Chapter 13
‘Your brother?’ Ruben is the first to break the silence. He sits by Caz with William on the other side of him, and the way he looks at my little brother, it’s like he’s scouring his face for evidence of what he just learned. ‘I thought he was … he was—’
‘Killed by the king?’ I answer for him. ‘Yes, we all did. But it turns out that’s not the case.
He was hidden away somehow, then placed under the care of Lord Lorathin – Jonas’s father.
As part of my gifting from the Goddess, Jonas told me the truth of my brother’s existence.
A little detail he knew for several years but kept to himself. ’
‘What?’ Benny sits at the end of the table next to me, though he looks as if he’s about to leap up from it to throw Jonas across the room.
‘You knew? You knew Rose’s brother was alive when we were in the Retterheld and you didn’t tell her?
All that time when you were trying to get into her pants …
you knew this then? You’re a fucking shit. ’
Jonas shifts in his chair and I fight the urge to smile. I shoot Benny a look of thanks. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of having someone in my corner the way Benny always is.
‘Jonas did what he thought was best,’ Kay responds coolly, raising her chin, though I wonder if she’s annoyed most at Jonas being called a liar or hearing from someone other than me that her now-husband wasn’t exactly subtle about his wishes for something to happen between us.
Then again, she’s convinced there are no secrets between them, so perhaps she knows it all.
‘Sure he did. Best for himself,’ Benny mutters into his glass.
‘No, that’s not what happened—’ Jonas tries to defend himself, but Ruben joins in too.
‘Do you have any idea how much Rose mourned her brother?’ He glares at Jonas. ‘How every night she—’
‘Enough!’ I call the argument to a halt. We’re less than two minutes in and the bickering has already started. It doesn’t bode well.
Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I know why Jonas made his choice. I might not agree with his decision to keep me in the dark, but it’s better that he avoided telling anyone, including me, than spread William’s true name like gossip among anyone willing to listen.
With the room quiet again, I continue. ‘Jonas kept William’s secret safe.
That deserves recognition.’ I pause and look at Benny and Ruben, both of whom simmer down a little.
‘You are all also aware that Jonas and I are officially family now.’ I gesture to the ‘happy couple’.
‘Given that he and Kay thought it would be a good idea to get married.’
My little sister lifts her hand and flashes the rings, as if it’s a normal marriage worthy of a normal celebration.
Gods help me. Sometimes her na?veté hurts.
Yet I only have myself to blame. I worked hard to protect her from the realities of the world, and now it’s biting me on the arse.
Neither one of them has thought of the potential repercussions. From Artur. From Hew. From Korvane.
‘Ruben.’ I turn my attention to him. ‘What you don’t know is that I manifested some unexpected powers during the trials.
Magic that I had never encountered before.
I learned today from Dinah that those powers came from our family.
Our mother. Apparently … we’re a little bit Issen. A quarter, I suspect.’
He gapes for a beat. ‘Issen?’ Ruben lets out a low whistle, and for a second, I pause, waiting to see if he has any more of a reaction.
Fear. Disgust, even? After all, I’m sure that’s how plenty of people would react if they found out one of their past fuck buddies was the thing we’ve been taught to fear and despise.
But there’s no disdain in his eyes. He sees me, not my heritage, and I’m insanely grateful for that.
I shift my gaze to Benny, but he doesn’t look the slightest bit surprised. He’s a smart man, and with his magic, he’s able to see to the heart of things, so I suspect he already worked out the truth of my heritage.
If I’m honest with myself, even though I pinned all the new powers on the Issen spirits, a creeping suspicion was crawling through my mind, even back in the Retterheld. I just refused to acknowledge it.
Kay lets out a choked sob. ‘It’s a nightmare come true,’ she whispers. Her hand once again lingers protectively on her stomach. If she planned on keeping the pregnancy a secret, she’s doing a piss-poor job. It’s a good job I have friends I can trust.
‘I won’t tell a soul,’ Ruben promises, locking eyes with each Kultavaris. ‘I promise you that.’
The ghost of a smile lifts my lips.
I never doubted his loyalty. If I had, he wouldn’t have been in the room in the first place.
‘So is it just you who’s got the powers?’ Benny asks, glancing at my brother and sister. ‘A first-child type thing?’
‘I am completely normal,’ Kay says with a haughtiness that makes me clench my jaw.
Benny looks at my newly rediscovered brother. ‘William, what about you? Have you seen any evidence of these powers?’
William grimaces and looks at me in question.
I nod encouragingly. ‘We can trust him. All of them. I swear to you. Show them what you can do.’
A hint of excitement glimmers in my brother’s eyes as he reaches out and places his hand on Ruben’s wineglass. ‘You mean like this?’
A second later, ice crystals appear on the outer edge.
‘Duuude!’ Ruben extends the syllable into a groan. ‘That’s red wine. I’m pretty sure it’s meant to be served warm.’
‘Sorry,’ William says, but his sudden, wide grin is unrepentant and reminds me just how young he still is.
I want to kiss my friend for his casual reaction; it was exactly what was needed to break the tension of the moment, and I’m once again reminded that Ruben’s power to warm goes well beyond that of a physical nature.
Yet as I turn to Benny, hoping for the same easy, laid-back demeanour on his face, my hope is shattered. Instead, a tight frown clenches his face.
‘Benny?’ Nervousness coils within me. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘What was that?’ he asks sharply, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking solely at William, who shrinks back a little.
‘Benny, it’s our power. It’s nothing to be afraid of …’ My pulse is racing, an unexpected fear gripping my ribs. ‘William is—’
‘I’m not talking about the ice,’ he cuts in. ‘I’m talking about the pain William just felt across his stomach. The wince he didn’t quite hide.’
‘What?’ I question. I didn’t see a wince. I look between the two men who are sitting opposite one another. ‘William? Does it hurt you? Does doing that magic hurt you?
‘No.’ William’s answer is immediate, yet it is too quick to be believable, so I look to Caz.
‘He’s lying,’ she confirms.
‘I think he’s still in pain,’ Benny continues. ‘It did something. His entire body reacted.’
I turn back to William. His face is pale and his eyes avoid meeting mine.
‘Benny can see things,’ I tell him, trying to keep my voice soft and calm, ‘and Caz knows when you’re lying, so there’s no point trying to hide things from us. Tell me the truth. What does it do to you when you use that magic? Does it hurt?’
The thought of my little brother being in pain makes me want to wrap my arms around him and shield him from the entire world, but I get the feeling that’s not something he would accept from me right now. He is nearly a man grown; he does not want a sister’s protection.
Yet he will get it all the same.
‘Sometimes it hurts, but …’ William’s voice trails off.
‘But?’ It’s Jonas who presses him this time. ‘You’re safe here, Will. No one around this table is going to say anything about you to anyone ever. You know that. Please tell us the truth.’
Still, he remains clammed up and silent, and I don’t need Benny and Caz to tell me there’s more we need to know.
‘William, my friends just took a blood vow to make sure you stay safe,’ I try again.
‘And I get that this is a lot for you, but I’ve been honest with you from the very start of this.
Now I need you to do the same. You understand?
It’s the only way we can guarantee everyone in this room stays safe.
That includes you. Please help us do that. ’
Finally, William dips his chin in the most minuscule of nods, but rather than speak again, he reaches down to the hem of his shirt, which he pulls out, then unbuttons the bottom before lifting it higher.
Every pair of eyes in the room is on my brother, every breath held, and my heart is hammering against my ribs so hard I can hear the pounding in my skull.
With one final movement, William’s stomach comes into view.
A gasp escapes me.
His skin is covered with the icy lace pattern characteristic of the Issen.
Fear and dread war for supremacy. He cannot have a normal life with these marks upon him. He will not be able to marry, not unless he binds his wife with a blood vow.
How far the delicate pattern extends, I can’t tell.
On the left side, it stretches out across his stomach and disappears under his shirt, which he holds at the bottom of his ribs. White, translucent, pale … it’s the very skin we have been taught to fear for our entire lives.
‘Good Gods!’ Kay recoils, covering her mouth. ‘It’s … It’s …’
‘Growing,’ Benny finishes her sentence.
My eyes snap to his, then back to William.
‘Is he right?’ I ask, unsure why I’m even asking the question. If Benny says the pattern is growing, I have no reason not to believe him – other than I simply don’t want to. I really, really don’t want to.
‘The expansion slows down when I don’t use the magic. Or at least most of the time I think it does.’ William’s voice is so quiet I wish I had Loch’s power to hear him. ‘Sometimes it flares up and grows for no reason, but it hasn’t done that for a while.’
‘Did you know about this?’ I say, spinning around and snapping at Jonas. ‘Did you know?’
‘What? No, of course not!’
‘No one knew,’ William insisted. ‘I kept it hidden when it started. No one’s ever seen it. Not Artur, not healers. Nobody. Ever.’