Chapter 4
VINCULA
Lenora sat across from Caius, looking devastated. “Why did you do it?” she asked him. He’d expected more yelling or crying, but what he didn’t expect was the poised calm she exuded.
It was on the tip of his tongue to blame her and her outbursts. If not for Lenora’s actions, Rory wouldn’t have felt the bone-deep guilt that crushed Caius as if it were his own.
But deep down, he knew it wasn’t her fault. Had he been in her position, he would have done the same because Rory was worth fighting for. He would do whatever it took to bring her home, even if he had to rip the realms apart to do it.
Her last words pounded into him on a loop. ‘I will find my way back to you.’
“I asked you a question, young man,” Lenora clipped, bringing him back to the present.
He chuckled. “Lenora, I have been around much longer than you.”
“Don’t take that tone with me,” she scolded him. “Answer my question. Why did you send my daughter back to Erdikoa?”
The hurt in her eyes nearly killed him, and he knew he wouldn’t tell her the truth. He wished he had never allowed Sam to tell Rory of her mother’s behavior, and while he couldn’t go back in time, he could protect Lenora from the same guilt.
“She missed her friends and family, and I couldn’t bear to see her in pain.” It was a half-truth.
Lenora studied him. “You love her?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to talk.
“And she loves you,” Lenora stated with finality. “We have to get her back,” she said sternly, switching from a grieving mother to a commander of a legion.
Caius’ brows rose, and despite the hole in his chest, he smiled sadly. “She’s a lot like you.”
Lenora harrumphed and smoothed a wrinkle from her pants. “Of course, she is. Her father is a big puppy dog.”
A laugh burst from Caius. “A gentle puppy dog she is not, but from what she’s told me, Cora was.”
Lenora nodded. “My girls were opposites on the surface, but not here,” she said, patting her chest, just over her heart. “Despite what Rory believes, she is good.”
“I know, and I told her as much, but—” He stopped to clear the emotion from his throat. “She won’t remember the confidence she gained in herself while here, but maybe her soul will.”
“When I first saw you and your brother, it was difficult to tell you two apart,” she confessed as she regarded him with keen eyes.
“I am nothing like Gedeon.”
Lenora leaned forward and grabbed Caius’ hand. “I know, honey.” She gave his hand a pat and sat back. “Once my visions were clearer, it was obvious. That is why we must bring her home.”
Caius studied the woman closely. Bring her home. Did she mean Rory’s home here with him or in Erdikoa with her old friends and family?
He leaned back in his chair. “You didn’t see how we do that in one of your visions, did you?” As a Sibyl, Lenora saw every potential future. In Erdikoa, her mind was muddled most of the time, but she didn’t have her abilities in Vincula, allowing her clarity.
Lenora’s eyes glassed over. “I must have, but when my mind is clear, the memories of my visions are patchy at best.”
Caius’ jaw tensed. “What do you remember? Your prophecy was vague, other than the part about us being identical twins.”
The prophecy she’d had about Rory ran through his head on a loop. Two were one, and one is yours. Do not let him fool you. His darkness is poison. Only the golden child can save you.
Lenora rubbed her temple before sighing. “I don’t remember much, but your brother will find her, and when he does, he will scar her for life. Or kill her.”
Caius hadn’t realized his hands gripped the arms of his chair until the wood splintered. “Over my dead fucking body.”
Her head turned slowly toward him. “It will be.”
The silence stretched between them as Caius used all his self-restraint to tame the shadows threatening to destroy his office.
The door slammed open, and Sam stepped over the threshold with a menacing glare.
“Were you raised in the woods, boy? Don’t slam doors,” Lenora chided. Normally Caius would laugh, but he didn’t feel like it today, or maybe ever again.
Caius could tell Sam was fond of the woman, and his submission was a sight to behold.
“Yes, Ms. Raven,” Sam mumbled as he closed the door softly.
“Call me Lenora,” she replied before turning back to Caius.
Sam stood next to the desk with a sour look on his face. “She is settled in the safe house. No one knows she is there, not even Adila.”
“How did you manage that?” Caius mused.
“No other inmates were scheduled to arrive, and the bunker was empty. We gave her a shapeshifting potion to alter her face in the event anyone saw her leave,” Sam replied.
The thought of someone changing her beautiful face made Caius frown.
“There will be speculation of why you have not made an appearance.”
The same thought occurred to Caius. “Perhaps you should start a rumor among The Capital that I am refusing to leave Vincula.” He tried to rub the tension from his forehead. “We need to keep her hidden until I can bring her back.”
“How is she?” Lenora asked Sam.
The Angel’s lips pressed into a thin line. “She remembers nothing.” Caius deflated. He’d held on to hope that Aeternums were immune to the memory loss magic.
Sam turned to Lenora and looked… nervous. Whatever he had to say would devastate her. “She did not take the news of your incarceration well.” His eyes tightened when they slid to Caius. “She feels guilty.”
In trying to help her, Caius traded one hurt for another. He hated himself.
Lenora stared silently at the commander. “You tell her not to worry about me. I am better than I’ve been in years, and the only thing I want is her safety.”
Sam gave a small nod and walked to his bench to take a seat. “Lauren told her Vincula was nice, and that eased her worry a fraction.” He pulled an orange from his pocket and peeled it angrily. “We need to tell her everything.”
“No,” Caius snapped, his fury rising. “I am your king, and I’m telling you to not open your fucking mouth. The same goes for Lauren.”
Lenora swatted his hand. “Watch your language.” He yanked it back with an indignant look. She was a tough old bird.
“Give me one good reason we cannot tell her.” Sam ripped into the orange like a wild beast. “Because not telling her is what put her in this position to begin with.”
Caius wanted to flip his desk. “If you tell her and she believes you, nothing will stop her from going after Gedeon. Nothing.” He lost his battle with the shadows, and they swirled in the air.
Lenora looked around the room at the books and pictures falling to the ground. “Calm down.” Her voice was stern, demanding his obedience. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on reigning in his outward emotions. He could do nothing about his inner turmoil, but he could control his reactions.
She leaned forward and patted his hand again. The gesture was motherly, and his eyes flicked to hers. If they met under different circumstances, would she like him? Would she approve of his marriage to Rory?
“Caius is right.” She sighed. “Rory would have tried to avenge her sister, no matter the cost. Telling her should be a last resort unless we want her to be the one alerting Gedeon of her existence.”
“You knew,” Sam guessed.
Caius looked between the two. “Knew what?”
His friend smiled sadly at Rory’s mother. “Do you want me to tell her?” Caius opened his mouth to protest, but Sam stopped him. “I will not tell her about Vincula, but I will tell her this.”
“Tell her what?” Caius asked as his irritation grew.
Sam stayed silent, and Lenora sighed. “I was aware of her hobby.” She lifted her chin defiantly, the action so much like Rory that the aching inside of Caius intensified. “I saw it, but I also knew she wouldn’t stop, no matter what I said. And thank you, Sam, but I’ll tell her myself.”
Caius blinked. What? “She thinks you hate her,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you tell her? If only so that she knew you wouldn’t think she was a monster.”
Lenora’s face transformed to one of fury, and he sat back. “Do you have any idea what it is like to wake up and a month has passed? I only had one day to spend with my family, and there wasn’t a chance in the seven rings of hell I would waste it by telling my daughter I knew she was a murderer.”
Caius and Sam wisely stayed quiet. If he only had a short time with his mate, he would also do whatever he could to make her happy, not upset her.
“I still do not understand why you did not marry her,” Sam said, changing the subject. “She would have been immortal and able to switch between the realms once free.”
He looked at Sam incredulously. “If Gedeon finds out about her and I am not there to protect her, he will kill her, if for no other reason than to hurt me.”
Lenora shook her head. “How would he find out? You could have kept it between the two of you, and no one would have been the wiser.”
Caius pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to dive into a history lesson when they had more pressing issues to address, but he owed her an explanation.
Had he married Rory, Gedeon and Adila would have known instantly. “When a Royal marries, there is something called the nova creatura, or awareness, for lack of a better word, that runs through the others.” Lenora looked at Sam for confirmation, and he nodded.
“It happens when the Lux heirs take their thrones, but only the reigning Royals experience it,” Caius explained.
His parents encouraged him and his siblings to read history books on the Royals, and he could recite them by heart.
His siblings never cared much for it, but he’d always enjoyed reading and devoured them all.
“I didn’t feel the nova creatura when Atarah took the throne because I was not yet the Umbra King, but I felt it when Adila became the Scales of Justice.
When Atarah died, Adila and I both felt her power transfer to Gedeon. ”