by Jaime Marks
Kyle ground his teeth frustrated that the King couldn’t see the truth of it all. “What do you want from me, Mythos? I’m not my Mother. Nothing anyone does will ever bring her back or change what she endured with my…” He clicked his tongue in disgust. He refused to give that Shade any form of a title that he never earned. “With Syneous.”
“No, it will not bring back your Mother.” Mythos rose crossing the room to sit beside him on the couch. “But it will bridge the gaps in our family. I do not expect you to simply accept me as your uncle, Kyle, but that is who I am. All I ask is for the chance to get to know you, to start fresh. I understand your reservations, but we have both been denied the opportunity to know our family in a respect. Can we not set aside the issues of the past that were beyond our control and attempt to move on from here, this day?”
Kyle looked down at his feet. He knew his Dad would want him to let this go and Byryn had all but demanded it when they’d discussed it…but he couldn’t. “And what about the Queen? I don’t want to cause Steph any more stress and pain than I already have.”
Mythos’ brow furrowed as he sighed. Tension filled the room as his words weighed heavily. It was the truth and the key point of contention between them. “Be honest with me, son, and be honest with yourself. Were you really the cause of what occurred with my mate or was your mentor?”
His eyes popped in alarm. “How did you know John was my mentor? No one knew that aside from maybe Cymeryn and Byryn.” He trusted them both instinctually. He didn’t think either of them would discuss his past behind his back…but it was difficult to believe he could trust them sometimes after everything he’d been through.
“They did not betray your trust, Kyle. I saw it in Stephynia’s memories during the peak of her awakening.” He watched as the King stared into the distance seeming to consider his words carefully. “It is complicated, but Stephynia was in John’s mind when she went into her awakening. She had gone looking answers regarding you and her Father…”
“You can’t let her do that again,” Kyle interrupted clenching his fists.
These were the times he felt completely torn. John had always been an ass but he’d saved his life more times than he could count. As much as he hated to admit it, he took care of him, but…Byryn was his mentor now and so much more that the pull he felt to him and the connection they shared confused the hell out of him sometimes. Steph was just about Byryn’s sister and she was Star’s best friend. She was family and really she didn’t deserve the shit John put her through all in the name of preparing to turn her. It was still hard every time he chose them over the bond he once shared with John but he’d never betray Byryn for his former mentor.
Forcing himself to talk he tried to explain, “You don’t realize the level of control he can leverage over her. It may not be as strong now that she’s awakened, and her essence has always been so pure, but he’s fed her essence every chance he’s had for two years straight. It wasn’t the drugs that he gave her that made her so easy to control that night, they barely affected her. She was drunk on his essence. She only passed out because of the large amount he fed her. For some reason until she came here he couldn’t leverage any control over her. He actually flipped out when she went missing because he could feel those bonds finally open but he couldn’t reach her, and he’d been waiting for it. He figured it would happen when she got closer to her awakening and the masking that whoever had in place lifted.”
Mythos cringed, “How did he know what she even was?”
“Her essence. John once told me that every time he…” He hesitated looking for a word that wouldn’t set him off. They were discussing his mate and her ex-lover after all. “…touched her, it burnt. We assumed it was some sort of defense or something, but for a Shade that’s more of an enticement. They like pain.” He shrugged. “I have no idea what he meant. I didn’t…she…I never felt it.” He scratched his head in discomfort. Talking about Steph’s shared past with him and John was completely uncomfortable for both of them.
The Fae blew out a harsh breath on a hiss. “We should discuss something else…”
Kyle shook his head knowing this needed to happen at some point. Byryn had tried to talk him out of doing this but it would come up again eventually anyway. There was no reason to put it off and no way to completely avoid it if the King insisted on having a relationship with him.
“No. You want to do this? Give me a chance? You need to ask the questions you need answers to and hear what I have to say. We need to air this out and be done with it.”
Mythos sat back with a grimace as he rubbed his brow. “Why do you insist we do this? Even you agree we cannot change the past.”
“Because you can’t just let it go. Every time anything is mentioned about John, any time he tries to reach her, it’s a reminder that I took part in her assault, and believe me he won’t just go away. You can lock him in a cell and throw away the key but he’s crafty as hell. He’ll either get out and come for her or find a way to manipulate their connection. Steph is everything to John. She’s the only female I’ve ever seen him really take interest in and he didn’t just put his ass on the line for no reason. He sees her as his which means he’ll never stop.”
Of course that meant he’d probably come after him too but he wasn’t really worried about that. Even if he wanted to he wouldn’t be able to hide it from Byryn. His sister’s mate could refrain from saying the words all he wanted but he knew Byryn already considered him his. He was his progeny, his Fae in law, awakened of his Grandsire’s line and whatever else he considered him. If John came anywhere near him after everything he’d done, not only to him and Steph in the past but what he’d pulled with Star, Felycia and Kylion since he’d been here? Kyle wouldn’t be able to stop Byryn from tearing him apart.
Kyle’s brow furrowed a minute while he considered John’s obsession with Steph. In all honesty it reminded him of how relentlessly Talerys was pursuing Astryn, but he wasn’t Shade or even Tainted. It didn’t make sense. He shook his head clearing his thoughts. That’s not what they were talking about.
“We need to deal with this if you expect to have the ability to have any sort of a relationship with me because I don’t believe you can handle the truth of it, Mythos. Sooner or later it’s gonna come out, especially if it’s bothering Steph enough to go looking for answers. I won’t lie to her if she confronts me, any more than I will you. I can’t change the past and I accept the full responsibility of my actions. She deserves that much and more for what we put her through.”
The King sighed looking him over with an uncertainty he could understand. No one wanted to know their mate had gone through hell. It was what kept him from trying to find the information about Talerys in Astryn’s mind.
“You make it sound like you personally harmed her, but that is not what I saw, Kyle. Did you rape her? Did you actually take part in the assault against my mate?”
Kyle shifted uncomfortably. He’d opened the door for this but he had no idea what Mythos would do when he was confronted with the truth. He wasn’t really sure how to handle the full truth of it himself. He hated himself for what happened that night, but then again he hated himself for every time he’d ever been forced to hurt anyone.
“I don’t know if you can handle the full truth of this and I won’t pull punches to sugarcoat my actions. So I’m going to ask you before I tell you what my role was that night, do you really want to go there with me? Do you really need to have a relationship with me that badly? This isn’t something that’s going to be easy for you to hear, Mythos.”
The male rose and paced the length of his study as he considered Kyle’s words. He stopped and faced him with an air of command that Kyle found almost intimidating. If his Grandfather wasn’t Alayne he’d probably be scared shitless right about now, but he knew the truth of what hell was.
“If the only way you will consider giving this a chance between us is to work through this and move beyond it, then yes I am certain. You are my n
ephew, Kyle, and whether you believe this or not I have done you wrong. We are blood, and despite what you think, I will not walk away from you so easily. I need to prove to you that your past is behind us. I understand your reasons for this and if that is what it takes then yes, I am certain that I can handle this for us both.”
He cursed under his breath. In reality Kyle had hoped it would deter him but he meant it, if he really wanted to give this a real chance between them he needed to know who he really was. He knew once the King knew everything he’d probably be back to wanting him dead, but there couldn’t really be a relationship with this hanging over their heads. If their situations were reversed and it were Astryn, he would’ve demanded the full truth before he ever allowed him near her. He didn’t fault him for protecting Steph. He knew Mythos would probably demand penance from him once this was over and he’d accept the punishment he was owed.
Looking up he met his King, his uncle, in the eye. He wanted to know the truth, he’d get it. Kyle wouldn’t hide from his actions. “I helped John seduce her into drinking his essence, touching and teasing her. When she lost herself to the essence I held her. I kissed her and caressed her. I fingered her until she came while John and the others fucked her mouth. When she passed out I tasted her getting her ready for them. Her body was so reactive she came for me and I made sure she was good and wet for them before I held her steady so they could fuck her while they rutted on her like a bunch of mindless fucking animals. When she woke up in the middle of it, she fought them so I restrained while I taunted her about how much her body reacted to us. When she started fighting they only tore into her harder, punishing her for it. I knew it was wrong and it needed to stop, but I didn’t stop it. Instead I fed on her desire before she sobered; her pain and fear once she fought. I lost myself in teasing her body. I bit and kissed her while I held her down and they used her like a toy. I even helped flood her with essence to keep her somewhat subdued because her essence was too strong and there were humans in the room.
“So yes, Mythos, in a respect I did rape her despite the fact that I didn’t fuck her. I chose to tease her body and restrain her because I knew no matter what John tried to say she wouldn’t want that, to be used like that. She was a virgin until they used her like a cheap whore that night. There’s no way she agreed to that, and I didn’t have it in me to take that from her, but I enjoyed her body for my own pleasure against her will and that is still rape. When they finished with her she was bruised all over her body from struggling against my hold and I kissed her head and walked away. So don’t sit there and think that because I’m half Fae I was a damned saint. Just because I’m your nephew doesn’t mean I deserve your forgiveness, Mythos. If anything I deserve your rage.”
Mythos drew a hard breath as he tried to curb his anger. It tore at his heart to hear Kyle’s account of what happened to Stephynia. It was far more in depth than what John had let her see, and far more detailed than her own memories.
From what Kyle said John had told them she had asked for what they did to her. It was the same thing he had repeatedly told her. In essence it reflected more harshly on John than it did Kyle, but he had still hurt her. He couldn’t help but want to destroy him for his role in all this. He imagined it was similar to how Kato felt with Cymeryn after what Demytria had endured at his hand.
He measured the boy. It almost seemed as if he wanted to be held accountable for this. It was as if he waited for Mythos to punish him in some way, yet he did not brace himself or take up any defensive stance.
He thought back to the guilt that Byryn carried and the truth he knew of it. Trevyn had nearly killed the boy to force his hand in Felycia’s assault, yet he still carried the weight of his actions. He could not help but wonder if in some respect Kyle was the same. Was he owning only the wrong he did and not presenting the full truth of it?
He released a breath trying to calm himself and debated his next course. He could not hold his past against him but he was making it extremely difficult not to. There had to be more to this. Cymeryn and Byryn seemed sure he would not be a threat to Stephynia and that he was worthy of not only joining their lines as progeny, but one was now his Father through Claiming and the other had given his very life’s essence to save the boy, binding them for eternity. Neither were rash and their actions could not be discounted.
“There is only one way we will fully settle the truth of this, Kyle. I know how you portray this and I do not doubt you tell the truth as you see it, but I also know your sires. I know Byryn and the reservations he had before he saw into your mind. If he and Cymeryn felt there was more to this, then there must indeed be something you are discounting. Something which you may feel does not absolve you but they felt played a part in your actions. Will you allow me to sense you? Will you open yourself so I may know the truth of this myself?”
The boy frowned at him seeming resigned. “I will but it won’t change it, Mythos. If anything you’ll probably want to kill me more.”
He drew a ragged breath and nodded. “That may be, but we agree on one thing, this disagreement between us must end if we are to move forward.”
Kyle held his gaze as he rose from his seat and sank to his knees, much as he had done for Cymeryn the first night he met him. Mythos sensed his barriers dropping. “You won’t be able to see what occurred in Lazurys’ domain. Part of my torture was witnessing what happened to Byryn and Star and I won’t betray my sister or my sire’s trust by revealing it.”
He nodded. “I will respect that. I only seek to know your past before your awakening.”
His head lowered as he opened the rest of his defenses and Mythos allowed his essence to seep through his mind seeking the truth of his past, all of it. He needed to know everything if he was ever going to be able to understand the boy. He could immediately feel the connection that he suspected must have drawn Cymeryn’s attention to look deeper. It was the echo of their shared blood and he allowed himself to accept the full truth that this boy was his nephew as he watched his history unfold before him.
Mythos watched as a woman who looked very much like Reyana held a very young Kyle. It was the eve he had met Sean. The male had not come to their home since the boy’s birth. She was attempting to explain that his Father was different and dangerous. She told him that he needed to listen to him and do as he said so he would not hurt him badly.
It was the first eve of many that the boy was subjected to his Father’s abuse. Terynia had tried to shelter him, trying to provide as normal an existence as possible, but they would always come. Educating him was the only way to protect the boy. His sister had taught him love and temperance, how to hide his feelings. She had prepared him for his life as best as she was able so that he would never fully lose himself.
Terynia had tried to run with Kyle once, before things had gotten truly difficult for the boy, but the beating and rape she endured when they were found was so extreme. They had forced Kyle, watch even making him join in knowing how it would destroy her. They had taught him to use a paddle on his own Mother, showing him where to touch her to bring a female pleasure. It was disgusting and despicable. The boy could not have been more than five and he had cried for what they made him do, which Sean had in turn beat him for. She never tried again. Instead she did her best to cater to Sean’s whims and prepare her son.
Nothing in the boy’s life had been easy. There had been the tense dinners with Sean, beatings for questioning how he treated his Mother, or any time the boy showed him signs of love and compassion. He would take him to complete tasks for Alayne. His Father would use such task as teaching opportunities, showing him anything from interrogating and killing a captured Fae, to kidnapping a random woman to take to him. Any time Kyle didn’t have the stomach for it or refused to act he was beat. His Father never missed a chance to remind him that if his Grandfather hadn’t thought him useful he would be dead. Sean taunted him that every weakness he presented was a step closer to his grave causing the boy to live in a constant state of fe
ar.
He watched the way Terynia fought Sean when he took Kyle to his Grandfather once a month. The torture he had endured at Alayne’s hand, the bruises and gashes he came home with. There were times he almost died, left so wounded that he was lifeless when Sean all but tossed him into his Mother’s arms.
Through it all she comforted and cared for him, at times even taking the beatings in his place. She would plead with Syneous, giving him anything he wanted. The costs for Kyle’s reprieve were always great. The depravity she endured, sometimes even allowing his friends to use her body sometimes to the point where she could not move for days. All in an effort to spare her son his Father’s rage.
One eve his Father had said he was not worth risking his sister for and almost killed him but Terynia had fought him and offered her body instead. She had almost died that eve due to Sean’s depravity but after it almost seemed he had lost interest in him. After a full year of Sean’s absence they had tried to move on and start a normal life. His Mother’s human mate, a man named Brad whom she had met some time later, had taken the boy under his wing and healed some of the pain. He fostered the love and Light in his heart and they seemed to live happily from the time he was nine until he turned eleven.
What came next tore out Mythos’ heart. Sean had shown up with Alayne to take the boy and found Terynia in bed with her Brad. What Sean and Alayne had done to his sister in front of her son was horrific. First they raped and tortured her human mate in front of her eyes, taunting her with his cries. They killed him in front of Terynia and Kyle before turning their attention to her. They had raped her, ripped her open as they tortured her. They burned her flesh, sliced her open, and beat her within an inch of her life as she begged and offered them whatever they wanted just to stop her pain. They took all she offered without mercy, still slitting her throat in the end. Thankfully they had not made Kyle partake in their disgust, but they had held him down forcing him to watch how a woman ‘should be treated’ and beat him any time he tried to interfere to ‘cure him of his weakness’.