Chapter 25 #2
He dug for that little glimmering piece of Isla once more, hesitant in case that hidden thing pushed her away again. He asked Rhydian, hoping to encourage the thought, “Does it ever stop? Wanting her so badly you can’t think straight.”
The oldest twin laughed, his eyes drifting into the crowd. “Wanting her all the time—not at all. But you learn to think around it.”
“Madness,” Jonah muttered, shaking his head.
“Just wait until it’s your turn, Jo,” Rhydian said. “Me last year, Kai now—we’re building momentum. You or Meera are next.”
“Given how rare fated mates are,” Jonah answered, picking up his ale, “the fact that you two found yours brings the chances of us finding ours close to zero. I never cared for it much anyway.”
“Neither did we,” Rhydian said. “Now, they have us by the balls.”
“Entirely,” Kai echoed, rubbing his hand over his face.
In the distance, thunder crashed, and he felt it reverberate down his bones, that power chomping at his ribs again. What was wrong with him today, and when the hell was it going to rain?
“Alright, I have to ask,” Rhydian began, leaning back in his seat.
He folded his arms, the fabric of his linen shirt straining against the muscles of his arms. “I know it’s the holiday, and we’re trying to avoid talking about freaky shit,” he lowered his voice, “but was that… normal… what happened in the throne room? You two nearly burned the place down.”
Kai took the final bite of his skewer. “The fire, yes, but it didn’t burn like that for my coronation or when my parents were crowned.”
Beside him, Jonah seemed to tuck the information away. “The point of the ritual is to show the strength of your bond, the Goddess-given power that you have, that you’re linked as the alpha and luna. You’re fated, but your parents were chosen. That could be it.”
Kai hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe.”
Jonah ran a hand over the pillow of his cropped hair, shrugging. “So, I guess the goddesses are just really happy you two are together.”
“Seems that way.”
Kai didn’t even want to think about what that meant in the grander scheme of things. He leaned his elbows on the table and fell forward to rest his forehead in his palms, groaning.
Rhydian slapped a heavy hand on his back, a roughness that would’ve spawned a playful brawl between them if Kai had been up to shoving him back. “You’ve both killed the Wilds’ population of bak between you. Is being Goddess-blessed truly a shock?” An exaggeration.
“No,” Kai breathed. “It just means there’s a wider target on our backs.”
Rhydian dropped his hand. “From the Imperial Alpha?”
“From anyone.” Kai sat up. “Everyone.”
Do you think things will ever become simple? Where we can just be happy and old and in love, Isla’s voice rang in his head.
Never simple—and now, he’d further delve into the complications.
“Since we’re already violating our ‘no freaky shit’ rule,” Kai began, snagging Jonah’s attention.
“The ceremonial knife we used to cut our palms for the ritual looks just like the one Isla took from Lukas. From the witch. I hadn’t realized it before, but it’s the one I used—the one that’s been used for generations of Alphas and Lunas of Deimos.
Maybe even across all the packs, if it’s meant to mimic the one crafted by the goddesses for the first alphas. ”
A light came to Jonah’s eyes, clearly thriving off all the curiosity. The man loved puzzles and mysteries, always had. “Did Isla feel drawn to it?”
“Not in any unnatural way. Not like the one we have.”
Jonah hummed, his gaze drifting out, up, and over the crowd as he thought.
“I’ve decoded the book to the extent where I know it’s chronicling Aneurin’s reign and includes the war between the packs during that time.
I’ve mapped the markers to figure out where the tunnels connect to us, but there are three things I can’t figure out.
” He stuck out a hand, counting off, “One is why Isla feels the way she does with the dagger and diadem. Two relates to that because of the woman from the artwork who looks to be holding them.”
Kai held in, for now, that Isla told him that the woman had been in her nightmare last night.
Jonah continued, “We know she’s your ancestor.
Isla mentioned dreaming of her. I thought I’d been piecing her together, but at most, I can assume she’s tied to Ares.
The wording on the back of the art is directionless—just some poem about wilting flowers, lightning strikes, and stars.
There’s not even a proper flow to it. It’s like they pulled fragments of a longer piece and scribbled them there.
I can’t even fathom how or why I found it where I did.
It’s like someone put it there for me—which brings me to the last thing. ”
With the exasperated way he’d said it, Kai almost didn’t want to know.
It was Rhydian who threw his arms out, like he’d heard this tirade before and presented grandly, “Why?”
Kai looked from one twin to the other, and Jonah nodded.
“I hate the idea that everything happens for a reason. I fucking hate it.” Kai knew exactly why, since they all bonded over ghosts.
“But all this coming together can’t be a coincidence.
Deimos, Phobos, Ares, Io. Fragments of war.
How everything is going to shit now. The patterns are there.
And either we’re mortal and just trying to craft something extraordinary from our mundane existence, the goddesses are bored and like seeing us play detective, or there’s one last piece that we’re missing that brings all this together and makes the picture clear. ”
One last piece.
The moon, Kai thought, but never had the chance to say.
He wasn’t sure what came first: the pain, then the thunder, the thunder, then the pain. Regardless, he felt the reverberating slam of it through his soul, his splitting head only saved by his fingers pressed to his temples.
In one gargantuan wave, the world pushed in. Unrelenting. Brash. Too much. Everyone and everything. The sounds of the crowd, the scents, the auras. He couldn’t breathe.
Something hit his shoulder—a hand—and it may as well have been a bolt of lightning.
Kai winced as a well of pressure built in him, making him feel like he’d burst. Rhydian recoiled slowly, grimacing, though concern shone in his eyes.
“Are you good?” he asked, but his words echoed in Kai’s pounding head.
Darkness began to spot his vision as he tried to focus on him. “I’m fine.”
Kai felt it then, almost saw it, smelled it, and tasted it. A link. A tether. A doorway into his brother’s head.
Rhydian blinked heavily once. Twice. His features twisted as his hand went to his nose… where crimson trickled down onto his upper lip. “What the hell?”
Kai nearly fell out of his chair as he yanked the power back, jumping to his feet and putting a healthy distance between them. “I—” he panted. He needed to stay calm. Emotions drove this. Think of Isla. “I forgot I had to speak to Sol about something.”
“On the Equinox?” Jonah asked, watching him far too closely. The doorway in Jonah’s mind was shut, but Kai felt like he didn’t need it. He could break down any wall.
“Busy times,” he said, glancing up and away. The clouds swirled, and… were the stars moving? Goddess, his fucking head. “Rhydian, Davina wanted you, and when Isla shows up,” he gritted out, “tell her I’ll be right back.”
Kai didn’t linger to hear his response. And though he moved, everything went dark.