Noble Born (Half-Blood Chronicles #2) (The Half-Blood Chronicles) Read online

  Tyrus said something about seeing me at the next meeting, but I barely heard it.

  They were already talking even as the door closed behind me.

  Chapter 3

  I’d barely taken two steps down the hall when I felt someone come up beside me.

  Sydney.

  She fell in step beside me. “How’d the meeting go?”

  I didn’t want company. In fact, I’d been hoping to make a beeline straight for my room.

  Maybe Syd already knew that. How long had she been waiting here, anyway?

  “Fine,” I said.

  “That bad, huh?” She was chewing gum, and it cracked loudly.

  I nearly asked her how she’d gotten the gum. It wasn’t something you found within the borders of Pax. You had to go off the island for that.

  “What do they talk about in there, anyway? Magic stuff? Wait, no, it’s the jerks with the tattoos. Blood Right?”

  I shrugged. We’d had this conversation before. And I knew that wasn’t why she was here.

  In fact, I was pretty sure I knew exactly why she was here.

  “How about that hot guy? Was he there?”

  I stared blankly.

  “You know. Dark hair. Come-hither eyes. Obvious anger issues.”

  Ugh. Kynan. “Are you talking about House Karpathos?”

  She laughed. “Ooh, I love it when you say it like that. Fucking weird. But hot.”

  “You probably shouldn’t get involved with guys here.”

  “Why not?”

  “For one thing? You never know when they’re going to turn out to be two hundred years old.”

  She pursed her lips and tapped her chin with a manicured finger. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

  “They come with a lot of baggage.”

  She shot me a sidelong look. Even in the dim light of the stone corridor, I saw a dangerous glint in her eye. “Don’t we all.”

  We walked in silence for a few minutes. I waited for her to ask the question.

  “Did they say anything about my dad?”

  Though I’d known it was coming, I felt a familiar lurch in my stomach. Maybe it was because I had daddy issues of my own. “No,” I said at last.

  When Dr. Sotheby had first disappeared from Pax, there had been a flurry of discussion. No one knew where he’d gone—or, more importantly, why.

  It wasn’t uncommon. Pax had been hemorrhaging people since the beginning.

  But not Council Members. And Dr. Sotheby had, over the past six months, grown to be a fixture on the Council. Tyrus’s right-hand man.

  At least until he disappeared.

  That was two weeks ago. By now, everyone believed the worst.

  Syd said quietly, “They think he’s a traitor, don’t they? They think he went to Blood Right.”

  “They don’t know where he went.”

  She shot me a hard smile. “You always were a shitty liar, Kes.”

  I couldn’t say anything to that. We both knew the truth—of course that was what the Council thought.

  But I wasn’t supposed to divulge that information to people outside the Council. Especially Sydney.

  I suspected there had been more meetings about Dr. Sotheby’s mysterious departure. Ones I hadn’t been invited to.

  We kept walking. The corridors here seemed to stretch endlessly. It was a long walk from the old Council chamber to the Domestic Quarters.

  “They don’t tell me everything,” I admitted. “I don’t think they trust me entirely.”

  She looked thoughtful. “Because of me?”

  I glanced at her, surprised. Then I chided myself. Sydney had always understood these political things better than me.

  And the thought had crossed my mind.

  Syd had been tainted after her father’s departure. And now so had I.

  Abruptly, her mood changed.

  “What about your boyfriend?” Her voice was sing-song.

  I marveled at how she could simply shut off that part of her that was worried about her father—compartmentalize it and move on. It was a skill I could have used.

  I raised an eyebrow—but I knew exactly who she was talking about.

  “He’s visiting soon, isn’t he?”

  I nodded.

  “You don’t look happy about it.”

  “I’m not—we’re not—”

  But it was useless to argue with Sydney about Sol. She had insisted on calling him my boyfriend ever since I’d filled her in on our extremely confusing relationship. If you could even call it that.

  My stomach twisted at the thought of his next visit. The last time I’d seen him—nearly two months ago—things hadn’t gone well.

  They never go well, I reminded myself. You play Diplomatic Liaison and he smiles and nods and then goes back to Outlaw City. And nothing ever changes.

  “Does he still want you to go live with him?”

  “What? No, he never said—” I was already regretting confiding in her.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “It’s not like that,” I insisted, my cheeks burning.

  “Sure it is.” She snapped her gum, and it echoed loudly. “Jesus, Kes, it’s not rocket science. You like him. He likes you. But you chose to stay here and live with these dress-wearing freaks instead of in his outlaw palace or whatever.”

  I grinned. “He doesn’t live in a palace. It’s more of a tower.”

  But her words had stirred up all of my uncertainties.

  Was it really as simple as she said? I knew I cared about him. But lately I couldn’t banish the feeling that he was hiding something from me.

  “Whatever. You should be with him. I mean, what are you even doing here?”

  I bristled. “I’m working with the Council of Pax. I’m the Diplomatic Liaison—”

  “—To Outlaw City. Which, as far as I can tell, has, like, zero interest in diplomat-ing with you.”

  “You don’t understand. These things take time. There are complicated issues. It doesn’t mean—”

  What? That I was useless?

  That last visit, he had basically admitted as much. He’s just humoring you.

  I thought of the Council meeting. Maybe everyone was.

  “He saved your life, didn’t he?”

  I frowned distractedly. “Who?”

  “Sol.”

  I nodded. “Several times.” So many that I’d stopped counting, actually.

  “And he wants you to go live with him in Outlaw City—”

  “Not with him.”

  She sighed. “Fine. Whatever. He wants you to be there.”

  “I guess.”

  She gave me an exasperated look. Like I was missing a monumentally obvious point. “So why are you pushing him away?”

  “I’m not.”

  Okay, so maybe I was. Or at least holding him at a distance.

  I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  Syd shot me a look, and I thought she would snap at me. When she first came to Pax, she’d had a tendency to get mad whenever I implied that there was something I knew that she didn’t.

  It must have been hard for her. The only human in a secret magical compound. The only non-special person in a castle full of special people.

  That was back in January. Now we were well into July, though I’d lost track of the exact date. That tended to happen in a place like Pax.

  But she wasn’t angry. Her face was open, earnest. “You don’t get it, do you? You have to learn to trust people. I mean, once in awhile.”

  I stared, unsure of what to say.

  She sighed. “What does this guy have to do to earn your trust, anyway?”

  We had come to a small indoor courtyard. The ceiling soared high above the stone space, and weak light filtered down from a skylight.

  The hall ahead split off to the different sections of the Domestic Quarters.

  Syd said, “Off to the servants’ quarters.”

  I smiled weakly. She’d been making that joke ever since she’d come to see the palatial quarters I’d inherited from one of the old Council members.

  Syd had been placed in a much smaller apartment. Though to be fair, it was still much nicer than your average college dorm.

  “Dinner in the Cafeteria? Around six?”

  I laughed. “They don’t call it that.”

  “I know. But my life sucks enough as it is. I’m not going to learn Latin, too.”

  “Sure.” I wondered what kind of offerings there would be for dinner. The menu had grown increasingly spartan as more and more of the kitchen staff abandoned Pax.

  I wouldn’t have been surprised if we showed up one night to find that we were going to have Ramen noodles for dinner.

  She sighed. “College would have been better. I don’t know why my dad brought me here.”

  “It’s safer.”

  She looked like she wanted to argue with that. But she only shrugged. “See you in the Caf.”

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, I went for my usual walk—not outside, but far above the Domestic Quarters, on a stone walkway that encircled the entire place.

  Usually I was alone, but today I was expecting company.

  Four days had passed since the Council meeting, and the Strongholds were due to arrive tomorrow. And while I’d done everything I could to push it out of my mind, the whole thing was bothering me.

  Which was why I was going to bring it up with Tyrus—as soon as he showed up.

  The Upper Walkway was the closest you could get to being outside while safely inside the walls of Pax. High windows flooded the walkway with sunlight. It was the only place in all of Pax that didn’t feel dark and enclosed.

  One side overlooked the Common Areas of the Domestic Quarters, including the Tri
cliniaria—or Cafeteria, as Syd insisted on calling it.

  I had tried walking outside. But the grounds of Pax were thick and wild, and forging a path was nearly impossible. And sunlight never seemed to penetrate the thick foliage. Up here, at least I could feel the sun on my face.

  I glanced over the edge of the walkway. Usually I would see at least a few people bustling around the Common Areas—sometimes the Null servants preparing for breakfast.

  Today, I didn’t see a single person.

  Well, Tyrus would prefer that. I got the sense that he would have rather held our weekly chats in his office—or at least somewhere that wasn’t quite so out in the open. But he still showed up every Friday morning as I made my daily walk.

  Speaking of which…

  Where is he?

  Usually, by the time I finished my first lap I would see Tyrus jogging from the opposite direction. Today he was late.

  It doesn’t mean anything. But I kept flashing back to the last Council meeting.

  Face it. You don’t have any real influence on the Council. You serve at Tyrus’s pleasure.

  Of course, it had to be that way. The currency of power among the Aristoi was magic. If you had a powerful Source gift, you ruled. If not…

  My gaze went back to the area below, where I would normally see the Nulls milling around.

  They had no magic—only pure Aristoi blood.

  Tyrus had told me that long ago, they were treated as slaves. Their lives were forfeit to the Noble families they served.

  The Capitol had more modern sensibilities. The Null servants were free to come and go. But this was the only world they knew, and most of them chose to stay.

  At least until recently.

  They weren’t the only ones who were leaving. Over the past eight months, most of the survivors of Lucan’s attack had trickled out of Pax.

  Pax is dying.

  The thought came unbidden, and I pushed it away. We had known that rebuilding the Capitol would take time.

  I realized I had done another full lap—still no Tyrus.

  But someone else was approaching from the opposite direction.

  Not Tyrus. A full head of dark, sleek hair—

  Kynan.

  I slowed—but he had nearly closed the distance between us.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  I considered my options. Short of sprinting in the other direction, I had no choice but to be polite.

  “If you’d like,” I said stiffly.

  “You walk here every day, don’t you?”

  I glanced at him, surprised. But maybe I shouldn’t have been.

  He smiled faintly. “This place isn’t as big as it seems.”

  Suddenly, I was quite sure that Tyrus was not going to show up. And that Kynan had something to do with it.

  But I wasn’t going to ask him. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

  He said, “You don’t like me, do you?”

  That surprised me a little. Kynan had never seemed to notice, or care, whether I liked him.

  He was always polite, but he made it clear that he didn’t think I belonged at Council meetings. Or, for that matter, at Pax.

  He shrugged. “It’s okay. You don’t have to answer. I suppose I’m not used to dealing with a woman’s sensibilities.”

  I raised an eyebrow. You don’t get out much, do you?

  “A pureblood lady…well, you’d never find her in a position so demeaning as the government.”

  I suppressed a smile.

  “I can’t imagine I’ve endeared myself to you. But…I don’t mind telling you that this hasn’t been easy for me, either. I didn’t ask to be put in this position.”

  No one did.

  “You’re saying you didn’t want it?”

  He made a face. “Not this way. Not at this cost.”

  Kynan was the last of his line—the last Karpathos, according to Tyrus. Everyone else had been slaughtered or was missing, presumed dead.

  I almost hadn’t believed Tyrus about that. Aristoi lived well beyond the normal human lifespan. Didn’t that give them a long time procreate? By all logic, this place should have been overrun by generations of people who took forever to die.

  But Tyrus had explained that conceiving children was a remarkably difficult process for Aristoi.

  No one knew why. A side-effect of the Source magic, perhaps.

  Tyrus had looked wistful. The sad truth is that most of us do not have surviving offspring. One son is cause for celebration.

  Kynan said, “If I’d been brought up in a Stronghold, I probably would have offed my father and uncle myself.” He smiled—not a pleasant expression. “Does that shock you?”

  “It probably shouldn’t.”

  “Believe me. It’s better that you won’t be there for their visit.”

  With that, my anger flared. I had been planning to bring up the issue with Tyrus. I’d thought that, one on one, I might be able to convince him to let me come to the meeting. If I promised to stay quiet…

  “What makes you think someone like me would derail your meeting? I’m insignificant. What difference could I possibly make?”

  He cocked his head. “Perhaps you’re not as insignificant as you seem.”

  I thought, incongruously, of that moment in the motel, alone with Lucan for the first time.

  He’d asked why Sol had put so much effort into rescuing me.

  I simply can’t help but wonder why he went to all that trouble for a single half-blood girl.

  He’d implied I was special. But if that were true, Sol wouldn’t have abandoned you.

  I still didn’t know what he was doing in Outlaw City. He was now a part of the Hades government. On par with Hades himself, even.

  Somehow, he’d gone from wanted criminal to guest of honor. He’d managed to smooth things over with Liberatus Sforza—the real power behind Outlaw City.

  Kynan said, “Your next diplomatic meeting with Outlaw City is coming up soon.” He let a beat pass. “Can I offer some advice? Call it off.”

  I stiffened. “What? Why?”

  “For starters? You’re not getting anywhere.”

  I frowned. “It takes time. After everything that’s happened, you can’t expect—”

  “I don’t expect anything. That’s the point.”

  I exhaled, trying to reign in my frustration. He did have a point. The relationship between the purebloods in the Capitol and Outlaw City had never been particularly friendly. In fact, it had bordered on a Cold War since Outlaw City’s founding.

  But we needed to make peace. Pax couldn’t afford any more enemies. And we weren’t going to survive without allies.

  Kynan said, “Things are getting unstable out there. Having Sol make these trips to Pax every two months…well, it invites trouble.”

  “He’s never had a problem getting here before.”

  I was sure that Sol’s safety was the last thing on Kynan’s mind. He just wanted to make sure that Sol didn’t accidentally lead the human government to our door.

  “Not yet.” He paused. “Anyway, you’re not making any progress. Nor will you ever.”

  “I won’t?”

  “No, you won’t. Because Solon isn’t here to negotiate with us.”

  That stopped me—but just for a second. “Then why is he here?”

  “Maybe he misses you. Or more likely, he’s playing some sort of game for his own amusement. He makes no secret of his hatred for us.”

  “You can’t exactly blame him for that.”

  “No. I suppose not.” He was quiet for a long moment. Finally, he said, “It wasn’t supposed to be you, you know.”

  “What?”

  He seemed to hesitate again, then sighed. “The Diplomatic Liaison to Outlaw City. It wasn’t supposed to be you. The Council had chosen Galen.”

  Dr. Sotheby? I couldn’t hide my surprise—or disappointment.

  “That first time—we tried to send Galen. But Sol wouldn’t have it. He said he would only talk to one person from Pax. You.”

  My heart was beating quickly.

  Damn Tyrus for not showing up this morning.

  But I narrowed my eyes, trying to keep my cool. “What are you saying?”

  He gave me a slow, appraising look. “I’m saying that whatever Sol is interested in, I doubt it’s an alliance between Pax and Outlaw City.”

  I flushed.

  His smile was polite—but his tone was pointed. “The Stronghold of Kotek is due to arrive tomorrow night. May I suggest you spend this time contemplating the future of Pax…and your future here.”