by Ravyn Fyre
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Anolla dropped to the floor and clawed at her neck, frantic for breath. The look of horror on her face as she crawled across the ground towards me would give me nightmares for years to come. I stood frozen as I watched her murder for a second time. Even though I knew what was next, watching her bend in half on a silent scream as black blood seeped from all of her orifices would never be easy. Both Castice and Cynosis backed as far away as their cells would allow while they cowered in fear. I closed my eyes and wished I could hide from the reality of the situation. When her cries cut off, I dared to open my eyes and immediately averted them when I realized it wasn’t over. Kalen had dropped the glass wall around her cell so we wouldn’t have to hear her screams.
The gesture was appreciated and would have been a perfect resolution if Cynosis and Castices’ cries didn’t remind me of the situation. As it was, I could hear Cynosis whimpering while Castice kept repeating, “It can’t be. It’s a mirage. Anolla didn’t break the pact in any way. It can’t be . . . It can’t be.”
Talk of a pact drew my attention, and although I didn’t want to attack him when he was already having a hard time dealing with his friend's death, I’d be neglecting my duty as future Queen if I didn’t question him further. Going off instinct, I approached his cell and waited until I had his attention. I pointed in the direction of Anolla and said, “Does that answer your question?” I waited until he looked at Anolla before I continued, “I didn’t want her to die. I was hoping by whisking you guys here, I would prevent the infection from happening. Unfortunately, it was a gamble that didn’t pay off for your friend without knowing the incubation period. Now that you know what you both died of, do you have information that would lead us to who might be responsible?”
“In the past, how . . . how many hours elapsed between our deaths?” Castice asked with a quiver in his voice, nodding to Anolla with tears in his eyes.
“We don’t have the exact time of your death, but Anolla died in the evening at our banquet dinner, and your death was in the middle of the night. We’re guessing anywhere between eight to ten hours apart. Which leads us to believe you were infected at different times. I can tell you’re hiding something. Help us help you and tell us who you think might be responsible for your demise.”
Castice shook his head a moment before he looked up at me void of all emotion and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His response surprised me. I was confident once he faced his killer, he’d spill everything. Was my prejudice once again warping my reality? Taking a deep breath, I tried to tame my temper before I questioned him again, “Are you telling me you’ve never seen anything like this before?”
Castice averted his eyes before he answered, “I’ve never seen anyone die such a horrific death.”
To say I was frustrated with his lack of cooperation was an understatement. Not wanting him to know how disappointed I was with his answers, I tipped my head and replied, “Very well. I’m sure you’ll understand our need to keep you here under surveillance.”
“For how long?!” Castice demanded.
I spared him a glance as I stalked past his cell to stand in front of Cynosis before I bothered to answer him. Keeping my eyes on the redhead whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I replied, “If you’re not dead within the next twelve hours, I think it will be safe to assume you weren’t affected.”
“So if I’m still alive at the end of your timeline, you’ll let me go?” Castice asked, pushing off the wall with unsure steps.
“No. That’s not what I said,” I answered with a smirk, looking back at him with pity.
“You said we were here for our protection,” Castice complained with a look of confusion on his face.
Nodding my head in agreement, I gave him a sinister smile before I answered him, “There’s truth in that statement. There’s also truth in the statement that we brought you here to protect everyone from being infected by an unknown agent. Although, I must admit the largest contributing factor to why I’m keeping you incarcerated is because I suspect you know something about what killed Anolla. You should know that I don’t like being lied to. Call it a pet peeve, but I have every intention of keeping you here until you tell me what you’re hiding from us or die . . . whichever comes first.” Giving him my most innocent look, I purred, “Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
Castice’s gaze flicked between Anolla’s corpse, Kalen, and me a couple of times before he dropped his gaze in defeat, took a deep breath and said on a sigh, “I have nothing to tell you.”
“I have a hard time believing that,” I replied sarcastically as I approached his cell before I added, “In fact, I’d be willing to make a wager.”
Castice raised his head, pinning me with his gaze. I knew he had no idea what my gift was, but I could practically see him calculating his odds as he studied my face. Confident in himself, he finally answered, “I have no secrets, so I have nothing to lose. What kind of wager do you propose?”
“My wager is if you’re lying, I get to choose your job after the trials. If you’re not, then you’ll choose mine,” I replied with a grin.
“How would you know I’m lying?” Castice stammered as he struggled to look me in the eye.
I laughed until tears ran from my eyes. I wiped them away and said, “You have no idea what I’m capable of, do you?”
Castice looked at me with apprehension before he replied, “I’m beginning to think you’re about to educate me.”
“Would you like to change your answer?” I countered with a raised eyebrow.
“My life is forfeited the second I reveal my secrets. I doubt anything you could offer would make me change my story. I’m sorry. I wish I could help you, but my path was decided a long time ago,” Castice replied in defeat.
“What if I was the one to reveal your secrets? Would your life still be at risk?” I prodded. I watched for any signs my words were on target.
A hint of interest flashed through his eyes, which gave me hope that if I used my gift to pry the information from his memories, he be unharmed. Trusting in myself, I released my breath slowly as I closed my eyes and grabbed ahold of Tanen’s mind-reading gift. It took me a moment to drown out the voices that were thinking of me, but once I figured out how to block them, I focused on individual thoughts.
Thankfully, a person's thoughts resembled their actual voices. I isolated Castice in my head. I expected to find his mind going in a million different directions, but instead, he was focused and kept repeating the phrase, Nothing to see here, over and over again. His resourcefulness had me smiling. If all I could see were his thoughts, his smoke and mirror trick might have worked, but my gift revealed a back door to his inner mind and provided me the lockpick to open it.
Visualizing myself cracking a safe, I flung open the door to his mind and stopped abruptly when I found myself in a giant circular colosseum with nothing in it but thousands of doors. I looked around and groaned. Shit! I don’t have time to investigate each one. I wasn’t here to see his first steps or be a voyeur on one of his wet dreams. As I looked around me, it felt like I was at some kind of crossroads, and time was not on my side. I needed to consider all of my options. I could waste valuable time opening every door until I found what I was looking for, or I could walk away and focus my energy and time on other possibilities.
Castice wasn’t the only one with answers to our questions. We still needed to see what Zarina and her mind-leeches were able to extract, and the only way we’d be able to do that was meet her in the council room. Hopefully, they’ll have the smoking gun we’re looking for, but if not, it would be a good idea to listen to her anyway—that way, when and if Castice finally cracked, we’d be able to compare notes.
In the end, I gave up and backed out the same way I had come. Opening my eyes, I looked at my mate’s best friend and trusted bodyguard and said, “Gah! I don’t know how you do it, Tanen! I mean, how do you narrow down
which memory to open? Castice had thousands for me to sift through, and he’s only twenty-five years old! I can’t imagine what it’d be like to face an immortal. Not like it’d be easy to count, but I’m sure their memories could easily top a billion. You’ll have to let me in on your secret someday.”
Tanen frowned in response and looked at my mate with concern. After what I could only assume was a silent conversation between them, he finally gave Kalen a slight nod, plastered a half-smile on his face, and addressed me, “What do you mean by memories? My gift allows me to hear the thoughts of people thinking of me specifically. Although recently, if I concentrate, I can hear the thoughts of those around me, whether they are thinking of me or not. It’s harder to catch and takes focus, but I’m twelve thousand years old.”
Biting my lip, I barely stopped myself from blurting out, Holy shit Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore! As it was, I had to remember my thoughts were like an open book if I didn’t start protecting them. With a smirk, I thanked Castice and began singing, Hokey Pokey, on repeat in my mind just in case . . . before I threw my shoulders back, squared my feet, and replied sarcastically, “Um . . . let’s see . . . you just asked me to explain to you what a memory was? Are you serious right now? Or are you being sarcastic?”
When he looked at me in confusion, I opened my arms wide and explained, “A memory is stored information and has a prewritten storyline, whether real or planted. Which, as you know, differs greatly from a person’s thoughts. Those are fair game to easy manipulation and are usually in the present tense unless, of course, they’re reminiscing.”
Kalen placed a hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention. I dropped my arms in defeat, looked over my shoulder and stared at his hand until he removed it. With a smirk, I gave him my attention and tried not to lose myself in his gaze. He studied my eyes for a minute before he took a deep breath and said, “Tanen isn’t able to see people’s memories, Jade. Only their thoughts. I know I’ve said it before, but this just proves it. Your power is something to behold. Something beyond average. It scares me, to be honest.” Kalen finished on a whisper.
“Why? You just admitted I’m capable of kicking ass,” I exclaimed with a silly grin.
Turning me to face him, he crushed me to his chest and uttered, “There are people out there that would love to have control or access to your ability, and if they weren’t able to secure your services willingly, they’d make sure no one else had access to them either.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I’d never considered myself better than anyone else, and it felt weird to have it pointed out to me. Something I took for granted as normal was anything but, and it had me questioning my place in this new world I found myself in. It made me consider I might be worthy of being Kalen’s mate after all. Sometimes life tended to be a rude wake-up call to your expectations, and I was its newest student. Placing my hands on Kalen’s chest, I pushed with all my might and only managed a small gap between us. It was enough for me to see his eyes before I practically growled, “I can’t change who I am, nor do I plan on hiding my abilities. What are you suggesting?”
I’d never seen Kalen more uncomfortable than he was trying to come up with an answer to my question. I decided to give him a pass since he was new to this whole relationship business when I answered for him, “Just like I wouldn’t expect you to shy away from adversity. I would hope you would grant me the same courtesy. I’ll be the first to admit I have no formal training and promise I won’t openly engage in warfare until I feel like I can hold my own. There is just one thing . . . I’ll never be okay with being left out, or worse, kept like a dirty secret.”
Kalen looked like he’d been slapped in the face by my statement and took a moment to collect himself before he answered me, “First off, you are not a dirty secret. I couldn’t be prouder to have you as my mate. If it were up to me, I’d advertise our union across the cosmos, but in doing so, I’d be putting an even bigger target on your back. Every enemy or potential enemy will try and use you against me. If I were the one hunted for my gift, what would you do?”
“We don’t have proof someone’s after me at the moment,” I replied, holding up my hand to silence my mate when he opened his mouth to argue with me. I waited until he closed it with reluctance before I continued. “Thank you for letting me finish. I think you are overreacting a bit, but hypothetically speaking, I would listen to what you have to say, and then I’d probably never leave your side,” I replied with a shrug.
Rom barely covered his laugh behind a cough at my admission. I smiled at him over my shoulder before I returned my gaze to Kalen. “I get you have primitive instincts screaming at you to lock me away for my protection,” using air quotes to emphasize the word protection, “but I need your promise you’ll control yourself from doing something that will drive a wedge between us. I deserve to be at your side. Please give us a chance.”
Kalen searched my eyes for what felt like minutes. I could practically see the moment he gave in to my request when he released a deep sigh and told me the words I wanted to hear. “I promise to keep you by my side. No matter what happens. We’ll do it together. Word of warning, though, I’m taking your suggestion to heart. I plan on being glued to your side for the foreseeable future.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise at his proclamation. His words didn’t match the severe scowl he had plastered across his face, but I decided to take his words at face value. I cleared my throat a couple of times before I dared to answer him. “That’s all I’m asking. A chance to prove to you that we’re stronger when we work together. I promise not to disappoint you or make you regret your decision. Shall we see what Zarina has for us while we let our friends stew on their life choices?” Nodding their way with my head.
“Hey now, wait just a minute! What do you mean stew on my life choices? I’m not a part of these guys' inner posse. The only thing I’m guilty of is competing and winning my planet’s version of the trials to secure my spot as their representative in this year's All Gathering. I have no idea why or when some kind of mimic might have copied me. You can’t just leave me here!” Cynosis cried out.
I was almost ashamed I lumped her in with Onyx and her gang but gave myself a little bit of wiggle room when I considered how much stress I was under. Turning to face her, I nodded my head in understanding and waited until she finished before I answered her, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insinuate your involvement either way. To be honest, I’m a little overwhelmed and figured you’d speak up for yourself if you had anything to tell us that would either confirm or deny our suspicions. Since you’re just as clueless as we are, I hope you understand our need to keep you here while reviewing the doppelganger’s memories of the events leading up to your duplication. I promise we’ll release you after everything is over.”
“What do you mean release? Are we talking about being released to the general public, or are we referring to my freedom?” When I stayed silent, she turned her attention to Tanen and asked in a broken voice, “Will I still be allowed to compete in the trials?”
Her pain was obvious even without listening into her thoughts, but even I was startled when Tanen rallied for her further involvement in the trials with murder evident in his voice. “When she’s proven innocent, there should be no reason why we’d deny it. This is something she worked her whole life for,” Tanen replied with a snarl.
His tone made me think he was angry on the siren’s behalf, but the look of anguish on Tanen’s face as he stared at Cynosis with longing was a contradiction in and of itself. His reaction made me want to know more, and it would be so easy to eavesdrop on their thoughts. But just because I had the power to do it didn’t make it right. I needed to consider their privacy and remember I wouldn’t want someone peeking in on my thoughts.
The moment I made up my mind Tanen looked at me over his shoulder and said, “Thank you, Jade. I wish I could offer you the same courtesy. There are times I wish I didn’t know what people were thinking about me, bu
t it’s saved my life and those of my friends just as many times.”
Cynosis let out a little gasp drawing our attention back to her. I could tell the second she realized he knew exactly what she was thinking when her face morphed from fascinated to horrified to pissed in the blink of an eye. If I had to guess, I’d bet her thoughts were anything but pure when it came to the mind-reading Sixer in front of her. Of course, Tanen was following her reaction and laughed out loud at something she must have been thinking. Touching the cell in front of her, he dropped the glass enclosure silencing the retort she might have had when he said, “It will be my pleasure to prove you wrong when we return, Firecracker.”
Turning on his heel, he faced us with a lopsided grin and said, “I believe you said Zarina was waiting for us in the council room. I know she’s highly sought after; we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
A part of me felt terrible as I watched Cynosis have a breakdown on the other side of the glass. Still, the piece of me that knew what we were up against, something bigger than her dreams, locked up the empathy I felt toward her, allowing me to reply, “With any luck, she’ll have something concrete we can focus on. I hate feeling like we’re a step or two behind, especially when we’re not sure how many players are in the game.”
“We’ll follow you,” Tanen replied, pointing to Rom and Kiso in reference before a slight grimace crossed his face.
I could only imagine the names Cyn was calling him as I grabbed onto Kalen and braced myself for transport. I imagined flashing would get more comfortable with practice, but it still took me a second to get my bearings after we popped out in the council room before I trusted myself to walk a straight line. I dropped into my seat with the grace of a robot and decided to own my goofiness. If they couldn’t accept me at my worst, they didn’t deserve my best. Chuckling at myself, I said, “I keep telling myself flashing will get easier. If I’m wrong, I’d rather not know. Because they say the definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different outcome and sometimes ignorance, or a good imagination, is bliss.”