Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
KAIROTH
I t happened again. I was in a dream, and I couldn’t wake myself up. I wasn’t used to not being in control, and I didn’t like it.
“Hello again,” said that melodic low voice that had enchanted me in my last dream.
I shot up in bed and stared at the woman standing at the end, her black hair full and as wild as last time, her eyes glinting with a challenge. Her gaze dropped down to my bare chest, barely visible through the swarm of shadows, but it lingered there as if she could see straight through them. Her eyes snapped up.
I smirked, then got out of bed and grabbed a black shirt off a hook that I shrugged on, though I didn’t bother buttoning it up. “You won’t be manipulating me this time,” I said to the woman. “Did you not learn your lesson last time? I took your companions’ shadows as punishment for that little stunt.”
“I’m not here to manipulate you.”
I peered at her. This curious woman. She had powers, strength, that she shouldn’t possess. She had a familiarity to her that bothered me, that nagged at something in my mind, but I couldn’t quite grasp onto it. The answer was there, somewhere in my memories. I just hadn’t found it yet. But I would. And when I did, then I would figure out who she was and if she was a threat to my plans.
If so, then the solution would be simple.
“Why didn’t you take my shadow?” she asked. “You took my friends’ shadows. Why not mine?”
“That’s not for you to know.” The truth was I wasn’t entirely sure why I spared her. Maybe a part of me wanted her to visit my dreams again. Maybe a part of me thought if she kept visiting my dreams, using her powerful magic, I could figure her out more quickly. I took a few steps forward. “And if you’re not here to manipulate me again, then why are you in my dreams?”
She raised her chin, no fear flashing across her face. In the Era of the Gods, the mortals feared me, cowered before me. But she was not like them. In fact, I could’ve sworn I saw something like defiance flash in her eyes.
“Why are you letting us stay in your castle?” she asked, then gestured out the window. “What are you planning to do with us?”
“That depends on what I find out,” I said truthfully.
She narrowed her gaze and pursed her lips. “Find out about what?”
“You entered my dreams.” My shadows reached out toward her, slithered up her arms. She didn’t move an inch. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
She rolled her eyes, muttering under breath. “Maybe the elementals of this world are more powerful than those from your era.”
I’d hoped this would be more straightforward. That I’d be able to ask her a question and she’d answer it truthfully.
But I knew she was lying right now. It wasn’t that simple.
I may have been trapped for over a thousand years, may have been holed up in the castle for the last sixty, but I’d had access to the library, to hundreds and hundreds of books that taught me all about these elementals. I knew their capabilities, and those of the star court did not have power to rival a god. She shouldn’t be able to manipulate my mind like this.
It was clear she wouldn’t tell me the truth. Maybe she didn’t know the truth. But I had to understand where she’d gotten this power, if there were others like her out there. If there were, it could change everything.
I could torture her.
Screams of terror echoed in my mind. No. I was not that god anymore.
I could coax the truth from her. I could spend time with her, get her to open up. It was not a technique I’d ever tried before. Everyone was always so scared of me that I’d never been able to talk to anyone. Except for one person. But I didn’t know where he was. If he even still lived. Maybe part of me wanted to talk to her. To get to know her. To have someone to talk to after centuries of feeling so very alone.
“What is your name?” I asked finally.
Her jaw locked. “Bellamy.”
I tipped my head. “You can call me Kairoth.”
She sucked in a small breath, and it gave me pleasure to know that my name still had some power, even if it was long forgotten by mortals.
“Now that we got that settled, I’d like to go back to sleep?—”
“I need access to your garden,” she interrupted.
The garden again. That was where I’d first discovered her, crouching among the weeds. “Why?” I asked.
She opened her mouth, and I cut her off.
“I can tell if you’re lying.”
“By using your magic?” she bit out.
“By using my intuition,” I said, raising a brow. “You forget I’m thousands of years old. I have experience with liars. So I’ll ask my question again, and I want you to think very carefully before answering.”
She glared at me, and my lips twitched. Such fire in this one. I wasn’t used to mortals fighting back, wasn’t used to them being so bold. Even if those in the past had her kind of power, they wouldn’t dare use it against one of their gods.
She clamped her mouth shut, refusing to reveal anything. Secrets. So many secrets, and I wanted to know them. She would reveal them in time. I just needed to be patient. I’d taken her friends’ shadows. They wouldn’t be able to leave without them, which meant she wouldn’t leave either. She was stuck here, and that gave me the perfect opportunity to figure out who she was and why she seemed so familiar to me.
“You can take the briar while you’re here. There are rules, though.”
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“If you want to stay here.” I took a step forward. “There are rules.”
She crossed her arms but didn’t argue. So she wanted the briar badly. Bad enough to not argue. Once again, my lips twitched.
“You do not go into the east wing of the castle.”
“Why?” she asked.
“You do not ask my staff about me,” I forged on, ignoring her question. If she could have her secrets, then I could have mine.
She pursed her lips.
“You do not try to escape. You are here as my guest as long as you follow the rules. Break them and there will be consequences. Remember, I have your friends’ shadows. I can take yours, too, if you can’t follow my rules.”
She thought a minute, then stretched out a hand. I studied her long pale fingers, not a scar on them.
“I’m not going to use my magic on you,” she said. “It’s just a handshake to say that we have a deal.”
“I don’t deal with mortals,” I said drily. “I set the terms, and you either accept or you don’t. You do not have any leverage in this situation.”
She rolled her eyes and began drawing her hand back when I shot my own out, grasping hers. Without the fog of her power, I could focus on the touch, on the heat of her skin, on how soft it was. We stayed like that for a minute, hands clasped, then she yanked hers free.
“Good night, Kairoth.”
She turned, her figure beginning to disappear, the room around us fading into darkness.