28. Chapter 28
twenty-eight
T he afternoon sun dances over my skin as I wander around the gardens behind the castle, enjoying the soft breeze and the freedom I’ve gained since Cedric arrived.
I don’t have to worry about being punished for every wrong move or sharing a small space with so many other Netherlings. Cedric’s room at the estate is grander than anything I’ve experienced before, even if it’s merely a guest room to him.
He’s going to change my life forever. I have a very strong feeling about that.
My fingers linger on the roses, feeling the soft petals between them. My brows pinch together as something nags at me, something I should remember, whispering in the distance but too far away to hear .
“Rodi?”
I blink, breaking my stare, and turn to the voice. A tall, muscular, dragon shifter stands before me, one I’m sure I’ve seen before. His gaze fills with heartbreak as his body trembles slightly.
Did something happen to Liza or Cedric?
Panic rises. I wait for him to speak, and then his hands grab mine, tugging me closer as I struggle in his grip.
“Let. Me. Go,” I say. He tilts his head and releases his hold on me as I stagger back. I pitch him a confused, nervous look, wondering why he lunged for me like that.
“Don’t you recognize me?” he asks, his voice cracking.
I shake my head, wringing my hands together as my gaze glides over his form, trying to recall where I’ve seen him before.
And then it hits me. “You’re the Warden of Dominion Ares, right?”
His shoulders drop, and I wonder if I said something wrong. I know I still have much to learn about the dragon shifters, but I’m sure I’ll catch up.
“I am. Is he here too?” He glances around, his eyes searching as my brows knit.
“I believe he’s with his rider. I’m sure you’re supposed to know that better than me.” I chuckle, and his eyes find me again.
“His rider?”
I nod. “Just as the Aetherion, Dominion Ares found his rider.”
He clears his throat. “And who’s the Aetherion?”
I scoff as I cross my arms. “My mate, Aetherion Cedric.”
His lips part as he blinks a few times, but nothing else comes and I shake my head, moving past him as I see Cedric stepping into the gardens.
A smile spreads on my face as I close the distance between us. His warm hand curls around me, and I sigh into his embrace .
“Are you ready to go?” Cedric whispers as I hear the Warden stepping closer to us.
“Aetherion,” Warden Ethan says, and I peek at him, watching him as he bows his head in respect, but it doesn’t feel right. Something is stirring inside me, and I wonder if I should stay away from this Warden.
“Warden. No longer celebrating, I see.”
There it is again, that blink, that moment in his eyes that seems like he has no idea about what’s going on. In his life or the Aetherion’s. I’m sure he should’ve known everything he asked me.
His fingers rake through his hair as he smiles. “We all need a break sometimes.”
Cedric laughs, his chest vibrating against me. “I’m glad we all found our riders.” His arms tighten around me, and Ethan’s eyes fall on my neck.
“Sure, Aetherion. When are you and your… rider… completing the marking?”
A question I’ve been wondering myself. My gaze finds Cedric’s, patiently waiting for his answer.
“When we’re back home…” He pauses as he looks down. “Our home.”
A warm smile crosses my face as excitement stirs in my chest. I can’t wait to leave this place and experience something new.
“That’s… great. I wish you both well,” Warden Ethan replies as he respectfully joins his hands together in front of him and nods to us.
Cedric kisses the crown of my head, his touch lingering on my skin. He places his hand on the small of my back and turns to Warden Ethan. “Thank you. Please extend a warm greeting to Dominion Ares.”
Maybe I’m just seeing things, but I swear I see Warden Ethan’s jaw tighten. He swallows hard and nods, recovering so quickly that I truly think I’m making things up in my head. “Of course. I won’t keep you two any longer. ”
As Warden Ethan starts to turn away to leave, my eyes catch his, and the sheer grief and devastation in them nearly takes the breath out of me. Why is he so upset? Why did he try to get close to me before Cedric arrived?
Questions upon questions go around and around in my mind as Cedric leads me out of the lush garden, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get the answers I desire. Maybe I shouldn’t search for them either.
Ethan
I need to get her alone again in this… place. How did Cedric— Hephaestus— set this all up? This world he created could be mistaken for the real world. It smells the same. I can feel the sun burning on my skin, and every Dominion who was at the Mates’ Convergence is here.
As if we went back in time and her memories got altered. He somehow got inside her head, making her forget about her mates… To think he’s her mate.
Pain grips my chest at the thought of how she didn’t recognize me. It doesn’t even count that she knows me as Ares’ Warden. She doesn’t know me and what I mean to her. What she means to me!
All of those memories are gone, suffocated by the false memories he’s forced into her mind. She’s living a lie right now, and she doesn’t even realize it. She’s gazing at a monster like he’s her true love when, in reality, he wants nothing but the worst for her.
I have to help her. I have to free her from this nightmare. But that’s easier said than done.
I don’t believe I can easily kill him.
I can’t take on a god. Maybe Ares should’ve come instead of me. But I have to try. I have to try for all three of us because time is steadily running out.
Keeping my distance, I follow Rodi around the castle, trying to blend in as I notice the further away I get from her, the more the setting around me seems to fade. As if the world only fully exists around her.
I know I still have a chance. Hephaestus hasn’t marked her, and maybe he can’t in this world . I don’t know all the rules of a place like this, but there has to be some sort of limitation, some sort of downside.
Sure, he has to go back to wherever he came from. He wouldn’t risk being with her every second of the day. Not with Ares’ men looking for him, scouring the world.
Ares. Maybe he can help me. Well, sort of. I turn to the room I was in when we stayed here, almost sure that Cedric would want to stay as close as possible to Rodi’s true memories of those days.
My steps quicken as the scene around me fades, and I quickly rush into the room, finding Ares. Or at least he looks like him, but I can see it in his eyes. There’s no warmth radiating from him as he just stands there, glaring out the window, looking at nothing.
My plan already failed before it started as I try to communicate with him. My fingers grip his arm, a chill brushing over my skin, but he doesn’t turn. He doesn’t meet my gaze.
“Ares?” I try again, and still nothing. My eyes fall on his neck, and my ribs tighten at the sight of the outline of a fresh mark. Rodi’s words were true .
My shoulders drop as I turn away from him. Rodi was drawn to Ares first, but still, she fell for me without feeling the mate bond. I only need her to remember.
She has to remember, or I fear that everything will be lost.