Changeling (Black Petals Book 2)

by Marie, Tarisa

  Confused, I glance between the boys. Mason’s brows merge in confusion. “So the pearl is a prophet’s eye? What?”

  Landon grins and then pulls open another ancient book. He points to a picture in it. It’s a pearl like the one in the jewelry box. Underneath the same Latin words that Landon has scrolled above the English translation of the short sentence are displayed under the picture.

  Mason’s eyes widen and he carefully picks up the fragile book. He reads it quickly in Latin before summing it up and translating it for my ears. “It’s an ancient legend. The prophet’s eye is an object that is said to contain the soul of the prophet.”

  Feeling remarkably dumb, I ask, “Who’s that?”

  Landon seems to notice how unbelievably lost I am and takes pity on me. “The prophet is said to be a man who could see the future. He was a mortal or I guess an alchemist who predicted things. He is well known in the demon world because he predicted certain events very accurately. Of course this was millennia ago and it could’ve been all a scam or something. There’s no proof that his prophecies were actually prophecies besides what is written in old texts that claims him to be the real thing. Thousands of years ago the guy went missing. It was so long ago that there isn’t really an explanation for his disappearance. Maybe he got old and died or maybe he was killed, whichever. He was an alchemist so he lived a mortal lifespan. He’s long gone. What this book is saying is that this is his eye.”

  I look at the pearl. It sure doesn’t look like an eye to me. I cock a brow and scoff. “I don’t think so.”

  Landon and Mason both chuckle.

  Mason sets down the book he’s still looking at. “Megan, it’s a metaphor. A psychic’s eye probably is referring to what is called the ‘third eye’. A third eye is what makes psychics special, what helps them see things normal people don’t.”

  I still don’t get it. I give up on trying to figure it out though because the guys are tremendously wrapped up in whatever it is Landon’s managed to figure out. I walk around the room and inspect the many herbs and things around.

  “So do you think this is the soul of the prophet?” Mason wonders.

  Landon nods his head and runs for yet another book. He flips it open to the right page and places it in front of him. “This here is an alchemist text from before anyone could remember. It’s ancient. It goes over a prophecy that the prophet wrote about a ruler who would lead the demons into some sort of war and come out broken unless the day and night within him were melded together. Look.” Landon says this in a quick ramble. He’s excited and intrigued by all of this. “Look at this name and tell me what you think about this.”

  Mason leans over and squints. His jaw becomes slack and his eyes widen in the slightest. “Aiden,” he breathes. “Either that’s some weird coincidence or…”

  “Or Aiden is the guy from the prophet’s prediction. That’s not all. So first I looked into figuring out what the text meant by melding the ruler’s day and night together or whatever.”

  Mason interrupts. “It must be light and darkness but how do you meld light and darkness?”

  Landon sports a wicked grin. “Well, at first I thought with a soul, but souls alone don’t determine if we’re evil or not. I mean look at humans. Many humans with souls are evil. So, I went back to some texts and found this weird marking in my mother’s alchemy book.”

  Mason looks over again. “The marking from the top of the jewelry box.”

  Landon nods, becoming even more excited. “This spell merges two personalities. Like let’s say someone has multiple personality disorder, it’ll meld them together.”

  “Okay…” Mason says, keeping up.

  Landon pulls back a book he already showed us and flips to a different page. He presses his index finger down and motions for Mason to read again. “This is an alchemist version of what happened to the prophet. He wasn’t killed but made a demon for more than one reason. The first reason because his power was too strong and it scared people. He would predict things that sent people into alarm. Taking away his mortality and memory and storing it away, resulted in him not carrying his psychic gift into immortality. Okay, keep in mind that he was made a demon for another reason. Hold the thought.” Landon points to a picture. “Who does this look like to you?”

  Mason shrugs. I have no idea who that is. “It kind of looks like a grumpier, more terrifying picture of Aiden.”

  “That is Aiden’s dad. That is Lucian. According to this alchemist text, the alchemists gave the now immortal prophet to Lucian as a gift of surrender during the Plague of Athens. The demons knocked out almost one hundred thousand humans and at that time that was a crazy amount of the population. Now the reason that Lucian accepted this gift was because the immortal prophet wasn’t like other changeling turned by demons because it was turned using alchemy.”

  “So not a demon?” Mason asks, starting to look lost.

  Landon laughs lightly. “This demon had the power to resurrect itself almost instantly after death. It wasn’t killable. Well, not really. The only way to kill it would be to give it its soul back and make it mortal again but the alchemists didn’t tell Lucian that part.” Landon laughs an almost eerie laugh as he finishes giving us the pieces of the puzzle. “Do you know what that means? If that soul is still in the box, that demon is still alive The prophet is still alive. The prophet that the alchemists preserved with immortality so that the prophet could stop the end of the world come the time. The end of the world in regards to the humans of course. Yes, you heard me right. The second reason they turned the prophet into a demon was to save the fricken world.” Landon almost vibrates with excitement like he can’t contain himself.

  I squint at Landon as if it’ll help me further understand.

  He sighs as if he’s frustrated with my lack of intelligence. “The end of the world, according to the prophet would come at the time of Lucian’s death and at the beginning of Aiden’s rule. This war against the rebels has been prophesied and recorded in alchemist texts for millennia and Aiden’s prophesied to neither win or lose this war. For whatever reason, the prophet couldn’t see the outcome way back when. Obviously the alchemist’s goal was to keep the mortals alive and well. They hated demons but didn’t have the numbers or resources to defeat them. They didn’t want the humans to suffer at the hands of demons, so they clearly wanted this acclaimed leader to win. They’d do anything for their side to win the war.”

  Mason’s look of confusion turns to one of understanding and he grins. “So they sent the prophet to the future so to speak.”

  Landon begins nodding. “Because the prophet can make predictions, it’s needed to make the right decisions regarding this war. The one we’re in right now. When a decision is made, the prophet can see if it’s beneficial or not. He may even now be able to predict who will win the war of at the very least give pointer as to how to change the prophecy so we’re guaranteed to win. It’s the only chance for our side to win and the humans to remain safe. The alchemists and the prophet worked together to stop the end of the world millennia ahead of time. They had a plan millennia ahead of time.”

  “Okay, but who the hell is the prophet? It’s not like we have time to search the world for demons,” I blurt. It’s an honest question. I mean how are we supposed to find a needle in a haystack?

  “Megan, who is the oldest demon you know?” Landon wonders, clearly already knowing the answer to his question.

  “Terry.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Old as balls,” I answer. “Do you think he’ll know something more about the prophet?”

  Mason and Landon exchange a glance. Mason clears his throat. “We think that he is the prophet, Megan. He just doesn’t know it.”

  My jaw drops and nearly crashes into the floor. “You believe all this? You actually believe that there is a prophet? How do you know that this isn’t just a silly legend?”

  Neither of the men answer.

  I throw my arms up in the air in dis
belief.

  Landon goes back to his papers, rustling through them until he finds the one we’re looking for. He places it in front of Mason. “This here is the translated code from the bottom of the jewelry box. Turns out that it’s the directions to get this soul into the prophet. Now all of this is the first piece of the message from the alchemists. The second piece is the bit about merging Aiden’s darkness and light. The third and final piece is in my mother’s book. It’s scrolled onto the front page. It’s a letter to me in an alchemist code that I was taught as a kid. I never understood the text after she passed away and I was given this book. I assumed it was because my mother had written it out wrong. I thought that because in the text my mother mentions my having a sister. When I read it, I didn’t have a sister.” Landon looks up at me. “A sister who would fall in love with Aiden and help him bring peace to the demons after war if he won it. The prophet had this all figured out and allied with the alchemists to make sure that everything went as planned until the day he would be awakened again to help us win this war.”

  The only thing is that I’m not with Aiden, so it doesn’t make sense. Is he saying that I will end up with Aiden no matter what because of this prophecy?

  “We should get on this. Strange how we discovered all of this just in time. I’m guessing you’re assuming the prophet has seen all of this then?” Mason asks, looking over some of the texts again.

  I come up to the table the men are standing around and look at the front page of Landon’s mom’s alchemy book. On it is the same symbol from the jewelry box and the page with Aiden on it. I suck in a breath. “How do you know there are only three things?”

  Landon answers Mason’s question with a nod and then slides the jewelry box across the table to me. He tells me to look at the symbol on the lid. I do. “That is an alchemy symbol for a spell of concoction. There are three points which means three things are needed. In the first triangle. I just had to find this exact symbol on two other things which I did.”

  I bite my lip as I digest this all.

  “Holy hell, Landon, way to go,” Mason says and pats Landon on the back. “You did all this in a couple days?”

  Landon scoffs. “No, it took months. Aiden sent me here to finish things up and get details in peace.”

  “Still. I wouldn’t have ever figured that out,” Mason adds. “I’m book smart but codes and things aren’t my thing.”

  Landon reaches for his cell phone. “Should I give Terry a call?” he asks. “I’ve been unsure all day. I wanted someone else’s opinion.”

  “He might be trying to kick rebel ass,” Mason reminds him. “Does she even have a phone?”

  I shake my head. “No, neither does Aiden. Aria is with them though. She’d probably have hers.”

  Landon looks to Mason. “I’ll text her and see how things are going. What’s her number?”

  Mason shrugs. “I don’t use cell phones. They’re finicky and break easily. I had one for a few months but I tossed it when I started staying in hell.”

  Landon eyes Mason. “Not a technology guy, huh? Neither was my dad.”

  I rub my hand up and down my forearm slowly as I begin to get shaky. I’m starving. I haven’t had a soul in too long.

  “Let’s head back to help them,” Landon suggests and begins packing his bags.

  Mason stops him. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea seeing as you’re the only one who knows how to do any of this shit. Maybe don’t get yourself killed and seeing as Megan is part of that all, maybe don’t throw her into this either. I’ll go help them and try to explain everything. If I need help explaining, I’ll use someone’s phone to call you. When it’s safe, either we’ll come here or you can go there.”

  “Leaving two royals without guards, risky,” Landon teases Mason.

  “Aiden called off all guards on royals and sent them to war. I shouldn’t be an exception,” he admits and then begins to leave. Surprise hits me. Why would he leave? He came here with me for a reason. Why travel all the way here just to leave?

  In his expression I see hurt, pain even. Confusion swarms over me like a fog and I follow him out of the cellar. He doesn’t stop me. He walks until we’re out of Landon’s earshot and then he stops. “What?”

  “What’s wrong?” I ask him, not understanding. Did I do something.

  He looks at me as if it should be obvious. “You’re basically fated to be with my brother. That bothers me, honestly.” He leans against a tree trunk and tilts his head back so it touches it.

  “So? That doesn’t mean jack shit.”

  He rolls his eyes. “If a guy can predict this war thousands of years into the future, then I’m sure he’s right about this detail if he has been right about everything else.”

  I don’t know what to say so I just stand and listen.

  “Megan, this isn’t right. I really like you. I do. But you’re not for me. I mean you’re for me, but I’m not for you. You’ve always been Aiden’s. Even as much as you want to deny it.”

  “I can’t be with Aiden,” I remind him. “I do care for him but I can’t be with him for obvious reasons.”

  Mason scoffs, not rudely just painfully. “Megan, love isn’t always easy. You love who you love. That’s it. It’s not as easy as choosing who is easiest to be with. That’s not it. I see the way you look at Aiden and the way that man looks at you. You can try to deny it all you want because you think you’re better off not to love him, but you’ll always go back to him. He’ll always be the first person on your mind. Let me ask you something. When you wake up at night, who is the first person you think of?”

  I swallow because the first name that comes to mind isn’t Mason.

  “When you’re upset, who is it you really want to talk to?” he asks next and I can’t answer this either.

  Mason runs his fingers through his hair and groans. “I really want you to be happy and I can’t be happy with someone who wants my brother. I feel your hesitation, Megan. If you really did feel the same way about me that I feel about you, there would be no hesitation. All there would be is certainty. Aiden is a good man. Inside and out. He’s good for you even though loving him might be the stupidest, most terrifying and dangerous thing you’ll ever do in your life. He’s the one for you. Not me. I’m just the guy who fails to replace him. I’m the second choice and I don’t want to be that as much as I want to be with you. I want to be someone’s first choice.”

  Mason’s honesty is refreshing but also painful. At first I have to deny what he says, but then I realize that he’s right. I am choosing him as my second choice.

  “You can’t even have kids with me one day. It’s not even legal for us to be together. You try telling yourself that this way will be easier but will it? Would you rather live a long life with someone you don’t truly love or a short life with someone you love more than anything?”

  I am not scared of death, not after I’ve stared it straight in the face. I know my answer to his questions. All of them. Aiden is my choice and always has been. I’ve just been too dumb and cowardly to see it.

  “That’s what I thought,” Mason says sadly and bows his head.

  “I’m sorry,” I squeak.

  He laughs softly. “It’s not your fault. You’re young and you don’t understand the value of love. Not quite yet anyway. You will one day when it’s threatened to be torn away from you. We don’t know what we have until it’s gone.” And then Mason is gone. He zooms through the brush faster than I can comprehend with my state of mind.

  Landon and I return to the island two days later after everyone has rested and regrouped. To my surprise, Forrest is injured and since he doesn’t heal as quickly as a full demon, he lays on the couch as the slash across his chest heals.

  Aiden has most things in hell on pause. The things he needs to attend are being handled by people he’s hired to do so. The castle is on lockdown. No one goes in and the only people inside are a few servants and guards. Nobody knows where Aiden is or where I am since
there’s now a target on my back too because I am technically the next in line for throne which is single handedly the most terrifying thing ever.

  Aria greets me as enter the house, followed by Forrest and Terry. Mason sits at the island chatting with Crispen as if nothing has ever been wrong between them.

  Landon immediately goes to Terry who’s been somewhat filled in about everything. He doesn’t look surprised by any of it though. In fact, Terry looks no different than normal which makes me wonder just how much he’s seen in his life.

  “Where’s Aiden?” I ask Forrest who lays on the couch in a slump.

  He shrugs. “He took off to the beach. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. What’s up with that?”

  “We managed to get an earlier flight,” I inform him and rush out the door. I sprint across the land at an inhuman pace, willing my legs to go faster than they ever have before. I find Aiden strolling across the beach in only a pair of jeans. His hands are in his pocket as he walks, looking deep in thought.

  I try to be quiet as get closer but I’m too excited to slow down. I’m sure he senses me from far, far away, but I pretend he doesn’t have super hearing and I leap at him as I come out of the bushes, knocking him down onto his back on the sand. At first he looks surprised, but then he sees the grin that I can’t hold back and he smiles.

  “What do you think you’re doing attacking your king like that?” he teases through his vibrant smile. I haven’t seen him smile like this is forever.

  I lean down and plant a kiss on his lips. He kisses me back after a second and grasps my hips. I pull away and the look in his eyes, the spark of hope and desire, burns like a fire being fed.

  “What was that for?” he wonders, tensing up. “It’s not every day that I get attacked with kisses by a beautiful woman on a private island. Am I dreaming?”

  I choke out a laugh and shake my head, noticing that there are tears fleeing from my eyes. “No, you’re not dreaming, Aiden. I am so so sorry for everything I’ve put you through.”