Inquest (4 page)

Summoning a demon didn't appeal to him much, even if they were technically just as much his minions as they were Denver's. Whatever he said, they had to obey so long as it didn't contradict the orders of the currently ruling Hades. Minions or not, demons scared Teague. They were gross, for one, and the way they enjoyed tormenting regular humans didn't gel with him. If he didn't need the dark magic that came along with being Hades' heir, he would have declined the offer when it was presented to him.

Somehow, Teague managed a weak smile as he ate some more mushrooms. "I'll figure something out."
I have to.

 

 

"Prom is exactly two weeks from now, and I'm running out of ways to get us guaranteed as king and queen of the whole thing. I will
not
lose again," Anj was saying just as Teague joined the lunch table.

Zes took a bite from his apple. "You don't need to worry. Everyone loves you."

"But not me," Jewl said. "Trust me, girls and guys alike hate my guts."

"They just don't understand how charming you are underneath your icy exterior," Anj stated. "I like to think of it as an acquired taste. Like sushi. You know, I hated sushi for a long time."

"You're comparing me to raw fish?"

"It's a foreign delicacy, darling."

"It's...raw fish..." Jewl arched an eyebrow, even if Anj couldn't see it.

He scoffed. "You have no appreciation for culture."

"Eat," Zes said and pushed Anj's tray of food closer to him. "Just...shut up and eat."

Jewl shook her head. "Honey, while I appreciate what you're failing at saying, it doesn't matter what you think of me anyway. You're not the student body, so you don't get to vote. Besides, even if you are all that and a bag of chips, you won't win against the Divine students."

"You're Divine," Anj pointed out. "And it should matter what I think. My opinion is the most important of anyone else here."

"Nobody knows I'm Divine," Jewl said. "Just accept the fact that it isn't going to happen. Besides, those crowns they have are disgusting."

"True, they're ancient and gaudy," Anj agreed.

"Let's enjoy the moment?"

He sighed. "Fine. I'll campaign for Zes instead."

His identical twin started to choke on his food then. He coughed a few times, his entire face turning red. "Excuse me?" he managed to squeak out. "Why do you have to drag me into everything you do? Can't you leave me alone for a change? What in your right mind makes you think I want to be prom king?"

"How else am I going to get you a new girlfriend?" Anj asked.

"I don't need a girlfriend! I've told you this a million times before, and I especially don't need a new girlfriend
now
." Zes pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're trying to kill me. I made you mad, and now you want to get rid of me."

Anj gave his brother a firm smack on the back of the head. "You seem pretty alive to me."

"Well, I'm about to have a heart attack! Do the words 'spotlight dance' mean anything to you?"

"Yes, they mean a whole lot of fun!"

"And to me it's a nightmare! No, don't campaign for me. I'm not even going." Zes then went back to doing what he did best — eating. It was typical lunchroom behavior for him to shovel his food into his mouth and not talk. That was the first lunch Teague had witnessed where Zes said more than three words and a couple of grunts.

Anj's jaw dropped, a face that would have been more effective if his eyes had more than a dead expression behind them. He tended not to show much emotion, and when he did, it came across as more awkward than anything else. For some reason, he enjoyed being overdramatic.

After waiting for a moment, no doubt to make sure his gesture wasn't being ignored, Anj gasped. "What do you mean you're not going to prom? How can you
not
go? It's our last major school function that we get to attend and you would miss it? What is wrong with you?"

"I just don't want to go," Zes mumbled. "It's so...couple-oriented, and I don't like dressing up, and I've got other stuff to do. Like get ready for college."

"That's like...four months away! It doesn't take four months to pack up your things. Stop making excuses. Besides, we can get you a date. Noel wants to go with you."

Zes let out a heavy sigh. "I know she does."

"Don't you like her?"

"She's nice."

"So what's the problem?"

"I..." Zes shook his head and went back to eating.

Teague knew the answer to his father's question. The problem was, Noel wasn't Cheyenne, and Zes was still hopelessly trapped under a spell. He was still in love with Cheyenne. It was so obvious with how he carried so much anguish in his gaze at just the mention of her name.

For being identical, Anj and Zes were nothing alike. Teague noticed this fact seemed to surprise a lot of students at the Vala High School and Seminary. Since he had grown up with it in his own brothers, it didn't shock him in the slightest. He enjoyed watching Anj and Zes interact, because it gave him a small touch of home. Both of the twins were facially identical with dark eyes and thin faces, though Zes had a slightly stronger jaw line. Hairstyle was the easiest way to differentiate between them. Anj liked to keep his hair shaggy and over his face. In the future, he would retain a similar style as well. He did it to avoid making eye contact with people. Zes, on the other hand, preferred his hair shorter and in playful tufts that covered two, small, satyr horns on his head.

Beyond that, both were the same height. Zes was slightly stronger in his lean frame than Anj, but he was also more physically active. They were both fascinating for Teague to watch. It showed a whole new side of his family's personality that he'd never seen before. His father was so much more quiet and reserved in the future, more humble, and clearly not whole without his brother being around. What made being around the twins even more amusing was that Teague found so much of his own appearance in them — yet no one seemed to notice. Like his father, he too had dark hair, only he got his mother's blue eyes. He was the only brunette of his siblings; his brothers and sister all had their mother's platinum blond hair.

"Well?" Anj pressed, tapping his hands on the table. "What's the problem?"

"Why do I have to go?" Zes snapped. "It's just a stupid dance."

Sighing, Anj took another bite from his lunch. "Because it's something for us to do together before you leave. If you don't want a date, we can share Jewl. She won't mind."

"Only because it's you, Zes," Jewl said. "Anyone else, I'd be offended. You can't just offer me around like that, Anj. Maybe I'll just not go with you at all, and Zes and I can have a good time."

"You wouldn't do that," Anj stated.

"Don't tempt me by being an idiot." She faced Zes and put a hand on his forearm. "If you absolutely don't want to go, then don't. He can get over it. I think it would be fun. Like he said, it's our last get together at the school. I promise you won't be abandoned at a side table, and you won't have any single, eligible ladies thrown your way."

Anj huffed. "You're no fun, honestly."

"We're only eighteen. We don't need to have everything figured out, especially our love lives," Jewl said firmly.

A slight wince came across Anj's face. Teague noticed it, but he wasn't sure if anyone else did.
Wonder what his problem is...

For a moment, Zes was quiet, and then he nodded, returning his eating pace to something more casual. "Right, I don't have to figure it all out now. I mean, if you're lucky enough to know, cool, but...I'm not. Lucky, I mean. Maybe I'll take Noel. She's nice. There's just something about her that isn't meshing right. I can't put my finger on it."

"She really likes you," Anj mumbled. "You told me that was important. That she liked
you
."

"I know she does. It's pretty obvious she isn't just using me to get to you, and that's awesome. Maybe I'm just not ready yet to open myself up to the possibility, or maybe..."

"If you say, maybe Chey will come back and you'll live happily ever after, I might punch you."

Zes laughed. "No, it has nothing to do with her. I was going to say: maybe I want to try dating a
normal
girl."

Jewl bit down on her lower lip and then took a long drink from her glass. "Good luck."

A normal girl wouldn't have been viewed as a big deal by most people. In fact, the average person might think Zes sweet and romantic for wanting a good, sweet, everyday sort of girlfriend. When Zes said normal, however, they all knew he meant a non-magical girlfriend. Those types of relationships were difficult to maintain, depending on the type of magic one had. Regardless, it required a degree of secrecy unless someone trusted enough to tell a "normal" person about the magical world. Secrets could kill a relationship, but so could the truth.

Chanel is normal. We make it work, and it's been about a year.
If Teague ever decided to marry her, he'd have to tell her everything about his magic. He did not have the type of magic that could easily be hidden forever. He couldn't say he loved her enough to take such a big step.
But I'm only sixteen, so I don't need to know right now.

Zes's heart visibly sank. He slumped in his chair and gazed down at his food, his jaw tight as he tossed a French fry onto his tray.

"It doesn't matter who you love. If they love you, too, it will work," Teague said, refusing just to sit and watch his uncle be miserable.

"Yes," Anj said. "That's true." He reached for Jewl's hand. When he found it with his own, he gave it a squeeze.

Zes took a small bite of what remained of his meal. "Right, anyway, either way, I don't want to get attached to a girlfriend right now. The only reason I thought a normal girl would be nice is because there would be a lot less drama."

"Girls are always drama!" Anj chuckled.

"At least it wouldn't be related to ancient prophesies, demons, or dark magic spells trying to ruin my life," Zes said darkly. "Insecurity and 'does this dress make me look fat' sounds pretty appealing to me at the moment."

"True."

Jewl rolled her pale blue eyes and mumbled, "Boys are stupid."

"Just because you say it quietly doesn't mean we can't hear you," Anj chided.

"You were
supposed
to hear it." Jewl stood, giving Anj's cheek a kiss. "I'm going to class. Be nice."

"I'm
always
nice."

"If you say so." She picked up her tray before leaving the table.

Anj's eyes began to glow blue, and for a moment he watched her go. A small smile formed on his lips. He and Jewl were so obviously smitten with one another. They had a love Teague always envied. His goal in life was to find someone who made him feel what he imagined his parents felt whenever they were around each other. While they weren't in the puppy love, honeymoon state in Teague's time, his parents were still openly affectionate and didn't hide the investments they put into their marriage. Date nights were frequent, as were compliments and physical affection.

Slowly, Anj stood from the table as well. "Guy, up." He reached down to grab the harness of his Seeing Eye dog, who had been waiting at his side throughout the meal.

"See you at dinner," Zes said.

Anj put his other hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'll find you sooner. I need to take Guy out to do his business before my next class. You can come with me if you'd like."

"Nah, like I said, I'll see you at dinner."

"Okay." Anj let go and soon was lost in the crowd of students in the cafeteria.

Should I stay, or do I leave too?
Awkward silence was beginning to set in at the table. Teague stayed, eating his food slowly, deciding to soak up as much time with his uncle as possible. Even if they didn't say a word, and it was the most uncomfortable moment in his life, he would stay.

"Do you mean it? What you said? About love?" Zes asked, out of nowhere, finally being the first one to acknowledge Teague was at the table.

Nodding, Teague relaxed in his chair. "Yes, I think so. Because when you love someone, you're able to get through all the obstacles that come in front of your path. They're worth jumping through hoops, crawling through trenches and stuff."

"True. Looking at my brother's love life, I've seen it happen. They've been through a lot of stuff, and I don't even know the half of it." Zes sighed. "Do you ever..." He shook his head.

Teague leaned forward. "Do I ever what? It's okay. I won't tell. I promise."

Zes studied him with his soft, brown eyes. They were so much gentler than Anj's. After a moment, he spoke again. "Do you ever wish you could have what everyone else seems to get? I know that sounds really stupid, and I know I shouldn't be jealous. But I am. Everywhere I look, everyone else has things so much easier. Then I have to struggle to get even an ounce of happiness, and that's usually taken away from right under my nose."

"It's not stupid to want something to be simple. Working gets tiring after a while. There's a phrase: even God got to rest."

"I'd like to not have the short end of the stick sometime soon," Zes grumbled. "They always say life isn't fair — and I hate to come off as ungrateful for the things I do have — it's just that I would like some fairness to come my way sometime soon."

For whatever reason, Zes was choosing to unload on Teague. What did he say in return? Anything? Did he just let Zes keep talking? That seemed like the safest thing, so rather than share an opinion or unsolicited advice, he simply nodded.

"People look at me like I have everything, like we do — my brother and I, I mean," Zes continued. "Sometimes I get tired of pretending. No one can have everything, right?"

"Right," Teague said.

Zes' gaze narrowed. "I'm probably boring you with all of this."

"No." Teague shook his head quickly. "I promise I'm not bored. You sound like you've been sad about all of this for a while. That makes me sad, too." Those weren't the original words he'd have chosen to comfort his uncle. He had to keep up with the innocence act.

"I promise I'm not ungrateful," he whispered.

"I know. Sometimes, it's okay to want to dream for bigger and better things. Those are the things that keep us going. We need goals and stuff. When those goals feel impossible to achieve, it's the most heartbreaking feeling in the world." Teague knew all too well how that felt. He'd had his fair share of shattered dreams, just like everyone else. It seemed to run in the family, like a curse.

"I don't know why I'm even telling you all of this," Zes said quietly. "Wait, no, I do know. Because you relax me in a lot of the same ways Cheyenne did. With her, I never felt like I was being judged. I get similar vibes from you. Like what I say isn't going to be right or wrong. It just is. Sometimes things need to just be. There's also something...familiar about you."