by CY Jones
“Why would you go see him? Especially without Saber.”
“You needed answers and I knew you wouldn't trust us after what I did to you. Saber was needed here to keep you safe, so I went to the one place I thought I could find the answers you needed on my own.” I don’t know what’s more shocking. Hearing that his father killed his sister or that he left unprotected to see his father for me.
“So then what happened?” I ask, threading his fingers through mine, marveling at the fact that he let me. My fingers are shorter and my skin is tanner, but entwined with his just feels right.
“Everything went to hell once I got there. Like me, my father has control over fire from our phoenix power, but he can also get into a person’s head and sort through their mind like he’s flipping through a dictionary. When he’s feeling particularly evil, he’ll shatter a person’s mind, making them no better than a drooling vegetable. I stupidly dropped my guard and he attacked. I shielded most of my thoughts, but he got a clear picture of you.”
“And ran to Morganstein and told him about me,” I finish for him.
“Yes. I’m sorry about that. You must believe me when I say I didn’t expect that to happen.”
“But why tell him I’m his daughter?” I ask, confused.
I watch him as he lets go of my hand and pulls something from his back pocket and hands it to me. Slowly, I take it from him, staring at the photo of my mother holding a little baby me in her hands. I know this is my mother because my father has the same photo hidden in a chest in his room.
“That’s Kassandra Morganstein, Morganstein’s wife,” he says, dropping the bomb, but this time, he doesn’t run away. This time he endures the blast with me.
“My brother knows the truth, doesn’t he?” I ask in a small voice I don’t recognize. It’s the only thing I can think of that would justify his crazy behavior lately. How he just made me his fiance without asking first. He has no qualms about marrying his sister because we’re not even blood related.
“I suspect he does,” he answers.
“Why didn’t you tell me? When you got back, you could have told me the truth.”
“After what I did, would you really have believed me?” he asks, raising a brow and I guess he has a point. No, I wouldn’t have believed him. I would have let my anger get the best of me and told him to fuck off and to stay the fuck away from me.
“Since you’re in a position to believe me now, I have something else I need to tell you.” His body goes stiff and I can feel his unease. Whatever he’s about to say, I’m not going to like, but what can be worse than learning that the person you grew up believing is your father really isn’t your dad after all?
“What is it?” I say, bracing myself.
“We know who Berserker’s Master is.” Okay, not where I thought this was going.
“Okay… who is it?”
“It’s your brother. Quinn was the one who set Kirito up and tried to kill him.”
“No... no, Quinn wouldn’t do that.” My ears are ringing. I don’t believe what I’m hearing. He may have found out shit about my family, but he’s wrong about this. Please, Goddess let him be wrong.
“Sorry, angel, but it was him. We didn’t want to tell you because of how close you are to him and Kirito. No one wanted to see the broken look on your face.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Why would he attack that way? I get trying to kill another Champion, but beating a master senseless and trying to cut off his...” I don’t even get the words out before I’m dry heaving off the side of my bed. Too much. This is too damn much. Information fucking overload. No, fucked up information overload.
I don’t need him to clarify. The question is redundant. I know exactly why he did it. Quinn is obsessed with me. He went after Kirito because I was with him. He knew we had sex and he got jealous. A jealous harlequin is an insane, can’t be reasoned with without bloodshed, harlequin.
“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’m sorry,” I say over and over again as he rubs my back.
“If it makes you feel better, Oliver was able to heal the gouge in your father’s eagle and it flew away unbothered soon afterwards. Wherever your father is, at least he’s not in as bad shape as he was when he got away.”
I sit up, turning bloodshot eyes on him. Tears glisten in my lids, but I don’t allow a single one to run free. “Am I even allowed to call him that? He lied to me. For the exception of him and Quinn, that whole damn family hated me because I was the love child that brought turmoil to their happy home, and it turns out, I was nothing but a baby my mother gave up. Oh the fucking irony. I didn’t stir up their home, they stirred up mine.” I would laugh if all this wasn’t so damn sad.
“You shouldn’t think of it that way. I think your mother gave you to Boudreaux to protect you from your father at the cost of her own life.”
“What do you mean?” I ask with wide eyes.
“Morganstein thought you were dead by your mother’s hand when running away from him, so he petitioned the Council to kill her and for him to be the one to do it.”
I suck in a breath. So that’s what he meant when he said he taught my mother a lesson. Suddenly frightened, I jump from the bed remembering the rest.
“What is it?” Zion asks worried.
“Morganstein. He said if I didn’t come to him he’ll kill everyone I loved starting with my father. It won’t be long before he tracks me and Quinn down.”
“Calm down, angel. The headmaster won’t let him touch you or your brother. Plus, we all have our Champions. It’s not ideal, especially with what Quinn did fresh in our minds, but if you can get him to agree to a temporary truce, we’ll stand down until Morganstein is dealt with.”
“You’d do that?” I ask, shocked. I haven’t forgotten how much he hates harlequins. How much he hated me when I first got here. His father may have killed his sister, but I believe a harlequin had something to do with it.
“The others won’t be happy, but we’ll do it for you.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help asking.
“Because you’re not who I thought you were, and a part of me that I’ve been fighting wants to know who Angelica Morganstein really is.”
“Don’t call me that,” I growl.
“It’s your name and I’ll never lie to you,” is all he says. “You may have been raised by a Boudreaux, but you were born from the blood of a Morganstein and that’s what really matters to mages and the Council. Hold your head up high. It’s not really a bad thing. Just because you have your father’s blood doesn’t mean you’re like him or that Boudreaux is any less of a father to you.”
He’s right but it’s still hard to stomach.
Before I can stop myself, I lean forward and kiss him. Just like in the cave, his reaction shocks me when he kisses me back, but this time, I can feel the emotions he’s pouring into it. This is no trick. Our feelings are actually mutual. “Thank you,” I tell him, pulling back. Happy he’s as dazed as I am.
“Let’s go tell the others and then go find your brother,” he says standing and pulling me up with him.
Great, another heavy topic of conversations coming up. Yippie, lucky me.
Chapter 26
Angelica
Milo and Kirito are still off surveillancing the other academies that are still in the war, keeping track of those with Champions, but the twins weren’t hard to find since they were already headed to my room after Oli told his brother what happened in class. I still had my reservations about confronting Quinn, but it helped that the twins easily agreed with Zion about putting aside their differences until Morganstein was dealt with. After that, all bets were off, and I guess I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. From briefly meeting the man, I know it’ll take all of us to bring him down. Quinn is in just as much danger as I am and we can’t be infighting and risk losing any more Champions. Not if we want to stay alive and win this war. As much as I would love to stay out of the fight, I’m involved now, and soon, we’
ll have blood-thirsty mages from the other academies bent on winning this war to worry about and they're not going to go away just because I have daddy issues. Just because they haven’t attacked yet doesn’t mean they won’t. This is merely the calm before the storm.
The plan was for me to go alone to look for Quinn and meet the others at the neutral zone we usually practice at. That way Quinn doesn’t feel threatened or that I’ve joined the guys to help them get revenge for Kirito. Eventually, I’m going to have a sit down with him about that. Explain to him my crazy complicated feelings so that he doesn’t go after the others. He can’t have this reaction every time I sleep with someone.
When I get to his dorm, he isn’t there nor is his second in command for me to leave a message with. I tried asking around, but the good mages are fiercely loyal to my brother or scared and wouldn’t tell me where he went. Sliding a note under his door, I leave, hoping he’s okay. What if Morganstein already got to him? “Your brother is strong. He’ll be fine,” Archer reassures me.
“Did you know my brother had a Champion?” I’m not mad, I’m just wandering was I the only one left in the dark?
“I was with Saber when we inspected the meadow where Assassin's Master was attacked. I could sense Berserker’s presence, but your brother’s was unknown to me at the time. If Saber knew, she did not share the information with me.”
That makes sense. Saber would have been under orders from Zion to keep a tight lip on whatever she learned.
“Watch out!” Archer shouts, appearing in his corporal form. Gathering me in his arms, he uses his body to shield me from a glowing ball that explodes right in front of me. I can feel the heat from the blast. The grass and debris in the exposed area flies everywhere, hindering my vision. When the smoke clears, Archer is in front of me armed with an arrow notched in his bow.
“You have the Archer, impressive,” Quinn says in a cocky tone, stepping out of the shadows. Beside him is a real life Jester, dressed head to toe in harlequin garb, juggling five more of those exploding balls.
“Quinn, what the fuck? Are you trying to kill me?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” he answers, sounding serious as hell.
“What the hell does that mean? I’m your sister. Why in the hell would you want to kill me?” Something isn’t right. The mage in front of me looks like my brother, sounds like my brother, he even has Berserker at his side to do his bidding, but something is off. As I gaze in his eyes, searching for I don’t know what, the gut feeling inside me screaming ‘this isn’t right’ grows.
“Quinn, it’s me, Angelica.”
“I know who you are. What you are,” he says slowly. “You’re the one responsible for Father being hurt, possibly dead. Mom was right. You have brought our family nothing but turmoil, so here I am to even the score.”
“You don’t mean that. You love me. My Quinn would never hurt me.”
“Well, that’s the thing. I’m not your Quinn anymore,” he says in a mocking voice before he attacks.
He’s quick and I barely have enough time to react and duck, nearly missing a high kick to the skull. Flipping backwards, I hold my hand out, calling on my staff the exact same moment he does his. The ivory is cool in my grasp, but quickly warms as my power surges through the staff, lighting the red symbols and making the empty eye sockets of the skulls on top glow an eerie bluish-purple.
“Interesting. I guess you’re not a dud after all. I see now how you were able to summon Archer.” At his words, another explosion goes off and through the smoke, I just make out Archer surrounding Berserker in a barrage of glowing arrows. He moves insanely fast, launching arrows and countering Berserker’s attacks at the same time. It’s magnificent to watch. Normally, Archers are more adapted to long distance battles, but my warrior has no such shortcomings. I could watch him forever and even take notes, but I have my own problems.
Taking advantage of my distracted state, Quinn moves, coming for me head on and our staffs clash against each other in a loud boom, sending sparks of power around us. Gritting my teeth, I strike back and we parlay off one another, flipping through the air and landing soundlessly on our feet. Like a deadly ballerina, I fly through the air, striking with steady precision. In my head, we’re just practicing, but this time, I’m not holding anything back. My other power stirs inside me, both our harlequin tunes playing off one another in a haunting beat. I’m holding my own and I can tell by the look in his eyes, he’s surprised.
“You’ve been holding out on me, dear sister. Or should I say wife?” He’s trying to bait me by putting me off foot with his words. What a nasty, dirty little harlequin trick. Unfazed, I hum to myself and he winks, giving me a cheshire smile.
“Is that a compliment? If so, you need to work on your material. And I’m not your wife… yet.”
“Probably never if I kill you… unless,” he says, sending a swirl of power from his staff and I twirl out the way and dodge. One swirl catches me in the arm, and I cry out from the pain as it burns my skin.
“Unless what?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“You stop fighting me and go to your father like he asked.”
I narrow my eyes. Sending my own wave of power at him that knocks him on his ass, I strike again while he’s down, but he rolls away. When he’s on his feet again, I growl, “How do you know about what Morganstein wants?” I’ll be damned if I call that man my father.
“He sent a message to me. I’ve always known you weren't my blood sister, so that wasn’t new information, but he said he’d spare father if I delivered you to him. A life for a life. I may love you, sister, but my loyalty will always be to my blood.”
“This isn't you, Quinn. Even if that was the case, you’d never give in so easily. You’d join with me and we would get Dad back together. What changed?”
“What changed?” he says incredulously. “You’re joking, right? I was naive before, but I should have realized sooner you’re nothing but trouble and a fucking cock tease. I’ve always been there for you. Fought your battles for you. Gave you all of me on a silver platter and you repay my kindness by fucking someone else, knowing you belonged to me. If I knew you’d turn into a whore, I would have saved my engagement bell for someone more deserving.”
His words hurt, like he took his dagger, Digga, and was stabbing my heart with it repeatedly. Ducking from another wave of power, I close in the space between us, still humming my death song. All the bells on my body jingle to the beat, including the bell he gifted me as I weave a web of deceit around him. He does the same, both of us composing a trap within a trap, weaving through each other's lines, changing the lyrics as we go. My feet drag against the ground as I move and flip, carving sigils in the dirt, but he leaps over each one, knowing exactly what I’m doing. Despite me hiding my abilities, he knows my fighting style well.
We’re both a blur of limbs, both breathing hard as we expend a shit ton of magic. This truly is a fight to the death and even I do not know who the winner will be. We’re too much alike. Too evenly matched. More so since I’m keeping my ace hidden. In the background, Archer battles Berserker and you have to be deaf and blind to not know what the hell is going on. Soon, the others will be here, and I’d rather knock some sense into Quinn before they come and force my hand and I have to kill him. No matter his hurtful words or how hard he comes at me, I can't let this battle get that far. If Quinn dies, no matter who kills him, I’ll never recover from it.
It’s a struggle to hold back my hidden power. The stirring has turned to molten hot bubbles and like a volcano, it wants to erupt and spew out of me. I kick out and he grabs a hold of my foot, spinning us around in a circle before I’m being flung away. I try to control my momentum through the air, but I still land hard on the ground. He follows after me and I quickly roll right before his foot stomps me. When he strikes out again, I catch his foot and twist, sending him spinning down to the ground beside me.
Rolling on top of his body, I straddle him and hold his hands above his
head, pinning them down with all my strength. “If you wanted to fuck me before you die, you could have just said so,” he taunts, bucking under me. Despite him trying to kill me, I can feel his hardness, like he’s getting off on this battle. And he probably is. Blood and lust goes hand in hand.
Letting go with one hand, I slap him across the face. “Whatever is going on with you, snap out of it,” I growl, truly fed up now.
“There’s nothing to snap out of. I want you dead,” he shouts.
“No, you don’t,” I shout back.
This is fucking ridiculous. We sound like fucking toddlers. I want to scream, then tear my hair out and choke some sense into him. The thin hold I had on the power I’ve been trying so hard to hold back finally snaps and a purple-bluish light rushes out of my body into his. The threads I usually see attached to people glow with my magic and I notice his are pulled taut and moving on their own volition. The string attached to his arm is yanked, and his arm shoots out and grabs me by the throat in a bruising grip. As I watch the string being pulled, his hold on me increases, tightening around me until I’m fighting for air. This isn’t Quinn’s doing. Someone else is controlling him and I know just who.
Tears spring to my eyes. I try to gulp for air, but Quinn is so fucking strong. “Quinn… fight... fight this,” I try to gasp out, but my voice is garbled as he literally has a choke hold on my words. Black spots start to form in front of my eyes as I try to unravel the strings controlling him, but I’m battling against a pro when I’m nothing but a self-taught novice.
A dagger made of ice strikes Quinn’s hand and his grip loosen enough for me to rip myself from his hold and roll away, gasping for breath. With watery eyes, I see the others are here and I curse internally. Blondie’s Champion jumps on Quinn and I push myself between them, but not before he sends Quinn flying across the field with a powerful blast of magic.