Page 34 of Lies That Bleed
“Boot camp starts tomorrow?” I asked, feeling completely blindsided.
She nodded. “And tonight is a huge party at Sleuth. Everyone will be so happy to see you’re okay.”
I swallowed hard. “I dunno. I need to ask my dad. I mean, how many people know…?”That I died, was what I wasn’t able to say.
“Just me, Anika, Kohen, and three imperial soldiers who your dad paid off and then threatened with death if we told. Aisling, you can’t hide in your house forever. You need to start your training.” She smiled.
Holy crap. Anika saw me dead? Kohen too. How would I explain this? Should I explain this? Maybe they would have mistakenly thought I was dead but I could say my father’s medical team brought me back to life.
“Are Roc, Alek and Dev okay? I left them sleeping by the fire.”
She nodded. “Roc bonded a lynx, Alek a hawk, and Dev a vulture.”
A vulture? Yikes, I didn’t even want to know whatkind of magic that creature had, but going on day three Dev was lucky to bond anything at all I guess.
“Club Sleuth?” I asked. My dad hated the dance club but would often let me go if it were in a group and I promised to be home by midnight.
She nodded. “Eight-thirty.”
“Alright. I’ll pick you up at yours before?”
She smiled, squeezing my shoulders. “A firebird. Aisling, you’re my hero.”
I grinned the entire walk back to my house.
The family celebration was okay.We ate dinner in relative silence, and then when the chocolate cake came out, the triplets started fighting over whose piece was bigger and the kitchen turned into a warzone.
“I’m going to my office,” said Father. “Congratulations, Aisling. I’ll have Admiral Caruso send me your itinerary for tomorrow. I believe you are to report at oh seven hundred. You cannot begin boot camp without a creature, so hopefully she shows up, yes?”
That was a veiled insult. My father was a master at them.
I nodded. “Yes. I hope so too. Hey, Father? Can I go with Tetra to Club Sleuth and be home by midnight? Everyone is celebrating bonding with their creaturesand I don’t want to start the year off seeming like I’m not one of them.”
My father’s gaze narrowed. “You’renotone of them. You’re the future empress of this entire country,” he said sternly.
“Yes, Father. I meant… it would help me to bond with them so that they would one day follow my commands when I am in a leadership role.” My father needed things to be laid out for him practically.
“Okay, take the car and be home by curfew,” he said curtly, and left.
I looked at Elaine, who had just reached out and smacked Valor’s hand. “If you don’t all shut your mouths and stop fighting, I’m eating all three of those slices and you getnothing.”
The girls straightened, ceasing the argument immediately, and began shoveling their slices down before Elaine could take them.
Elaine never made a threat she didn’t intend to back up. She’d eaten many of my desserts, and even though I hated it at the time, I respected her for it. She was a woman of her word. So when she said she had your back and would always look out for you, you could trust that too.
I met her gaze and we both smiled. Then she shook her head. “A Talanagi, Aisling?”
I grinned. “Too cocky?”
She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes, but then her gaze fell to the entryway of the kitchen where myfather had returned to his study. “Just… lay low, follow the rules, and be good, okay?”
I nodded, reading her loud and clear. I wasn’t going to press my luck.
“I want to meet your creature!” Victory whined.
“Yeah what’s her name?” Valor begged.
“Liana,” I told them.
