Chapter 20 #3
“Auraelia—”
“Don’t tell me to breathe, Daemon. I am breathing.”
“My star,” his voice was level. Steady, like the soothing sound of water trickling downstream. “Your fingers are sparking. I need you to calm down.”
She hadn’t even noticed that her magic was seeping out at her fingertips. When she looked down at her hands, she saw tiny blips of light flickering in the deep green that colored the tips of her fingers—green that had progressed past her first knuckle after her altercation with Davina.
“I’m sorry, I hadn’t realized.” Curling her hands into fists, Auraelia forced air into her lungs, holding it until her anger began to subside. When she let it out, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as an eerie feeling settled into her bones.
“Well, this certainly is a welcome party, I must say.” Caius’ voice filled the stillness in the air, and Auraelia whipped around to find him lounging on the couch near the fireplace.
“Where the hell have you been?” she yelled, thankful for the fact that no one was in the brothel to hear her.
“I may have given you the ability to call on me, Your Majesty. But I am not at your beck and call. I had…things I needed to take care of first.”
“What kind of ‘things’?” As Auraelia crossed her arms over her chest, she felt Daemon’s presence at her back. A gentle reminder that he was there for her and a reminder for the emissary from Garnet that she was not alone.
“Glad to see the happy couple back together.” When no one moved, Caius let out a disgruntled sigh and sat up—wincing slightly as he did so. He gestured to the chairs across from him and said, “You might as well get comfortable; I have a feeling we might be here for a while.”
Once everyone was gathered around—Auraelia directly across from Caius with Daemon standing at her side, Piper in the chair next to hers, and Ser Aeron closing out the circle at the end—Caius began to spin his tale.
“How well do you know your history, Your Majesty?”
“As well as any other Ixorian, I would assume. Why?”
“And the history of the Goddesses? How well do you know that?”
“Would you get to whatever point you’re trying to make?” Daemon’s voice was cold and demanding, and she could feel his growing frustration as if it were her own.
“Very well. In the stories, long before Ixora came to be, the twin Goddesses—Morana and Esmeray—were cast out from Arcelia for creating blood magic. Esmeray worked with the lighter side of their magic. Always helping others and using her power to heal and mend. But Morana was drawn to the darker side, using it to seek revenge on those who she considered wrong, and eventually, she attempted to use it to overturn the peace in their realm. Though Esmeray denounced her use of blood magic because they were twins—and bound in ways more than by the blood coursing through their veins—the Goddess Rhayne, with the help of the others, cast them out of Arcelia and sent them to reign over the moon. Esmeray and her bright white light guide from the face of the moon, shining down on those who wish for her guidance. While her sister clings to the darkness, to the side of the moon that is only seen once every twenty-nine days.”
“Thanks for the lesson, but is there a point to your rambling?” Piper demanded, her irritation evident.
Sighing, Caius continued. “Though they are twins, they can be worshiped separately. And Davina worships Morana.”
“Why should I care who my cousin worships?”
“You should care, Your Majesty. Because Davina is her most devout subject. And when the moon is new, and darkness fills the sky, that is when she is at her strongest.”
Auraelia tried to read between Caius' words, but endless questions filled those holes, leaving her more confused than when this all started.
“Goddess, I hate when people speak in riddles. Speak plainly, Caius. What does Davina worshiping Morana have to do with me? With this war between us?”
Caius leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees while his eyes bore into Auraelia’s. “How much do you know about blood magic, Your Majesty?”
“Again with the fucking questions,” Piper mumbled under her breath as she fidgeted in her chair, clearly over the way this conversation was going.
Caius shifted his gaze to Piper. Though his words were soft, they were spoken through clenched teeth.
“There is a reason for my questions, Lady. I need to know what your Queen knows so I don’t waste my breath explaining things that are already known.
Now.” He turned back to Auraelia. “Answer the question, please.”
“I don’t know much if I’m honest. It’s not something that is spoken of here. Or if it is, it’s in hushed tones or behind closed doors. Why?”
“And blood binding?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
Reaching for the collar of his tunic, Caius unlaced the ties before pulling it down to expose his chest. There, sitting right over his heart, was a rune. It looked like a brand on his skin, and Auraelia couldn’t help her sharp intake of breath.
“What is that?” she asked, hesitantly reaching forward before pulling her hand away.
“This is what Davina does to those that she ‘loves.’ This is what a blood bond looks like.” He paused for a moment and refastened his tunic.
“When she was first beginning to practice blood magic, she discovered a way to bind her life to someone else. At the time, we were very much in love and couldn’t imagine spending our days without the other—”
“And now?” Daemon asked as his hand came to rest on Auraelia’s shoulder.
“Now?” Caius scoffed, his eyes flicking up to Daemon. “Now, it’s a burden I don’t want to bear. A weight on my soul that I can’t remove.”
The room fell silent as Caius’ admission settled around them.
“What exactly is a blood bond?” The deep tone of Ser Aeron’s voice reverberated through the room.
“It means, Commander, that my life is bound to Davina’s. What happens to her happens to me. Take pain, for example.” Caius winced as he leaned back against the couch, his gaze honing in on Auraelia. “Though it’s not as severe, any pain she feels, I get the privilege of experiencing it as well.”
Auraelia’s eyes widened, scanning over every inch of the emissary’s body before settling back on his face. It couldn’t be…could it? Had her magic affected him, too?
Daemon’s voice cut through her rampant thoughts, demanding proof of what Caius had said.
Her heart stuttered in her chest. No one other than Daemon and Xander knew what happened in the harbor.
But if what Caius said was true, then the extent of the damage she’d inflicted on Davina would be present on him as well.
The idea of seeing it on someone she hadn’t intended it for made her head spin.
The corner of Caius’ mouth lifted into a menacing smile, his eyes still locked onto Auraelia’s as he began to remove his shirt. When he slid his arms free of the fabric, Auraelia’s hand flew to her mouth, silencing the gasp that slipped through her lips.
Stark white lines trailed down both of his arms, originating from two clearly defined palm-shaped imprints on his upper arms.
Auraelia stood, her gaze flicking over the marks on his arms, as she took a hesitant step forward, closing the distance between herself and Caius. When she finally met his gaze, he seemed to read the question in her eyes and inclined his head, extending his arm out toward her.
Starting where they ended on his hand, Auraelia’s fingers hovered over the marks cascading down his arms, afraid to touch them.
To feel the damage that she’d unknowingly caused.
When she reached her handprint on his shoulder, she noticed faint lines that shot out over his chest, stopping mere inches from the blood bond rune—like it had kept her magic from penetrating his heart.
“I didn’t know—” She shook her head slowly. She hadn’t meant to do this. Not to him.
“Would it have kept you from doing it if you had?”
His question surprised her. Would it have kept her from harming Davina if she’d known?
It didn’t take long for the answer to become clear, and as she steeled her spine, she met his gaze. “No, Caius. It wouldn’t have changed anything. It changes nothing.”
She’d expected anger, perhaps even sadness, in response to her honesty. Instead, she received a devilish smile that made his eyes sparkle with mischief. “Good.”
“Good? What do you mean ‘good’?” Daemon questioned as he came to Auraelia’s side, his brows pinched together.
Sighing, Caius pulled his arms away and grabbed his shirt from where he’d tossed it onto the couch.
After slipping it over his head, he said, “That’s good because I want this to end.
I’m tired of being her plaything. Tired of taking her hits.
She’s not the woman I fell in love with, the one with whom I agreed to enter this stupid bond.
I don’t know who she is anymore. And she won’t let me go. ”
“Why not just sever the bond?” Piper asked.
The laugh that emanated from Caius was one of pure disbelief. “You think I haven’t tried? The only way to sever a blood bond is death. Either mine or hers.”
“So, if we kill you, she’ll die too? Easy enough. Rae, do you want to? Or shall I have that honor?” Piper stood then, a menacing smile on her face as she stalked toward Caius.
Auraelia had known Piper her whole life, and she’d never heard her speak that way—she didn’t have a mean bone in her body.
The only time she lifted a blade was during training.
But she also knew that Piper would do anything for those she loved, consequences be damned.
After seeing her friend with her brother and the tears trailing down her face as she slipped from Xander’s room, she recognized the venom in Piper’s voice for what it was.
She was well acquainted with it because that same rage filled Auraelia whenever she thought of anything happening to the ones she loved.
Her family, her people. Daemon. They were all pieces of her heart, of her soul, and she’d be damned if she let anything else happen to them.
“If only it were that easy,” Caius said with a scoff.
“Explain, and do it quickly before I try it her way.” Auraelia seethed, her magic warming in her veins, begging to be released. She was over him talking in circles, over this conversation and how everything he said brought more questions than it did answers.
“If you kill me, all that would do would infuriate Davina. She’d feel it; it would probably weaken her for a while, but it wouldn’t kill her.”
“And if we kill her?” Auraelia countered.
“If you kill Davina, and that’s a large if, then I will be free.”
“Would you die?”
Caius shrugged nonchalantly as if they were discussing what canapes to have at a party. “Perhaps. But either way, I’d be free. If I die, I am no longer able to bend to her will. If she dies and I live, the same applies.”
Auraelia narrowed her gaze, searching his face for any clues as to whether he was telling the truth or spinning a web of lies. What she saw was resolve.
He’d resolved himself to the idea of dying. Saw it as the only way out of the situation that he was in, and a part of her pitied him.
“So, what do you say, Your Majesty? Now that you know more about what and who you’re up against.”
Auraelia tilted her head slightly. “Before we go any further, I have one more question.”
Caius raised his brows in surprise. “Go on.”
“Who is Davina’s informant?”
A slow, easy grin spread across his face. “Look to your own court, Your Majesty. Not all are as loyal as they seem.”
Anger, red-hot and searing, burned through Auraelia’s veins. Her magic bleeding out of her as lightning began to spark at her fingers. “Who?” she demanded, her teeth clenched so tightly that she could hear them grinding against each other.
“Remove the runes holding me here, and I’ll tell you.”
Shock hit her like a slap to the face. “You knew?”
“Of course,” he taunted. “Those may be considered organic magic here in Emerald, but in Garnet…well, that’s where blood magic begins.”
Keeping her gaze narrowed on Caius, she reached down and squeezed Daemon’s hand. “Do it.”
“Auraelia—”
“Daemon, please. There is a bowl of water on the desk with a rag in it. Just swipe it across the rune in front of the door.”
Daemon expelled a heavy breath but released her hand and did as she asked. As soon as the symbol was broken, a wave of magic swept through the room, severing the connection between each of the runes.
Caius’ smile grew, and it seemed full of relief when he sighed. Like the runes had been a heavy weight on his shoulders, and once they were nullified, he was able to breathe freely. “Well, this has been fun, but I must get back before she notices I’m gone.”
“Caius.” Auraelia’s voice was firm with warning, her lightning wrapping around her limbs like ribbons. Like hell, she would let him slip away without giving her an answer.
Unphased, he bowed. “Until next time, My Queen.”
Snow swirled around him, the cold sizzling against the anger that heated her skin. But before he was fully gone, a cold breeze swept past her ear, bringing with it the answer to her question.
“Lord Harland.”
That son of a bitch.