“He strengthened the bond, tipping it closer to permanent.” Rowen took a step forward, gripping my upper arms, his expression serious and earnest. “You can’t ever let it become a full bond. I don’t know what that would do to either of you. Beyond that, I can’t imagine the backlash from both the Heavens and the Hells. There is a prophecy regarding the mixing of four bloods and I fear that is what some are trying to push.”
Caius extracted me from Rowen’s grasp. “Since the replenisher has done little for her, perhaps we should concentrate on getting food into her right now. A complete bond isn’t something we need to worry about. It will never happen.”
Rowen watched my shivering, his dark eyes troubled. “You are right.”
I wanted to ask about whatever prophecy he was talking about, but my chattering teeth prevented it.
“Come here,” Caius said with an exasperated sigh as he pulled me back against him, wrapping his arms and cloak around me, holding me tight.
“What are you doing?” I managed to get out as I tried to push away. The heat coming off his body, despite the fact he was wet too, was delicious.
“I’m the warmest thing here.” He tightened his arms, a rough edge to his voice when he said, “Just relax and accept the warmth before you freeze to death.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Still a little uncomfortable, I tried to do as he suggested and soak up his body heat. I let the back of my head rest against his solid chest. Wanting more of the warmth, I shifted until I could feel the heat of his legs on the back of mine. He was a demonborn, and yet I felt safe…cared for. It wasn’t something I was used to. I’d spent so much of my teenage years taking care of Mom, hiding my problems from her, that I’d forgotten what it was like.
It was silly to feel anything. I couldn’t…shouldn’t, have any feelings for Caius other than maybe friendship. Just because he saved my life—more than once—didn’t mean he would ever actually return any feelings. It didn’t mean that he would ever regard me as a friend in return, or as anything more than the reaper he was bound to. Ever feel anything more than obligation toward me.
And yet, for a few crazy moments, I let myself think that he was keeping me warm because he cared about me, and it had nothing to do with the bond. Then I pushed the errant thoughts away and tried to just take the offered warmth without hoping there was anything more to it.
The cocoon of his cloak wrapping around both of us started to feel cozy and my shivering eased. As I thawed, my eyes drifted shut and I was surprised to feel so tired. That must be why my mind was being ridiculous.
I did realize though, that somewhere along the way, I’d stopped hating him. And I was pretty sure he didn’t hate me either. We weren’t enemies anymore. We were allies now. It was even possible we were becoming friends. Friends was good, uncomplicated. I could be happy with friends.
Caius’s breath brushed past my ear as he said in a low voice, “When I said ‘relax’ I didn’t mean fall asleep standing up.”
My eyes popped open. Rowen appraised me as I stood wrapped up in Caius and his crimson cloak. He gave us a weighing look that made no sense to me. “We need to get you both into something dry.”
James stepped forward. “I’ll go to Midtween and get whatever Jo needs.” He looked at Caius in apology. “I would get what you need as well, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be welcomed much on your side of Midtween. None of us in Rowen’s group are after what happened at the bridge.”
“I can take care of myself,” Caius said. “I have no need to travel to Midtween.”
Although I didn’t want to give up the warmth, when he made no move to leave I started to step away. His arms didn’t budge and I felt him sigh. “When James returns with your things I will go get mine. I didn’t stand here and warm you up so you can freeze again waiting on dry clothes.”
“I’m warm enough now. James won’t be long.” I waited a moment then pushed at his arms.
“See that you don’t take long,” Caius’s tone was hard. I couldn’t see his expression, but James was quick to nod.
Without another word, Caius dropped his arms and stepped away from me. The cold breeze swooped in to replace his body heat. He walked a few paces away, shifted into the giant eagle and took to the air.
James stared after him. “Wow. What kind of bird was that?”
I chuckled and walked over to lean against the house. “One that doesn’t exist in nature.”
Rowen sent James a stern look. “It’s bad enough I have a Daughter of Morrigan bloodbound to that demonborn, I don’t need a Son of Morrigan lusting after him.”
James blushed slightly. “You have to admit, he’s quite a specimen. That said, I think I will stick with Aaron. Caius is too intimidating to think of as anything other than eye candy.” He glanced at me. “Besides, I don’t think he swings my way.”
Intimidating? I tried to think of Caius that way. I mean yeah, he’d scared the crap out of me a few times with his glowering and what not, but I would never admit to that, nor did it ever stop me from saying what I thought. But then, my mouth had a tendency to speak before my brain could pass good sense along to it. James didn’t have that problem.
“If you are going to get something for Jo before she passes out from lack of food, you better get on it,” Rowen suggested.
“Yes sir,” James said with a mock salute and walked into the house.
***
“There were already enough hands against us; I didn’t need to add to the reasons.” ~Caius
Chapter 34
My head swam and I found myself abruptly sitting on the ground. Bethany crouched beside me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I guess I need food more than I realized.” I rubbed my forehead, glad to find smooth skin. I sent Bethany and Rowen an accusing look. “How come none of you ever mentioned this Morrigan stuff?”
Bethany sighed and stared at her hands. “The Children of Morrigan aren’t spoken of. Although everyone knows that’s what makes up our group of reapers, they don’t acknowledge it. There aren’t many of us and all of us are kept in one group. Everyone that has Rowen for a guide is a Child.”
“Didn’t it strike you as funny that I ended up in the group then?” I asked, wondering how much my friend had known or suspected.
“I assumed it was because you are half-angel. Only the angel part of you has any training. I never sensed any Morrigan power.” She shrugged and looked at me with open sincerity in her eyes. “Rowen’s group is kind of the outcast group. With your father being who he is, it definitely makes you an outcast.”
“Why are Morrigan’s Children outcasts?” It didn’t make sense to me. “Shouldn’t you guys be something important since Morrigan was the original reaper and like the god of gods or something?”
Rowen chuckled darkly. “You would think, wouldn’t you? As the mortal population increased, the numbers of deaths outpaced the Morrigan and her Children, souls were becoming Lost. The Morrigan was no longer producing new children, and those she created weren’t overly fruitful. So she designated that the descendants of the angels, who were themselves a byproduct of other gods, fill in the gaps—when before they were only allowed to be guardians.”
“You make it sound like reaping was the more important task.” I leaned back against the wall of the dilapidated house.
“It was. It still is,” Rowen said as he sat next to me. “A guardian helps a person to continue walking the path they are on, to maintain what is. A reaper helps that person transition. It’s easier to urge a soul to stay on a path they know than it is to take their hand and lead them into the unknown.”
“So how did it all end up with you guys as outcasts?” I snuggled a little further into Rowen’s cloak, finally starting to feel warm.
“There were a lot more of angel blood than there were of Morrigan blood. Five hundred years ago, over nine-thousand after Morrigan went to sleep, those of angel blood started to feel that the dwindling numbers of Morrigan children weren’t needed.” Anger and
sadness shadowed his face. “They were jealous of our power, of our place as Morrigan’s direct descendants. A war broke out between the children of angels and the Children of Morrigan. The children of angels wanted us gone. We are stronger than the children of angels; however, they had numbers on their side. Many on both sides were killed. It’s why there are few reapers older than five hundred years.
“Convinced that Morrigan would sleep forever, the children of angels wanted to run everything in Midtween, on both sides of the river. The demonborn held their side with little effort; it was foolish for the children of angels to start a war with demon hybrids.
“The Children of Morrigan lost and became second-class citizens for the next hundred years. It could have been worse. We came close to being wiped out. Only the fact that Caius and some of his siblings stood with the Children of Morrigan near the end saved us. It’s what finally ended the war. He and his siblings decimated the ranks of angel descended reapers.”
Rowen paused and stared at the horizon for a long moment. The way his jaw worked, I could tell talking about it made him angry. When he seemed to have his control back, he continued, “After a long while, the war was forgotten. Mostly on purpose. Those born and raised afterward weren’t taught about it, nothing in reaper training mentioned the war, Morrigan, or her Children. New reapers that are Children are quietly funneled into a separate group—mine.
“As the number of reapers with angel blood grew, other groups were set up so it was easier to train, supervise, support, and guide them. Only a few know that the only way into my group is if you have Morrigan blood.
“All of the purest families died in the war. I can only guess that your mother was sent away to the mortal world to save her life.” Sadness crept into the deep brown of his eyes. “Our history was essentially wiped out. Only the Children of Morrigan teach the entirety of it to our own children when we have them. We do so quietly and only when they are old enough to know better than repeat it.”
A war in Midtween, descendants of angels practically destroying the Children of Morrigan for what amounted to jealousy. It was a lot to take in. As was the fact that Caius kept the Children from being wiped out. The currents flowing under the surface of Midtween ran deeper than I ever imagined.
“So no one ever mixes because the Morrigan said it wasn’t allowed. And now you have me and I’m one hell of a mix.” I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest so I could rest my chin on them. “Angel, Human, Child, and Demon. What a mess I am to all of you.”
“You aren’t actually mixed with demon yet. For that, you would have to complete the bond. For now, you are a mix of the first three with demon blood in your veins. It doesn’t help that it is Caius’s blood.”
“Why does it matter if it’s him or another demonborn?” I frowned, confused.
“A story for another time, perhaps.” Caius’s voice cut into our conversation as he walked around the corner of the house wearing a dry pair of jeans and a dark gray t-shirt that hugged his torso.
Rowen regarded him, “I wouldn’t have told her your story. That is for you to tell if you ever decide you wish to.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great, more cryptic stuff to drive me crazy.”
“At least this time it isn’t anything about you,” Caius said as he handed me a small bag.
Whatever, his secrets were his to keep. I opened the bag and the sight of food drove everything else out of my mind for a moment. An apple, a couple packages of cheese, and some crackers rested inside. Taking a bite of the apple, I turned my attention back to Rowen. “Why is the Morrigan so determined to keep the Children from mixing with anything other than mortal humans?”
Caius chuckled as he glanced at Rowen. “She asks all the right questions.”
Bethany looked away from me, worry and conflict in her eyes. Even Rowen looked uncomfortable. Uh-oh, this didn’t bode well. After a bit, Rowen cleared his throat and said, “She never said they couldn’t mix with them, not in those exact words. She said only that a mix of the bloods would bring the end.”
Nervous, I licked my lips. “The end of what?”
“She didn’t say,” Rowen answered, his gaze troubled.
“So…I’m…what?” What was I going to end? Maybe I shouldn’t have been born.
I don’t know what showed on my face, but Caius’s gaze held steady on mine as he said, “You are a Daughter of Morrigan and a reaper.”
I nodded and pushed my feelings down, bringing up my façade. The same one I’d worn as I convinced people I was doing fine when I felt different from everyone around me in the mortal world. The same façade I’d worn when I convinced school counselors, teachers, social workers, nurses and even my mother, that I was doing fine as cancer stole her from me. The one that let me shut everyone out; let me hide my pain even from myself. I tore open one of the cheese packages and stuffed the white and yellow cheddar into my mouth.
Rowen looked as if he was about to say something. I wished he wouldn’t. I didn’t want comfort; I didn’t want anything from anybody. It was easier that way. The only thing I did want was my mother.
Suddenly, I wanted her comforting presence more than I had in months. I wanted to hear her voice when she told me everything would be okay, to feel her arms embrace me, to hear her singing in the kitchen as she cooked breakfast on Sunday morning. The only thing I wanted, I couldn’t have.
I was saved from whatever Rowen was planning to say by James coming out of the house with a small backpack which he handed to me. Sighing with relief, I pushed to my feet and dusted the bits of grass off the borrowed cloak. “Thanks, James.”
“Anything for my girl,” he replied, kissing me on the cheek.
I laughed and gave him a return peck. “You always make me feel special when you talk that way, sweetie.”
James covered his heart with his hands and feigned a pleading look. “Just don’t ever leave me, baby.”
I glanced over his shoulder as Aaron and the rest of my friends filed out of the house. “You better watch it; Aaron is going to get suspicious.”
“I knew it!” Aaron folded his arms, a smile nearly breaking through his mock scowl. “You are cheating on me with Jo.”
Bethany propped her hands on her hips, “Aaron, I’m shocked. How can you still care about James when you claimed your heart was mine?”
“But I thought you loved me, Bethany!” Chelsea cried with overly dramatized hurt.
Ethan managed to laugh and look hurt at the same time. “Jo, I thought you were eternally mine.”
Rowen sighed, shaking his head. “Go get changed Jo, you can play lovers quarrel later.”
Still chuckling, I walked into the house. A glance over my shoulder found Caius standing with a confused look on his face as each of my friends continued to claim to love someone else and another accused them of cheating.
I guess from the outside it could look a little weird. What started as a small joke over a year ago had grown to include the entire group. It was nice to see it played now. I needed the laugh. The lighthearted mood they brought with them made it easier to bury the things that bothered me.
The bedroom on the main floor still had a door I could push mostly shut, even though it couldn’t latch due to the lean of the building. A dust-covered chair sat in one corner and I carefully laid Rowen’s damp cloak over the back then peeled off my wet clothes. The chill air made my skin goose pimple. Shivering, I reached for the pack.
There weren’t any towels in the bag when I unzipped it, so I just worked to put on the clothes James brought. Pulling the new jeans on over my damp legs proved to be an exhausting job. The cami and t-shirt went on easier. I tugged on dry a pair of socks and my other pair of combat style boots, thankful James knew me so well that he could bring some of my favorite clothes. After sliding my arms into my dry reaper cloak, I stuffed the wet things into the empty bag and left them. There was no point in taking them with me. Without a way to wash them, they would just mildew. Grabbing Rowen’s cloak, I left
the room already feeling much better.
Tension hung thick in the air when I stepped into the overgrown yard. My friends stood on one side, and a group of about the same number of demonborn stood on the other with Caius between them. This should be interesting.
***
“Reapers were beyond understanding. The comments and accusations being flung back and forth raised the darkness inside me, until I realized the game for what it was. The darkness was far more disturbing than the game.” ~Caius
Chapter 35
Caius didn’t look in my direction; he kept a wary eye on both groups. Rowen stood with his arms crossed while most of my friends held their staffs.
“You are asking a lot, Caius,” Rowen said, his dark eyes narrowed on the newcomers.
“No more than you are asking of me, Rowen.” Caius turned slightly in the direction of my guide while still keeping a guard on those behind him. “They are here for the same reason you are.”
One of the demonborn stepped forward, her blonde mane drifting in the breeze. I recognized her immediately. This couldn’t be good. She never even looked at me, her attention was on Rowen. “You can’t stop us from standing beside our brother.”
“Enough, Lilly,” Caius hissed, his golden gaze molten as he glared at her.
“We don’t need you.” Ryan raised his staff slightly in warning.
Rowen motioned him back. “Cooler heads need to prevail here.”
I walked forward until I stood in between the two groups and looked at Caius. “Friends of yours?”
A low growl ran through the group of demonborn and Caius sent me an exasperated look. “Family.”
I raised my eyebrows, reassessing the group. “And they think we can’t handle this without them?”
“We think you aren’t going to handle it without us,” a man with the same dark hair as Caius answered.
Rowen stood resolute. “Unlike Jo, none of the Children with me have a bond to ensure their safety. I have enough age and experience to hold my own. These with me do not.”
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 22
