"I've found someone to listen / And he's nothing like you/ he'll never be you/ It's funny, oh honey, how my words fell on deaf ears/ but now it's you/ whose screams I left unheard..."
—Olive Sadie McKinley, Silence is louder than Screams, demo track
Kassian Williams.
Thad's "cousin," and the person housing them was Kassian Williams.
As in, the oldest son to politician and territory leader Khristina Williams.
Potentially-one-of-Aeriana's-most-famous-faces, Kassian Williams.
Teenage heartthrob and musician, Kassian Williams.
Markov Academy's growing protégé—
"Ris?"
Iris blinked, turned to Thad, and punched him on the arm. "You didn't tell me we were meeting Kassian."
"You didn't ask." Thad, pouting, rubbed at his arm. "For an artist, you have a strong arm."
"I don't think you hit him hard enough," Wylan drawled from her other side. "Hit him again so I can be sure."
"I'll hit you too, Mr. it's-a-surprise."
Thad grinned at Wylan. "LF has thorns."
Little Flower again? Iris rolled her eyes.
They waited just inside the door leading to the underground arrivals pick up lane. Around them, Aces moved about, collecting bags and finding cars for the next leg of their journey. Wylan waited until she had half a pretzel in her mouth before admitting that their next destination was the Williams' home.
The Williams' home in the Twin Isles.
She hadn't gotten a chance to peek outside at the landscape as they landed. Once they'd boarded the plane, Wylan directed her all the way to the back of the plane, to the very last row. "There's no window, and the emergency exit is right there. If anyone comes back here, Thad and I will have plenty of time to react," he'd told her.
Safety: ✓
View: ✕
The most she'd gotten was a tiny peek of cerulean sea as the Ace in front of her closed their window. Who closed their window on the plane when they're about to land in the most beautiful destination spot in all of Aeriana?
It was just her luck.
"He's not coming here to pick us up?" Her voice was high, even to her own ears.
Half of Wylan's mouth came up. "Did you want him to?"
She put her gloved hands to her cheeks. "No."
Thad gasped. "Oh my Stars, LF. Is that... do you...?"
"No!" She pushed him. "He's younger than me."
"So?" Thad said. At the same time, Wylan said, "way too young for you."
"Is this even a good idea?" She asked them. "I don't want to bring violence to someone else's doorstep."
Wylan's hand came to her elbow. He gently pulled her forward, out of the way of another passing Ace. "The home is a fortress," he told her in a tone as light as his touch a moment ago. "You're arguably safer there than anywhere else. Plus, a bit of spotlight—a photo here and there, and it makes you much harder to get rid of."
She frowned. "You want me to take photos with Kassian Williams?" She'd just disappear into the shadows again a few weeks from now.
And what would her parents think?
"Not deliberately," Wylan said. "But if a photo gets taken, it works out in our favor."
It still made little sense. Who would believe Kassian Williams would hang out with someone like her?
"Isn't he in school right now?"
"Markov Academy is off for break. This is the Isles' peak tourist season," Thad said. "They always get a week off around this time."
Markov Academy. It was Aeriana's prodigy school. Only the best of the best ended up there, or were granted access to the school. Set on the western side of the Isles, the school collected talent—singers, dancers, actors, musicians, athletes, academics. Either you were the best, or you knew someone, otherwise it was near impossible to get in.
Iris wasn't the best at anything. She'd hardly been adequate at most things. Markov was so far off the radar for her, it had been an impossibility when she was in school. Not that she'd ever wanted to go. Just the thought of having to prove your worth every day had her sweating. The amount of pressure the students were under had to be enormous.
The media always ate them up too. Because who didn't enjoy the drama of it all? Who didn't want to predict who would make it big and who would flounder?
"Is he actually your cousin?" She asked Thad.
She watched him glance over her shoulder, scoping the area again, before he said, "cousin is a bit of a stretch. More like we have the same ancestors. I see him occasionally at a wedding or holiday party."
Wow.
What was that like?
And who else was at those parties?
Wylan glanced at his watch. "Ready? Car will be here in a minute and a half."
Iris adjusted her backpack strap. "Let's do it."
Sooner they got to where they were going, sooner she could embarrass herself in front of Kassian Williams. Might as well get it over with right at the beginning.
Right?
~
Thad saddled up next to Wylan, just one step behind Iris. "Garrick say anything?" he asked his partner under his breath.
"Kit's done an in-depth search. They passed. Loyalists. The Crown is set to approach them as well for discussions."
Thad clapped Wylan on the back. "Phew. Always glad to know we can trust family."
Wylan chuckled low and moved to be closer to Iris, to watch her right side. "Distant family," he reminded Thad over his shoulder.
~
The Twin Isles were a set of islands on the northeast side of the kingdom. Besides being perhaps the busiest tourist location, they also housed Aeriana's major amusement park, East Golden Bay, and Markov Academy, the kingdom's famous boarding school.
The driver in the car waiting for them wore a navy button-up shirt and dark glasses.
Thad sat in the passenger seat with his bag. Wylan opened the back door for her. When she got in, she slid down all the way to the edge of the seat so Wylan could hop in after her.
Thad grinned at the driver. "Henry Darron himself."
The driver, Henry Darron, wasted no time. Once the car doors shut, he pulled away from the curb. The orange lights of the underground pick up garage glowed intermittently through the car.
Iris peered at the back of the driver's head, curious.
"Everyone else busy?" Wylan asked next to her.
"Something like that." Henry's voice was deep and rugged, nothing like the careful presentation of his outward appearance.
When they drove out of the garage and into the night. Iris lost all thought. Even in the darkness, it was...it was...
Gorgeous.
Her breath caught.
Stars glittered endlessly packed together in the deep blue night sky. Even in the underground garage, she'd been able to feel the humid night air, but now, fully outside, she could spot the other signs of the tropical area. Big, flat, frond like trees dotted the landscape and swayed in the night wind. The lights from the airport were bright, but when she looked past them, she could spot the Aetlenic sea occasionally along the horizon.
Though the windows of the car were closed, the tepid breeze, carrying the gentle smell of salt and clean air, filtered into the car.
Iris settled back into her seat and watched the stars out the window. A camera could never do this image justice. Her fingers itched for a bit of paint, an easel, and a blank canvas. Instead, she locked her eyes on them, trying to memorize the darkness within the night sky and the way the stars and the moon cast a light glow to the air around the car.
"—F? Iris?"
Something poked her shoulder.
Iris blinked and glanced over at Wylan. He had a soft expression on his face as he glanced at the window behind her and then back to her. Then he nudged his chin toward the front seat.
Thad was half turned, that now familiar grin on his face. Did this man ever not smile? "Iris, this is Henry Darron."
Oh, she was being rude.
"I'm sorry, I distracted myself. Hi, Henry."
Henry's chin came up as he glanced back at her using the rearview mirror. The dark glasses on his face prevented her from meeting his eyes. She opened her mouth to ask, but stopped herself. This man knew Wylan and Thad, which meant he was also most likely a protective detail or agent himself. Not the type to wear dark glasses all the time to look cool or make a statement. No, they served him a purpose.
She'd known a few Aces in high school that had had to do something similar. A girl in her first-year class wore beanies all the time that sat low on her forehead. Another boy in her third-year used to wear turtlenecks in the summer.
And she'd been the one to wear gloves every day.
They'd never been subtle, which was part of the reason she'd gotten more tattoos. As a distraction. To, eventually, be able to take off the gloves. Except she'd still never been brave enough to take them off. If she treated her Acemark like just another tattoo, then maybe it would've made sense.
Maybe she'd get there someday. But that day had not yet arrived. For now, that would have to be fine.
"Do you live here, Henry?" She asked him instead. What would it be like to be here in this beautiful location all the time?
"Sometimes," he said.
Sometimes?
Iris nodded. "Protective detail for sure."
Wylan quirked a brow, a smile hinting at his lips. "What?"
Iris adjusted the seat belt so it wasn't digging so much into the side of her neck. A strand of her purple hair had escaped from under her hat and was now tickling the side of her nose. She wiggled her nose to get rid of the tickle. "Only living in the Twin Isles "sometimes"? There are few reasons someone wouldn't want to live here all the time, and that means his work takes him away." She tucked the hair back under her beanie. "Since he's here picking you both up, he's either an agent or protective detail. But you said we were going to Kassian's, which means he most likely works with or for the Williams. I don't see the Crown loaning out an agent unless it's for protective detail, so..." she shrugged.
"The power of deduction," Thad said from the front seat.
Wylan chuckled next to her. When he saw her still struggling with the seat belt, he reached over.
Iris' breath stalled. His strong arm, covered in a leather jacket, stretched around her. The whisper of his breath brushed along her collarbone as he yanked hard on where the seatbelt disappeared into the back of the seat.
Her seatbelt loosened.
As Wylan settled back into his seat, Iris sucked in a quiet inhale, catching the tail end of his cologne and leather and... was that pine?
Get it together, Iris.
Henry—Mr. Darron?—took them around the island, pulling them onto a highway that rode near the edge of the island. Occasionally, Iris could peek through the trees and spot the ocean further into the distance.
The ocean, or rather, what she could spot of it, was nothing but quiet, churning darkness.
What would the stars look like over there on the beach? Where the highway lights and night traffic were nothing but dim, peripheral reminders of society?
She would find a way to get out there to the beach with a set of paints, heck, even crayons, and let the feeling of the darkness crash over her as she painted.
Fifteen minutes passed, then twenty. Eventually, they turned off the highway and onto a main road that was nothing like what she was used to. Unlike the city, this island's main road threaded through a small beachside town filled with boutiques and tiny convenience stores. Most of the windows were dark because of the time.
"The island is much bigger than I thought it would be," she said into the silent car.
"Most people hear Twin Isles and think tiny islands. Technically, they're smaller than the mainland, but they're still big enough to house enough tourists and an academy," Wylan said.
"Are all of us originally from the mainland?" Iris asked.
Wylan nodded. Henry kept silent, but Thad raised his first finger. "I'm not. I'm from the east island."
"So you've lived here?"
"Not long enough to remember," Thad admitted. "I was maybe five when my family moved closer to Redlian."
The same age she was when she'd showed up on East City Church's doorstep. "Five seems the age for big, upending changes," she muttered to her window.
Wylan shifted in his seat. When she glanced over at him, he gave her a strange look that she couldn't figure out in the dark car.
In a blink, they were past the town and into a neighborhood with tiny single story homes that bordered the water. In the distance, the road curved and turned into more brush. Henry followed the turn and took the road all the way down until they hit a gated community.
Not just any gated community, either. This was Whistling Waters—the gated community which housed some of the most luxurious homes in all of Aeriana. She'd looked up a home that was for sale here once, and almost choked on her cheeseless nachos.
Because of their price, most Aces in Aeriana struggled to afford the massive homes. Only politicians, high ranking Musetunes artists, and famous actors and actresses could fund these homes. Even with that, there were quite a few homes that still sat empty.
She'd maybe watched a late-night documentary once on this area.
At the tall, dark iron gates, Henry clicked a button clipped onto the visor. The gates opened before them.
Iris stared out the window, entranced, as the car crept silently into the neighborhood.
She'd wondered how the community kept the paparazzi away (because where there was fame, there were those ready to exploit it), but as they drove to their location, she spotted dark cars with security logos patrolling the area.
Made sense.
Henry eventually pulled up to a brown and white beach home settled on top of a hill right next to the ocean.
She got out, everything sounding hollow to her ears. Even the warm sea breeze couldn't distract her from the weight of the house in front of them. Kassian Williams lived here. When he wasn't at Markov Academy.
And she just got to walk in?
What kind of alternate reality had she found herself in?
"I have to admit," Wylan said, close to her side. "I didn't think someone like you could fangirl."
That snapped her back into her body real quick. "Someone like me?"
Wylan nodded. "Someone so... put together."
He thought she was put together? Iris laughed. "I'm the furthest from put together." Just last week at 2 am, she'd been using plastic spoons to eat her cereal so she didn't have to wash more silverware. Was that the action of someone put together?
"I just..." how did she explain it? "When I paint, there are two people that frequent my sessions. Kamree Philips, and Kassian Williams."
Wylan's eyebrows came together. "So you like pop music and jazz music?"
"Not just jazz music," she defended. "Have you heard any of Kassian's covers?"
"Not one."
"Do me a favor," she nudged her shoulder into his arm. "Listen to one of them. You'll enjoy it."
The Williams' home–was this their primary home or their second home?–was an incredible beach style house with a wraparound porch and cobblestone driveway. All the trim around the windows and the porch beams were white, which contrasted well with the light brown siding surrounding the home.
"Approaching now," Henry said. Only then did Iris notice the dark wire that came out of the top of his collar and to his ear.
The front door was a polished dark wood with large windows. Instead of approaching it and knocking, Henry led them up the porch, past a wicker chair and table set, and through a pair of tall glass swinging doors.
They walked right into an open living room with vaulted ceilings and large white trusses. A deep blue L-shaped sofa filled most of the space, with another matching love seat, white wicker coffee table, and an expansive beige rug swallowing up the rest of the space.
Iris turned to look at the doors they came through. They looked out at the side of the ocean and down the hill to another house down the way. Would the sun set eventually line up with the glass doors?
Funny how she wasn't one to do too many landscape paintings, but everything on this island made her want to paint.
Iris turned back around to look at the kitchen that opened up to the living room. A massive island took up most of the kitchen. There, at the island, under the recessed lighting, was a familiar head of dark hair.
His back was to her. She squeaked, gripped Wylan's leather sleeve, and shook it slightly.
Wylan chuckled.
"Sir?" Henry said. He nodded to a dark clothed man sitting at the white oak table further into the kitchen. Another bodyguard.
Kassian turned.
Iris' gut reaction was to bow. "Oh my Stars, hi."
Wylan put a hand on her shoulder to bring her back to a straight position. "No bowing," he told her under his breath.
Of course not, Iris. He's not the freaking king.
Her cheeks heated. Of course, she already embarrassed herself.
This was why she kept to herself. No people, no embarrassment.
"Hey cousin," Thad said. He clapped Kassian on the back. "I brought a few friends. Word is you're good if we stay here a few days."
Kassian's expression never changed. Although she knew him mostly by his music, she also wasn't completely outside the social topics. Kassian was known to be a bit of a hard character, even at such a young age.
Who could blame him? With who his mother was, it was no wonder he'd hardened himself. She couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have everyone want something from you—regardless if it was because of who you were, or because of who you were related to.
She rubbed at the top knuckle of her pointer finger and cleared her throat. "I realize we're disrupting you. We will stay out of your way."
Kassian raised one dark eyebrow.
Having him look at her felt heavy, as if he was taking in everything that she was. All the way from her ratty dark jeans to her well-worn gloves, up to Wylan's beanie on her head. What kind of picture did she present to him?
From his expression, not a great one.
She wasn't one to necessarily find herself lacking, but when she put it in perspective, that sour feeling entered her chest. She tried to give him a smile. "As soon as it's safe, we'll get out of here." She promised on behalf of them all. Could she give that promise? She might not be able to speak for Thad or Wylan, but at least for herself. She'd definitely remove herself from the Williams' home the moment she could.
Kassian took the plate he had on the island and the thin book, put the plate in the sink, and said, "Darron, I'll leave you to advise them of the security protocols."
Then he was gone.
As Darron did just that, describing the grounds and where she was safe to go and where she should avoid, Iris frowned.
She'd been moving and moving and moving the last few days. To the point where she hadn't had time to really sit down and think about the situation and what it all meant. Until this point, it all, although very real, still felt like a weird dream. Something about Kassian's reaction brought it all into perspective.
In that moment, reality crashed in and splintered something under her ribcage. In her mind.
She tried to listen to Darron as he spoke. But she couldn't ignore that feeling that seeped into her skin and settled into her bones.