by S. Young
18
Unraveling
Lucien stared at the ceiling. Caia was upstairs, knocked out on her bed. Her reaction to the truth was worse than he could have feared; it bled all her usual strength from her, obliterated the cool tranquility of her character he’d come to find so soothing.
He was oblivious to the others and their conversation until Magnus asked Marion, “She’s still out cold. You sure she’ll be alright?”
“Yes. It was a pretty powerful spell. She’ll be out for a while, but she’ll be fine.”
Lucien’s gaze swept the room. “I knew she would take it hard, but I wasn’t prepared for that reaction.”
To his annoyance, Saffron snorted, shifting her weight on the arm of the chair she perched upon. “Yeah.” She shook her head, her eyebrow raised sardonically. “Man, was that an overreaction. I mean, come on, it’s not as if she woke up one day in a dysfunctional pack of lykans—who, as far as she was aware, were keeping her from the inner circle of the pack like she wasn’t really one of them—and then they tell her she’s only part wolfie because the rest of her is part evil witch, and oh, that’s ’cause her mommy and daddy didn’t die due to some weird hunter guy but actually her mommy killed her daddy and then tried to kill her too. Oh, and that while all of you were going about your daily lives, she was frightened to cry in case the house flooded … scared, not knowing what the hell was happening to her, when right next door, her Pack Leader had all the answers. Not to mention the icing on the cake, being prophecy girl an’ all …”
Lucien was proud of his restraint. Rather than lunging at her, he merely curled his lip and snarled. He wasn’t the only one.
The faerie wasn’t intimidated in the least. She merely shrugged her elegant shoulder. “What?”
Ryder beat him to the punch. “Can you shut up for just one second, never mind a minute?”
“Why would I do that when you so obviously love the sound of my voice?”
“One day you’re going to turn into something real small, and I’m going to be there to put a cup over you and trap you … forever.”
“Look, don’t push your weird sexual I Dream of Jeannie fantasies onto me, okay? I’m not interested.”
“Sexual f—” he spluttered, his face growing dark with anger.
Lucien raised an eyebrow. It really took a lot to get under Ryder’s skin, but obviously this faerie had the knack.
“I despise you,” Ryder growled.
Saffron clutched her chest. “I’m wounded. Really. My heart is breaking.”
“Would you two quit it?” Lucien huffed. “We have things to sort out. Like another faerie in town.”
Magnus pierced him with a fierce look. “Caia should know.”
“I don’t know about that.” Lucien shook his head. “I don’t think she can deal with it right now.”
“Try me.” Her soft voice caused a tingle down his nape. Turning, he found Caia leaning against the doorframe, exhausted, but seemingly calm. She refused to meet his gaze and he frowned, remembering suddenly that she’d treated him with a distinct chilliness before she knew he’d deceived her.
Huh.
“How did you …” Marion squeaked. “How can you be awake?”
“Caia, maybe you should lie down.” Ella stood and went to her, drawing her against her side. Lucien was disturbed at the way she held herself warily from Ella. If only she knew how much they’d all come to care for her.
“But how is she awake?” Marion cried, her hands flailing in frustration. “That is one of my very powerful sleeping spells.”
“Marion. Please,” he shushed her. To Caia, he asked, “How are you?”
“I’m not going to destroy the house, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“Just explain to me what’s going on. I think I’ve been lied to enough for one lifetime.”
“Caia—” Ella began, her eyes full of apology, but Caia shook her off to walk into the middle of the room.
She looked directly at Lucien, her green eyes so damn unreadable. “We should put this behind us and just get on with it. From the sounds of things, there’s more to this story.”
“Okay,” Dimitri spoke before Lucien could. “Then you should know there is another faerie in town.”
She frowned, rubbing her forehead in tiredness. Lucien wanted to reach for her and hold her close, but he knew she would only reject him. “What does this mean?”
“I felt another faerie’s trace here. It’s energy. The faerie is from the Midnight Coven,” Saffron explained.
“And?”
Lucien cleared his throat. “It can only mean you’ve been found. We all have.”
He watched her grapple with his statement. “I … I’m confused. I thought that what happened … that woman—” She seemed to choke on the word, refusing to call her Mother. “I thought …” She stopped, and her eyes widened in understanding. “Is Devlyn still after me?”
Lucien made a face. “Not exactly. The only reason a Midnight faerie would be here is because of your uncle.”
He let that statement sink in, studying her face as it tightened at the news. “My uncle? My moth—Adriana’s brother?”
“Yes. Ethan. Devlyn died, so Ethan’s the Head of the Coven now, and a very powerful warlock.”
“So he’s after me,” Caia murmured. “He wants to end this, even though the pack has clearly protected the secret. He still wants me gone.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Lucien found himself promising fiercely, desperately wanting to reach out to her.
She ignored him again, and again he felt the ache of her distance. He rubbed his chest as if she’d torn something from it.
“This prophecy … what does it mean?”
Magnus spoke, “We didn’t know anything about the prophecy because the prophet is from the Midnight Coven. We discovered it when we sent a faerie in as a spy around the time of your first birthday. She told Marion’s family about the prophecy. Gaia wants the war to end.”
“And I’m … supposed to be able to do that?” Caia whispered, fear in her voice.
Marion shrugged. “Your mixed race must do something to your powers. I’ve already witnessed firsthand how strong you are, and you haven’t even begun to harness them.”
“That still doesn’t explain how I’m supposed to bring an end to the war.”
They were silent. Because they were as clueless as she was.
She chuckled humorlessly. “Devlyn had no idea it would be his own actions that would bring me into creation.”
“No.” Dimitri shook his head. “But he and his family wanted you gone, not just because they think of you as an abomination, and not because they were even considering how powerful you’d be. They want you gone because the prophecy didn’t say which side would win when you ended the war.”
Her mouth fell open in disbelief as she began to understand the significance of his statement. The table shook again, and Lucien felt like cursing. They were putting too much on her too soon. He was about to say so when she fixed her eyes on the table and it stopped. She took a deep breath.
Lucien smiled, proud of her. She was learning to control it already.
“That’s why you didn’t tell me the truth from the very first day I got here,” she accused. “You’re afraid of me, afraid that … whatever is inside me might be evil. That I’ll help them win the war.”
Lucien felt everything inside him cry out. He didn’t believe that of her. “Caia, no.”
“Not now, though,” she snapped, her eyes full of a betrayal. “Not now, that you’ve kept a careful watch on me, spent time with me … like you were my friend.”
He sucked in his breath. She thought that was it. She was accusing him of pretending to feel something for her in order to spy on her. “Caia …” his wolf said her name, rising to the fore with his indignation.
“Stop. I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.”
Ryder cleared his th
roat, trying to ease the tension between the two of them. “Do you really think this guy wants the pack gone as well?” He directed his question at Marion.
The witch replied, “It’s what we assume.”
Saffron stood up in agitation. “You all know the truth. If I were him, I’d want you gone.”
“Thanks,” Ella snapped, “that’s very comforting.”
“I do try.”
“Seriously,” Ryder muttered to Ella. “Cup.”
“What was that?” Saffron asked sweetly, knowing full well what he’d said.
“I said, why don’t you do something useful for a change and try to find this other faerie?”
Her face turned puce. “I already told you I can’t. I can feel the energy, but I wouldn’t know who it was until they were in the same room as me.”
“Marion.” Lucien blew air out between his lips. “Isn’t there something we can do? We have to know what his next step is going to be.”
“Usually I would send Saffron in to spy on the coven, but since they don’t know anything about it, that would be pointless.”
“But Ethan obviously has someone working for him.”
“Yes. I imagine just a few that he trusts.” She stood with a shake of her head, her mouth set in determination. “No. I think our best course of action right now is to train Caia.”
“Speaking of which”—Ella smiled nervously—“the school called about an incident between Caia and Alexa in a classroom, and Caia leaving the school grounds during class time.”
Caia grimaced. “What did you tell them?”
“Alexa was smart enough to lie and tell them that she tripped, which, well, the teacher didn’t seem to buy, but what else can she say? I lied and told them there’d been a death in the family and that Caia was very upset, that she would be out of school for a few days.”
Lucien nodded, glad he didn’t have to deal with inquisitive humans. Before he could say anything on the matter, Ella asked, “Caia, why did you … magikally poof Alexa across the room? She wouldn’t say.”
Caia blanched, her eyes flicking to him. “Uh—”
Something about her expression alerted him.
“Uh …” She struggled to explain and finally snapped defiantly. “You know what? I’d rather not say, and given your little penchant for secrets, I’m sure you won’t mind if I keep a few of my own.”
Lucien narrowed his gaze in annoyance. He’d let her have her secret. For now.
Caia received a phone call from Jaeden shortly after, begging Caia to forgive her for her own part in the deception. But it wasn’t Jaeden she was incensed with; neither was it Sebastian nor Magnus. Her anger was directed solely at Lucien and the other Elders. As everyone else in the pack had to do what they and Lucien advised, she realized how difficult it must’ve been for her friends to lie to her.
As she revisited their past conversations, they’d even hinted at the truth. Sebastian had almost told her on Saturday evening when he was drunk, but Lucien had intervened at the moment of truth, and then kissed her. Which brought her to the question of why he would do that, but then sleep with Alexa? She concluded he was trying to (a) distract her from Sebastian’s faux pas, and (b) butter her up to keep her on their side so she wouldn’t fight against them with the Midnight Coven.
“Do you really believe Alexa?” Jaeden asked her.
Caia glanced once more at her door. She was paranoid the pack would keep a closer eye on her now, to even go so far as to spy. An irritating thought suddenly occurred to her.
“Saffron?” she asked, scouring the room. Thankfully, she heard nothing and felt no one else’s energy.
“What?” Jaeden asked, confused.
“Sorry, not you. And, no, I’m not positive Alexa was telling the truth. But if so, she’s a hell of a liar and you know how cozy the two of them were in his shop. She’s been there every day of the week since.”
“Yeah, but, Cy, Alexa is the mistress of lies and manipulation. She could cover the lie easily. I just don’t see Lucien sleeping with her.”
“I don’t want to believe it either, but I’m not exactly going to ask him about it. I’m not really in a talkative mood with the master of lies and manipulation. See? They’re perfect for each other.”
“I don’t believe her.”
Caia slumped back on her bed. “It doesn’t matter. Right now, I have uncontrolled powers and a prophecy to deal with. The part where my mother murdered my father is getting tucked to the back of my brain for the time being.”
“You’re compartmentalizing.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Sure,” Jaeden said, a smile in her voice. “It’s what Sydney does in Alias all the time. Talk about dysfunctional families. Woof.”
“I thought you didn’t watch a lot of TV?”
“I don’t, but Alias isn’t just any old TV show. It’s Alias.”
“Well, never mind that it’s fictional, Jae, my reality is that my mother killed my dad.”
“Sydney inadvertently killed her mother.”
“I’m a lykan and have to hide within a human world.”
“She’s a spy and has to hide her identity from everyone she loves.”
“I’m prophecy girl.”
“So was she.”
Caia sighed. “Again … I actually exist, Jae. I think I win.”
“I guess you do. I was …” Jaeden exhaled noisily, and Caia sensed she felt helpless. “I was just trying to make you feel better in a situation where that can’t possibly happen.”
“The fact that you tried means a lot.”
“I’m here for you. Always.”
The sound of the floorboards creaking outside her room made her tense. She narrowed her eyes as she felt waves of curiosity, mixed with guilt, filtering through the walls. “I’m going to have to go, Jaeden.”
“Wait!”
“What?” She really didn’t want whoever was outside listening to hear something they shouldn’t. She sniffed and Lucien’s scent hit her. He really wanted to piss her off, didn’t he?
“I was just wondering what happens now?”
“Training with Marion. You’ll cover for me at school?”
“Of course.”
“Gotta go, Jae. Talk later.”
“Bye.”
Caia hung up and tiptoed to the door. He was still standing outside; she could feel him. With perverse satisfaction, she pulled the door open lightning quick. Aghast, Lucien stood looking at her, his ear turned toward the door. If she hadn’t been so angry at him, the sheepish look on his face would have been comical. “I can feel you, remember,” she snapped.
“Oh. Right.” He straightened to his full six feet six and then wiped the sheepishness from his face and demeanor. “I was just making sure you were alright.”
“That’s not really your problem anymore.”
He cut her a dark look. “I’m still your Pack Leader, Caia.”
“Do you lie to every member of your pack, or am I just special?”
He ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. “Caia, I am very sorry. I made an error in judgment. But can’t you understand? After everything this pack has been through, I was trying to protect them.”
She did understand. It didn’t change that he’d hurt her. “I do understand that, Lucien.”
His body seemed to relax, the tension easing from his muscles. “So, we’re going to be okay?”
“You and me?”
He moved toward her, taking her by surprise as he cupped her cheek gently with his large, calloused hand. “Yes. You and me. We can get through this together.”
A silence stretched thinly between them as their eyes locked, and for that moment, Caia forgot her fury and could only remember the feel of his lips on hers at the party. As the moment stretched, Lucien growled low in his throat and lowered his head toward her, his silver eyes focused on her mouth. She trembled with the desire to give in to him, her heart beating erratically at his overwhelming proximity.
But as his lips neared hers, his warm breath tickling her mouth causing a sexual shiver down her spine, an alarm bell rang inside her head.
Caia jerked away from him.
Lucien frowned, trying to urge her closer, only for her to push his hand off her waist.
She retreated into the safety of her bedroom. “There is no you and me, Lucien.” She gripped the door and began to close it in his face. “Just Pack Leader and prophecy girl.”
The door slammed shut between them.
Caia braced her back against her closed door, listening as Lucien’s footsteps slowly faded away. The feelings emanating from him were so raw; her rejection genuinely wounded him. Maybe Jaeden was right. Maybe Alexa had lied to her, and just maybe, Lucien wasn’t trying to butter her up.
It didn’t matter if his feelings for her were real. They had no future together now that she was some freak of nature who could bring total destruction to the pack and to him. No. She would train with Marion and then take on her uncle to ensure the pack’s safety.
Once that was done, she would leave.
Her heart thundered in her chest at the thought, and she felt nauseated, a sensation likened to grief wrapping around her body. Hearing the water in her bathroom rush on, Caia cursed. “Let’s just work on controlling the freakish powers first, huh, Cy?” she muttered, and hurried to turn off the bathroom taps.
“We have a slight problem.”
When did they not? Ethan thought in agitation as he zapped the mutt in its cage, its shriek of pain easing his headache. “Spit it out, then.”
“They’re training her,” his spy murmured.
His muscles tensed, a warm heat of angry power flushing across his skin from his feet up. A bolt of white heat flew out of him, and an even louder, agonized howl deafened him.
“Damn.” He crouched to peer into the cage. He hoped he hadn’t killed the thing; it was important leverage.
“My lord?”
“Shut up.” Ethan turned his ear to the cage and breathed a sigh of relief when a whimper escaped the creature. “Oh, thank Gaia.”
“My lord?”
“Stop ‘my lording’ me. We’ll need to take her sooner than we thought, that’s all.”