himself, while some say she was locked away with the King. It’s a shot in the dark, really. But, all of that is just hearsay. An old rumor. Hell, she might not have ever existed at all. I sure as heck won’t be asking the Lord about it. If it is true, he’d have my ass for bringing it up.” He shivered at the thought, placing the book back on the shelf with utmost gentleness.
“The story was fascinating, but it didn’t help me much, you know.” I groaned, making my way to the armchair directly in front of his desk and pulling out two cigars, a zippo, and a cutter.
“Why were you asking, anyway?” He asked innocently, taking my offer and biting down on the tip as I held the light for him. A few puffs and the poor kid just about coughed a lung out, but he didn’t stop. He just waited until his breathing was under control and continued to enjoy it like a fine wine.
“I wanted to know if it was possible for him to fall in love with Aria. I wasn’t sure if the gods were capable of that sort of thing.” I took three short puffs of the cigar, letting the hot smoke relax me.
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. The Lord has had plenty of sexual partners without ever falling in love. He’s the Lord of Vampires after all.” My eyes flashed red and his widened. “Shit, that’s not what I meant. I don’t think that they’re having sex or anything. Honestly, Aria isn’t that type of girl. If anyone could refuse the Lord’s advances, it would be her, for sure. In fact, I know for certain that she does it on a regular basis. He whines about it constantly. But I do think he genuinely cares for her. Not in a romantic sense, but in more of a mentor sense I guess. He was livid at Brett for-“ He just about swallowed his cigar with how quick he inhaled. I chuckled, shaking my head.
“Jesse, remind me to never tell you my secrets. You do a piss poor job at keeping them.” I teased, flicking my ashes into the tray on his desk. He flushed, face-palming.
“Thank the gods you knew. Aria would’ve killed me for that. I swear, I’m usually better than this. I’ve just been all out of sorts lately.”
“If you had caught me this morning, I wouldn’t have known. Good thing I only see you in the evenings, otherwise I would’ve been cleaning your blood off all these nice erotic novels.” His face blanched, and I let out a bellowing laugh. “Teasing, calm down. What’s got you so worked up?” The blood rushed back to his face with force, filling every vessel and making him look like a ripe tomato. “Ah, a woman.”
He stood, his palms making contact with the hard wooden top of his desk. “Not just a woman. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen! She just appeared here yesterday and I thought I’d seen an angel. The girl was stunning, but I think she’s another one of Dylan’s vampire mistresses.” He slunk back into his chair, his shoulders hung in defeat.
Wait.
“Was this girl thin, short, and blonde? Big brown eyes?” His eyes widened.
“You know her?”
Oh, I was about to make his day. I bit my cheek to hide my grin.
“She’s not Dylan’s mistress. Nor is she vampire. She’s human.” His jaw went slack and he started bouncing his leg under the desk. Geez, it was as if I told him that he won the lottery. After almost thirty seconds of him biting his lip and staring intently at the stack of papers in front of him, I snapped my fingers, making him jump.
“Oh, sorry, did I zone out?” He asked timidly.
“More like you died and went to heaven. Calm down. I can’t hear my own heartbeat over the sound of yours. Do you want me to introduce you two? Her name is Alex.” His eyes lit up and he smiled at me with newfound joy.
“Alex. Is that short for something?” I shook my head, blowing plumes of smoke from my lips.
“Sounds like a question for her.”