Blood and Hexes (After Darkness Falls #4) - May Sage Page 0,25

calm here. At peace. The room was cozy. More than cozy. It was perfectly designed to relax her: the wooden panels, dreamcatchers, and thick fluffy rugs were exactly the sort of things she’d picked on the few occasions when she'd had a chance to design a place herself. There was no doubt that Alexius had had it changed to suit her. The bathroom was another delight: the dark room's centerpiece was a pool with crystals, candles, and tons of quirky bubble baths. Strange that after so long, he still seemed to know her.

After sniffing various jars and bottles of vibrant products, she poured a few in the gigantic pool and drew a bath. She was still wrinkling in the fast-cooling water when someone knocked on her door.

She identified Avani's specific scent—something spicy, with a hint of vanilla and something wilder. Something lupine.

"It's open," she called.

Her brother's mate appeared in the door of the bathroom. "Amazing, right?" She grinned. "Alexius let me stay here for a few nights when I got kicked out of the Wolvswoods. I totally borrowed some of your clothes, by the way."

She made air quotes at "borrowed."

"I have clothes?" Diana asked, surprised.

She didn't think any of her old frocks would have survived the passage of time. Not without spells to keep them intact. She didn't see why Alexius would have bothered. Diana's clothing had been functional and simple. She'd never been allowed to attend any form of amusement where an elaborate gown would have been appropriate. She hadn't been particularly attached to her wool and linen dresses then, and she certainly wasn't likely to wear any of them. Maybe she could give them to a museum.

"Yeah, I think Alexius had your closet filled. I bet you'll like it."

Diana smiled. It sounded exactly like something Alexius would do.

"What can I help you with?" she asked Avani.

"I'm about to head up to Skyhall to train with the girls. I figured I'd ask if you wanted to join us."

Skyhall. Presumably "the girls" would include the youngest Eirikrson.

Chloe had gotten under Diana's skin the previous night. In a good or bad way, she couldn't tell yet. She wasn't sure she wanted to see her again, but she did want to get to know Avani. If she was going to build some sort of relationship with her estranged brother, she needed to get along with his mate—his wife.

"Sure. Just let me get out of the bath and put something on."

"Great, I'll wait for you downstairs."

Emerging from her bedroom, she opened the wardrobe out of curiosity rather than digging clothes out of her traveling bag. Her face broke into an involuntary grin. Avani had been right; she liked everything in there. The fringed vests, the leather pants, the colorful long, flowing dresses. It was more than mere coincidence that every single thing Alexius had picked aligned with her tastes. She would have bet just about anything that he'd been following her on social media, just like she had him. She could have asked herself why he hadn't reached out, but she knew it was for the same reason she hadn't. Though she loved her brother, he represented a painful part of her past. There was nothing but layers of wounds and scars, patched up with stitches, from their early days. Their father had been cold at best, cruel at worst. Their mother had been overbearing, overprotective of Diana and ashamed of Alexius. Not for any logical reason. Alexius hadn’t done anything to deserve it. Well, at least not before being turned. And no matter how silly it was, they reminded each other of that time. She couldn't think of Alexius without thinking of Solene and Vincel Helsing. May they rest in peace. Or hell. That might be where they belonged. It wasn't fashionable to admit to disliking one's parents, but as she grew older, Diana had slowly come to understand just how much the couple had damaged her, Alexius, and their relationship.

To seal an alliance with the Rosedeans, Vincel Helsing agreed to marry one of their daughters. He picked Solene, the youngest, and molded her to his liking until she was turned at twenty-five. Since she'd been a little girl, she'd known that she would have to marry him. Vincel vetted everything—her friends, her education, what she was allowed to wear or say. Solene might have been the perfect wife from the outside, but Diana knew that she'd hated her life. What their parents had had was cold.

There was something else, something she'd