Chapter 16
VINCULA
Lenora, Cat, and Bellina sat around a large table in the library with books stacked around them as Kit flipped through the catalog. The king excused them from their jobs, and they’d been in the library from the time they woke until well into the night.
So far, they’d found nothing, but Kit refused to quit.
“I think I found something,” Cat announced with impeccable timing.
Everyone crowded around her to look at the storybook. The design of the pages suggested it was old, as were most of the books in Vincula. They rarely received new ones.
Kit knew it was more likely they’d find information in the storybooks than anywhere else. There were no history books dating back to the beginning, but many of the old storybooks were retellings of earlier events. The books were doused in a preservation potion periodically to keep them intact.
Cat pointed at a picture of a large figure shrouded in black shadows that sparkled.
“Listen to this. This guy Aemas,” she pointed to the glittery shadow man, “created the realms for his wife, Lora.” There was a picture of a woman who appeared to be dipped in gold.
“It says she wanted stars, but I think it’s a metaphor for something, because the next part doesn’t match that. ”
“I don’t understand,” Bellina interjected.
Cat glared. “Will you wait? It’s right here.” Her excitement returned. “Aemas wanted to prove his love by giving her golden stars, and with his darkness, he created two realms.
“Lora marveled at the power of his love as she stood in the realms, watching the stars, but the shadows left no light.” Cat thumped the book.
“See? No sense. Stars are light. Anyway, it goes on to say that she called on the suns, spreading their energy to each of the realms, but to remind her of her husband’s love, one realm was dark, and the other was light. Like them.”
Cat stopped reading, and they stared at her. She huffed. “Don’t you see? It’s the creation. Our realms were created by the shadows and powered by the light. The dark realm is Vincula, and the light realm is Erdikoa.”
Kit turned the information over in her mind, and Bellina clapped excitedly. “The king’s shadow power! He controls what created the realms!”
“And it says his darkness is more powerful than Lora’s light.” Cat scanned the page again and pointed. “Here.”
“Then he should be able to change the realm,” Kit remarked. “Or rearrange the barrier to let him through.”
Cat nodded, and her dark curls bounced with the movement. “Yes!”
Standing, Bellina rounded the table. “We need to tell him. The sooner he knows, the sooner he can try to bust out of here.”
Lenora leaned forward and hugged Cat with a tender smile. “I am proud of you.” She looked at the other two girls. “I am proud of all of you and what you’re doing.”
“Come on,” Bellina said. “Bring the book.”
Cat reached for the page to fold it over, and Kit slapped her hand. “Don’t you dare dog ear that page. Hold on.” She hurried to the desk, grabbed a bookmark, and made her way back. “You two stay here and keep looking. Focus on memory magic. Lenora and I will take this to the king.”
Bellina and Cat murmured their agreement and returned to the books scattered around them.
Lauren entered Caius’ office and stepped aside as Lenora and Kit walked inside.
When Caius registered who arrived, he stood, almost knocking his chair over. “You found something.”
Kit grinned from ear to ear. “We think so.” She opened an old storybook and placed it on his desk. “This is a tale about creation. According to the story, the shadows created the realms, and the light powers them.”
He stared at the picture of a man with skin like a starry sky. It literally looked like his skin was jet-black with twinkling stars. A solid gold woman stood next to him. “Why is this significant?” Looking up, he was met with stares that insinuated he was an idiot.
“The shadows created the realms,” Kit repeated. “If you control the shadows, you control creation.”
“The realms are separated by magic, and magic is holding me here,” he reminded them, shaking his head.
“If the light powers the realms, then it controls the magic.” He pointed to an essence light.
“The magic possessed by mystics gives us power, and it stands to reason that light gives magic its power.”
Kit jabbed the page so hard that he was surprised it didn’t drill a hole. “It says darkness is stronger than light. You should be able to create something to break the magic holding you here or create a way through.”
Caius flipped the page, skimming the story.
He was disappointed in himself because he already knew this information about the shadows, but he never thought he could create something new.
“I only know how to move the shadows, not create things. I wouldn’t know where to begin unless there’s a book telling me how, which I doubt. ”
“You need Sam,” Lauren said from behind the women, and they all turned their attention to her.
To Caius, Sam’s magic appeared to be no different from Lauren’s. “If Sam knows, then you should know, too.”
She huffed out a quiet laugh. “Sam is much older than I am. If anyone knows how it’s him.” That made sense. The way Sam spoke and held himself suggested he was older than Lauren and Caius combined.
“How old are you?” Kit blurted out, studying the Angel.
“Older than you,” Lauren quipped, and the librarian glowered back.
“Where is Sam?” Lenora asked, breaking her silence. “You boys need to try breaking through.”
“Sam will be back in a couple of days,” Lauren answered her.
Nodding, Lenora spoke to Caius. “You will break through.”
Hope and shock took root as he met her confident stare. “You’ve remembered something?”
She sat in a chair and smiled, but it wasn’t one of joy, and Caius’ hope evaporated. “I have. You—” Her brows knit together. “Explode. Or something like it.”
The blood drained from his face at her foreboding words. “That doesn’t sound promising.”
Her lips moved as if having a conversation with herself. He didn’t know how or why she was remembering parts of her visions. Maybe the Seraphim were helping them, or maybe without the assault of new visions, her mind could sort out the old ones stored within her memory.
“I can’t explain it,” she said finally. “But you get out.”
“Do I get out in time to save her?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know her answer.
“You can,” she replied, but her grim expression deepened his dread. “That doesn’t mean you will.”
The ominous response hung over their heads like a dark cloud. “Please, keep looking for anything that might help,” he told the women. “And thank you.”
They filed out of his office, and he retreated to his bedroom, praying sleep came easy tonight.
Caius stood in the palace gym on a field of wildflowers. His heart beat fast at the prospect of seeing his mate. As if he conjured her with hope alone, Rory walked out of the shower room and looked around.
When her eyes landed on him, they were frozen in time. “You’re here,” she whispered.
He raked a hand through his already messy hair and tried to keep himself from smiling like a lunatic. “I’m always here, Miss Raven.”
“Why are we in a gym?” She pushed a punching bag as she walked by. “Have I been here before?”
“We have, many times.” He met her in the middle and traced his eyes down her body. She wore a sleep set, not much different from the ones she wore in Vincula. “We’ve used this room for many things.” Heat filled his eyes as they met hers. “Some were quite loud.”
Her breath hitched before she spun around to survey the room. “Were we loud often?”
She peeked over her shoulder at him, and he sauntered across the room, pressing his chest to her back. With a featherlight touch, he brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck tenderly, half expecting her to elbow him in the face.
She stopped moving, and he smiled against her skin. “We were.” On instinct alone, his hand snaked around her middle and pulled her body tighter against his. He closed his eyes, thankful to be close to her.
“We were together, then?” she mused, leaning her head back to rest on his shoulder.
Pressing his cheek against the side of her head, he nodded. “We were.”
“I wish I could remember,” she murmured. He did too.
The prospect of her memory returning lit him like a match. “Do you remember anything at all?”
She swung around until they were face to face, his hand now resting on her lower back. All he could think was, she’s letting me touch her.
“Sometimes I get this feeling.” She waved her hand around her head. “Like whatever I’m doing is familiar. The memory is on the edge of my mind, but I can’t reach it.” She tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “Does that make sense?”
“What things?” He assumed the magic affected her differently, but no one believed him.
A pensive mask fell over her face, and her mouth bunched. “I hate stairs now.”
Chuckling, he pushed her long hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. “You didn’t have your Fey strength in Vincula, and the stairs killed your legs when you first arrived.” Another memory made his face darken. “And someone pushed you down a stairwell. You almost died.”
Her lips parted. “Who pushed me?”
This was his opening to help her remember. “A woman named Nina was infatuated with me. She thought you stole me from her and convinced men to kill you.” The image of Rory lying broken at the bottom of the stairs turned his stomach. “Once we proved it was her, you slit her throat.”
Rory blanched. “I killed someone in prison? Why am I not in hell?”
“You were going to be my queen, and it was your right to pass judgment and dole out the punishment you saw fit.”
“Queen?” she exclaimed with wide eyes, and he nodded. “You are the Umbra King!” She stepped away from him, and he regretted saying anything at all. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought if I told you anything about your time in Vincula, there would be consequences, but I changed my mind.” Silently, he pleaded for her to come back to him.
“Why me?” she whispered.
This woman was always too hard on herself. He closed the distance between them, unable to stay away. “It was always going to be you, bond or not.”
She frowned. “Bond?”
A wry smile formed on his lips. “You are my Aeternum.”
No longer able to hold back, he kissed her. She hesitated but soon opened for him, and the feeling was like no other. Kissing her again was rapturous, and when she pulled away, he felt the loss deep inside.
She pressed her fingers to her lips. “What is an Aeternum?”
The room shimmered, and he hung his head. “Wear a dress tomorrow night,” he said, kissing her cheek.
She looked around and groaned. “It’s time to wake up.”