29. Elzora
29
ELZORA
“ H as anyone ever told you about the prophecy?” my dad asks, looking out of the window at the grounds of the property. I don’t know how much he can see, but he’s deliberately not looking my way.
I’m settled, far more balanced, after spending the last few hours in the mental health wing with Vex. Together, we worked our way through those who needed it, easing some of their pain.
I helped five people find their soulmates, and I mediated more than one conversation between the dead and the living to try and assist with the closure they both deserved.
Vex can’t do either of those things, but he can boost the environment and help their souls feel better. He’s got a natural energy that can help soothe without even trying.
“Elzora? The prophecy?” my dad repeats.
I immediately shake my head before freezing and looking at him with wide eyes. “My grandma… Margo, my, um…”
“She was your grandma in every essence of the word, my love, and I know that my parents and your mum’s would only care that you had someone be there when they could not,” he says softly. My dad turns to face me, giving me an almost sad smile. “What did she tell you about it?”
“Not much. She just told me that it existed and that because of it, when I was born, people hoped that Eirik and I would bond and unite the witches.”
He nods, striding across the room and comes to sit on the sofa next to me, taking my hands in his. “That’s true, in a way. This prophecy… this damn fucking prophecy has been the biggest bane of my life for as long as I can remember.”
“Why?”
“Well, for one, it was the cause of one of the worst fights of my mating.”
I gasp, and he squeezes my hands gently. There’s a smile on his face, and I know that he’s thinking of the past now, of a time when he had my mum and my other dad… when he wasn’t so alone in the world.
“The moment we found out Exsern was pregnant… that you were a girl, our fears came to light,” he says quietly. “We were terrified that you were the one the prophecy was referring to, that it was you who’d grow up with such a heavy burden on your shoulders, with so much danger and destruction in your future.”
“I don’t even know what the prophecy is, and I feel sick,” I whisper. He laughs, but there’s no humour in it.
“Who even tells these things?” I ask, resisting the urge to rub at my arms. The skin there feels like I’m repeatedly being jabbed with little pins, over and over, covering the entirety of me.
“Oracle witches, Elzora, just like you,” he says, and I frown.
“I get images, not… words. I see things. How does… how do they have it so different from me?”
He shrugs. “Every one utilises their magicae differently. Two plus two is four, just as is one plus three. Does it matter how they got there?”
“I mean… no.”
He smiles. “Can I share it with you? This is the type of thing that our magicae will know and understand, the language not one we can speak .”
I nod once, the knot in my tummy tightening, as my magicae perks up. It’s not even a second before I feel the rush of his magicae, and I hear the words in my mind.
For something so deadly, it’s almost a song, pretty and terrifying at the same time.
From hidden lands the Primordial Queen shall rise,
Her power blazing through darkened skies.
A bond awakens, soul entwined with grace,
As shadow’s dance through this dark place.
Through earth and flame, through time and air,
A dark poison spreads its snare.
Where loyalty breaks and trust grows dim,
Magicae falters at darkness’s whim.
Corrupted by time, hidden in plain sight,
Twisted power waits in endless night.
When the soul witch rises, truth shall show,
The royal bloodline’s ancient flow.
The world must unite against the shade,
As shadows spread through paths unmade.
Through water flowing, pure and slow,
The corruption feeds on discord’s flow.
Yet hope remains in power bound,
Queen and Prince by destiny crowned.
Their union forged through dark and light,
Shall bind all magicae against the night.
For only when all powers combine,
The battle of soul and time intertwine.
Can they withstand the shadow’s reign,
And bring to life the light again?
“You can see why we were scared?” he asks as a shiver wracks through me. I nod my head, my teeth chattering. He summons a blanket and wraps it around me, but it doesn’t help take this deadly cold away.
This fear goes bone deep, and it’s… horrible.
This prophecy talks of magicae being destroyed, of some dark threat that has been corrupted by time magicae, and it even sort of makes it seem like a soul witch could be responsible.
That’s not… that’s not me, right? Could it really be referring to Eirik and I with our bond when this talks about so much… terror?
“Your mum was firm that we don’t mess with fate,” my dad says, gently putting pressure on my hands, trying to help ground me in the moment. “But your dad and I… we were terrified that our little girl was going to be harmed, that there was something we couldn’t control, in her future.”
He lights the fire in the room in an effort to help with my shaking. But the thing that’s bringing me the most warmth is connecting to my dad—to my family.
“So, what happened?”
“We fought. A lot,” he says, shaking his head, his eyes crinkling like even their fights are something that he misses. “But it made no difference because, once again, your mum was right. Fate is going to occur, no matter what, and messing with her only makes things worse for us all.”
“My grandma told me that the only people who knew about me being a soul witch were her, my parents, and— oh .”
He gives me a grin. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t my grandma tell me of this?” I demand, staring at him. “Why couldn’t she tell me you didn’t kill them? That she was your nanny, too?”
My dad sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “This doesn’t paint me in a good light, but you deserve the truth.”
His soul darkens, and I see the fear creeping in. He’s scared, terrified, that this moment here is the one that will push me away from him. That this will be the final straw, and I’ll never want to speak to him again.
“Did you know that my men have killed people?” I murmur, bringing my knees up to my chest, trying to gather some warmth from the blankets. “That they’ve tortured, harmed, and brutalised people in my name?”
His lips purse, and he shakes his head. “This is different, Elzora.”
“I might’ve accepted that when I was a child,” I say as gently as I can. “But, I’m not a child, and I’m not ignorant to the way the world is. Whatever you’ve done, whatever you put in place to try and help , is not… it’s not something for me to judge you on.”
His blue eyes meet my own, a watery sheen covering them. “You’re so pure, Elzora, so passionate. But in this instance, my love, you’re wrong. Because this wasn’t done for you—not at first.
“Before your mum found out she was pregnant with you, I started founding what is now known as the rebels. Caedos, your other dad, wasn’t happy with what I was doing, and it caused a lot of tension between us all. It needed done, and I stand by it knowing what happened to them—but a small part of me will always wonder.”
I blink back tears, hearing from his mind what he wonders.
Every single day, he’s plagued with the fact that this is his fault.
Doubting whether the distance he put between himself and my dad at times is the reason they’re both gone.
Debating whether he was the cause of the attack in the first place.
Over and over, my dad has been plagued with the loss of his brother and his mate.
“At the time, we weren’t fighting with the government,” my dad says, and I tune back into the story, trying to distance myself from the pain in his soul. “Nobody liked Etonik, not really, but he was new and wasn’t causing too many problems. When I created my group, it was to infiltrate the High Order.”
I gasp. “As in… the Black Coats? The one that…”
“Yes,” he says, nodding. The smile on his face is grim, and I clutch the blanket closer to me as the room seems to darken. “Things were… suspicious amongst them. The tasks that were being carried out didn’t seem as if they were benefiting us so much as harming certain factions of our world. My goal was to use my new team to infiltrate the group and figure out what was going on.”
“And this annoyed my… Caedos?”
My dad smiles. “Yes. He thought I was betraying our government, betraying the institution. Hell, he was narcissistic enough to believe that I was betraying him . We couldn’t come to a compromise, neither of us willing to back down, and it was one of our biggest rows. We loved your mum, but we’re more than just Exsern’s mates—we were brothers, and we’re just as stubborn as each other.”
“Was what you were doing illegal?”
He avoids looking at me as he shrugs. “Are we concerned with legalities these days?”
I groan. “You’re such a dark witch.”
At this, he laughs. “Fair enough. Yes, it was illegal, yes, it was treason, and even worse than that—it was a betrayal to my brother and to the crown.”
“But?” I ask, raising a brow at the tone he’s using.
“But he doesn’t regret it,” a voice says, and I spin around, nearly falling as my dad grabs me to stop me tumbling off the sofa. His shadows immediately surround the room, checking for signs of life, checking for what could have startled me so.
But he won’t find anything. Perks of not seeing the dead.
A man is standing tall in the centre of the room with blonde hair the same shade as mine and my dad’s and eyes that are identical. They’re wide, expressive, and full of delight.
He’s the same height as my dad, but a little leaner, and far… lighter, in a way. I know who this man is. My magicae recognises him, even though he’s dead, and my breath catches in my throat as he beams at me.
“Caedos,” I whisper. My dad freezes, gripping my shoulders tightly, but I can’t look away from the King of the Primordials. “You’re him, right?”
Caedos nods once before glancing at his brother. “Your dad is right, Elzora. What he did was illegal and a betrayal. It was something we couldn’t ever agree upon whilst I was alive.”
“What is he saying?” my dad demands, his voice trembling. “Can you make him corporeal so we can talk to each other?”
“How do I do that?” I ask, not looking away from Caedos, despite my words being meant for my dad.
“Now isn’t the time for that kind of reunion, little light,” Caedos says, stepping towards me. “I need you to pass on a message to your dad for me, okay?”
“Um, I… I can,” I mumble, my cheeks heating up as Caedos smiles. He called me little light . He’s radiating pride, and joy, and love .
I sniffle, and my dad tugs me closer, the warmth of his body still not enough to take away the chill.
“I’m sorry, Elzora. I promise you, the next time I get to see you, my brother and I will be able to talk properly,” he says. “But, for now, you need to warn Anomus, okay? You need to tell him to go back to that night.”
I don’t know how my body can chill even further, but it does. My veins feel like ice, my limbs numb, as I stare at my dad. “To that night.”
Caedos nods. “Margo told him, but, of course, my brother doesn’t have the brain cells to understand such a life-saving message.”
“Don’t insult him,” I say.
My dad snarls. “What’s he saying?”
“Um, that you don’t have the brain cells to understand a life-saving message.” I grimace, meeting his eyes, expecting to see anger.
Instead, I see warmth. My dad grins and looks to where he thinks his brother is standing. “You’re a dick, you know that?”
Caedos snorts. “And you’re an arrogant know-it-all.” He winks at me. “Tell him I said that he was right.”
“He says you’re a know-it-all,” I say, looking between the two very similar men. “And that you were right.”
“As per usual,” my dad mutters. With an eye roll, he looks at the same spot where Caedos is not standing. “What are you doing here, then? What’s your message?”
“That you need to go back to that night,” I say before Caedos can. “My grandma said that to you, too, but you didn’t understand.”
“No, but your dad is right, even if he’s a prick for saying it,” my dad says, rolling his eyes again. “From Margo, it made no sense, but from my brother? It could only be one of two nights that it refers to.”
“So, he needs to go back to that night and do what?” I demand.
“He’ll know what to do when he sees it, little light,” Caedos says instead. “We’re proud of you, you know? Your mum and I.”
I grimace, not able to acknowledge the feelings that are racing through me. “You’re not telling us much.”
“I wish I could, Elzora. It’s a father’s duty to protect his child, and I hate that this world took me from you before I could do that,” he says, moving towards me. He takes my hand in his, and I move back into my other dad’s touch as my anxiety builds.
My magicae is swirling restlessly, my heart thudding dramatically. This isn’t something I was prepared for, and I hate that I’m doing a terrible job at acting as the intermediary between two brothers— between my two dads .
Should I be asking questions? It’s selfish, but the ones I want answers to… are the ones that aren’t even that important.
“It’s not your fault,” I say softly, wanting to erase the pained look on his face.
He shakes his head, his lips tilting up. “You have your mother’s heart, little light. Luckily for me, your men take after your dad. If I could tell you everything you needed to know, I would—I’d pay whatever price it demanded of me. But, alas, the powerful magicae of the otherworld doesn’t allow for that.”
I frown at him. “Sounds a bit stupid to then allow me to talk to you in the first place if you can’t do anything to help.”
Both he and my dad laugh. Caedos looks at his brother with such a forlorn expression, and it’s like I can feel his pain echoing through me as he does. There’s so much pain, so much longing… and so much guilt.
“Can I be selfish of you, daughter?” Caedos asks so softly. I flinch but nod my head warily. “Can you tell him it wasn’t his fault? That she doesn’t blame him—neither of us do.”
“He doesn’t blame you,” I say quietly as I turn to look up at my dad. His hand tightens on my shoulder. “Neither of them do.”
“It means he gets to be here for you in a way we cannot.”
“It means,” I start, sniffling a little at the pain I feel from both men, “that you get to be here with me when they can’t.”
My dad sits, pulling me into his side, before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Nothing would stop me from being here, Elzora. You’re okay, my love, everything is going to be okay.”
“I’m not—I’m not going to blow, don’t worry. It’s just that I can feel your pain,” I say, wiping my eyes as I look to Caedos. “Both of your pain.”
My other father comes closer, crouching down in front of me. He tries to wipe my tears, but he can’t. His touch is soft, otherworldly, but it’s not really there either.
“This world is not kind to people like you, little light. They don’t understand the brilliance you are, the brilliance you’ll deliver. But trust me—one day soon, they’ll be bowing before you, thanking you for their life, for their magicae, for this world .”
“I’m really the one in the prophecy?” I ask tentatively.
Both men nod, and I sigh, resting back into my dad. He’s rigid, still mulling over what Caedos said, and I know that it’s going to plague him for days.
“So what’s our next step?” I demand, looking between them both. Neither answers me immediately, the same contemplative look on their faces, and I sigh, rising to my feet. I walk around Caedos and move over to the window that my dad was looking out of earlier on.
I can’t see much out there, but I do feel a few of my mates. Vexus, Zohar, Jasper, and Ryes are together. Hm, I was intrigued this morning when they were together, but knowing that Vexus has now joined them has me a little concerned.
Especially after the lotus flower drama this week.
“What’s wrong?” my living dad asks, and I turn to face him. He gestures to the window, raising a brow at me. “Out there?”
“Nothing,” I say, trying to be reassuring because the pair of them are extremely on edge, and I don’t want to add to it when there’s nothing truly important happening.
But, of course, they both raise an eyebrow, an identical look of demanding on their faces, and I groan.
“How am I being parented beyond the grave ?” I ask, and Caedos chuckles. “I was just surprised at the combination of my men outside. Ryes, Vexus, Jasper, and Zohar. The two most… unbalanced with two who are quite easily led astray. It’s just a bit suspicious, that’s all.”
Caedos frowns, but my dad grins at me.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” my dad says. “Vex is a good boy.”
“Arrogant,” Caedos says with an eye roll. There’s a grin on his face, though.
“He thinks so, too,” I say as my dad sighs. “I think he’s pretty perfect.”
“I do not like missing half of the conversation,” my dad says, and I shrug, not really able to do much about it. “You asked the plan, lux animula mea, and it’s quite simple. We’re going to do what your dad said and go back to that night.”
“What night?” I ask, looking between the two of them. I hear the whine in my voice, and I’m aware of how ridiculous I sound, but I’m so drained with never getting the answers.
I’m anxious, and tired, and emotionally wrung out, and it seems every single day, every single conversation, twists the truth as we know it and introduces a brand new struggle we weren’t even aware of.
“Your dad isn’t going to be able to tell us exactly,” my dad says, somehow understanding the rules of the otherworld without needing to be told. “But there’s two nights that completely changed my life. The first was the night that my entire family died. There was an accident, a terrible one, that wiped out everyone except Caedos and I. The second night, well, it could only be the night that you were born.”
I gasp. “My grandma said that there was an anomaly the day I was born.”
Caedos and my dad both nod, but neither elaborates.
“It’s a starting point,” I say softly, my words carrying through the room. “But it doesn’t feel like enough .”
“You’re impatient, little light,” Caedos says, rising from where he was crouched. “It’s another trait you get from your mum. But— oh, for fuck’s sake. ”
He disappears in a beam of gold light, and I look up at my dad sadly. “He’s gone.”
“I’m sorry, Elzora.” He rises from the sofa and comes to stand by my side. “We’re making progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it. We’ve got a lot of problems on so many fronts, but we’re working through each of them together.”
“Being together is great,” I whisper. “But it’s terrifying at the same time knowing that we might lose everyone all at once.”
He presses a kiss to the top of my head, wrapping his arms around me, and I burst into tears, the fear and the panic overwhelming me. My dad doesn’t complain, he doesn’t judge, he just hugs me.
“Hey, so, this… oh,” Vexus says, and I flinch, my tears drying up pretty quickly.
“What have I told you about soul travelling into my room?” my dad says with a groan. He wipes my eyes and gives me a smile. “You okay?”
“How could she not be when I can work my magicae on her?” Vexus asks, wiggling his fingers at the same time that I feel the comforting balm of him soothing away the pain in my soul.
“Don’t ever use those words when referring to my daughter in my company ever again,” my dad says sternly. I giggle, and some of my dad’s displeasure goes away.
“Wait,” I say, sobering up. “Soul travelling? Is that how you move through places without using portals? It’s been driving me crazy not knowing!”
Vexus nods. “It’s like how Ciar uses the shadows, and Etrix uses the light. We just use the souls of people we’re familiar with.”
“Wow,” I say with wide eyes as I think about it. I wonder if that’s what happened earlier? “And we can all do this?”
“You’re forgetting, little love, that there’s only us left,” he says with a shrug. “So, I have no idea. It’s written about, but I don’t know if it’s one of those traits that everyone has or if it’s just one the special people can do.”
“The two of you can play around with it later,” my dad says. “Why are you here, Vexus?”
“I used to be your favourite. You loved spending time with me.”
My dad grins, a dark look on his face. “Trust me, Vex, you were always a means to an end.”
Vexus groans, and the two men laugh, but I narrow my eyes, not sure of the joke or if it really was one.
“Can you do me a favour and get Zohar for me, Elzora?” my dad asks.
“Why do you need the water witch?” Vexus asks, sitting down in my dad’s chair, kicking his feet onto the desk.
“I need to go through my memories, and dreamscaping is the best way to do it.”
“Um, Zohar can’t do that,” I say tentatively. “Ryes can, and I can.”
“You can?” he asks, and I nod. “Wow. You can’t, Vex.”
“Yes, yes, Zoe’s so special, and I’m just mediocre,” my soul witch anima nexum says, waving him off. “Before you, little love, I was revered . Now I’m barely worth anything.”
Vex winks at me, showing he was only kidding. “Anyways, I dropped in because I wanted to let you know that I was heading over to Necos’s place with the group of them.”
My dad and I exchange a look, but he’s the one to ask. “To do what, exactly?”
“Top secret work.” He smirks when I let out a huff. “Jasper’s asked for some assistance on his plant project, and since you’re busy, I’m going to go give him a hand.”
“Fair enough,” I say slowly. I look up at my dad. “Maybe we should get a time then to work through whatever da… they’re trying to tell us.”
“You can call him dad, Elzora,” my dad says softly. “You can call me that, too, without getting so nervous. Everything is at your pace and your speed—but just know, I can’t wait to hear it.”
Vexus wisely disappears, and I hang my head, letting my hair shield my face as I admit, “I spent most of my life thinking my parents never wanted me, that I wasn’t good enough for them… I’m scared that by admitting it to you… by admitting to the world, to fate, that you did love me and that you do want me… that I’ll do something to take it away for real this time.”
My dad’s shoes appear in my vision, and my tears drip onto the black leather. “Nothing you could do would turn me away from you, daughter.”
I sniffle, looking up at him. “Unconditional love is something I’ve had the luxury of having with my grandma, and… my mates. But it’s something new that I’ll need to know that I’m worthy of from you.”
“I’ll spend every single day making sure you learn it, Elzora. Every. Single. Day.”
“Thank you… dad .”