Chapter 35 Instability
INSTABILITY
EZRA
When Cyn threw the front door open, I glanced up from my lunch, bracing for another tirade about wanting to go home and hating the noise and smells on Earth.
He looked around the room. “Where’s Zeke?”
I swallowed the food in my mouth, mindful of Ash’s displeasure. “Sitting in the lounge chair outside the back door.”
“He said the weather was too nice to stay stuck inside all day,” Ash said, turning off the TV.
Cyn stalked to the back door and flung it open. “Get in here.” He crossed to the end of the counter as Ash sat down.
When Zeke came inside, he gave Cyn a wary look. “Something wrong?” He took a seat between Ash and me.
“Everything.”
Ash propped his arm on the counter. “What happened? Is Rae okay?”
“She’s not home yet?”
“No,” Ash said, his brows furrowing. “Weren’t you supposed to follow her?”
I’d asked Cyn to follow Raelynn to work today to make sure nothing happened like in the parking garage. We couldn’t afford to lose her when we still needed her.
Raelynn? When had I started naming her? Personalizing a threat was dangerous, yet here I was crossing that line—again.
“I did. But I had to take care of something before I left the mall.”
I pushed my bowl aside and leveled him with a look. “That would be?”
His gaze slid away.
“Cyntrix.”
“Her boss, okay?”
I waited for him to continue. He knew better than to provide me with vague answers. I needed all the facts to assess the situation.
“He may have broken his arm.”
The corner of Ash’s mouth twitched. “You mean you might have broken it?”
Cyn glared at him. “Piece of shit deserved it and a lot more.”
“What happened?”
“The slimy fucker put his hands on her.”
Ash stood. “What?”
“He’s got a hard-on for her or something, and she isn’t interested. When she tried to get away from him, he grabbed her. Figured after that, he didn’t need that arm for a while.” Cyn shrugged. “You’re lucky that’s all I did.”
I folded my arms across my chest, studying Cyn.
He never inserted himself into others’ affairs, yet now he’d gone out of his way for someone beyond the three of us. For a human that he claimed to despise, his actions betrayed the truth.
“We can’t harm humans,” Zeke said, looking at Cyn with worry tightening his features. “What if Cornaith finds out?”
“Fuck him. We’re stuck here, and he hasn’t made contact yet. I doubt he knows what we’re doing.”
Ash sat again, his shoulders relaxing—no longer poised to go seek justice himself. “I suspect he doesn’t know where we are. He wouldn’t let us be gone this long without his approval.”
“Likely not,” I said.
Father wouldn’t leave us to our own devices for this long. He craved control more than I did, molding us—the heirs apparent—into his perfect puppets before he ever relinquished his throne. He’d never release his chokehold on Elyrdin.
“So where is she?” Zeke asked, bringing us back on topic, much to my surprise.
He often sidetracked us with his many tangents—not that any of us minded.
From a special child to an extraordinary adult, Zeke entertained me with his perspective on the world and the facts he absorbed from books and the computer. He immersed himself in more human knowledge than even I possessed, combing through their endless archives.
“I saw her board the bus before I went to her boss, so she’s probably on her way.”
Ash scratched his beard. “How did you get home before her, then?”
“Uber.”
“Did anyone see you with her boss?” I pushed the rest of my lunch toward Zeke, who hadn’t looked away from the food since sitting down.
“No. Made sure to catch him when he went to his car. No one nearby.” Cyn tapped his tongue piercing against his teeth, leaning on the counter, restless even after dealing with her boss.
“You still put yourself at risk,” Ash said. “If he reports you…”
“How’s he going to report me? He didn’t get a chance to see who I was.”
“How?” Zeke asked, stuffing a bite of chicken and rice into his mouth.
“Like this…” Cyn pushed off the counter and pulled the hood up on his black hoodie, tightening the strings until the fabric covered his mouth, leaving only his bright amber eyes and nose visible.
With his scowl and dark clothes, he looked more like a street punk than Shyrlivi royalty capable of incinerating a human.
He pushed his hood back, shaking out his messy hair and shoving it from his face. “He thought I was going to rob him, so I took the money from his wallet. Used it to tip the Uber driver.”
Ash tapped the counter. “What about security cameras?”
He shrugged. “Doubt they saw me. I pulled my hood up before entering the bookstore, but I covered my face when I went to the parking lot.”
His agitation when he returned hinted at a deeper issue than her boss’ harassment.
I knew Raelynn had gotten under his skin. That he harmed a human for her proved that much. Even without that proof, I knew what had happened between them the other night.
Whatever spell brought us all together made it possible to scent her the way we should only scent a Nyrith mate.
The evidence was irrefutable. When he came downstairs, his face was a mask of tragedy and confusion. He reeked of sex and her unique fruity-floral blend, edged with a savory tartness.
The overpowering scent triggered an intense and immediate reaction I couldn’t control, driving me to the bathroom to alleviate the ache.
I refused to be tempted into something neither she nor I wanted.
I focused on him again. “What else happened?”
His brows lowered as tension returned to his body. “She went to the bookstore where she got that book and blabbed everything to the woman working there.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, she told the woman about infernals, but she didn’t reveal who we are.” The muscles in his jaw worked when he ground his teeth. “What bothered me most was realizing the woman knew exactly what Raelynn was talking about.”
I paused at that. “Did you get a good look at the woman?”
“No, I couldn’t. Not without Raelynn seeing me.”
Ash sat forward. “She didn’t think Rae was crazy?”
“Not in the slightest. She kept going on about Raelynn’s ‘soul’s need’ and ‘heart’s call.’ Said the book came from the same place where those things came from. Raelynn didn’t get it either, but the woman knew of our kind.”
Zeke swallowed another bite of food. “What?”
“Fuck if I know.” He scratched his head, fluffing his hair. “The woman claims Raelynn asked for us—but she didn’t even know she did?” His glare sharpened, frustration evident. “We’re her soul’s need and heart’s call. What the fuck does that even mean?”
“I don’t know,” Ash said, fist tightening on the counter. “Did the woman say anything else?”
“Like I said before, something about the book coming from the same place we did—if we’re the soul-and-heart nonsense.”
“I figured as much,” I said. “Our reign’s symbol wouldn’t be on the cover without some ties to our home.”
“She also said we’re meant to be here, and Raelynn wouldn’t have met us without the book’s interference.”
Zeke pushed the empty bowl away. “But why? Why are we here? Why does Raelynn need us?”
“She doesn’t need us,” Cyn said, irritation sharpening his tone, though he tried to mask it for Zeke’s sake. “Even Raelynn didn’t believe it. But the woman did give her a warning that made no sense whatsoever.”
“That is?”
He looked at me. “‘Beware the one who rules the ruby circle,’ or some shit like that.”
With restless energy, Zeke tapped on the counter. “What’s the ruby circle?”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Ash said.
I crossed my arms on the counter, parsing the information Cyn had pulled from the bookstore owner.
How she knew anything about us or our kind made me suspicious.
No earthly being should know of our existence.
Visiting the bookstore might prove problematic if whoever manipulated this situation also controlled the owner’s mind.
Worse, if the owner was the one pulling the strings.
If we approached her, what could that mean for Raelynn or our ability to return home?
I couldn’t risk destroying our ticket to go home.
I stood, collecting Zeke’s empty bowl. “At least this confirms the book’s Elyrdin origin and use of infernal magic, like we suspected. What we need to figure out now is how Raelynn manipulated it to bring us here without even realizing.”
“About that…”
After putting the bowl in the dishwasher, I straightened, eyeing Ash. “Yes?”
“Rae has a Zhyfri crystal.”
“She what?” Cyn shouted, and Zeke asked at the same time, “What? How?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t able to ask her because she was asleep.” He sighed. “It’s the pendant on the black cord around her neck. She keeps it tucked under her shirt, so I never noticed it before.”
“And you’re certain it’s a Zhyfri crystal and not a random black stone?”
“Positive.” Ash frowned. “It reacted to my touch,” he added in a whisper.
I flexed my fingers and tucked my hand into my pocket. “Why didn’t you say something when you discovered the crystal in her possession?”
“I was kind of preoccupied.”
“How?”
Cyn slapped the counter when Ash looked away. “You fucked her!”
Ash glared at him. “And so did you.”
“She tell you that?” Cyn set his jaw, crossing his arms. “She wanted it.”
“I’m aware.”
Zeke looked between them. “Why wouldn’t she want it?”
“Just making sure you’re all aware.”
“Because you kept threatening to fuck her,” Ash said, eyes narrowing.
Zeke turned toward him. “He didn’t mean he’d force her!”
Ash exhaled. “I know that. She knows that. We talked about it a while back.” He met Cyn’s eyes. “I’ve never thought you’d do that. None of us have.”
Cyn rolled his eyes, dismissing Ash’s softer tone. He often struggled with gestures of concern. “So what’d she say?”
“She didn’t say anything at first. I saw the marks you left behind.”
My brows lifted upon hearing Ash’s confession.
“Marks?” Zeke turned to Cyn, brow furrowed, eyes filled with questions.
“Didn’t know I left any, but not surprised.”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed, the first sign of anger I’d seen in a while. “You hurt her?”