Chapter 25 Rumi
RUMI
Several days after the student council elections, Ambrose finds me in the hallway outside the training rooms. "We found him."
His words stop me mid-stride. I turn slowly, my power already reaching out to confirm what he's saying, to make sure this isn't a cruel joke or a trick of my desperate imagination.
His certainty washes over me, mixed with nervous excitement. He's been working on this for weeks, burning through contracts and prices I don't want to think about, all because I mentioned once that I'd spent my whole life wondering about my father.
"Found who?" I ask, even though I already know. Have been hoping for so long that hope itself has become a kind of prayer.
"Your father. Dante." Ambrose pulls out a document covered in his distinctive contract markings, green ink that seems to shimmer with contained power.
"He's at a sanctuary in the northern mountains.
Has been for nearly a century, hiding from Dmitri under protections that kept him off everyone's radar. But my contracts found him."
My wings manifest involuntarily, spreading wide enough to touch both walls of the corridor.
Power explodes outward in pure joy before I can control it, making the air shimmer with golden light that reflects off the stone walls and floor.
Somewhere in the depths of my power, the black threads that have been growing stronger lately pulse, but even they seem muted by the sheer force of my emotions.
"He's alive. He's really alive."
"He's alive," Ambrose confirms, and satisfaction radiates from him at giving me this gift.
The cost was worth it to him. Whatever price he paid for this information, he considers it well spent.
"And according to my sources, he's been watching you from a distance.
Knew you were at Grimrose, knew you manifested your full power, knew you found your mates. He's proud of you, Rumi."
The emotions hit me all at once. Relief that my father didn't abandon me by choice.
Anger that he stayed away so long, that I grew up alone and confused and terrified of my own power.
Joy that I'll finally get answers about my mother and my demigod heritage.
Fear that our reunion won't live up to hundred years of imagining it, that he'll be disappointed in who I've become.
The emotional surge is too powerful to contain, bleeding through our connections like light through cracks in a door. Within minutes, all five of my mates have found me in the hallway, appearing from various parts of the sanctuary with varying levels of alarm.
Stellan gets to me first, pulling me into a hug, his warmth a shield.
Jade is right behind him, demon form partially manifested, purple eyes scanning for threats before he realizes I'm not in danger.
Skye arrives with power already surging, ready to defend me from whatever caused such an emotional explosion.
And Harlow phases through the wall itself, his death-sight flickering as he reads the futures branching from this moment.
"What happened?" Skye demands, his hands cupping my face, searching my expression for clues. "Rumi, we felt you. Are you okay?"
"Ambrose found my father." The words tumble out, shaky and overwhelmed. "He's alive. He's been hiding in the northern mountains for nearly a century, and I want to see him."
Understanding dawns across their faces. Their reactions shift from alarm to joy on my behalf, love surrounding me.
"When do we leave?" Stellan asks, because of course he assumes we're all going. That's what mates do. They don't let each other face difficult things alone.
"Tomorrow at dawn," Ambrose says. He looks tired, the cost of his contracts visible in the deepened lines around his eyes, but his satisfaction at finding Dante outweighs whatever price he paid.
"The sanctuary isn't as far as the old maps suggest. My contracts can speed our travel.
We can be there by tomorrow night if we leave early. "
"Wait." I process that, my understanding finally catching up to the implications. "You've been in contact with him? You've talked to my father?"
Ambrose has the grace to look slightly embarrassed, a flush creeping across his pale features.
"I reached out through contracts after I located him.
I wanted to make sure he actually wanted to see you before I got your hopes up.
I've seen too many reunions go badly because one party was more invested than the other.
" He pauses, his green eyes soft with emotion.
"He does want to see you, Rumi. He wants it so badly he's been crying through most of our correspondence. "
A wall cracks open inside me, a defense I didn't know I'd built against the abandonment I thought I'd experienced. My father, who I've spent nearly a century thinking didn't care, thinking left me to face my terrifying powers alone, has been crying because he wants to see me.
"I need to sit down," I manage, and Harlow immediately guides me to a bench against the corridor wall.
My legs won't quite hold my weight anymore, my divine balance thrown completely off by the sheer emotional overload.
The black threads in my essence writhe with agitation, responding to my turmoil in ways I still don't fully understand.
Skye kneels in front of me, his power steadying me. "This is good news, Rumi. This is what you've been hoping for since you first learned about your heritage."
"I know." My voice sounds distant even to my own ears, like someone else is speaking through my mouth. "I know it's good. So why am I terrified?"
"Because it's real now," Jade says, his demon understanding of complex emotions surprisingly insightful.
He crouches beside Skye, his tail curling around my ankle in a gesture of comfort.
"When it was just a dream, you could imagine it going perfectly.
The reunion you deserved, the answers you needed, the father who would explain everything.
Now that it's actually happening, you have to face the reality that it might not live up to your expectations. "
Jade has a point. I've imagined meeting my father a thousand times, lying awake at night practicing what I'd say, how I'd react, what questions I'd ask first. But none of those fantasies accounted for the messy reality of two decades of separation.
The questions that won't have satisfying answers.
The hurt that can't be magically healed just because we're finally in the same room.
"What if he doesn't like who I've become?
" I whisper, voicing the fear that's been lurking beneath all the others.
The black threads pulse stronger at the admission, feeding on my uncertainty.
"What if he wanted me to be something different, someone better?
What if he looks at me and sees chaos instead of balance? "
"Then he's an idiot," Stellan says firmly, his fire flaring with protective fury. "You're incredible, Rumi. You're powerful and kind and brave. Anyone who can't see that, anyone who looks at you and sees anything less than amazing, isn't worth your time. Father or not."
My other mates echo fierce agreement. These five Magila who've become my family, who've shown me I'm not the chaos I feared but the balance I hoped for, who've loved me exactly as I am with all my divine complications and dark threads and uncertain heritage.
They're what matters. They're what's real.
But I still want to meet my father. Still need those answers about my mother, about my demigod nature, about why he stayed away even though Dmitri's contract only prohibited him from directly interfering in my life. There has to be more to the story. There has to be a reason that makes sense.
"Tomorrow at dawn," I say, pulling myself together with effort. My power settles back into something resembling balance, though the black threads are slower to calm. My wings fold against my back. "We leave tomorrow. All six of us."
"Actually," Ambrose says carefully, his tone suggesting he's been thinking about this, "I was thinking maybe just three of us should go.
Leave Skye, Stellan, and Jade here to protect Phoenix Sanctuary while we're gone.
The Council observers could arrive any day, and Dmitri's followers might see our absence as an opportunity to attack again.
We can't leave the sanctuary undefended. "
Mixed reactions flood into me, concern, possessiveness, confusion, and the desire to keep us altogether.
But underneath those instinctive reactions, understanding too.
Ambrose is right. Phoenix Sanctuary is still vulnerable, and we can't all leave at once.
Not with Dmitri still out there planning his next move.
"Harlow and Ambrose with me," I decide, thinking through the logic.
"Harlow because his death-sight will help us navigate dangers during travel, and because his Champion nature might be useful if we run into Dmitri's followers.
Ambrose because we'll need his contracts for communication and protection.
The rest of you stay here and keep the sanctuary protected. "
The separation is going to be awful. I can already feel the pull, the physical discomfort that comes from being away from my mates for any length of time. We've been together constantly since bonding, our essences intertwined so deeply that being apart will feel like missing a limb.
But it's necessary. Some things are more important than comfort.
"How long will you be gone?" Skye asks, his hand finding mine and squeezing tight. His power flows through the contact, a reminder of the connection that will persist even across distance.
"Two days, maybe three," Ambrose estimates. "There and back, with time for Rumi to get his answers. We won't linger."
Two days feels manageable. Three at most. I can handle that.
"Okay," Skye says, even though I can sense how much he hates this plan.
He's swallowing his own needs for my sake, putting my desire to find my father above his instinct to keep us all together.
"But you check in through Ambrose's contracts every few hours.
And if there's trouble, any trouble at all, you come straight back. "
"I promise," I say, pulling him into a hug that tries to communicate everything I'm feeling. Love. Gratitude. Determination. He receives all of it, accepting it, loving me anyway.
"Whatever you find out," Jade adds, his demon voice carrying an edge of threat directed at the universe rather than at me, "whatever your father tells you, it doesn't change who you are to us. You're our mate. Our balance. Our Rumi. Nothing he says can take that away."
Tears prick at my eyes. I send a wave of love to each of them individually. Five responses come back, each one unique, each one exactly what I need.
The rest of the day passes in a blur of preparation.
Ambrose writes travel contracts until his hands cramp, building protections and communication links.
Skye coordinates with Tamara on maintaining sanctuary operations in our absence.
Stellan and Jade practice defensive formations with the students.
And I spend every spare moment with my mates, soaking up their presence before we separate. Memorizing the feel of each connection, so I can hold onto it during the days apart.
That night, all six of us pile into our shared bed. No one sleeps much. Stellan's fire keeps reaching for me, as if trying to anchor me in place. Jade's hunger wraps around all of us possessively. Skye's power hums with protective worry.
"I'm going to miss you," Stellan whispers into the darkness, his body pressed against mine.
"I'm going to miss you too," I reply, wrapping my wings around as many of my mates as I can reach. "All of you. Every minute we're apart."
"But you need to do this," Skye says softly. It's not a question.
"I need to do this," I confirm. "Need to meet him, get those answers, understand where I come from. Understand why these black threads keep growing in my essence."
Jade's hand finds mine in the darkness, squeezing tight. "Come back to us. That's all that matters."
Morning comes too quickly. Harlow, Ambrose, and I stand at the sanctuary gates with travel packs and enough contracts to keep us safe. The sun is barely up, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold. My three other mates are there to see us off, and the goodbyes are harder than I expected.
Stellan hugs me so tight I can barely breathe, his fire clinging to my divine balance. "Promise you'll come back."
"I promise," I whisper.
Jade wraps around all three of us who are leaving, demon tail possessive. Skye just holds my hand, his power flowing through the contact like a lifeline.
"Two days," he reminds me. "And you check in constantly. I love you, Rumi."
"I love you too. All of you." I look at each of my mates who are staying behind, memorizing their faces. "Keep each other safe. Keep the sanctuary safe. And I'll be back before you know it."
Then we're walking away, Harlow on one side and Ambrose on the other, heading toward the gates and the mountain path beyond. With each step, the distance stretches between me and the mates I'm leaving behind. It hurts like physical pain.
But I keep walking anyway.
Because some things are worth the discomfort. Some answers are worth any price.
Finding my father is one of them.