I shook my head. This whole encounter was surreal. I’d just met my mother and slapped her in the face and she’d smiled, and now she was telling me I was meant to wipe out a race and offering me wine. Maybe I was still unconscious? Maybe I was dead? Maybe I’d never made it out of the Everdark.
Liana poured herself a glass of orange liquid and took a dainty sip. “Delicious.” She held up the glass. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. Just get on with it. What am I, if I’m not Shedim?”
“Before Elora’s little coup, Ivan and I became very ... friendly.” She arched a brow. “We enjoyed each other.”
I rolled my eyes. “I get it. You banged. What’s that got to do with ... Oh ...”
“Yes, Wila. Ivan was your father.”
My father ... This couldn’t be happening.
“I didn’t realize I was carrying you until after Elora deployed the key,” Liana continued. “It was you that protected me and mine from the effects of the spell. Somehow, your presence nullified the power of the key. We ran, and we hid, and we made our way here. I knew the only way to stop Elora was to gather an army, and so we began our quest to recruit Shedim, to strip them of the bindings the spell had put on them and remind them of the truth. Shedim share a hereditary memory, and once the spell was gone, they’d recall what Elora had done, that she’d taken our chance at equality. She turned us into slaves.”
They’d been trying to free the Shedim from Elora’s spell. “So you used the whip thing.”
“Yes. The Veritas lash.” Liana shot Lex a sidelong glance. “We were lucky to find allies in our cause on this side of the border.”
Lex had known about this? He’d known Liana was my mother. He’d been working with her to keep me in the dark. Had Noir known? A quick look at his face answered that question; the Arcana looked as shell-shocked as I felt. But something about her story didn’t make sense.
“Ivan died almost a century ago? I’m only twenty-five.”
She smiled smugly. “That’s where your unique nature came into play. Shedim are born from the womb, as babes. But you were part Draconi and the gestation was longer, almost two years, and when I finally birthed you, you were encased in a Draconi shell. It took some powerful Arcana magic but we held you in stasis for a century, waiting for the right moment for you to emerge from your cocoon. In that time, I became wary of some of my advisors—unconfident of their allegiance. We’d been fighting for so long, hiding for so long, and there were rumblings of dissent. To protect you, I faked your death. Telling them that stasis had killed you. I mourned you and buried the shattered shards of your shell.”
“But I wasn’t dead.”
“No. Lex and I placed a shielding spell on you, hiding both your hereditary memory, your true nature, and ...” She glanced away.
“Tell her,” Leopold said stiffly. “It’s the only way she can be whole.”
My scalp prickled in foreboding. “What is he talking about?”
Liana topped up her drink and downed it. “When the shell cracked, you weren’t alone. There was something inside with you. Something we’d never seen before.”
My pulse kicked up a notch. “What was it?”
It was Leopold that answered for her. “We weren’t sure back then. But over time, we came to understand what he was. Shedim have kindred, and Draconi have scalemates, but you were neither of those and both, and we believe when you were born, so was a kindred unique to what you are.”
“I have a kindred already. I have Azren.”
“Yes.” Liana’s eyes lit up. “And that is perfect. He is perfect, and we must get him back for the good of all. He is what you must focus on.”
“Liana ...” This time it was Lex who spoke, his tone saturated with warning.
Liana turned away, hands on hips.
“Tell her what you did.” Lex’s tone was firm, almost angry.
When Liana turned to face me she was composed, her expression cool. “We called him your ether kindred because he had no corporal form. He was light and magic and ether and he was bound to you, and while he was with you, the part of the spell to nullify your abilities wouldn’t work. You’d develop scales when you were upset and wanted feeding. Your tiny talons would sprout when you were irritable and tired. We had no choice but to separate you and keep you separated.”
My heart was pounding really hard as my subconscious unraveled what this meant.
“We kept you apart, but you became really sick when you were eighteen,” she continued. “You were at The Gables, dying, and so was he, and so we brought you together briefly and it fixed the problem. Your matron never knew any of this of course.”
Yes, I recalled the illness and the face in my delirium, the beautiful face ...
“But Liana wasn’t ready to claim you,” Lex said tightly. “She felt you needed more time to be tested. To find out if you had the mettle for what would be required of you.”
Liana growled in exasperation. “That’s right, Lex. I did, and I do not regret my decision.”
“What did you do?” Even though I already knew. Even though every tiny part of me screamed at me to run home. Run home now. “Say it.”
“I had Lex purchase you a house, and we sealed your ether kindred in the basement. He was taken care of before then, given his own secure room with plenty of books to occupy his mind. Seven years in the dark is hardly a lifetime for an entity made of light and ether. Besides, he’d be close to you, able to experience life through you, but the Arcane-infused metal would prevent him from interfering with the spell. We boarded up the basement door, placing a spell to encourage you to leave it be. I guess that spell eroded in time but—”
I was on her in an instant, my fingers around her throat, squeezing, squeezing, because how could she? How could she have torn me in two, played with my life, turned me inside out. How fucking dare she?
Her nails raked at my skin for a moment, and then golden scales blocked her efforts, and I was almost done with her.
The blinding crimson haze of rage was interrupted by rough hands on my shoulders, under my arms, around my throat.
“Wila, Wila. This isn’t you. Wila, please stop.” Noir’s soothing, sane voice filled my head, his lips brushed against the shell of my ear. “Wila, stand down.”
Slowly, jerkily, I peeled my fingers from my mother’s throat and allowed Noir to lift me off her.
Liana gasped for breath as Leopold pulled her up. Her face was a mask of indignation.
“You stupid child,” she snapped. “I did it for your own good. To protect you. If Elora had found out about you, you’d be dead.”
“And yet she never found you. She still doesn’t know where you are. You could have kept me. Raised me. Loved me.” I swiped at the angry tears blurring my vision. Fucking hell, crying was the last thing I wanted to do, because I was mad, so bloody mad. “You abandoned me, you ripped me in two, and you bound me. You bound us.”
“To make you stronger. For the greater good,” she insisted. “Look at you now. You’re a survivor, a fighter. You can lead us to victory. Together we can bring down Elora. Once you have Azren back, we’ll have the map to find the key, and we can finally put an end to Elora’s lies. Once the Shedim discover the truth, they’ll turn on her and the Draconi, and with you at the helm, with your power, we will be unstoppable.”
Azren was the map? The tattoos on his chest. Oh, God. It was all falling into place. That was why Elora had wanted him back, and why she hadn’t killed him. Okay, so it didn’t answer the question of why she’d put a map on him in the first place, but it explained why the rogue Shedim had wanted him.
Calm, Bastion. Just chill and ask the questions that need answers. “Your whip hit me when I saved Azren. It damaged the spell you’d put on me. Did you know that?”
She swallowed. “We suspected. But we hoped it would hold for a while longer.”
“How long? How long were you planning on keeping me in the dark?”
“Once you returned fro
m the Keep with Azren, when the map was first unveiled, we were planning on coming to you then, but then Azren was taken. We decided to wait until you’d retrieved him.”
I nodded, lips turned down. I was beginning to get the picture here. It was a case of let Wila do the hard work, and then we’ll swoop in and reap the rewards. Well, like fuck that was going to happen.
I exhaled slowly and the anger that had been gripping my chest fell away, leaving me clear-headed and certain of what needed to happen next.
“Well, thanks for clearing that all up. Now let me set a few things straight. I’m not your daughter. You gave up that right the day you abandoned me to life as an orphan.” She opened her mouth to speak, and I held up my hand. “Not done yet. Your little plan of annihilating the Draconi—not going to happen.” I smiled. “Because, number one, those are my people too, they’re a part of who I am, and number two, I don’t tar everyone with the same brush. Elora is fucked up in the head, and I intend to take her down. I will free the Shedim, but I intend to finish what my father started. I will give them equality.”
Her mouth twisted. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re just a child, what do you know about our history, our trials, our—”
“I know enough to know exterminating a whole race is wrong. I know enough to know that you’re bordering on fanatical, and I know enough to know when it’s time to make an exit.” I turned to Noir. “I’d like to go home now. I have a metal door that needs opening.”
“Wila, you can’t do that,” Liana said quickly. “If you do that, you’ll be setting the dragon free, you’ll be setting the Shedim free, then you’ll be ...” She faltered.
I tapped my chin. “Whole? Isn’t that what Leopold said?”
She pressed her lips together. “Elora will find out what you are. She has spies everywhere. She’ll put two and two together, and she’ll come for you.”
My smile was cutthroat. “Not if I get to her first.”
“You’ll lose the element of surprise. You need to find the key and you need to—”
“Enough!” I levelled her with my best pitying look. “Now you’re just looking desperate.” Dismissing her, I focused on Lex. “I’ll be back for Valance, and if you do anything to harm him, if you let her anywhere near him, then I will find a way to hit you where it hurts the most. Are we clear?”
Lex’s jaw flexed, and his dark eyes flashed in conflict, but he didn’t retort either way.
“I’ll stay with him,” Leopold said softly.
Yes. Leopold could be trusted. He’d saved me time and time again. Leopold was Hound. “Thank you.”
Noir gripped my hand and touched Mack’s shoulder, and then we were out of there.
Chapter 18
There was no time to revel in Gilbert’s joy and Trevor’s relief. Barely time to raise a hand in greeting to Quinn as he bounded into the kitchen upon our arrival. No time to process all the many things Liana had said and all the implications of my existence. There was only one goal right now and that was to set myself free. To set him free.
The basement door closed with a snick behind me, the lights flickered on, and I made my way down the steps, heart in my mouth. Noir and Mack were in the kitchen. I’d been firm that this was something I needed to do alone. Something I should have done a long time ago.
Two years I’d been speaking to him. Two years where I’d had his fate in my hands, and what had I done? Turned my back on him each time. Walked away, leaving him alone in the dark.
Leaving him.
My throat was tight, and hot tears hovered on my lashes. There were no words. The metal door glared at me accusingly.
“It’s been a while,” the voice said. “Been busy, have we?”
There it was—the cocky, devil-may-care tone. How? How had he kept his spirits up all this time? He’d been locked away for no reason aside from the fact that he was bound to me. He’d been punished for my existence.
I swallowed the lump of twisted guilt that had formed in my throat. “They never gave you a name, did they?”
The air lurched with shock followed by dead silence.
I walked closer, past my chair and right up to the door. “They didn’t give you a name because they wanted you to think you didn’t matter.”
“Wila ...” The word was an explosion of air.
“I know. I know who you are. I know what you are.” My words were thick with emotion. I swiped at the tears snaking down my cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I could have ended it. I could have set you free.” My hand slipped over the first lock and it glowed bright blue. “Please forgive me. Please tell me it’s not too late.” I turned the dial until it clicked. “Please tell me you don’t hate me.” The second lock began to glow green as I twisted it open. “I wouldn’t blame you.” The final lock flared angry crimson, and with a flick of the wrist, it clicked open. I stepped back, grabbed the handle, and pulled. “Please, come into the light.”
For a moment, nothing happened. For a moment, I stared into absolute darkness covered by a mesh of crimson lines. This was the final part of the enchantment. The last barrier to him, and the first barrier he would have had to get through.
“Please ...” I took a step toward the magic holding him at bay.
Sunlight bloomed to life in the darkness. A low rumble filled the air, and my body began to tremble. The earth was moving. Shit.
“Wila!” Noir’s voice called down into the basement. “Wila, get out of there.”
“NO!” the voice cried.
The basement door slammed shut with a thud of finality, cutting off Noir’s exclamation. “My turn.” The words reverberated around the suddenly unstable room, and then the mesh of color over the doorway exploded outward. It slammed into me, sending me flailing backward. The world shuddered, and then the surge melted into the earth.
“Wila! Dammit, Wila!” Noir hammered on the basement door.
I pulled myself off the ground. “I’m okay. It’s okay.”
The mesh was gone now, and the sunlight had condensed to a tiny golden ball. It hovered in the inky black and then surged out of the darkness beyond the metal door and into the room. It bounced off the walls, rebounding and ricocheting, and there was laughter, maniacal laughter that sent shivers of apprehension down my spine.
He was free and he was insane, and he was—The ball of light slammed into me, into a part of me that I hadn’t known existed and yet I’d missed all the same. Like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle, it slotted into place. The laughter died and then rose again, but this time it was a mournful cry, a child’s sobs. A child’s pain.
I knew those sobs. I knew that pain. And then a freight train of memories slammed into my mind, knocking me backward. I scrambled to latch on, to grab a singular moment and examine it.
A young boy with silver hair brushed off his face sits on the floor playing with a pile of blocks. He holds one out to me. “Come on. You love building.”
“Not today.” I don’t feel like playing make-believe. “I want to wake up.”
“We will. Soon. I promise. And when we do, there’ll be so much to see and do.”
“Food?”
“Yes. Real food.”
“Grass?”
“Yes. We’ll play on the grass. We’ll smell the sunshine.”
My mood lifts. “And we’ll grow up.”
“Yes, we’ll grow up.”
Panic seizes me. “But you won’t leave me, will you? When we grow up?”
He stands up, walks up to me, and pulls me into a hug. “We’re kindred. You know what that means. It means there is no me without you, no you without me.”
Happiness fills me. No me without you, no you without me.
My kindred is pale, and there are dark smudges beneath his eyes. I reach out to touch him, but my fingers slip through him and fear grips me. “Please. Don’t go.”
More tears spill down my cheeks. My chest aches and twists and fear blooms in the pit of my stomach, a thousand claws w
aiting to shred me.
He opens his mouth to speak but no sound emerges.
My sobs tear into the fast-approaching darkness. Born, I am being truly born. But where is my kindred? I have to hold on to him. Must not forget, must not ...
Angry, devastated sobs shook my body and filled my soul with an empty ache. Gone. He was gone. They’d taken him. Ripped him from me, and now I was alone. All alone.
“Not alone.” The voice was bemused and dazed. “Tethered, finally tethered.” A soft laugh. “I’m here. I’m connected. Do you see me? Wila, open your eyes. See me. Am I real?”
He’d bloomed into existence in the ether because of my existence. We’d been connected even before we’d been born—my vulnerable flesh and blood form linked to his powerful ether one, a form that could become tangible because of its connection to me. We were entwined. Forever entwined, and I ached to see him again.
Light blinded me for a moment, then muted to reveal a tall, lean man. His silver hair was brushed off his face, and his turquoise eyes stared into my soul. His body seemed to glow as if from within, but there were dark smudges beneath those beautiful eyes, a sorrowful tilt to that perfectly formed mouth. His skin was pale like alabaster and smooth. What would it feel like to touch it?
I knew this face as if it were my own. As if I was looking into a mirror created for souls. He was the light to my dark. I stepped into him, my hands reaching for his face, a face I’d known before I’d ever drawn my first real breath, and one that had matured into a handsome man. Not just any man but my ether kindred. His eyes fluttered closed as I ran my fingers down his cheek and brushed the pad of my thumb across his full bottom lip. He allowed me to explore his features: the ridge of his Roman nose, the hollow of his cheeks, and the razor line of his jaw. He allowed me to drink him in, and when my touch faltered and fell away, his body tensed.
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