46. The Dark Mother #2
“I wish for you and your freedom. There is nothing more I want than to get to know the man who exists beneath her crafted persona. The man whom I had the blessing of meeting last night.” Her lips met my nose before moving to the top line of my beard to traverse my neck.
Peppering kisses over my sensitive flesh and the reminder of Sorva’s hold, she whispered, “I want to see a better world with you in it, for there is no other man I wish to have by my side. My soul longs for you, Caspian Vayne, and no matter how much I tried to deny it, my mother was right. You are my Mizani.”
Mizani.
Ellira.
Elaros.
The sigils.
“Wait,” I rasped.
Rohen stopped immediately, leaning back as a light blush crawled across her cheeks. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep or make you—”
“Neither of those things, darling.” Trailing the pads of my fingers down the back of her neck and settling my hand over the raised flesh I’d left behind, I continued, “I just… I saw something.”
Her brows furrowed. “What? What did you see?”
“Sorva… She had new markings etched into her skin, ones I’ve never seen before.
” With a grunt, I pushed myself upright, positioning Rohen’s thighs over mine.
Meeting her enchanting emerald stare, I extended the words I hoped would lead us in the right direction.
An utterance that would help us gain a rapid footing in performing the summoning.
“I know for certain one of them was my father’s, and the other… I believe it belongs to Ellira.”
Leilani folded her arms over her chest. “Absolutely not.”
Tight curls billowing in the wind, she leaned against the main mast of Alastair’s ship.
In her presence, an unmistakable liveliness lingered.
It blanketed the deckhands, all of them working in tandem to keep the ship on course while we gathered for yet another discussion—a discussion that was off to an interesting start.
Loosening a breath, Alastair scratched at his facial hair. “Lani, I need you—”
“You are not going into that fucking palace without me!” she shouted, the conversations around us fading beneath her wrath. “You’ve done that to me twice now, and I refuse. Hand off the task to someone else, because I am not taking it.”
“I can,” Ignis responded from Parran’s right, the two positioned beside Kael and Syoran. “I’m comfortable with sailing and have no issue standing in for Alastair.”
My best friend’s brows furrowed. “You’re not part of the crew. My men will be reluctant to trust—”
“No, they won’t,” Leilani snapped, “because I will ensure they’re aware of the potentials.
For fuck’s sake, Rigel and Callahan can handle it.
” Her mocha gaze shifted to meet the periwinkle-skinned Fae, her shoulders dropping with calamity.
“Parran as well. I am fully confident in everyone on this ship, and just because you aren’t does not mean that you will confine me to it, Alastair Seridean. ”
A sharp whistle tore through the tension as Kael glanced between them. “She’s got you by the balls, Seridean.”
“Fuck off.”
“He’s not wrong,” I added, earning a sharpened glower from the man whom I’d sailed alongside for eight years before perception became convoluted.
Rohen sighed. “As much as I enjoy watching men ream each other’s asses, we only have one day left before we port in Serevalen.
Might I remind you all that Sorva will be waiting, and if we can’t get our shit together, then there is no hope in hosting the ritual in this supposed Vault of the First Stone. ”
“She’s right.” Syoran rested against the gunwale, elbows settled on its flat surface.
“We need to iron out the details of our plan and prepare for the worst. With that bitch’s rule over Serevalen, there is no denying she and her creatures will be on those docks as soon as we arrive.
And while I disagree with the suggestion of splitting up, I fear there is no other option. ”
“Caspian and I will hold them off,” Rohen stated without pause. “Ignis and Parran will remain on the Scarlet Tempest while Sapphira and Lorelie stay behind with Lionel and the Bloodmarked. Which means the rest of you—Syoran, Kael, Leilani, and Alastair—will raid the palace.”
“I will Voidstep you to the northern wing.” The utterance carried from the renowned healer, a quiet mysticism clinging to Parran’s tone. Their head swiveled toward Alastair as if in preparation, as they added, “And I will be fine doing so.”
Striations danced along Alastair’s jaw, his golden stare flaring. “Fine. You can teleport them, but I will stay behind with Ro and Cas to provide—”
Reiterating Leilani’s earlier comment, I barked, “Absolutely not.”
He spun toward me, brows furrowing. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“Because you have a beautiful woman”—I gestured to Leilani—“who is begging you to stay by her side, and that is exactly what you are going to do. I will not allow you to offer yourself up as a martyr, not when so much has already been taken from you.”
He bit his bottom lip, defeat lined with something else lacing his expression. Gratitude. “You are just as stubborn as I remember you.”
Feigning a bow, I offered him a familiar smirk. “Happy to avail you.”
“Maddening,” Alastair said, though the singular word contained a soft chuckle.
“I remind him plenty,” Rohen added as she stepped closer, her warmth cradling me as silence settled over us.
Allowing it to linger for only a handful of breaths, she spoke with ethereal grace, yet another reason I had fallen.
“Come tomorrow, we will uncover some of the secrets they’ve kept from us, and we will use them as the embers to spark the flames of our vengeance. ”