Chapter 35 #2
Would he have to protect her from himself if darkness took him over? He almost glanced at the veins marring his hands but didn’t want to draw her attention to them.
The sigh she released was heavy with defeat. “Yes. Anything is possible.”
“Lenora, you have helped Rory and me more than anyone else. We know I must find my way to her, and when I do, I’ll protect her from everything. I swear it.”
Lenora grabbed both of their bowls and carried them to the sink. Her silence hung heavy between them, and her next words rocked Caius to the core. “Do not make an oath you cannot keep.”
His feet were lead as he stood rooted to the floor. “I know you have your doubts that I will escape in time, but I am not making an empty promise. I will get to her in time.”
Lenora nodded weakly. “I’m counting on it, dear.” She went rigid, staring at him with unseeing eyes, and when she blinked back to reality, she covered her mouth, looking at his hands. “His darkness is poison,” she whispered as she continued to stare. “Whatever you are doing, you must stop.”
He was thankful he’d gotten dressed before coming to the kitchens. Otherwise, she would see how far the veins went. “They’re just markings.” Wiggling his fingers, he smiled. “I am the shadow king, after all. It only makes sense that I have shadows in my blood.”
She grabbed his arm and shook it. “You cannot save her if you are dead, Caius.” Her voice broke. “I saw the darkness consume you.”
“That doesn’t mean it killed me,” he replied carefully. “Consume and die are vastly different. What did you see?”
Her brow furrowed as she stepped back. “I saw the darkness cover you completely, and then you…” She trailed off and looked to be searching for the correct word. “Were nothing.”
The experience had shaken her, and Caius couldn’t deny that her words were haunting, but earlier, she admitted it was hard to interpret her visions.
With tears in her eyes, Lenora backed away and left him standing alone with nothing but the shadows for company.
Caius stood in line at the deli and twisted his hand as he stared at the veins. He liked how they looked, and briefly, he pictured his marked hand around Rory’s throat as she came.
Yes, he definitely liked the way they looked. “I knew I’d find you here,” Lauren said from behind him.
He glanced at her with a wry grin. “I like sandwiches.” The deli reminded him of Rory, of the way she squirmed when he declared his intentions to marry her. The memory made him happy, and he needed more happiness in his life right now.
Lauren ordered and moved to his side as they waited for their food. “I put my reports on your desk.”
“No issues, I take it?” he asked, sticking his right hand into his pocket.
She side-eyed him. “With the legion or with Rory?” He mindlessly twirled the ring on his left hand, drawing Lauren’s attention. “What is this?” she demanded, reaching for his wrist.
Caius pulled his hand from her grasp and stuck it in his other pocket. “A side effect of my training.” The man working behind the counter called his name, and after grabbing his food, he asked, “How is she?”
Lauren stared at the hand clutching his to-go sack.
“She was planning on petitioning the Scales of Justice to send her back here, but Sam and I met with Adila last night.” Her face was grim, and Caius crumpled the top of the bag in his hand.
“She can’t send anyone here unless they’re on trial, and even then, she has no say in where they go. ”
Caius’ jaw ached from how hard he clenched.
“Bullshit,” he ground out. “If she had no say over my sentencing, then why am I here?” The worker called Lauren’s name, and after grabbing her food, they stepped outside onto the cobblestone sidewalk.
“Her power would have known I was innocent. I didn’t deserve a punishment. ”
“She knows that,” Lauren returned defensively, taking Caius aback. “The Scales of Justice ability is like a separate entity from her, for lack of a better explanation. It—” She lifted two fingers and made air quotes. “‘Tells her’ why, though.”
Caius stopped and turned to her. “I’d love to hear why the Scales of Justice decided I needed to be locked away for five-hundred fucking years.
” His anger was mounting. How dare she defend his sister’s actions?
The cool burning sensation spread to his shoulders, and he knew what he’d find beneath his shirt.
“Because you were grieving and angry,” she snapped back. “You would have gone after Gedeon with nothing but pure rage while he laid in wait. He would have killed you, Caius.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” he fumed. “I am stronger than Gedeon when I have access to both realms. He didn’t even have power until he murdered my sister. He was completely untrained!”
Lauren held up her empty hand. “Calm down, Caius, and let me finish.” He took a deep breath, nodding. “The Scales of Justice said you needed something before you could defeat your brother.”
He wanted to ram his fist into a wall. “What exactly would I need? If she sentenced me because I was angry, why not only a year or two?”
Lauren looked at him pointedly, and it clicked. “Five-hundred years after I was sentenced, Rory arrived in Vincula.”
The Angel nodded. “Adila doesn’t know why or what it means, but that’s everything.”
“Did her power tell her to avoid me for five-hundred years, as well?” he asked, unable to hide the bitterness in his tone.
“I gave her hell, if it makes you feel better,” Lauren offered.
“Until I realized she had no choice. Gedeon has been spying on her since your arrest, possibly longer.” Caius opened his mouth, but Lauren held up a finger.
“This is a conversation you need to have with her, but until then, know she had a reason for her actions. Some were out of her control, and some were self-preservation, but what’s important is if you can get out of here, she’s on your side. ”
Caius wanted that to be true, but he wasn’t dense enough to believe anything his siblings said without proof.
They passed through the palace gates and crossed the courtyard to the main entrance.
He and Lauren greeted the guards as they walked inside. “Keep Rory as far away from Gedeon as possible.” He smiled at a passing butler. “That includes keeping her out of The Capital.”
“She’ll have no need to go to The Capital once Sam tells her Adila can’t send her back,” Lauren assured him.
That didn’t make him feel better.
They settled into his office, and Lauren propped her feet up on his desk as she unwrapped her sandwich. He frowned and used a pen to push her boot off the edge.
“I need to see Lenora and Rory’s friends,” she mumbled as crumbs fell into her lap.
His hands froze midair with his sandwich halfway to his mouth. “Why?”
Lauren set down her food and pulled her phone from her pocket. “Rory recorded video messages for them.” She pulled out another phone and handed it to him. “This one is yours to keep.”
He couldn’t grab the device fast enough. The screen was black, and he looked at her expectantly. “Hold the bottom button down for three seconds to power it on,” she explained.
Following her instructions, he watched the screen light up, and Rory’s eyes glared back at him from behind a coffee mug. He stared in wonder as he ran a finger down the screen, but it changed, and a few file icons appeared.
Frowning, he tapped the bottom button again, making the screen black.
Lauren’s cheeks were puffed out, and her body shook from holding in a laugh. “I set that picture as your main background.”
His face screwed up as he flipped the device over in his hand. “What does that mean?”
Leaning forward, she tapped the button, illuminating the screen. “The first screen is her picture, and when you swipe sideways, your apps come up.”
He swiped back to her picture, knowing he would stare at it an infinite number of times every day. “Thank you for bringing me this.” Looking up, he held up the phone. “When you go back, can you bring one of her entire face?”
Lauren stood quietly and rounded the desk. “I already did. Tap here and swipe side to side whenever you want to see them.”
His heart rate picked up, and he tapped the icon.
There were tiny square pictures and videos, and when he clicked one, it enlarged to fill the screen.
The first was a video in a dark hallway, and two men scrambled and screamed as an Eidolon fell from the ceiling.
Rory and two other women laughed so hard they were bent over.
“Text that to me. I want to remember that scream for the rest of my life!” Rory said with a wide smile as she laughed.
He covered his mouth with his hand and pushed down his swelling emotions.
She was happy. When he swiped the video, a picture of her smiling with her friends stared back at him.
Swipe. Her in a hair salon with a small woman behind her, beaming at the camera.
Swipe. Rory sitting on the couch with her father. Swipe. Swipe. Swipe.
He set the phone down, and the first tear fell.
The number of times Caius cried in his life could be counted on one hand, but seeing her, living her life and happy, broke him.
It was everything he wanted for her, and if she weren’t in danger, he would live his life in misery if it meant she stayed that way.
But she was in danger, and they had to force her memories upon her, causing her pain.
With his head in his hands, he let his anguish free. Dark spots appeared on the papers beneath his elbows, but he didn’t care.
“I took that blind happiness from her,” he choked out.
Lauren’s hand touched the top of his back. “She misses you. Yes, she’s happy to see her friends, but all she wants is you.”
He looked up with red-rimmed eyes. “And what if something happens and to save her, she has to stay in Vincula?” he asked. “She will resent me, and we both know it.”
Lauren shook her head. “This is Rory, Caius. If she didn’t want to leave Erdikoa, she wouldn’t.
She plans on coming back, and last night, she gathered her friends to tell them she was leaving because that’s what she wants to do.
You are what she wants.” She walked back around the desk and sat down.
“If you had to choose between Rory and never seeing me, Sam, or Adila again, which would you—”
“Rory,” he said without hesitation.
Lauren scowled. “You didn’t have to say it that fast, but that’s my point. You love us, but you love her more, and we understand. Her friends do too. You are two parts of a whole.”
He grabbed a napkin from his lunch sack and wiped his eyes and nose. “Thank you for bringing me a piece of her,” he said, powering up the phone again.
As he watched videos of his mate, Lauren slipped out quietly, leaving him to break alone.