by S. Young
Kirios smiled softly and raised his gaze back up to the window.
Caia was born.
A feeling of overwhelming anticipation rushed through him. He’d done everything to protect her, masking her trace when Adriana hunted her, ordering Saffron to keep a close eye on her, to make sure Marion was protecting Caia. For a while, his attention had been diverted by Devlyn and his growing tyranny—his unbelievable madness, his camps for behavioral modification for magiks, his desperation to have them under his complete control. Nikolai, the present son of the Petrovsky family, had grown so concerned that Kirios had masked his trace and sent Nikolai in to kill Devlyn. The Midnights had no clue as to who had done it, supposedly a member of Daylight, of course.
And now Caia was the Head of the Coven! He’d laughed when he and Nikolai realized the truth. But the laughter hadn’t lasted long. Devlyn’s irritating brat of a son had tried to continue his father’s work and was too preoccupied with finding Caia and destroying her. His distance from the coven had allowed Nikolai to solidify an important, authoritative position within the coven, but Kirios had worried over Ethan’s ever-increasing obsession with his niece. Not that he needed to worry, he thought smugly, watching her, remembering all that … mess … he’d found a few days ago in Ethan’s lodge. Now Nikolai was Regent of the Midnights and halting attacks against the Daylights under the guise that Ethan’s disappearance had weakened the coven. Not to mention he said he was close to completing the Septum.
But what of Caia, he mused, desperate to come out from the cover of the trees to reveal himself to her. He needed to know more about her. He needed to be able to trust her. Somehow, he had to insinuate himself into her life.
The girl. Yes, he thought. The lykan that Ethan kidnapped. Jaeden.
He watched her for a while, yesterday, wondering what on Gaia’s earth had happened to her down in Ethan’s basement. He could guess, he supposed. He scowled. She should never have had to go through that. And now … well … she had a secret too.
As he watched her, he saw her grow visibly upset and items in her room started flying around of their own accord. A telekinetic. Untapped magikal power in a lykan. She was like a two-for-one special. Not only would she be a useful soldier but he could use her to insinuate himself into Caia’s life. Another misfit to add to his crew. Yes. Tonight he would send a few impulses her way, suggest perhaps she run away from the pack. Then he would appear—Reuben the vampyre with his gang of hunters. Yeah. He’d make sure Jaeden wanted to join him.
And then he’d have it all. Jaeden. The Septum.
And Caia.
3
Just How Deep the Rabbit Hole Goes
Reuben—sorry, Kirios—was really old. Like … whoa old.
Caia studied him, trying not to appear intimidated. Of course she was.
But she had to maintain control of the situation. As much control as someone in a cage could.
“What I got from that long-winded tale of sorrow is that your family of hippies is responsible for this war, and you, my friend, are a ruthless son of a bitch. Not exactly endearing me to your cause. By the way, I still don’t fully have a grasp on what your cause is.”
“To end the war. I thought I was quite clear on that point.”
She held in a long-suffering sigh. “Yes, but how do you intend to do that?”
Reuben looked off into the distance, a smug smile in his eyes. “Marita has inadvertently made everything so much easier for us.”
Caia snorted in disbelief. “And how is that?”
“Our plan was to take care of the Septum and then get rid of Marita. That could have been a bloody mess, but Marita has betrayed herself to the Council. We just need to take her out, and then once she’s out of the picture, I’m sure it will be pretty easy to persuade the Council to our way of thinking.”
“Again, what way is that? What the Hades is the Septum? If you’re going to keep me in a cage like a gerbil, you can at least do me the courtesy of providing me with some straight answers.”
Reuben chuckled and relaxed once more into his armchair, shrugging elegantly. “What cage?”
A jolt ran through Caia at his amusement, and she closed her eyes in disbelief. It better be there when she opened them. Slowly, she craned her neck. No bars. Her gaze flew around her sides and back. No cage. And the bars that had been suspended in front of her disappeared as she turned around to look at Nikolai. She shook her head, laughing low and humorlessly. “For how long?”
“Since Nikolai gave me this chair.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll try to use magik?”
He shrugged, apparently his favorite gesture. “Wouldn’t you have done so by now?”
Goddess, he was such a smug bastard. She wanted to smack the expression off his face. “I want to know what the Septum is. It doesn’t mean I have any intention of working for you. I want to know what I’m dealing with.”
“That’s smart. Probably the first smart thing you’ve said or done so far.”
Breathe, Caia, breathe. He claims to be impervious to magik. He could be lying, but if he’s not and you blast him, Nikolai will blast you before you can blink, and then Reuben will finish you off.
His eyes wandered over her face. “You think before you act. At least that’s something.”
“Screw you.”
“Very mature.”
“Oh, and your pointed insults are the height of sophisticated adulthood.”
His lips quirked at the corner. Goddess, she hated this guy.
“I’m just pointing out that you haven’t shown a propensity for logic in your previous dealings.”
Don’t let him bait you. Ignore him. Count sheep or something.
Oh, the hell with it! Counting sheep was for insomniacs. “And what the Hades do you know about it, huh?”
Well done, Caia, that’s showing him.
“You were planning on taking over the Daylight Coven with the hopes of beginning peace negotiations with the Midnights. Illogical, stupid, and naive.”
She bristled. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I’m the one with trace powers. I can sense Midnights emotions and motives, and I can assure you there are a lot of them out there who would welcome my plan to end the war.”
“Yes, but there are also many who won’t. That’s why we need to deal with the Septum first.”
Arrrgghhh!
“What is the Septum?” she seethed between clenched teeth.
“Not what. Who.” Nikolai stepped forward, seeming to understand Reuben was losing her.
Caia blinked. “Who?”
Nikolai settled on the arm of Reuben’s chair. “The Septum is comprised of the seven direct descendants of the Daylight and Midnight Coven.” He flicked his wrist, and a scroll of paper appeared on the ground before her. It slowly unrolled. On it were seven names and their locations. “What you see before you is information that has taken us a long time to verify.”
Caia shook her head. “I don’t understand.” Were these the descendants of the magiks who bound themselves to Galen and Penelope, respectively?
“Yes,” Reuben confirmed.
Her eyes widened. She hadn’t realized she’d muttered the question out loud. She took hold of the paper, seeming to understand that something of great consequence was unfolding here. “So these are the direct descendants of the first seven. What makes them so important?”
Her mind whirred with possibilities, but she couldn’t even begin to imagine that her theory was correct.
Reuben smiled. “Caia, you’re smarter than that. I think you already know.”
Taking a huge gulp of air, she tried unsuccessfully to fold the paper without her fingers trembling. “You think … you think you can get rid of the trace somehow through these seven people?”
They grinned at her as if she were a pet who’d just performed brilliantly for them. Nikolai leaned forward, excitement bristling in his movement. “We don’t think … we know.”
“How?”
�
�Just before you were born, the Prophet came to me again.” Reuben straightened in his chair. “He told me that if we killed the seven direct descendants simultaneously—and it has to be simultaneously, by the same method as it has something to do with connecting their energies and the trace—then the trace will leave us. I’ve always believed the trace has kept the war alive when it should have ended centuries ago. For goddess’ sake, lykans and vampyres, for the most part, have lived in peace with the humans for nearly two thousand years. The Midnights have nothing to complain about anymore … they’re just trapped with one another because of the trace and the prejudice of the powerful magiks who control it.”
Their revelation was astounding. She stared, eyes glazed, at the paper in her hand and let what they were telling her sink in. Reuben was right … without the trace … they would all be free.
She would be free.
“You think this is the first step to ending the war, don’t you?” She pierced him with her eyes.
The vampyre nodded slowly. “We do this, and we can build a new world.”
“What do you need me for?”
Reuben laughed. “You don’t get it, do you, Caia? This is what you were born to do.”
She shook her head, completely confused. “No … I … the Prophet said I’d end the war.”
“Oh, you will end a two-thousand-year-old war just like that, will you?” He snapped his fingers. Before she could snarl in displeasure at his mocking, the vamp continued in a softer tone, “Caia, we need you to use that magik mojo of yours to kill the Septum simultaneously. If you do that, and supernaturals are freed from the trace, then technically you will have ended this war. The war we’re looking at after that is an entirely new one … one we can eventually bring to an end. But it will take time.”
She felt the world spin, and the next thing she knew, she no longer felt the press of the cold, hard floor but was sitting on an armchair that matched Reuben’s. The wave of dizziness passed. “Thank you,” she whispered to Nikolai.
“It’s a lot to take in, we know.”
A lot to take in? For almost a year now, she’d believed she was somehow going to bring the war to a conclusion. Now they were telling her what she was meant for was only the beginning. Exhaustion overwhelmed her, hope bursting like a soap bubble.
“I thought …” She cleared her throat. “I thought it would end. Somehow … I thought …”
“A war of this magnitude doesn’t just go away, Caia.”
She flopped back on the chair, staring at the gray ceiling. “I’ve been so naive.”
“You weren’t the only one.”
Fear tightened her expression and she couldn’t bring herself to look at them. “You want me to kill those people?”
A moment of sharp silence. And then … “Yes.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Three of them are Daylights. And for all I know, the four Midnights are against the war.”
The vampyre’s cold voice tore through her like a serrated knife. “Their deaths are necessary.” She jerked her head and stared at him in disgust, taking satisfaction in his flinch. Reuben shifted uncomfortably. His face grew taut with anger, all boyishness fleeing his features. “Don’t you dare look at me that way. I am not a monster. I am trying to end this war. A war I’ve had to live through for hundreds of years. You’ve been dealing with this barely a year. Come back to me in two thousand and see how principled you are then.”
“Mindlessly killing people is not the way to end a war. I don’t care how you try to justify it.”
He laughed, his eyes dark cuts of jet that reflected scorn in the light. “What was that you just said about being naive? All wars are fought with death, Caia. Or haven’t you been listening in history class?”
Nikolai hastily interrupted before she could retort. “Caia, if it helps, most of the Septum are very old now. A few would probably willingly sacrifice themselves for this.”
Her chin lifted at the suggestion. “Fine, get them to agree to it and I’ll think about it.”
“Caia—” Reuben warned.
“No! You can’t just expect me to kill innocent people!”
“It must be done!” He flew out of his chair toward her, and Caia shrank back, remembering her magik would do her no good with him.
“Reuben …” Nikolai made a move toward him, watching him very carefully.
The vampyre towered over her, his hands braced on the arms of her chair, his face inches from her. “Stop acting like a child,” he whispered, clearly trying to gain control over himself. “There is no choice, Caia. Seven people over millions. Don’t you want to be free of the trace? Don’t you want all those voices out of your head?”
Bleakly, Caia nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “But I don’t know if I can do what you need me to do.”
He sighed wearily and retreated, scrubbing his hands over his face. “You need time,” he told her emotionlessly. “Think it over.”
She knew then she wasn’t getting out of here without conceding to at least this request. Both men were determined. One of them had been planning this for a long time.
“Fine,” she snapped. “But I want a change in scenery. For a start, I want windows.”
The Russian smiled like a kindly father. “Of course.”
“And I want the pack informed I’m all right.”
“No—” Reuben began but was cut short when Nikolai’s hand clamped down on his shoulder.
“I know you are impatient to get on with it, but I think we can accommodate Caia in this.”
To Caia’s surprise, she watched Reuben relax. “I apologize. I have to stop treating you as if you were an enemy. We need this, Caia. Please take your time.”
“Putting aside the moral magnitude of what you’re asking me to do … I don’t even know if I have the capabilities to take out that many people in one go.”
Reuben smiled softly. “You incinerated four magiks only a few weeks ago … simultaneously.”
“You think that was easy?”
“I think some were misguided magiks—not truly evil—and you killed them, without thought, to protect those closest to you. Think on this as the same thing. Killing the Septum will protect the people you love.”
She flinched at the reminder of what she’d done, knowing he was deliberately playing on her guilt. “You are a horrible person.”
He gave a huff of laughter. “Perhaps I am.” He turned then and opened the door. Quietly, she followed as they led her out of the stone room and down a narrow, dank corridor. She might’ve been imagining things but she could’ve sworn they were in a castle.
“I don’t sense fear from you, Caia,” Reuben mused as they strode through the maze of dimly lit halls.
“Should I be afraid?”
“No. Should I?” He grinned.
“Definitely.”
Finally, they came to a stop outside one of the many doors they’d passed. Nikolai pushed it open and a stream of light blinded her as Reuben nudged her inside. She blinked, adjusting to the brightness, and her eyes widened at her surroundings. “Wow, this is not what I was expecting at all.”
The circular room looked as if it might have once been a tower room. Now a panoramic window spanned a good portion of one wall. The mahogany hardwood flooring contrasted sharply with the soft white walls. The room was filled with modern furniture, including a sectional and a four-poster bed.
Caia moved toward the window, her eyes soaking up the stunning countryside. “That’s fake, right?”
Nikolai chuckled. “Yes. But why have windows without a view to go with it?”
“Well, I like it.”
He smiled and shared a triumphant look with Reuben.
“Doesn’t mean I like you all.”
That wiped the smirk off their faces. Good.
Reuben cleared his throat. “We’ll leave you alone with this.” He handed over the Septum.
As soon as they left, Caia flopped down on the sofa and held on to Nikolai’s trace as he
and Reuben walked through the building. A building that no longer resembled a castle. Glamour. Damn Nikolai. He was way more powerful than she’d like. The building now appeared to be more of a large, stylish mansion than an old castle.
Caia frowned. Nikolai’s trace was different. Usually his thoughts were covered in thick smog, and she could only ever get surface thoughts. Today she could feel him more deeply, clearly, in the trace. She remembered what Reuben said about manipulating Nikolai’s trace and wondered if perhaps he’d relaxed his control on it to appease her. Hmm.
The two men entered a large reception hall that paid court to a grand antique staircase. The staircase descended toward them before pausing briefly at a small landing that branched off into two more staircases like wide, welcoming arms. Almost immediately, a tall, broad figure appeared at the bottom of the far right of the stairs.
“Vanne.” Reuben frowned, heading toward him.
Caia gasped, feeling Nikolai’s anticipation at Vanne’s appearance. He was thinking something must’ve happened at the Center.
Vanne! Caia began to sweat at the implication. Nikolai was familiar with Vanne? Friggin’ Hades! Vanne was one of them? Just how deep did Reuben’s infiltration of the coven go?
“We have a problem.” Vanne looked frantic.
“We know about the Council.” Reuben shrugged him off.
“Do you know Marita is going to have them executed in a week’s time?”
Reuben’s jaw dropped, an expression Caia was guessing was rare for him. “Is she insane?”
“She is completely unraveling. She won’t listen to anyone. She’s told Marion that Caia has betrayed them—that’s her excuse for holding Lucien and Ryder prisoner. Marion has refused to believe her but was met with a threat of imprisonment herself if she didn’t stop her ‘nonsense.’”
Reuben swore. “We need the Council if our plan is to succeed. They’re too powerful to lose.”