Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  “Rose was never like this—”

  “We cannot expect them to be the same people they were in the past. Rose suffered tremendously during the last moments of her life, I don’t think you want Sapphire to remember that. Sapphire herself has already been through so much, and we are forcing her to remember something that will break her even more.”

  I knew from the moment she came into this world she would be different, her birth brought joy as well as sorrow. I watched as she discovered her Lycan abilities and how her pack experimented on her to replicate her abilities for their other warriors, it pained me, but I could not interfere. However, no matter how much Sapphire denies it, there is still a part of Rose inside her. Rose had always cared for her people more than she cared for herself and so did Sapphire. I watched as she put herself in the frontlines of battle when she, due to her high position, could have stayed safely in the back. She chose to put herself in danger if it meant that the members who were pregnant or had young children did not need to fight. She even gave herself to Damien for the sake of saving her pack, she had a heart even if she tried to bury it.

  I turned to my side to only realise that Cytherea was gone. I let out another sigh before walking to the library to see her pouring over records and genealogies. The various books floated around her head as she impatiently waved her hand causing them to flip through various pages before giving them a small nudge to send them back to their shelves.

  Our library consisted of the records of every single one of my children, from the first Lycan to the werewolf baby just born, every single thing that happened in their lives is recorded here. Cytherea was calling book after book and sending them back after a few minutes of pouring over them. If she planned to look through all the blood relatives of Xander and Rose after I interfered, we will be here for the next thousand years.

  “Maybe we should check just Rose’s and Xander’s records as well as Damien’s and Sapphire’s?”

  Granted, Rose and Xander might not have been my children, but Cytherea made records for them after they caught her interest. They were the only humans to ever have their books in this library.

  “Please, not those horrid things.”

  I shrugged before waving my hand causing the books to come down from their shelves. Rose’s and Xander’s records were tied by a glowing golden thread. They floated down together peacefully and gracefully before landing on the table in front of Cytherea. We braced ourselves as I waved my hand again. Sapphire’s and Damien’s records shot off the shelves, clashing against each other as they tried to break free of their red glowing binds before Cytherea took Damien’s while I took Sapphire’s. Normally, the records of mates would find each other on the shelves and sit comfortably next to each other as we bound them while Sapphire’s and Damien’s, the moment they realised they were mates, flew to the opposite corners of the library and struggled and thrashed as we tried to bind them.

  Cytherea and I wrenched open their books with much difficulty before going down their respective genealogies and records. Sapphire’s book was thick with details due to her very ‘eventful’ life, its cover scarred and torn.

  *Name: Sapphire Ragna Nightborne*

  *Age: 22*

  *Race: Lycan Legacy*

  *Gender: Female*

  *Status: Alive*

  *Father: Xavier Nightborne +*

  *Mother: Natalia Raya +*

  *Siblings: Antonio Volarus Nightborne (Brother) +, Cordelia Lyra Nightborne (Sister)*

  I gently brushed my fingers across Antonio’s name, he was so young. As I continued to go through Sapphire’s records, something felt wrong almost as if something did not add up, but I shrugged it off as I continued to pour through her records. It seemed to go one forever till I found the detail I was looking for.

  *Ancestor: Jessamine Elken*

  That was Rose’s sister so that meant that Sapphire was born from the correct line as we could not use Rose’s descendants as she and Xander both passed so the descendants of their direct siblings were the next best thing to ensure almost perfect results. I took Damien’s book out of Cytherea’s hand before going through his records next but I could not help but recoil as I took it. The records of all my children changed in colour to match who they are on the inside, Damien’s record always troubled me as from the moment of his birth... his book was pitch black.

  *Name: Damien Roland Black*

  *Age: 25*

  *Race: Werewolf*

  *Gender: Male*

  *Status: Fading*

  Great, Sapphire was killing him.

  *Mother: Valentina Clearwater +*

  *Father: Roland Black +*

  *Siblings: Chloe Alexis Black (Sister)*

  I skimmed through the rest of the details before landing on the most important one.

  *Ancestor: Stephen Blackwood*

  That did not seem right, the last name was wrong. I hauled the book to Cytherea who was pouring through Xander’s records. His book like Sapphire’s was thick due to the numerous wars and battles he had participated in, we looked through his various records.

  *Name: Xander Lykos*

  *Age: 28*

  *Race: Human*

  *Gender: Male*

  *Status: Deceased*

  *Mother: Samira Anglos +*

  *Father: Darius Lykos +*

  *Siblings: Orion Lykos (Brother) +, Stephen Blackwood (Half-Brother) +…*

  The list went on and on due to his father’s numerous mistresses, the son’s of his mistresses were not given the privilege of sharing their father’s last name, before one of his sibling’s name caused my blood to turn cold... there was no way we could have been that foolish. Cytherea looked at me with the same expression of horror on her face as we looked down at the name:

  *Stephen Blackwood (Half-Brother)*.

  Of all the mistakes we could make, this was the worst.

  Stephen Blackwood had been the one to destroy Rose, he had been the one to set Avarelia on fire. He had been the one to kill Xander and now we had carelessly, channelled that monster’s spirit into his descendant.

  I ripped the book out of Cytherea’s grasp before pushing her against the wall.

  “What have you done!”

  Her mistake led to the destruction of not just Sapphire’s life but Damien’s as well. Stephen’s spirit was what caused Damien to act out and become what he is today. If we channeled a spirit to the wrong host, the spirit of the host’s ancestor would take over while the spirit channeled would leave to seek out its true host. All the visions that I showed the both of them about Rose’s and Xander’s past only woke Stephen’s spirit faster, made him angrier as I reminded him of the love he deemed was his. Stephen had always wanted Rose, but could never have her. He always held back till Xander left, and I had delivered the one he wanted for centuries right into his hands. I was the catalyst for this chaos. Cytherea was gasping for breath before I let her go as a horrible revelation came to mind.

  Sapphire’s family need not have died. So many wolves bled for this to happen. I watched my children die for no reason, I murdered them.

  I let out a scream and fell to my knees, tears streamed down my face and fell to the floor. The ground below me began to shake, the shelves started to wobble, the books started to flutter restlessly in the air and some even started to smoke.

  “Selene, enough!”

  I quickly composed myself as the shaking stopped and the books returned to their shelves.

  “Selene, I know there is nothing we can do about the channelling, but Xander’s spirit is probably searching for Orion’s descendant as we speak. Everything will be fixed once they merge—.”

  I could not help but laugh.

  “Everything will be fixed? Can we bring Sapphire’s family back from the dead? Can we take away the nightmares that Sapphire will have for the rest of her life? Can we give Damien back the childhood we stole from him?”

  Cytherea hung her head, tears welling in her eyes as well.

  “That’
s right, we cannot fix what we have done. We cannot save Damien, Stephen already has too much of a hold on him, but we can at least try our best to change the events happening now and save Sapphire.”

  Cytherea’s eyes widened as they stared at me.

  “You said to never ever bring this out again, you restricted its use for a millenia.”

  I sighed as I nodded my head, desperate times did call for desperate measures. I waved my hand, Cytherea and I looked solemnly at each other as we heard the rattle of chains. A silver book floated towards us, low to the ground as it was burdened by many chains. The book fell at my feet, I picked it up and stared at the large black lock on its cover. My eyes met my sister’s as I pricked my finger and placed it on the padlock, the sound of chains falling echoing throughout the room.

  “What other choice do we have?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Clear Glass

  Sapphire Nightborne

  All those years of hearing that we had to respect the Moon Goddess, the drilling we received. I threw them all away the second our eyes met. The wind bit at my face as I charged towards her, claws raised. So what if she had created my kind? I did not owe her anything, in fact, she owed me for the wonderful life I was given.

  I prepared to pounce on her and tear her to bits when an invisible force knocked me to the side causing me to hit the hard ground. Rocks scraped against my skin as I slid and they succeeded in tearing my skin coating several blades of grass red. I keeled over and coughed as I brought a hand to my side, great, there goes a rib.

  “Sapphire, you should calm down and…”

  I did not let her finish what she wanted to say before charging at her again causing her to sigh as she waved her hand knocking me to the ground yet again. I ignored the sting coming from various parts of my body as I stood right back up ready to charge at her again. So what if I got hurt, I already had my bones broken numerous times so what were a few more. I lunged forward only to feel tight bindings snaking around my middle, pinning my arms to my side, holding me where I was and was pulled so taut that it bit into my skin, making it so that I could not even move an inch.

  My lips curled to reveal my bared fangs as she walked up to me, she took no heed to my open warning of hostility as she just gave me a soft smile before reaching a hand to my bicep. I tried to shirk away as I under no circumstances wanted her hands on me, but unfortunately the bindings did not really give me a choice.

  She left her hand on the scrapes for a few seconds, I snarled even louder as my skin felt like it was burning, but she just shushed me and continued to leave her hand on my wounds. After an awkward five minutes, she finally lifted her hand to show that only smooth skin remained, there was not even a faint mark. I glared at her as she scanned my body from head to toe, it was a quiet affair till she let out a sigh as her eyes reached my blood stained hands. She took my hands in hers, they glowed within her grip before she released them... without a trace of Damien’s blood. She stepped back, waving her hand over my body. I was now clean of all the blood and dirt that covered my body.

  “You almost killed him.”

  It was not a question but a statement, a rather nice one if I had to be honest. The evident disapproval and disappointment dripping from her voice made the barely contained anger in me surge even more, what had been a heated furnace was now a blazing inferno.

  How dare she chide me about killing when she allowed so many to needlessly die, how dare she preach to me about the value of life when she just stood by and watched her children as they were brutally slaughtered. My facial expression must have betrayed what I was feeling as she approached me with caution and raised hands.

  “I am going to let you go now, Sapphire, but you have to promise me that you would not try to lunge at me or try in any form to attack me again. I am only here to talk so please let me have my say as I am sure that what I have to say is something that you would be very interested to hear. However, if you try to lunge or attack me again, I will be forced to put you in these bindings again and leave you there as I talk to you because whether you like it or not, you will hear and listen to what I have to say.”

  I wanted to reply to her with some choice words from my favourite and now frequently used list of expletives but decided to just nod my head. She sounded so desperate to talk to me so maybe what she had to say was worth listening to, besides, it was not like I could go anywhere else unless she decided to let me go.

  I rolled my shoulder and sighed in relief as the bindings that bound me slackened, another sigh involuntarily left my lips as I felt the satisfying crack that came with rotating my stiff limbs. My posture might have been relaxed but my eyes never left hers as I continued to glare at her with as much intensity as I could muster, if I could not hurt her physically then I would do it mentally in my head.

  “Say your piece fast. I have important things to do.”

  I could not wait to go back and finish what I had started,

  ***************************************************************************

  I was once again in tight bindings as I struggled to break free so that I could lunge forward and claw her eyes or better yet her heart out. I had just been informed that there was a problem in this game they had set for us, they had miscalculated the hero’s lineage and had ‘accidentally’ swapped the villain with the hero causing our poor female lead to suffer for no apparent reason.

  “Sapphire, please listen to me! The harder you struggle the tighter the bindings will become! Please calm down and let me explain!”

  Tears brimmed in her eyes as she continuously tried to soothe me to try and get me to calm down, but what she did not seem to understand was that her voice only increased the anger I already felt inside me. That blazing inferno were now the fires of Hell. I had been trapped with that monster for weeks and it was only now that she deemed something was wrong and so decided that it was time to review the scheme of things.

  What angered me the most was that it was only because of what I was about to do that caught her attention. Did she think something was wrong when he killed my entire pack, every man, woman, and child? No. Did she think something was wrong when he mercilessly tortured me in every way possible, destroying the last thing I had of my mother? No. Did she think something was obviously wrong when my beloved mate showed me the severed heads of my family? No. She only deemed something was wrong when I tried to kill him, it had been my ‘unreasonable’ and brutal actions which caused her to think that there was something just not right with our relationship, everything that Damien did to me was all part of a healthy relationship.

  “I am so sorry, Sapphire.”

  She looked so heartbroken and ashamed that if I didn't know better I would have actually believed that she truly cared about my well-being.

  “Sorry? You’re sorry! After all, you have done to me, why in the world would you think that I would actually believe you are sorry! Moreover, after everything that you caused, your measly sorry does not even begin to cover anything!”

  My throat hurt as I shouted at her, my voice turning hoarse as I hurled all of my emotions right at her. I had never felt so many different emotions bubbling inside me, rage, sadness, disappointment and many more. It was such a build-up that I just wanted to shout to let everything out, to pour up all the things that I have kept pent up inside me.

  “Sapphire, my sister and I…”

  The mention of her sister caused my anger to spark yet again, it was her who was responsible for the chaos my life is right now. I let out a small short laugh as I thought about her and the role she played.

  “Your accursed sister, the wonderful puppet master of this Roman tragedy. I bet my bottom dollar that she probably thought that she could use her power to force us together again, right? Well tell her for me that I am not the love-sick saps that she is used to dealing with, I am not the type of girl who clings on to the idea of love, I am not like my sister. Tell she can go to Hell for all I care! And you! The Great Mother of Wolves, where were
you when my family laid there dying? Where were you when I was tortured for no reason other than existing? For someone who calls themselves the Great Mother, you sure do suck at being one.”

  I did not care if I sounded childish or immature, I just wanted to throw something at her, anything that would hurt her. She just stood there and took my verbal abuse with a sad smile on her face which made me even angrier. I wanted her to scream at me, to try and hit me, anything that would give me the right to lash out at her, to see that my words made her feel the guilt she deserved to suffer. However, the fire that burned within my very soul started to quell as a thought entered my head.

  My family, my poor family. They had died for no reason, they did not die because they valiantly tried to protect our pack, they did not die with such honour, they had died because of a single miscalculation.

  My poor nephew, I could not even begin to think of how he suffered at the hands of Damien’s men, the fear he must have felt as he was all alone to fend for himself, he had never been one to fight and he probably felt so abandoned. Can you imagine? The last thing you feel before you die is abandonment.