River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte

by Samantha Young

  “Caia saw?”

  “Caia saw.”

  Damn, guilt flooded him. Rose had kissed him good luck and he hadn’t exactly thrown her off. What must Caia think? He was such an id-

  “Wait!” He snapped, pushing passed her belligerently. “I have nothing to feel guilty about. I’m not the one that’s been avoiding Caia, it’s the other way around. She’s been keeping secrets, giving me attitude. She made it perfectly clear that she didn’t need me.”

  He expected an apology from Marion, for her to graciously admit she had blundered and tell him how sorry she was for him.

  He really was an idiot.

  The witch gazed at him as if he was the most stupid person she had ever met. “And when did this behaviour start? Before or after Rose’s arrival?”

  “Well...” Lucien shrugged, not sure he liked where this was going.

  She threw off his dithering with an impatient swat of her hand and stormed towards him again. “Just tell me this... are you with Rose now?”

  “That’s not really your business, Marion.”

  “Lucien.” She warned.

  He huffed, affronted at having to discuss his personal business with this woman. “I would be better off, wouldn’t I?”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “No. I’m not with Rose.”

  At that, Marion heaved a huge sigh of relief whilst still managing to stare at him in disgust. “Men.”

  “I don’t really understand the male bashing, Marion. What exactly are you doing here?”

  “Believe it or not, I’ve come to help you stop Caia making a terrible mistake that will affect you both.”

  An immediate panic set in. “What? What’s going on?”

  “Caia is staying at the Centre.”

  “WHAT!”

  “Shut up,” she hissed, smoothing her hair back down after Lucien’s ferocious bellow had blown it back. “It’s your fault.”

  “My fault! I’ve been here! I’ve been trying to find out what the hell she’s keeping from me.”

  “No. You’ve been with Rose.”

  “For the last time-”

  “Lucien Líder, do not interrupt me again,” Marion warned, her stern eyes gluing his mouth shut. “Good. As I was saying, I am tired of the complete idiocy you and Caia seem to share when it comes to the matter of your relationship. Caia has not been divulging any information to you, Lucien, because she was hurt and jealous by Rose’s presence in your life.”

  Well, that doesn’t sound right.

  “Are we talking about the same Caia Ribeiro?”

  “Oh dear Gaia, I’m surrounded by fools.” Marion threw her hands up in dismay and flopped down on to his sofa. “Lucien, when you arrived at the Centre was Caia talking to you? Yes. When Rose arrived did Caia stop confiding in you? Yes.”

  “What, no-” he stopped, a nagging feeling telling him to halt and take a moment. Now that she mentioned it, there had been a few times Caia had seemed to want to talk to him about something, but there had always been an interruption. And true, lately, that interruption had been Rose.

  Marion must have seen the comprehension dawn on his face because she made a clucking, gloating sound. “And everything starts to make sense.”

  Lucien shook his head, trying to remain cool. “Are you telling me that Caia thinks I’ve abandoned her?”

  “I’m telling you that you let my sister’s plot to separate you and Caia so that she would be more inclined to stay at the Centre with her work. I’m telling you that for the last seven months you haven’t been with your mate because you didn’t say the one thing that she needed to hear. I’m telling you what I tried to tell you the night Caia was attacked by that daemon.”

  “What?” He asked hoarsely.

  “Lucien.” Marion tut-tutted and got up off of the sofa. “What do you think? Caia has never really had a family until you. And right now she is the most valuable magik in our world and she doesn’t know who to trust. If she knew how you really felt about her, if she was secure in that, she would turn to you.” Her eyes filled up and she coughed, embarrassed, looking away from him. “I care about her a great deal, Lucien, but I worry for her all the time. This war is going to swallow her whole if she’s not careful. She needs you. So choke on that stubborn pride of yours and tell her those three little words she’s been waiting to hear.”

  He clenched his jaw, fear breaking out across every inch of his body. “And if she doesn’t say it back?”

  Marion smiled slowly, softly. “She will.”

  He searched her eyes, astounded by her utmost certainty in Caia’s love. Did she know something he didn’t? That certainty eased the ache that had been pressing on his chest for the last few months. He nodded, feeling an elated sense of hope. “I need to speak to Rose first.”

  ***

  Pressing her hand against the glass, Caia wished the rain in Paris could hit against the Centre’s window. She loved the sound of rain battering against the house when you were tucked inside, safe and sound, with cosy flames roaring in a fireplace.

  A loud rap sounded on her door.

  “Come in!” She called, keeping her back to her visitor, her eyes glued hypnotically to the blurry world outside.

  She heard the door open slowly, heavy footsteps drew across the room towards her; she inhaled the scent of damp earth and electric air, and wasn’t surprised when Lucien came to a stop by her side, his own eyes staring straight ahead out the window.

  “I’ve been looking for you,” he told her in a quiet, deep voice.

  Well at least he doesn’t sound angry.

  She had been waiting for the explosion to come ever since she had gotten back from the lab with Phoebe. So far, she hadn’t seen him.

  There’s a surprise.

  “I like the rain.”

  “Me too.”

  After a moment of silence Caia sighed. “Did you hear the news?”

  She wasn’t looking forward to telling the truth, of explaining about Laila and Vilhelm, or her plans to create a coup after her discovery of what lay beneath the Centre.

  “Yes.” His tone didn’t give anything away, and Caia snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. His entire body was rigid with emotion. He was angry. Time for the truth.

  She pushed out with her magik and wound a shield around the two of them. Lucien frowned, glancing around at it, but she refused to meet his gaze, her own eyes staring adamantly ahead.

  “For privacy,” she muttered in explanation. “We need to talk.”

  “Yes, we do,” he agreed and she felt him heave a huge sigh. To her it almost sounded like he was nervous... but what did he have to be nervous about?

  Rose.

  Caia gripped the ache that name created in a stranglehold and attempted to suffocate it from her body.

  “Rose isn’t coming back with us.”

  What?

  “What?” She forgot she was trying not to look at him and directed the question into his eyes.

  He shrugged uncomfortably, and she thought she saw pain flitter across his features. “I just spoke with her. Everything was explained. She’s not coming. We were never really together, you know.”

  “I’m sorry,” she managed tightly. What? Did he expect sympathy for being dumped?

  She flinched at his growl and returned to looking out of the window.

  “Caia,” he sounded exasperated, “Look at me.”

  “What for?”

  “You’re being a child.”

  “I told you, I like the rain.”

  He let go of his growl and stared stormily ahead. “I never wanted to be with Rose,” he revealed through a clenched jaw. “That kiss you saw was her, not me. I told her she couldn’t come back to the pack with us. Caia, I thought you were pulling away, I thought you didn’t want...” he sighed. “I’m not good at... the word... thing. I just... I’m not with Rose.”

  Caia tried so hard to stamp down the little butterflies of hope that were fluttering in her sto
mach to no avail. She tried to seem uninterested, she really did. She failed. “Why?”

  At first Caia didn’t think he was going to answer but then she felt his gaze on her face as he began, “Do you remember that night you found me in the woods? The night we ran together alone?”

  She nodded numbly, wishing she didn’t.

  At the touch of his hand sliding around her waist, Caia jerked in surprise, tensed as he slid behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her middle and pulling her body in close. The heat and strength of him, the feel of him, the scent of him, exploded over her in a riot of butterflies and stunning shivers. She held her breath, wide-eyed, as he inhaled her, before tucking her head under his chin.

  A moment of tense silence.

  And then…

  “That’s when I first knew.” His voice had gone hoarse. “Caia,” he breathed reverently, “I love you.”

  Her heart rate picked up as a sharp ache shot out of it and across her chest.

  Love me? He loves me?

  A sense of unreality descended over her and she felt incredibly lightheaded. It couldn’t be true.

  Lucien seemed to sense her disbelief and he squeezed her even closer, his lips sending goosebumps down her spine as he pressed them against her ear. “Caia, I love you. Look at me.” He sighed when she made no move, and then whipped her around to face him, gripping the top of her arms and glaring sternly into her face as he shook her. “Do you hear me? Say something.”

  As she gazed, stunned, up into his eyes she saw his fear. It was etched in every one of his features and she could feel it in his painful grip. He loves me. Like a much need thaw, those words melted her defences, and tears streamed down her face of their own accord. Caia sank into him, her arms wrapping around his waist and gripping him to her. Relief poured through her. Lucien would never lie about this, she was sure. He loves me. He has always loved me. Pain receded.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered against his chest.

  Lucien trembled beneath her touch and exhaled a sigh of relief, before bending his head, pressing his lips to hers, tugging her feet from the floor so he could devour her more comfortably. Caia sighed happily into his mouth, relishing the taste of him, the burning heat he managed to elicit from her in seconds. It wasn’t a soft kiss. It was hard and deep and asked everything of her. His grip on her hair tightened and he pulled back from the kiss to nip at her swollen lips, his eyes narrowed slits, his face drawn and tight, “I thought you’d never be mine,” he growled, and for once Caia gloried at his possessiveness, excited by how out of control he seemed as his mouth found hers again, his tongue forcing her lips apart to stroke her own in deep, drugging kisses. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and she shivered uncontrollably. At that, Lucien finally seemed to calm, and he stopped kissing her mouth, reluctantly.

  “Caia,” he groaned, trailing hot kisses across her face and neck, his arms still crushing her almost painfully, “Never leave me.”

  She grinned so ecstatic, feeling as if a war was finally over. “Never,” she promised, curling her fingers in his thick hair.

  They held each other for what seemed forever, murmuring love words and promises in one another’s ears, their relief palpable in the little bubble they shared.

  Lucien was hers. Finally hers. And she wasn’t alone anymore.

  ***

  “Lucien.” Caia pulled back reluctantly from his hug, his hard warm body the safest place she had ever known. “I have a lot to tell you. To explain. Some things you might not want to hear.”

  As if sensing her fear, he cupped her cheek in his hand. “You can trust me.”

  “I’m more worried about you trusting me.”

  “Caia, I trust you completely. I thought you knew that.”

  She shrugged helplessly. “I guess we’ve both been a little blind.”

  “Oh, just a little,” he muttered sardonically.

  “OK.” She took a deep breath, preparing herself. “I’m going to tell you everything. No interruptions until I’m done.”

  He grinned at her authoritative tone. “Yes sir,”

  “Lucien.”

  “I’m kidding. Please, continue.”

  “OK. OK. OK-”

  “Caia.”

  “OK. Here goes. The girl that escaped, the Midnight... I felt her trace when we got here and didn’t like what I found. She was, is, one of the purest souls I’ve ever encountered.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “No interruptions.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I mean, she’s good. I mean that for the last few months I have been feeling traces, Midnights, who aren’t bad people. A lot of them even feel indifferent towards the war. And Laila, the girl, she... I won’t tell you exactly what happened to her, that’s her business, but I can tell you that the Midnights did a lot of bad things to her, experiments, torture. She honestly sought refuge here, with Daylights; with Vilhelm, the boy who brought her here.”

  “The guy that broke her out?”

  “Yes. Only... he had a lot of help. From me.”

  Lucien jerked away from her in shock. “You broke that girl out of prison?!”

  Caia felt her heart begin to thump uncertainly. “Oh man, if you think that’s a problem you might not want to hear the rest.”

  Although he looked incredibly worried, he shook it off, pressing her to go on.

  “OK, so Vil, the guy, he’s a Traveller and I sent them to Ryder.”

  “What?!”

  “He’s the only one I could trust. He doesn’t know that Laila’s a Midnight, he just thinks I’m helping them. And he’s strong enough to take care of them. Anyway.” She smiled tremulously. “There’s that. And also I found out that Marita and Mordecai bugged my room. They were trying to discover secrets. Something about Jaeden.”

  His brow cleared with dawning realisation. “That’s why you asked that question about her abilities in the library.”

  “Yeah.” She nodded, taking his hand in hers unconsciously. “They were talking about Jaeden’s abilities, if I knew anything about them. I don’t. I have no idea what they were talking about. Anyway, after that I was suspicious about them both. Marita was definitely up to something.”

  “You don’t know what that is?”

  Caia braced herself for the worst part of her news. “The other day, the morning I woke up after our battle with Du Bois, I saw Marita outside of the Altar of Gaia. She was acting... strange. I was already suspicious of her so I followed her inside. She disappeared under the floor.”

  Lucien looked at her as if she was speaking Chinese. “Huh?”

  “There’s a trap door in the altar. One of the marble slabs is a door. There are ladders that lead down into a basement.”

  Dread settled over his features and she knew he felt that something irrevocable was coming. “What kind of basement?”

  “The kind with laboratories.”

  Emotion she hadn’t been allowing herself to feel swept over her like an avalanche and she found herself stumbling to find a seat as her eyes clouded with tears. “I saw Marita inside one with a guy in a lab coat. There were five lykan children in cages.”

  “Oh hell,” she heard Lucien say gruffly and she felt the sofa dip as he settled down beside her, his hand rubbing her back soothingly.

  “I don’t know what she’s doing.” She shook her head and turned to face him, his skin ashen from the news. “Do you remember she asked me to stay and help train an elite lykan unit?”

  He nodded and slowly his eyes widened. “You don’t think...?”

  “There’s a possibility that she’s trying to create a super army by experimenting on other supernaturals. There was another lab further up the corridor but I couldn’t get to it. I had to leave before Marita saw me.”

  “What the hell are we going to do, Caia?”

  She turned towards him now, never so grateful for the use of ‘we’ in that question, her hand gripping his knee as she spoke intently, “I had to l
ie and tell her I would stay at the Centre; that I was going back to the pack with you to say goodbye and then returning to her. I had to lie, Lucien, because I think she would have done anything to keep me here.”

  His face darkened. “As in threaten you? That’s against the law.”

  “I think we can assume she doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the law.”

  “Right.”

  “Lucien...”

  He squeezed her hand. “Say it.”

  “The war is a lie.”

  A cold, uneasy silence rippled out of him, before…“What?”

  “The war... it doesn’t make sense. I can’t knowingly help kill magiks who are innocent or just misguided. And I can’t help someone who professes to hate a race of people for doing things that she’s so intent on doing herself. This war is so twisted... the reasons for it don’t even exist anymore.”

  His grip tightened. “So what are you saying?”

  She searched his eyes and took hold of the trust she found there. “I’m saying that I need more power in order to begin peace negotiations with the Midnight Coven.”

  “Caia... peace negotiations? Are you sure that’s not a little naive?”

  Her gaze dropped to her feet uncertainly and she shrugged, feeling like a little girl in her mother’s high heels. “Maybe. But... if they knew that I’m the Head of the Coven, that I can find them anywhere... a little fear might go a long way to negotiating.”

  Lucien nodded slowly. “OK, true. But they might also just try to kill you.”

  She frowned in annoyance. “It’s all I’ve got. I won’t fight for a lie.”

  His shoulders slumped when he saw how determined she was. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Vil... the Traveller.”

  “Yeah?”

  “When I was in the library-”

  “I was wondering what you were up to in there.” He tugged her close.

  “Well, I was researching a spell. But also the library has schedules for everything as a public reference. Classes, ceremonies, holidays and... the days on which the Council convene.”

  “The Council?”

  “Yes. Did you know that they have the authority to permit a challenger for the position of Head of the Coven if they have evidence that the current Head is not the best magik for the job?”