Chapter 22 #2
We stop in front of them and I catch their glances of our joined hands.
Neither of them says anything though so I don’t either.
I wouldn’t know what to say even if they asked.
I’m under no illusion that Madden suddenly wants more from me.
We have a physical connection I can’t ignore any longer, and my magic approves of it.
“Are you sure you want to do this tonight?” Aero asks, his eyes fixed firmly on the man at my side.
Madden’s shoulders tense, and his hand tightens on mine for a second. “We need to have a better handle on what’s really going on. She knows enough the way it is.”
Heath blows out air between his teeth, his eyes flicking around to each of us. “And we’re doing this without everyone?”
My body freezes when I realize what he’s saying.
Lily and Killian. Neither of them is here.
Both of them are reapers and part of the council that guards this space.
Madden stares down his brother, gaze flicking only once to his best friend.
“We covered this already. Lily can’t handle it, and I don’t trust Killian yet. ”
This is new information to me, the first time I’m hearing anything is possibly amiss at the Gate. “Did something happen?”
Madden glances at me, catching my gaze. I can feel Heath and Aero’s eyes on me as well. “This is the only place we can talk without the council finding out. We’ve tested it numerous times.”
“Okay.” My voice trails off. “What do we have to talk about that they can’t know about?”
“The Nexa,” Heath interjects, keeping his voice low, his lips barely forming the word, but I hear it anyway, like a lightning strike. My gaze flies to him.
“You were asking me questions about her,” Madden reminds me, tugging my arm slightly to regain my attention.
“You know more than you’re letting on, Skully.
I can feel it. I was holding back my information too.
Mostly because I needed to make sure we could trust you with it, and also because a lot of the information we have is hearsay. ”
“But everyone in the paranormal world is talking about her? How can all of it be hearsay?”
“The council won’t confirm or deny,” Aero announces. “Without the council willing to say this is what happened, they can sweep it under the rug.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” My brow rises and I glance at all three of them. “What could they possibly gain from keeping that secret? Everyone heard the blast.”
“Power,” Heath says, shrugging his shoulders.
“Control,” Madden adds, his teeth gritted together. “Remember what I told you? If they won’t confirm it, then no one is looking for her. No one except those on the council could stand a chance of finding her and possibly possessing her.”
Shivers run down my back unexpectedly. A faint, phantom flicker of awareness and memory collide within me.
“There’s been chatter for hundreds of years about the Nexa.
She was once part of the paranormal world but revered because she transcends to the spiritual world as well.
It was rumored that she contains great magic, but she was feared because that magic could go either way.
Good or Evil. It depended on the husk she inhabited and the bond she would create with that husk.
Over the years, some have claimed they hold the Nexa, while others are sure she’s been spotted elsewhere, but there were never any solid leads.
There was once someone in the paranormal community who claimed the Nexa had split itself into two even.
The only way the Nexa can survive, though, is with a compatible husk. A specific host body.”
“What do you mean by specific host?”
Azriel leans into me, his fingers squeeze mine in a firm grip. “The husk has to be female, and she has to be of four paranormal bloods. Reaper, Witch, Angel,”
“Fae?” I guess, trying to remember everything I’d learned about the paranormal and supernatural since regaining the first flickers of my magic. “Vampire? Werewolf?”
Azriel shakes his head no, his eyes meet mine but flicker with uncertainty. “Demon.”
My conversation with Azriel comes back with terrifying clarity. All the little pieces I hadn’t thought about since that night. The night my magic returned.
I think you were a husk for the Nexa that year. I don’t know how it happened or how you shed it, but I think it’s somehow related to your memory loss and your injury.”
“Are you telling me that’s what it was or hypothesizing?”
“Guessing. But if I had to wager, I’d bet my life.
You don’t know half your bloodline. Witch, yes, Reaper, yes.
Loreli already acknowledged that your mom was missing half her genealogy, though, because her father is unknown.
Whatever happened to you that day was strong enough to take your mind and your magic. The Nexa could do that.”
“Okay, so it happened, but now it’s gone, so why do you look terrified?”
“The Nexa can be Evil or Good. I’ve heard it depends on her husk. I’ve also heard the husk’s magic matters, but there is also a rumor that it largely depends on who hosts the mate bond compatible with the Nexa.”
“Her presence will beat like a drum on land, a tidal wave of the sea. All creators, and creatures of Haven, Heaven, and the Shade will witness her greatness,” I remember what Azriel told me. How he was almost certain that the Nexa was what happened to me.
“Where did you hear that?” Madden’s hand clasps on my elbow, and he spins me to face him. His brow is furrowed; his jaw line tense.
“A friend,” I tell him and move out of his hold. All three sets of eyes swing to me. My stomach twists painfully at the mixture of conflicted trust in their depths.
“A friend?” Madden takes a step closer to me again, forcing my head to tip back with his nearness. His metallic silver eyes bore into mine, like he wants nothing more than to crack my skull open and see all my secrets and thoughts.
“Yes, a friend.” I bite my bottom lip. “Back in California. He also said that the Nexa could be evil or good, it depended on the compatible husk.”
“It doesn’t matter, Madd, who said it.” Aero lays a hand on Madden’s shoulder, not that it helps any.
Madden keeps his gaze focused on me, and my face is practically burning under the scrutiny.
“Look, we all already know this. This isn’t new information.
It is why we’re here tonight though. The council is keeping it hushed.
There’s concern they’re looking for all the wrong reasons. ”
The urge to tell them about the compatibility also depending on a mate bond seals tightly in my throat.
I’ve already given too much away. I’ve already given more than I promised myself I would after Azriel confided in me.
Just because these guys brought me here tonight, does not mean they fully trust me or that I can trust them.
One conversation does not overshadow all that has happened or the past I can’t remember.
The information I just gave them is the only olive branch I’m willing to wave, no matter what they say.
If I had to confide in anyone in River Falls, it would be these three and Baylee.
“Are you saying my dad may be looking for the Nexa?”
Madden’s eyes flare, and his hand reaches back down to clasp mine. “I think all the elders on the council want the Nexa.”
“Supreme power,” Aero grunts.
“None of them are willing to give up their seats even though their time is coming.” Heath chuckles under his breath, shaking his head like he’s lost between disbelief and acceptance that the men they were born to look up to have disappointed them.
“What about your mom?” My head tilts, my focus solely on Madden. He never even blinks.
“A woman on the council who barely has power now? Yeah, she’s looking too.”
The reality that the Dark Protectors council is not what it appears settles heavily on my chest. Fear of this new reality begins to creep in when I remember how much my dad pushed for me to be here in River Falls both times. How he ignored me until my powers came in.
“I don’t trust him.” My voice is so low; it almost comes out as a whisper. Madden still hears me anyway.
“Good. I’ll protect you against anything,” he vows, but it’s the gleam in his eyes that sparks a response from my magic.
It moves through my veins like liquid fire, reaching for his.
Madden’s eyes start to turn black at the edges, and he’s already bringing his body closer into mine, his hands resting on my hips.
Heath blows out an exaggerated breath, a devilish smirk on his lips. “Okay, right, so you two are partnered up then. Aero and I will take the north and east side.”
“For what?” I turn to face them, my cheeks flaming, while I try to move out of Madden’s hold. His body moves behind me instead, his arm wrapping around my waist.
“Chatter,” Aero supplies, with an amused smirk on his face while he takes us in. “Tonight is about gathering information. We need to know what we’re up against for real, and who’s making power moves.”
My throat stings when I try to swallow, feeling the heaviness of what he’s saying. “We’re going after the Nexa?”
“If it comes to it,” Aero answers, his face pulling into a serious mask, grim and thoughtful.
Madden lifts his chin to the other two, and they start walking off in the opposite direction of us.
Madden keeps my hand in his, guiding me around tombstones and down a path on the southern side of the cemetery.
Even from a distance I can see the Gate, our eyes always training back on it, protecting it.
Silence between us becomes thick with tension once again, only this time it’s fueled by the soft, fragile understanding that we’re fighting on the same side for once.
My eyes drop to our hands, the way his larger one curls protectively around mine, our fingers entwined together.
“What does this mean, Madden?”