DIVISION 52 - BOOK II

CHAPTER XXXVI

M A K A Y L A

Here I was. Back where it had all started.

The difference could not have been more stark. Once on the side of royalty and inner Merridian. Now emerging from a decadent fusion craft with a hand from the most powerful and beautiful woman in Merridian.

The Empress's sky tower was lit up like a diamond in the night. True to her word we did not see a single member of the infamous Dawn Guard lining the entrance. But true to Alex's we showed in the full force of Division 52.

Her grip was strong and assured as she smiled at me secretly and led me out of the craft. Her golden eyes burned over my face in the same awe they had when I left that lift.

I couldn't help but love the effect.

"Have I got something on my face, crime lord?" I whispered, near her ear as I pulled up to stand from the craft.

She thread her arm through mine and I felt the electricity of her body briefly press mine.

"Only beauty." She murmured, pulling us forward to the large glass doors lined by pristine suited men with strange purple flowers in their lapels.

Her hand went to her ear as we neared and I caught the edge of conversation, "–stay in position."

One of the door boys had a suspicious scar over his eye and he nodded minutely. I scanned him as we passed them all and were offered a space in the large lift that could hold over twenty people easily. It was only now that the walls seemed to suddenly feel much too close. The room much too warm. I swallowed and willed it away–after all this time–I had faced worse.

To say they had made an effort tonight was an understatement.

I knew the floor we arrived at. But I didn't recognise the cavernous room at all. It was entirely redesigned tonight with pure white tapestries hanging from every wall and carpet. The accents of a royal purple everywhere you looked. Flowers hanging and standing. Glowing floor lights to lead to giant long tables forming into a square. The space in the centre was filled with an orchestra.

The lights were dimmer than the usual glare of social events. It was more intimate yet flamboyant at the same time.

Alex took two flutes of champagne from the first waiter she saw before I caught the smirk she gave him. He returned it with a tiny nod and disappeared.

"You and those god damn waiters..." I muttered. 

"I wouldn't dare do that to you tonight." She answered, holding my eyes longer than was formal. I could get lost in them all night anyway. But I saw the understanding in them as she took in my face. The stifling past rushing full speed towards me. She wouldn't be Alex if she couldn't sense these things–

"It appears our host isn't present yet." Proximo noted, coming up beside us with Florence tucked under his arm. His stark tattoos were a sheer contrast to the upper classes of Merridian that folded away from us in a wide circle. Some were already at their seats on the long white sprawled tables. The rest of the personal guard melted into the room around us built like formal warriors.

Artella Maxim was one of them and he took a flute into his hand as easily as the other went in his pocket and he dutifully scanned the room for threats. The greatest one his eyes kept coming back to was Florence. 

"Find us a seat won't you dear?" Alex replied, taking my arm and leading us further down the steps.

She would sense my discomfort here without even needing to look at me. She knew the room too. Not just that–she remembered where to go.