Things That Should Stay Buried

by Casey L. Bond

  He knew how I felt and obviously felt the same way. I felt like laughing and crying, and when he pulled away, I was doing both.

  Even as my heart caved in, knowing this couldn’t last.

  But I drank this moment in.

  I would take every precious, stolen moment with him until my moments ran out.

  A thousand unspoken things were said between us as our eyes searched one another’s. For once in my life, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have words big enough to express what I was feeling, so I decided to go with a classic.

  “I can’t remember if it was in Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, but William Shakespeare wrote, ‘When I saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.”

  My heart beat in time with his as he captured my mouth in a soft, agonizing kiss. When he pulled away, he whispered, “I couldn’t agree with him more.”

  It just wasn’t fair! There was no way we could win. If Taurus didn’t gore me – which, let’s be honest, there was a one hundred percent chance he would – I’d have to leave Aries anyway. They said I’d become Zodia if I slaughtered my bullish ancestor.

  He grabbed my hands and brought them to his cheek. “Larken-”

  Kes was suddenly close. “What is it?” I asked, immediately on guard.

  I guessed I hadn’t hit rock bottom yet, because there was more to lose. I could almost feel it being snatched away.

  Aries took a steadying breath. “Taurus’s dream was a warning, but he saw your mind while you were trapped in his nightmare. He saw everything.”

  He knows how I feel about Aries?

  “He saw your life in moments… He saw your mother.”

  I gasped, raking a trembling hand through my hair. “No.” I shook my head. “This can’t be happening.”

  “He’ll show the others. It’s only a matter of time before they find her in Libra’s territory.”

  I looked to Kes. “You have to do something.” Tears welled in my eyes. “Please, Kes.”

  He closed his eyes, a tear streaking down his cheek. “I can’t,” he croaked.

  “Is that what I’m feeling?” I asked, stepping away from them both, clutching my stomach. Did they already have her? What would Libra do to her? What would Taurus do to get his claws on her?

  “They’ll try to negotiate a trade, you for her, or you for both of your parents,” Aries supplied. “But you can’t consider it, Larken.”

  “Why would he let Dad go? I mean, I’d love for him to be safe, but he’s a descendant, too.”

  “He’s getting older,” Kes rasped. “And there are other ways to ensure he can’t father children.”

  My head began spinning through thoughts of what was coming. It was like the day our cell phones began pinging the warning that would change everything. I was scared for my family. I was scared for Aries. I was scared of what was coming for me.

  I needed to warn Xavier so he could start walking and get as far away from the castle as he could before they came for me and unleashed hell. My chest ached uncomfortably. I knew how Aries felt about Xavier. He wouldn’t want me to warn him at all, but he was the only person from home here, and whatever his alliances were with the humans who wanted their lives back, I owed him a warning. It would only take a second.

  So I formulated a plan and put it into motion.

  “Kes,” I whispered. “I need to talk to Helena.”

  “Now?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

  Aries’s brows furrowed. “Are you unwell?”

  I clutched my stomach. “I’m having girl issues.”

  Aries’s eyes narrowed, but Kes let out a groan. “Yeah, I’m not equipped to deal with all that.” He disappeared, reappearing with Helena. “She needs womanly help.”

  Helena’s eyes slid down me. Could she tell? Could all of them?

  “I’ll bring her back in a few,” she promised, whisking me away in a flash of blinding pain. My shouts echoed through the courtyard.

  “I have some things with me, but if you need something specific, I can go shopping.” she offered. “Are you cramping?”

  “I need your help,” I panted. “I need you to take me to Xavier.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wait. What? Aries would kill me! He hates Xavier.”

  “Just for a second, I swear. I just need to tell him one thing and then we can go.” I was a shit liar, but she pursed her lips and nodded. “You are going to literally have one minute. I’m counting it down.”

  She clasped my elbow and brought me to Xavier’s house. I ignored the teeth gritting pain and yelled for my friend.

  “Xavier!”

  Something clattered from inside, then the door cracked open and Xavier stood in the doorway. “Larken?” He looked at Helena, then focused back on me. “What’s going on?”

  “Can I talk to you?” I asked, worrying my hands.

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  He opened the door and welcomed me inside, and then I shut it before Helena could enter. She shouted several expletives and beat on the door while I told Xavier he needed to gather what he could – food, clothes, something to make a shelter, and leave. He needed to leave the area around the castle, and fast.

  He shook his head. There was a strange look in his eyes before he pursed his lips and turned away from me. “Gosh, Larken. You’re such a good person. I wish I could say the same right now. I’m really sorry,” he said, hanging his head. Then he raised his face toward me. “But it was my sister or you. And I chose her.”

  My brows kissed. “What?” A sinking, terrible feeling filled the pit of my stomach.

  “My sister Seneca is a Pisces. She’ll get to live in my territory, as payment for me coming here.”

  Now I could hear Kes and Aries outside with Helena now, fighting to get in. I stepped back and pulled on the door handle. There was no lock, but the door wouldn’t open. Something was sealing it shut, and it wasn’t Xavier’s doing.

  I needed to keep him talking to buy them time to break in.

  I couldn’t believe he would this! I never knew his birthday… Is that why Aries had Guardians watching his every move? He must have known Xavier wasn’t one of his.

  Did Aries stage the makeshift prom as some sort of bait for the Zodia who were using Xavier to spy on us?

  No wonder Aries hated him.

  I swallowed. “Were you spying on us?”

  Kes and Aries clawed and tugged at the door with renewed fervor, but something held the door shut. I heard them shouting my name as Helena roared at the closest window.

  “I was spying on you.” He lifted his tunic to reveal the mark of Leo tattooed on his skin. “Leo made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. With this, they could track me when I was with you. All I had to do was get close to you, report back any weaknesses in Aries’s defenses – not that you were ever unguarded – and Pisces would release Seneca to me. I am truly sorry. I hope you know that.” Guilt swam in his eyes, though I doubted its sincerity. “Aries knew I wasn’t his. Why do you think he was so untrusting? But he was using me to lure the other Zodia here so he could fight them on his terms, in his territory.”

  “So there were never any humans plotting to kill him?” I mused.

  “Oh no, they are. They were using me to get to him, too. I tried to tell them he was too strong for them to kill. The other Zodia, though… all they need to do is separate you two.”

  “They still wouldn’t be strong enough to kill him!” I blustered. “Even if they attacked him together, Aries will always be the strongest of them, and the best.”

  I wasn’t surprised when Leo appeared next to Xavier, his tufted tail whipping back and forth excitedly. His golden fur was spotless, as if he’d groomed himself for just this moment.

  “Taurus is going to kill me.”

  Xavier shook his head. “He promised you wouldn�
�t be hurt.”

  “I’m Taurus’s descendant, Xavier. He’s been hunting me since he woke up because I’m the only thing that can kill him. It’s why Aries agreed to let me come here and vowed to protect me.”

  Regret hung heavily on Xavier’s shoulders at the revelation, a yolk made of the weight of his deception. “I didn’t know, I swear,” he said.

  “What’s done is done,” Leo purred to the one I thought was my friend, the one I’d confided in and trusted.

  Watery footsteps crossed the floor, and in my periphery the invisible Pisces stood. My heart dropped into my stomach. Aries raged outside, battering the door with all his might, but it held firmly against his attempts. I regretted shutting him out as much as I regretted trusting Xavier.

  Pisces allowed color to seep into her orange and white scaled skin. Her plump lips gaped then closed, gaped then closed like she was breathing water instead of air. The slits of gills opened and closed along either side of her neck, fluttering and rippling with every breath she took.

  At the back of her head and running the length of her back was a delicate fin, torn in a few places. I pulled my knife as she approached. If she touched me, I’d do more than tear it. I’d fillet the bitch.

  27

  Xavier shouted as Leo sprang forward. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her. You promised!”

  Aries roared outside. The door began to splinter as impact after impact raged against it.

  As Pisces slinked closer, I told her, “You’re not going to touch me again.” I remembered her iron grip, the way she held me down and wanted me to die and felt nothing about it. I was nothing to her. But I was worth something to Taurus, and he and Libra had something I wanted.

  I was not about to die at the hands of Leo or Pisces.

  The stones around us, including the very house and foundation shook with Aries’s rage. Pisces and Leo slowly pressed forward until my back hit the wall beside the door. “If Taurus wants me dead, why isn’t he here?”

  Leo gave a predatory smile, rearing back as if he might pounce, claws at the ready.

  Gritting my teeth, I pulled my dress’s knot aside, pinched my skin – hard – over the hip, and before I could talk myself out of it, sliced Aries’s mark off my body. My hand shook as I threw the bloody flesh to the floor. Xavier cursed as I held a hand to my hip to stanch the blood, gasping from the pain.

  I did it.

  Aries cried out, desperation lacing his voice. “Larken, no!”

  But it was too late.

  I cried as he broke the door enough that I could see his anguished face through the splintering wood. His hand pushed at the door planks, breaking through whatever force Leo had used to seal them in place. He truly was stronger than they were, even now that the pledge lay on the ground and nothing tethered us together.

  It was what I was banking on.

  That strength, that anger, entirely focused on his enemies.

  As Taurus appeared with a wry grin on his face, he took in the room, dismissing Xavier immediately and settling his gaze on me. He saw my knife, my white knuckles gripping it. He spotted my side, covered in blood, and his smirk fell away.

  “I won’t fight you,” I panted, the pain lancing over my hip. “I’ll willingly go with you if you concede my dad and if Libra concedes my mom. You’ll let them live here in peace for the rest of their natural lives. You won’t send them nightmares. You won’t look at them. You will forget they even exist.” I gritted my teeth, clutching my wound. It freaking stings! Warm blood dripped over my fingers despite the pressure I put on it. “And you’ll leave Aries alone. Plus, you have to sincerely ask that each and every Zodia give their word not to attack him.”

  His eyes flicked to my knife again, then to my bloody hand, still pressing against the wound. “What other demands would you make of me?”

  Aries tore another plank in two, shoving the wood into the room. “Larken, don’t do this!” he gritted.

  “Promise not to kill me in Aries’s territory, and if you try to kill me, you have to vow to make it fast.”

  “You’ve already tasted your death,” he argued. “It was quick and honorable.”

  No, it was terrifying.

  “Those are your terms?” He smirked, flicking his eyes to the floor where my blood dropped, splattered, and pooled.

  I winced. “You also have to give your word not to hunt or harm Aries’s Guardians. All of them. My brother included.”

  Aries was almost through the door. Taurus looked over my shoulder at him. “Agreed.”

  In a blink, my mom appeared in the room. Xavier’s sister, Seneca appeared next, holding the hand of Libra.

  “Larken!” Mom yelled, running toward me. She stopped short, her eyes widening at the blood dripping through my fingers, down my dress, and carving paths down my leg. “Oh my God. What happened?”

  “I love you,” I told her. “I want you to know I remember every good day we had, and you were responsible for them. I love you, Mom.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  They didn’t hurt her. Hadn’t told her anything.

  Maybe it was better that way.

  “Where’s my dad?” I asked Taurus.

  “You didn’t specify when I had to concede him.” He grinned. “I think I’ll keep him in our territory to ensure your full cooperation.”

  Mom looked around, bewildered. “What is happening?”

  “Mom!” Kes shouted from behind Aries.

  “Kestrel?” She craned her head to see him, inching closer.

  Aries finally busted through the door.

  Our eyes met as he rushed toward me.

  But before he could reach me, Taurus grabbed my shoulder and together, we vanished.

  I heard Mom, Kes, and Aries simultaneously scream my name.

  ARIES

  No.

  She couldn’t be gone.

  Pisces backed away slowly, her cold eyes locked on mine, a clear challenge shining in their hollow depths. “Now we will see how deep your loyalty to the girl lies,” she taunted before disappearing.

  This was what they wanted, for me to come after her so they could kill us both. Because they knew I loved her.

  What they didn’t count on was the darkness clouding my vision. Or that I felt even stronger now than I did before Larken sliced my mark from her skin.

  28

  Appearing in Taurus’s territory was a shock to the system. My heart thundered. Adrenaline still coursed through my veins, making my hands shake uncontrollably. I held them to my wound and backed away from him in case he attacked immediately. My shoulder blades hit the castle’s exterior wall behind me.

  Taurus called for one of his newly made Guardians to heal me. The young, red-headed woman wouldn’t look me in the eye; she just did as he asked, cupping my hip and knitting my skin back together. She vanished as soon as she was finished.

  I sagged in relief against the closest stone wall, catching my breath and finally able to relax. I was weak from blood loss and he knew it.

  I expected him to strike, but instead, Taurus watched smugly as I surveyed his castle, or at least what I could see of it from the balcony he’d brought me to. “What is it with Zodia and balconies?” I groaned. The tide roared below us, relentlessly thrashing against the rocky cliff as if the sea had all the patience in the world.

  “I thought you’d appreciate it, given your accommodations at Aries’s castle.”

  The briny, humid air and sweltering, bright sunshine were a shock to my system, as accustomed as I’d become to the cold.

  Gulls soared on the breeze just beyond the balcony on which we stood. The stone underfoot was a mixture of wet and dry sand, light and dark shades swirling together in a gravelly miasma. Lushly covered wooden chaises were positioned beneath canopies draped with wide swaths of whi
te fabric that caught on the wind like long sails, their bellies blowing sideways.

  Taurus let out a throaty laugh, “The look on Aries’s face when I took you away from him was priceless.”

  “You’re a cruel bastard and I’m ashamed to be your descendant.”

  His eyes flamed as his nostrils flared. “I’ll never make the mistake of siring anyone again.”

  “Good. I mean, you’re definitely old enough to know what safe sex is,” I sassed. “Maybe you should practice it.”

  He snorted a laugh. “When it is your time to die, I may just aim for your mouth instead of your heart.”

  He sauntered into the room off the balcony and vanished, leaving me wondering when he would stop toying with me and come at me like he kept threatening.

  The wound on my hip bone was healed, but within me lay a deeper one. One I felt in my chest with every breath I took. One that had nothing to do with the threatening dream that felt so real, I thought it really happened when I woke up.

  I missed Kes and the moments he still felt like my brother, despite his role as Guardian and the duties and loyalties that came with it.

  I missed Mom even more now that I’d seen her, but was glad I got to tell her I loved her one last time.

  I missed Dad and was worried Taurus wouldn’t keep his word. He’d already found a loophole in my lack of specifications.

  I missed Helena and her colorful hair and kind smile. The way she believed in me.

  Most of all, I missed Aries. His curious, watchful eyes. The way he always said the right thing. How gentle he could be and how fair, despite how powerful he was. His heart and the way he loved his people. His lair. The books he’d written. The way he could be playful when he wanted. The way he fiercely protected those he loved.

  Once I realized that fighting this battle, even alongside those I loved, would jeopardize their lives, the decision was easy. Taurus would never stop coming after me, which meant I could either wait and die after doing nothing to save my loved ones, or make a deal with the devil to protect them all.