1 | The Terrible Dreamer

Chapter 19

AIYA

It was too easy to catch Vear. He gave up a fight at the beginning, but mostly out of stubbornness. Ken told me everything on the drive home. Like when they dragged him to the stairs, his pompous royal ass decided to make things more difficult than they already were.

But I'm more worried about something else. I think Ken knows it too. We both saw it at the party. How Vear entered the Frat House, holding himself at a higher regard to everyone else. He may have the clothes to blend in, the shoes and style, but he can't shed his royal blood. He dismissed every eye that lingered on him, ignoring the stares as he leaned against the wall. That is, until he caught mine.

I thought maybe I'd redirect him away from Wish. Catch him before she's forced to confront him by herself. But after one look from him, he turned away as if I'm just one of many and I should feel lucky he even graced me with his presence.

That all changed the second Wish walked through the front doors. Vear's full attention was on her. He forgot his surroundings. He let his guard down. He never noticed I was following behind him, while he followed Wish up the stairs. I'm afraid his obsession over the paper butterfly is starting to intertwine with Wish. We need to get rid of it before it gets worse.

Gregori stands next to me, twirling a stylus over his fingers. I catch it, squeezing his hand at the same time, trying to appear flirtatious to my mother, when really, I'm just annoyed.

We're stuck in the training dojo in the basement, the last place we spared with Kusanagi Sensei a week ago. The only way we could capture Vear is to ask my mother for help. The only way she would help is to give up the butterfly.

Wish pulls the jar out of a string bag and hands it to my mother's outstretched palm. "There's the paper butterfly," she says, meeting my mother's greedy eyes. "You knew we had it all along, didn't you? Why wait for us to hand it over?"

My mother holds the jar possessively in her palms, gazing at the golden dust through the overhead lighting. "Trust, Wisteria. Eventually, I knew we would see eye-to-eye."

I very much doubt that. My mother isn't known to trust anyone as far as she can reach, including her own daughter. It makes me sick, watching her be so happy and triumphant, and also jealous of her accomplishments—but I will never admit that out loud.

She truly is the greatest leader in the history of Gens Helios. She has come so much further than my grandmother ever predicted. Our wealth is ten times the amount thanks to her. We are practically royalty on Earth thanks to her connections and influence in the political world. While my mother would never run for an official elected office, she's works best behind the scenes, the shark in the tank that will either kill your enemies for you or help you succeed.

Her eyes glimmer and I've never seen her smile so wide. This butterfly will only increase her current strength, but how much will it cost her? Will this finally make her satisfied with power, or will is only make her crave more?

The head of security walks in and approaches my mother. He's a scruffy older gentleman, former Black Ops who can never take a joke. "It's ready," he says, behind tented frames.

"Excellent. We'll need to keep the barriers reinforced while we're inside. Lily, I'll need you there to help, and Aiya," she actually takes a moment to look at me, "you will join us, too. This will be a great learning experience for you."

I squeeze Gregori's hand tighter. I forgot I was even holding it and drop his hand immediately as if I've been burned. Learning experience? After everything that happened this week, I'd rather be getting a needed facial done and staying the hell away from Vear.