He stood to leave, heading toward the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned once more to look at me. “When you feel composed, you should probably head on home. You wouldn’t want Sera to worry about you, would you?”
I shook my head, and he nodded, exiting out of the room.
✽✽✽
I waited a few minutes, trying to compose myself. There was so much to digest. This world was so new to me, and I kept getting doses of more secrets coming out that made my life such a twist to everything. The Mundus Noctis was divided, good and bad. But it was all puritan based. Vampires were with vampires, werewolves with werewolves, and human counterparts, non-existent in their hierarchy. The Venatrix was a tool used by the Casti, but they honestly didn't care about them. And here I was, seen as an abomination in the Mundus Noctis and a royal threat in the Fae realm. My mother Venatrix; my father, Fae.
According to Finn, he believed a change was in the air. But did I and did I want to be a part of that change? I didn’t want to be exterminated or executed, but I didn’t know enough about this world to push others for change. I was still born a Venatrix, but not inducted into their council, did I have to follow their rules? Morally and ethically, my decision was clear. My family was those the Casti had turned their backs on, restrained, or forced their will upon. So, my loyalty was to my loved ones, regardless of what the Casti ruled. However, politically, the only decision I could make was to put one foot in front of the other and continue through this path, wading in the supernatural shit that was trying to pull me under. It was quite heavy. Only time would tell.
Small doses of magic, Finn had said. I wanted to break the link that kept us all tied together. It wasn’t right that they knew where I was and vice versa. I understood the logic, but it was too dangerous for them now more than ever. I knew only time would tell when I would be discovered and I had no idea what would happen to them, especially since the Casti didn’t really recognize any of them. So I concentrated on my magic to break Meredith’s, but I soon discovered that I couldn't. I was not sure what that meant at the time. So, if I couldn't break it, I would dull it, like my eyes. I concentrated, and sure enough, I felt the links to one another loosen. I was "aware" of them, which told me that they were "aware" of me, but their location was undetermined.
Satisfied, I composed myself and headed back for the basement. Anahita hadn't come back yet, which made me feel better about approaching Zane to return her clothes. He was so absorbed with pounding a punching bag to a pulp that he didn't seem to hear me walk down the steps and enter the gym. He hadn't changed and watching his muscles bunch, and release in his form fitting shirt made me drool a little.
I cleared my throat to get his attention, which worked as he stopped, but he didn’t exactly look at me.
“I heard you coming down the steps. I smelled you before then.” That’s when he looked up at me. Blue intense eyes burned into mine, making me shiver. “You dulled the link.”
“I did.”
He walked away from me, from the gym toward his bedroom. I followed on his heels.
“Zane, things are going to get really dangerous for anyone who knows me. Please try to understand that I don’t want anyone hurt.”
He turned on me and sneered. “Perhaps maybe you can now understand why we keep some of the secrets we do.”
It was a slap in the face, but one I did finally understand. “Fair enough.”
There was a moment between both of us, just glaring at one another. Almost in silent challenge. Our postures rigid with tension, waiting for the other to make a move. Then, Zane sighed and relaxed his body. The tension ebbed out of both of us.
“Let me walk you home.” He grabbed his leather jacket off the bed and turned back to me.
The leather jacket reminded me of my borrowed one. I had forgotten for a moment that that was the main reason I had gone down to the basement.
“Anahita’s clothes…I need to return them.” And grab my clothes back, which I had thrown on the bed in my haste.
“I bought them. You keep them.” He smirked. “Plus, I don’t think Anahita would want that outfit back, knowing that you look better in it than she did.”
I felt flattered, and my cheeks became warm from the compliment. “Be careful. You’re close to being nice to me.”
The smirk never left his face as he passed me to go up the steps. I followed him in silence through the house and out the front door. We were side by side walking in the dark. Our pace was slow, neither one of us ready to end the evening.
“Crazy night tonight, huh?” I asked when I felt comfortable that we were alone and no one was watching us.
He just nodded in response.
“A lot of discoveries, huh?”
He quirked an eyebrow and looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Do you really want to talk about this?”
“I don’t know. Don’t you? Doesn’t it bother you to know that I am half Fae?”
He stopped walking and faced me. The emotion on his face was soft. “Does it bother you to know that I’m a messed up Supernatural creature? A werewolf trapped by a vampire.”
“Of course not.” I scrunched up my face from his ridiculous question to which he just nodded.
“Then there’s your answer.” He picked his pace back up to which I followed. Running a hand through his hair, he asked, “Nate is the guy you are in love with, isn’t he?”
My cheeks became flush with his question. It wasn’t necessarily embarrassment, but I had hoped that it wasn’t that obvious. But after tonight, when all of our feelings were exposed, there was no hiding it.
“Yeah,” I responded shyly.
Space separated us. It was awkward for both of us, but it was probably better that things would be aired out. At least he would stop accusing me of having feelings for him. He cleared his throat, distinctly uncomfortable with the discussion.
“I guess it would make sense since he’s the only other guy you hang out with.” He shrugged a shoulder uncomfortably.
I gave him a scrutinizing look. “I don’t think you have known me enough to come to that conclusion.”
“He is the only other guy I smell on you and that indicates some sort of intimacy.”
Now that hit high on the disturbing and the “breaching of personal boundaries” meter.
“How can I even respond to that?” I asked incredibly.
“Honestly," he continued, not addressing me, and just shook his head, "I just don’t see you two together.”
If he wanted to put more space between himself and me, he was doing a great job by placing doubt into my mind.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but why?”
A corner of his mouth tipped up as he looked me in the eye. “He’s a nice guy.”
“And I don’t deserve nice?!”
His face contorted into frustration. “No, it’s not that. I just think you would find ‘nice’ boring. From what I felt from you this evening is that you like the chase.”
I stopped mid-step and glared at him as he paused ahead to look back at me, trying to gauge my reaction. How could someone I just met try to analyze my feelings based on one spell?
“Most of that was from Anahita. And any true excitement that you thought I felt was from the chase of the hunt. Of my job, but that doesn’t translate into my love-life.”
His eyebrows went up in doubt. “No?" He took a step closer to me, and my heartbeat sped up.
I knew he heard it by the smirk on his face. He inched closer until there was an inch between my face and his. His breath was warm against my lips. My heart was working double time.
“I think you are attracted to dangerous,” he whispered seductively.
I found myself leaning into him.
“And the only reason you are attracted to your friend right now is because you can’t have him. It’s the chase.”
At that, I felt cold and pulled back. I wanted to slap Zane, but I didn't. I was suddenly reminded of the conversation I had
had with Anahita about Zane's own love life.
“And you know so much about relationships, Mr. Power-is-all-I-need.”
He looked taken back. He even made a step back.
I rolled my eyes. "Anahita told me all about your commitment issues." I started walking again, and this time he followed me.
“Anahita?”
“Yes, Anahita. She told me that you don’t do relationships.”
“I’m going to kill her,” he murmured under his breath.
“Well, is that not true?” I stopped again, glaring at him.
He shifted stiffly, and the silence was profound.
“There are lifetimes of events that you have no knowledge of. Lifetimes that you will probably never understand. But if there is anything I can explain to you, is how life is being part of the Scelesti. Being dark…you don't care about anyone but yourself. Who you can kill or manipulate to strengthen your status. Your own pleasure. It is a very selfish way of life. But to say I had issues…is a misunderstanding. I quite simply didn't care about anyone."
"I would call that ‘having issues.'"
He glared dangerously at me in an attempt to drop the subject, which of course I didn’t.
“So, now that you are no longer Scelestus, you care?”
There was another lengthy pause.
“What did Sera tell you about me?”
“That you slaughtered our ancestors.”
He nodded emphatically. "I did, but your sister didn't tell you about the last woman I drank dry. She was an oracle. Everyone knew about that. But what she didn't tell anyone was that she was also an Empath. When I drank from her, she made my dead heart feel again. I felt her fear, anger, and hatred as she died. It had been hundreds of years since I had felt anything for anyone, and she had forced it upon me. As she was dying she imparted on me one last prophecy. I don’t know if it was punishment or accident, but it was enough to change everything for me. ”
“And the prophecy?”
“That I was destined to kill my mate. The one person that would complete my heart, I’m supposed to kill.” He looked so forlorn that it broke my heart.
At the same time, I pitied him. After hearing about my parents, how they had died, and part of it was because of the mate bond, I couldn’t ever imagine wanting to be mated.
“I know this is probably something you are looking forward to by becoming part of the Casti. And I’m not trying to hurt you by saying this, but mating sounds awful to me. I don’t know why anyone would want to share someone’s burdens or hardships. Or even die because the other did.”
His pale face managed to gather a little color from his anger. "How could you possibly know anything about it? You barely know anything about the Mundus Noctis, and you're still a kid."
“I know enough to know that my father died from my mother’s death, a broken heart,” I snapped back.
His anger didn't lessen. "And if it weren't for their bond, you wouldn't be here."
My heart skipped a beat. Zane wasn't wrong, but I still was angry. It was fortunate that we had made it to my house. We stopped in the driveway, and I was debating on whether to continue fighting over this or to go into the house.
"I made sure you made it. Safe and sound," Zane spat back. "Have a good night."
His voice held so much hostility.
“Good night,” I barked back and walked toward the house.
When I reached the door, I started to feel awful about arguing with him, and I turned around to apologize, but Zane was gone. I didn't even see him down the street, so he must have used his vampire speed to hasten back to Underhill.
Whatever, I thought. Zane had more problems and issues that I couldn't deal with at the moment. And I didn't have time to deal with his personal demons.
I walked in to find Sera sleeping on the couch with her phone on an end table. Finn had covered her with a couple of blankets and made sure she was comfortable. I felt a little grateful that he hadn’t gone into her bedroom. That would be breaking some personal space rule that she had. Mr. Myles hadn’t even made it in the house.
I closed the door quietly, hoping I hadn't woke her. Of course, it did, but she was groggier than usual from whatever Finn had given her.
She looked at me wordlessly, scanning me from head to toe, and then she looked around her surroundings.
“How did I get here?” She rasped.
“Finn, brought you home,” I worded cautiously.
She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. “That was stronger than I had expected.”
I was surprised. "Wait, you knew Finn gave you something?"
She looked at me strangely. “Of course. He offered to give me something to relax my nerves.” She squinted up at me, still sleepily. “I was having trouble with you going out. I hadn’t been sleeping well. Relaxing sounded so nice. I just didn’t know that it would knock me out.”
I felt better knowing that Finn hadn’t roofied her. He’d sedated her, but she had known that she took something.
“What time is it?” She murmured.
“Late. I’m sorry. It took a little longer than what I expected,” the half-truth slipped too easily from my lips.
Sera and I were in this together, but there were some things that I couldn’t tell her. She had been trying to keep me safe my whole life, even knowing that I could be put in these perilous situations. It would send her to an early grave, knowing what transpired tonight. And yet, I started wondering if she felt the same about what to tell me. How much did she know about our connection? How were we really related?
“Sera… I have to know. Do you know who my parents were?”
It looked like she was going to stand before I asked my question, but she slumped down back onto the couch, startled and perplexed.
“I know your mother was a Venatrix. But you knew that.”
I shook my hands in agitation. "No. I mean ‘who.' Who were they?”
“I found out from you that your mother’s name was Pari Muaz from that painting. But besides that, no. Not really.”
I believed her. I knew more than her. And even if I was sick of secrets, I was starting to understand the necessity of them. There would be a time and place to tell Sera, but it wasn’t this night.
"Come on, kiddo." She put her arm around my shoulders, and we headed toward our bedrooms.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
After so many discoveries, my body being invaded, and a small battle, I was exhausted. Even after the short nap I had after passing out earlier. So, it didn't take much for me to fall asleep. And when I did, Flora met me under a tree near the riverbank. I heard the river bubbling in the background, and I saw the meadow of our first meeting in the distance.
She seemed to love the flowy outfits, as both of us were dressed in them again. I was in green, and she was in brown. They did feel nice, as I felt the breeze brush by me. They made me feel relaxed and free. I understood the appeal, but I wouldn’t tell anyone alive about it.
“Well, it’s about time,” she commented, putting her hands on her hips, as we stood underneath a great willow.
“What do you mean?”
“I tried coming to you last night, but no matter how I tried, you were out.” A small smile creased her face.
I leaned against the tree and slid down into a sitting position. Flora sat down in front of me.
“Zane has been working you hard,” she remarked.
“You know about Zane?”
“Honey, I’m dead. I know a lot of things.” She quirked an eyebrow. “I also see a lot of things as well.”
A blush suddenly heated my cheeks. There was a lot for her to see in the past two days, and not all of it flattering. In fact, most of it was quite embarrassing.
“Do you want to talk about any of it?”
“No,” I responded emphatically, shaking my head.
She looked off into the distance. “Growing up is hard. Being a teenager is even harder. I wouldn’t go back to that stage to save my life.”
She regarded me. “And in your case, being you is harder than any of it. You have suddenly been asked to become an adult overnight and accept certain truths that aren’t fair.” She pulled me in for a hug and held me next to her. “If I could turn back time, I would find a way to change it for you and do better for you.”
I pulled her arms tighter around me, trying to find solace before delving into heavy topics again.
“You said that fate always catches up to us,” I started.
“It does.”
“Then what you showed me the other night, is that fated?”
She paused a moment before speaking. Her lips pursing out again, the way they did when she was thinking something through.
“A version of that is fated to happen. But because you warned your friends, it might be a different group involved or different vampires. Regardless, the situation is fated to happen.”
She untangled me from her arms and stared forcefully into my eyes. “I am more concerned with what the Succubus may do.”
It took me a second before remembering that I had bumped into Mrs. Hollander at Mick’s. “What about her?”
“She knows that you are Fae. Does she know you are a Venatrix? And if she knows all of this, I am concerned about how she might use this information, Caden.”
My stomach twisted with anxiety.
“The Scelesti don’t exactly care,” she continued. “But they like power and whatever can grant them power. A Succubus is a tool for the Scelesti. You need to find out her intentions.”
“Now?”
“No. You need to sleep. Even if you only have a couple of hours left. You are going to need it.”
I felt suddenly so wired with anxiety that I didn’t think it would be possible to fall into regular sleep after she left. “I don’t think it’s going to happen, Flora.”
Flora granted me with one of her motherly smiles and kissed my forehead.
"Sleep," she ordered, and I felt my nervous energy drain away.
Suddenly, my head and limbs felt heavy, and I found myself being pulled under by heavy sleep. I let it take me.
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