Aris
The Next Summer
Veiled Valley bakes under the glare of early summer sunlight. It’s around noon, I think, as I stumble up the stairs to my room, fumbling with the suitcase I haven’t even seen in probably five years, let alone used in that time. It’s been a while since I’ve gone anywhere for an extended amount of time–just to be somewhere else. Normally, all I need are my ghost-issued gloves that turn into a full suit of armor and the clothes on my back. It’s not like I can’t just, I don’t know, snap my fingers and be somewhere else whenever I want to.
I’m giving that a rest this summer. This summer, I’m just Aris. Not the Shadowsynger heir. Not the Prince of Veiled Valley. Not an Alpha in the making. Just me.
My bedroom door opens on a phantom wind, thanks to the ever lingering spirit of the house, and my room expands around me–a wash of deep blues, silver, purples, and blacks. It’s a lair of masculine darkness–every Shadowsyngers’ dream. A four-poster bed with a satin bedspread is impeccably made, sunlight sparkling on the silken sheets that wrinkle and crease when I toss the empty suitcase onto its surface with a sigh. My sandy, almost golden blond hair gleams in my reflection in a gilded mirror hanging on the far wall, and I smile at myself. Not too bad looking, if I do say so myself.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I don’t even glance at the name. I know who it is–Roman, my best friend from childhood and the son of the Alpha of Sapphire Ridge, a nearby pack here in Veiled Valley. I already know what he’s about to ask, too. Where the hell am I? Why haven’t I just spirited to the lake house we’re renting for the summer before we have to return to real life and be Alphas’ sons and what not.
“What’s up?”
“Where are you?”
I roll my eyes to the ceiling as I move across the room, opening my dresser drawers. “Home. Packing. I told you I wasn’t coming until tonight.”
“That’s actually going to work in my favor. I convinced Posy to join us this summer. I wanted to give her a minute to settle in before everyone gets here.”
I toss random clothing into the suitcase. “I’m honestly shocked she’s willing to grace us with her presence.”
“She’s bored and has a friend visiting from Crescent Falls for a few weeks. I don’t think you’ve ever met Willow, but she’s an extrovert and drives Posy insane, so I extended the invitation for both.”
I suck my teeth, chuckling low before quipping, “Miles was complaining about the lack of women on this trip, so he’ll be happy, at least.”
I imagine Roman’s jaw tensing through the phone. “Well, one of them is my little sister, so–”
“Are you asking my permission for Posy to join us or what?”
“I’m just letting you know in advance–a little warning.”
“When have I ever needed a warning about Posy? I’ve known her since we were kids.” I imagine the doe-eyed woman, who barely comes up to my chest like she’s standing right in front me, blushing. Posy’s always blushing. Her cheeks have been stained a perfect rosy pink since the day I met her, when she was just a babbling two-year-old in pigtails.
“We planned this as a last hurrah before we all have to settle down and grow up–or whatever–and now I’m letting my little sister and her friend crash it. You were the mastermind, so I thought I’d call you. That’s all. They’re on their way here as I speak, so you’ll see them tonight.”
“I’m still planning on picking up Miles and Tate on my way. They’re meeting me at the river port.”
“Think you’ll make it in time for dinner?”
I brace an elbow on the overfilled suitcase to close it, yanking on the zipper. “Yeah, I suppose. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s a full moon tonight, I figured we go out.”
“Posy was going to cook for us as a thank you for letting her join–”
“Why would she think she’s uninvited?”
“Beats me. I don’t know. You can ask her when you get here.”
I hear lifted female voices through the phone and squint into the sunlight, sliding the suitcase to the floor. “What are you up to today while you’re waiting for everyone?”
“Checking out the local amusement,” he says with an obvious smirk. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you.” He hangs up before the phone slides from my shoulder and falls onto the bed. I kick the full suitcase out of the way before sitting down, my interest piqued, and snatch my phone, thumbing through my contacts to the name Posy.
Our last text exchange had been months ago, when I wished her a Happy Solstice, and she’d texted me a single “thumbs up.”
She’s not a very talkative woman.
I ignore the phantom presence now fluttering around the room, fixing everything I messed up in the few minutes I was rummaging around my room. Dresser doors close, and the bedspread smooths, but I ignore it, sending a simple, barely thought out text telling Posy the big bedroom with the jacuzzi tub on the third floor of the rental house is mine. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”
She doesn’t text me back, of course.
I don’t necessarily blame her. I’ve always been in her life, always bullying or teasing her, especially when we were kids. She was an easy target–sensitive, quiet, cute-as-a-fucking button with googly-eyed glasses that made her green eyes four times as big as they were when she wasn’t wearing them. Coming from a household with two crazy assertive sisters who were constantly fighting for dominance, and who took pride in physically and emotionally whooping my ass, teasing Posy was a welcome relief.
But Roman and I were the only people in the Goddess-damned kingdom allowed to even so much as throw a dirty look in her direction. If a single word was whispered by someone else, or a single hair on her head was harmed… yeah, I’d be sitting in the principal’s office with scraped knees and bloody knuckles beside Roman, smirking, knowing full well we’d do it all over again and damning the consequences.
And so, for the past… twenty years, give or take, Posy has been in my life. A quiet presence, someone I think about every so often, but it’s been at least five years since I’ve seen her.
She’d be… twenty-two now, I think. She’s three years younger than me.
I’m not sure why she’s on my mind as I drag my suitcase down the first spiral stone staircase. I’m not sure why the fact that she didn’t text me back weighs on me when I kick the suitcase in front of me down the long, narrow back hallway leading to a second, then third, staircase that will eventually lead to the foyer. The spirit of the house follows, hurrying me along, impatiently bringing sconces to life like he’s begging me to just leave already.
“What do you do when the whole family is gone?” I ask out loud, making a show of slowly bending to tighten the laces of my shoes, just to aggravate him. I always think of the spirit as a him, though I suppose I don’t know for sure. A soft, breathy groan rattles the foyer, including the crystal chandelier older than my great-grandfather Westfall. The castle of at least three generations of Shadowsyngers who came before him, rests in peace, trembling like the building itself has the ability to breathe.
I realize, quite suddenly, that the spirit isn’t alone. Footsteps echo down the branching, shadowed hallways, and a dark form comes into view before Grandpa Ryatt follows in its wake.
He pauses in the archway, a brow raised as he looks from me to the suitcase resting on the ancient stone mosaic dappled with multicolored light flaring through the stained glass windows.
“What are you doing back? I thought you were in Maatua for another two weeks,” I ask, tucking my hands in the pockets of my ridiculously casual athletic shorts.
Grandpa Ryatt has never been casual a day in his life, as far as I know. He steps into the light, dressed in all black, the tattoos that cover his neck and fingers catching the light, the ink barely faded even though he’s in his eighties now. He doesn’t look a day over sixty, which is hard to understand, given that he’s seen and participated in every war, skirmish, and hardship since his mate, my grandma Ella, brought down the veil between Crescent Falls and Eastonia fifty years ago.
“I got a little bored. Isaac tried to force it, but I don’t think I’ll ever find joy in the game of golf. It doesn’t feel natural to me.”
I purse my lips, eyeing him while trying to gauge his mood. He’s a stern, grumpy old man most of the time. I admire him, but I do like messing with him from time to time. “Probably because you’re mostly a dog, if you think about it. Chasing balls instead of hitting them with a stick is much more up our alley… biologically.”
His eyes–that deep, stunning polished silver I share with him–narrow, but the slightest twitch of his lips has the tension in my shoulders relaxing. He chooses to ignore my comment and asks, “And where are you off to?”
“I’m spending a few weeks on Gem Lake, within Ruby Pack territory. I rented a house for the summer. Meeting up with some friends, you know.” I shrug, resisting the desire to explain myself further.
“I assume Roman will be there?”
“Of course. Who else would I be going with?”
“I know his father is hell bent on the boy settling down by next spring.” He stalks deeper into the light, giving me a look that begs a silent question. Shouldn’t I also be settling down?
I’ve given it some thought. I’m closing in on twenty-six. I have a few years of freedom left before I need to do much of anything. I’m not a Ghost, technically. I’m also not the Alpha King of Veiled Valley… yet. Mom has that covered.
“He’s nearly thirty. I wouldn’t consider him a boy.”
“Exactly. His father thinks he should be mated by now.” He gives me another skeptical look, and I fold like thin paper.
“When you were my age, you were leading a rebellion in the Roguelands and using your powers to keep the lights on in every cabin, hut, and shanty from Twin Rivers to Veiled Valley, and I’m–” I motion to my suitcase. “I’m going to get drunk on the shore of a lake all summer, probably piss off a few women while I’m at it. If you’re about to tell me it’s my time to settle down, actually putting an effort into finding my mate, don’t bother.”
Grandpa rolls his eyes before closing them and murmuring a not-so-silent prayer to the Goddess to just take him now. “Are you happy, Aris?”
“The sacrifices of your youth allowed me to live this kind of life, so yes, I guess I should be.”
“I didn’t sacrifice my youth. I grew up in a very different world than you have.”
I want to say it’s not fair. Gods, I would kill to just be… out in the middle of nowhere, fighting the demons and monsters my grandparents told us about in their horrific, but wildly entertaining, bedtime stories. I want to say I’ve been watching from the sidelines while these adventures happen for them, and for my sisters, who each have wild love stories to accompany even wilder adventures, and yet I… have several online dating profiles… that I use for hookups because I just can’t… I haven’t found her yet. Whoever she is. Whoever I’m supposed to go to the end of the world for, to die for, to beat the odds in her name. That if finding my mate doesn’t nearly kill me in the end, I’m not sure I want it?
I can’t say that shit out loud, though.
“If it’s any consolation, I do hope you enjoy yourself,” he says with the smallest of smiles. “It’s been a hard year for everyone.”
“A hard several years,” I correct under my breath.
He strokes his chin, his eyes meeting mine under his lashes. “You should bring your mask.”
“Why would I bring my Shadow mask? I’ll have no use for it there.”
“You’re leaving it here, then?”
“In the vault, just like you made me promise all those years ago when you left me in that cave to find my purpose–or whatever.”
“It’s a rite of passage.”
“Well, you got a sword. I got a weird mask and some bracelets. What does that say?”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. My fingers prickle, wondering if it’s Posy, wondering if she sent me another thumbs up or actually said something this time… probably the former.
He eyes my phone when I slide it out of my pocket and says, “Your grandmother and I are going to Silverhide for a while. Lexa’s due soon, and Ella wants to visit Brie and Griffin. You should consider making a visit while we’re all there.”
“And you’re going to ensure Logan and Kaleb have everything handled with their respective packs, I presume?”
He catches the hint of sarcasm in my voice and frowns. “I’m going to make sure Ryan is handling the two new young Alpha Kings in his territory–his son and son-in-law, if we’re being literal.” He smoothes his hands down his thighs and turns toward the shadows, but stops, looking at me over his shoulder. “I understand you, you know? I get it, Aris, what you feel like you’re missing, but I’m telling you now that this life you have is a blessing. I know you’re bored. I know you feel like you don’t fit in with the warriors in the family, but you’re different. You’re a Shadowsynger. We’re meant for this.” He motions to the foyer, to the dark stone and shadows. “It’s a sacred order you’ve been born into. But it does mean staying in the shadows, making moves in the quiet while the world burns.”
“You didn’t stay in the shadows.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” He gives me another flat smile before walking away.
I pick up my suitcase and wheel it outside, where the heavy doors to the castle snap shut behind me and lock me out immediately.
Looking down at my phone, I let out a groan when I see only a single thumbs up.