The Dux Umbra

I looked and felt dreadful as I walked down the hallway with Louisa. My hair was wet, and my makeup was completely ruined, making me look like a wet panda.

The water had cleansed the red from my hair, so it was back to blond.

“So all this time you’ve been married to the Dux Umbra?” I sighed.

Louisa stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me. “You didn’t know?” she asked, looking startled.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s too scandalous for anybody to dare to gossip about. Most umbra just avoid me and only acknowledge me in Victor’s presence,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“I assume that’s why you work here at all? When you were our teacher, I used to wonder what you were doing here when the other adults didn’t seem to trust you,” I confessed.

“I lost my parents in a car crash as a kid. When local authorities discovered that I was an unidentifiable supernatural, I became the umbras’ problem.”

She looked away. “I spent the second half of my childhood here. I never fit in, but with Victor I did,” she shrugged and smiled.

I didn’t know what to reply. It made close to no sense to me.

“Should I be worried about this meeting?” I asked her instead. She’d know better than anyone.

“Nah, Victor is just. He wants what is best for all. It just isn’t always obvious, which is why he wants to speak to you without his council,” Louisa replied.

“Let’s not keep him waiting,” she sighed when I didn’t reply.

I nodded, even though I wasn’t at all up for this meeting. I didn’t want to face our Dux Umbra feeling like a drenched kitten.

I looked at all the odd paintings of demons and umbra through the ages while we walked down the corridors. The other floors didn’t have this much decoration.

We finally stopped by a grand door with a beautiful pattern on it. I could feel the strong, distinct energy of our Dux Umbra through it.

I felt dizzy.

“He doesn’t bite, Bella. As long as you haven’t sided with Marcus you have nothing to worry about,” Louisa told me before she knocked on the door.

“After you,” she said after she’d opened the door to her husband’s office.

I really wished I’d chosen different shoes when I stepped inside the gorgeous, bright room.

“I’m sorry to summon you right after a cleanse. I know they are dreadful,” the Dux Umbra greeted me at the door with an apologetic smile.

That surprised me, but I lowered my head to acknowledge him. He really was very handsome, and seemed rather charming, but he still scared me.

His energy, along with something else—something hidden—was unsettling.

“Please take a seat so that we can talk. I think it’s a bit overdue,” he said, gesturing at a chair by his desk.

I went ahead and sat down while he sat down in his own chair across from me. I stared at Louisa when she sat down on the desk, slightly turned, her legs dangling.

“Too lazy to get another chair?” the Dux Umbra chuckled and gazed at Louisa lovingly.

She put her hand behind her and leaned on it, smiling back at him. “Too lazy to offer me one,” she bit back playfully, but there were many more unspoken words in her smile.

I suspected she was trying to make me relax.

“Fine, have it your way,” he told her before he turned his attention to me.

“I have to ask to be sure, you’re not supporting Marcus, are you?” he asked me.

“Definitely not,” I replied and shook my head violently, thinking about the mutilated corpses I’d seen.

“I’ve heard you’ve been seeing his brother a lot. You don’t think he’s working with Marcus?” he proceeded to ask.

He knew about Erik…so it was a fair question. I frowned uncomfortably and looked down at the table.

They probably knew more about him than I did, which was unsettling. I hadn’t really cared too much about his background until recently.

Or maybe I just hadn’t wanted to know. Maybe I had feared it.

“He’s not. Erik hates his brother. He has told me he finds his brother’s actions vile and that it was a shame we didn’t get him at Crows Island,” I answered truthfully.

There really wasn’t any point not to lie.

“She’s telling her truth,” Louisa told her husband, suggesting that they weren’t as sure, just as I’d feared.

“Then tell me about the tricksters, please. I know that Ellie and Alex covered for you in the official report. I know that they were hunting you,” he said seriously.

I looked at Louisa. I hadn’t thought about it when she’d mentioned it the other day.

It meant that Ellie or Alex must have told her the truth. I didn’t want to tell them the truth about it.

I didn’t want them to suspect Erik, but they already were.

“Just tell us, Bella. You won’t be seeing him for a while either way,” Louisa told me, like she’d read my mind.

My heart sank. I had counted on him being there when I got home.

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to mask the panic I felt rising inside me.

“You’re not going to leave here alone. You’re on guarded suspension, meaning, you’re getting someone to watch you and stop you from doing anything stupid, and seeing Marcus’s brother is considered stupid,” Louisa explained.

I wanted to argue. Knowing Erik would be there waiting for me when I got home had been my comfort in this, and now they were telling me I couldn’t see him?

On top of that, either Ellie or Alex had probably betrayed my trust and told them about Erik. Even though I knew, deep down, they might not have had a choice, it still made me feel alone and unsure.

They had known who Erik was for some time.

“We’re not doing this to be cruel, but to protect you. Tell us about the tricksters, please. Why were they chasing you?” the Dux Umbra repeated.

Ellie’s words about staying loyal lingered in the back of my mind.

“Marcus summoned them to kill me. He knew I’d overheard him talking to Erik and probably suspected that I was behind the attack on Crows Island,” I almost whispered, making an effort to bottle my emotions.

“Is it true that Aurora provided you with protection from them and weapons to fight them?” he proceeded to ask, not sounding the least bit surprised.

“Damion did. I don’t know why,” I mumbled.

I had lowered my gaze even further and was staring at my hands. I wanted this interrogation to be over.

“You have no idea at all as to why he might have helped you?” the Dux Umbra asked, with a suspicious softness to his voice that made me look at him.

“No,” I said, just as I came to think about the things Erik had told me.

“Don’t lie, Bella. Tell the truth,” Louisa said, folding her arms in a serious manner.

“I didn’t mean to,” I confessed. “It might be because Aurora seems to like me.” I began, but got sidetracked in my thoughts.

“How can I be connected to the arcane dimension?” I asked, looking straight into Victor’s eyes.

He looked startled for a moment.

“I suspect you might have a human somewhere in your genetic line that was, but as I’m sure you have been told, that means you have to be extra careful with magic. It might mean you risk getting corrupted easier than other umbra. Have you met a demon in your dreams?” he asked.

I accepted it as a reasonable explanation for now. I didn’t really want to answer this either, since it felt like something that was better to hide.

“I did, but Erik woke me before I could speak to it,” I confessed, choosing my words wisely.

“Good. I advise you not to use magic again so it doesn’t corrupt you, but if it does happen again, Lucifer forbids, don’t listen to it and don’t interact with it. Once you’re corrupted, there is no going back, and you’d become just another mission for the first squad,” he said seriously.

I nodded. Erik had also told me it couldn’t do anything if I ignored it.

I clenched my fists in my lap. I really wanted to see him, but now I had been told that I couldn’t.

“Well, now that that’s sorted, I just want to tell you again that we just want you safe, and you are not while Marcus is still around,” Victor said sympathetically.

I didn’t feel safe. I felt alone, but I refrained from saying that.

“We still don’t know where, though,” Louisa pointed out.

“True, but we’re not risking Bella to find out,” the Dux Umbra told his wife with a scolding gaze.

“All right then, Bella, let’s go meet your overseer,” Louisa sighed and patted me on the shoulder.

“It was good to meet you, Bella. I hope next time will be under better circumstances,” the Dux Umbra said after I’d gotten up.

“I hope so too,” I muttered, bowing my head in respect before following Louisa out of his office.

I had a feeling they had learned more from this talk than I had, and that they were hiding something from me. It made me feel trapped.

“You should text your lover before I have to take your phone,” she mumbled to me quietly as we headed toward the elevator.

I wasn’t even going to be allowed to keep my phone? I recognized her courtesy in warning me and picked up my phone to text Erik.

I told him the truth, that I had gotten suspended and was getting a guard dog until Marcus had been dealt with. It pained me to tell him I couldn’t see him for a while because of it.

As I pressed Send, I felt more alone than ever.