Chapter 37
VINCULA
Caius ran his hand over his chest and felt slightly raised lines marring his skin.
He jumped out of bed and looked down at the scar with a disbelieving laugh. “It worked.” What did this mean?
Once in the bathroom, he examined the scar, loving the scripted A in the center of the moon. It was true, when he thought of the Plenilune, he pictured Rory writhing on the ground, moaning his name, but it was more than that.
Everything changed that night for him. She might have still been plotting his death, but when Caius stepped into the garden, he knew nothing would be the same.
Last night when she mentioned carving her name into his skin, he could think of nothing better than his ruinous little mate filleting the area over his heart.
The strange object the soulscape provided for him was perfect. He’d been deciding if he’d rather have a moon or stick with something simple like an A, and when he willed a knife into his hand, the pre-designed cutter appeared instead.
A quick scan was all he needed to know how it worked. It was perfect.
The raised scar was white against his tan skin, and he couldn’t stop touching it. Rory’s neck was proof that what physically happened in the soulscape bled into reality, but he didn’t think he’d scar. If anything, he should have woken up with a fresh wound that healed immediately.
Unless…
Old texts only told of the Aeternum bond and how it connects two mates, but there was nothing about the actual magic surrounding it.
When Caius thought of the design and knife, it was with the hope whatever he did would stay with him forever.
What if the blade was infused with something to make it happen?
They needed to test the boundaries of their soulscape to see how powerful the magic was. What if it could transport one of them to the other?
The morning flew by as he went through the movements, lost in thought. An idea bounced around in his head, but he needed more research before testing the theory.
After grabbing lunch, he pushed through the door of Vincula’s library and raised a hand in greeting when Kit looked up from a book. “Hello, Your Grace.”
“When no one else is around, please, call me Caius.”
A mop of curly black hair popped out from behind a bookshelf. “What about me?” Cat asked him. Bellina and Lenora appeared moments later, and Caius forced his laugh down.
“It applies to all of you but no one else.” Lenora bustled around Cat and Bellina and hugged him. Guilt made the moisture in his mouth turn to ash. “I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to tell you about her memories.”
She squeezed him once and released him. It’d been two days since Rory’s memories returned, and when he saw Lenora in the kitchens, he was too caught up in his own problems to tell her.
Lauren told her that afternoon, but he felt awful for not telling her immediately. It was unlike him to be selfish in matters such as these.
“You need to worry about yourself and my daughter,” Lenora told him, making him feel worse.
Bellina popped a hip and crossed her arms. “You didn’t tell us either.”
Caius looked to Kit for help, but she went back to reading. He saw her try not to smile. Traitor.
“I apologize,” he said sincerely.
Bellina opened her mouth to respond, but Kit stopped her. “Leave him alone,” she said from her desk without looking up.
The seamstress rolled her eyes and stepped forward. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
It was good to see a bit of her old self peeking through after the attack. “I’m here to look for a book.”
This caught Kit’s attention. “You have an entire library of your favorite books.”
He followed Lenora, Cat, and Bellina to a table covered with books and notepads.
Cat sat down and pointed at the chair next to her. “You can sit here.” She jerked her thumb in Kit’s direction. “She has the catalog.”
Everyone else sat in their places and went back to reading. They devoted every day to researching ways to help his mate. Cat’s furious scribbling caught his attention.
“Did you find something new?” he asked.
While still writing, she tapped the book with her other hand. “It’s another story about Aemas and Lora.”
Aemas and Lora?
Bellina leaned over the table and flipped the page to a picture of a gargantuan man with black hair, black eyes, and skin the color of snow. Next to him was a beautiful woman with long, light blonde hair, tan skin, and bright blue eyes.
It was the same couple from the other story, but different.
They stood in front of a fairytale castle, high on a hill, overlooking a sprawling city.
The castle looked to be carved out of a light, iridescent gemstone. He squinted his eyes as he leaned closer.
“It looks like opal,” Cat said offhandedly. “I don’t think that castle ever existed here.”
“You don’t know that,” Kit argued.
Cat shot a miffed look at her friend. “Erdikoa has been charted meticulously. The detail they went through is impressive, even in the outer lands, and there is no record of a gemstone castle.”
Kit snorted. “How would you know? The only copies are in The Crown library.”
Bellina and Lenora’s eyes volleyed between the other two women as they bickered back and forth. The former’s lips were shut tight, and her brown skin pinked as she tried to hold in her laughter, causing his own to bubble to the surface.
“I’ve been there.” Cat turned to Caius. “One good thing about coming to the prison realm is I get my memories back from my visits to The Capital. The magic in those walls is a bitch.”
Bellina looked starstruck. “You’ve been to the Lux Palace?”
“No,” both Kit and Cat answered before continuing their bickering.
Bellina’s confusion was common when it came to the mysteries of The Capital. The Capital walls enclosed not only the Lux Palace but other Crown-sanctioned facilities, like The Crown library.
Caius knocked on the desk to draw their attention. When they both faced him, he pointed at the book again. “We can discuss the logistics of the magic jewelry castle later.” Both women shot him a glare. “What is the story about?”
Cat sighed and picked up her notes to point at what Caius assumed were words. “This story is modern compared to the others from the early days. It might not be reliable.”
He eyed the book in question. “They use potions to keep the books from deteriorating. Was there a publication date?”
Kit moved to stand next to Bellina and Lenora, who watched the exchange quietly. “Yes, the book is old. About four, maybe five-hundred years old, to be exact.”
“How flattering,” Caius deadpanned.
Bellina and Kit burst out laughing, Lenora tried her best not to, and Cat looked at them like they were crazy. “What?”
“Nothing.” Caius pulled her attention back to the book. “You were saying?”
Flipping the page, she pointed to another picture. “The story is modern. Look at the layout of the city.”
He pulled the book close and examined the page. She was right. The biggest tell was the Munin compound. It wasn’t built until Caius was a teenager.
“Then why take notes?” he asked, eyeing her paper.
The odds were someone who loved the creation story wrote their own using the same characters. As an avid reader since childhood, he’d come across several books like that.
Kit quickly jumped in to defend Cat. “Everything is relevant, especially when Rory’s life is on the line.”
That reminded Caius why he was here in the first place, but he owed it to the women and their hard work to listen to everything they had to say. “You’re right.”
Cat pointed at her notepad again. “Aemas and Lora lost their sun.”
Leaning forward, he attempted to read what she’d written. It was the worst penmanship he’d ever seen. “May I?” he asked, picking up the notes.
Kit smirked when he tried reading them from different angles. Up close seemed to be the best. He read what he could and dropped the pad on the table. “Aemas and Lora lost their sun to the realms and sent the night to protect it?”
He and Cat stared at each other. She looked serious, and he waited for her to say it was a joke. What did that even mean?
“We don’t know what it means, either,” Lenora told him, seeing the question on his face.
Cat shrugged and grabbed her notes. “The story is long, but that’s the gist of it. I don’t think it means anything, but I took notes anyway.”
“That’s a good idea.” He turned to Kit and stood. “Can you help me look up a few things?”
Her eyes brightened as she told him about the catalog and how it worked. He already knew, of course, but she was in her element, and the light-hearted rapport of the group raised his spirits if only a fraction.
Rory’s pleas to focus on his happier emotions were fresh in his mind, and what better place to start than here?
The four women and Caius sat around a table at the bar with their shots held high. It was their second one, and Bellina stood. “To Caius fixing his stupid mistake so we can see our girl again.”
“Here! Here!” they all shouted before throwing back the bourbon. It burned on the way down, and Caius licked his lips with a grin.
“For someone who rules an entire realm, I really am a dumbass,” he agreed.
The group reminded him of Rory, and he tried to envision her laughing with her Erdikoa friends.
He discreetly slid his phone from his pocket and pushed the button.
Her eyes glared back at him. Turning it off, he put it back in his pocket.
Yes, he saw her in the soulscape, but there was something different about being with her in reality.
Bellina tapped his forehead. “Get out of your head. We’re having fun tonight, not sulking.”
Lenora gestured to his drink. “She’s right, dear. You can worry again tomorrow.”
He found nothing at the library, and when his mood soured, the others dragged him here and shoved liquor down his throat. In the over five-hundred years he’d been alive, he hadn’t had a group of friends since grade school, and even then, he had to leave them once he graduated.
He visited them periodically until he took the throne when he was twenty-five, but since then, he’d only ever had acquaintances. Being the king of the prison realm had been a lonely life until the Angels arrived. Sam and Lauren appeared out of nowhere, and Caius took to them immediately.
But other than those two, Caius had no friends. He came with the women because they reminded him of his mate, but he stayed because he enjoyed their company. Did they enjoy him too, or did they pity him?
“Let’s play a drinking game,” Kit suggested, and Cat quickly agreed.
“Have you girls ever played crossfire?” Lenora asked.
They glanced at each other, and Caius couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “You play drinking games?”
“Do you?” she returned. “You’re much older than I am.”
The group burst out laughing, Caius included. “I don’t, actually. Not since I was in my early twenties.”
“I didn’t know liquor existed that long ago,” Kit joked. At least he thought she was joking.
Bellina sipped her beer and asked Lenora, “How do you play?”
Rory’s mother stopped a passing server. “Excuse me. Do you have plastic cups behind the bar?”
The waitress shook her head, quickly glancing at Caius. “We don’t. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, dear,” Lenora said with a motherly smile. “Thank you anyway.”
“The home goods store is still open,” Kit offered. “We can buy some there.”
“Let’s go,” Cat said, jumping up.
“You all go outside, and I’ll close out our tab,” he told them as he left the table. He didn’t have to pay, but he needed to inform the bartender the others’ drinks were on him.
Once outside, they ventured to the home goods store and bought a few packages of cups. “We need beer, too,” Lenora informed them.
After buying beer, they stood on the sidewalk outside. “Whose apartment are we using?” Bellina asked the group.
Caius didn’t intend to join them, but he wanted to pay for their things. It didn’t feel right to enjoy time with Rory’s friends when she couldn’t. “I’m going to turn in for the night. You ladies be careful.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Lenora’s sharp voice asked, stopping his retreat.
He lifted his mouth in a half-smile. “To bed. I am an old man, after all.”
“You don’t look tired,” Cat accused. “Are we not important enough?”
Caius jerked back. “What? Of course not.”
Lenora turned to the girls. “Give us a moment.” She led him away until they were out of earshot. “Honey, Rory wouldn’t want you punishing yourself every day.”
He averted his gaze, unsure how to answer. “It doesn’t feel right,” he admitted. “I want to experience these things with her.”
She rubbed his shirt sleeve and gave it an affectionate pat. “Do you want to be responsible for piling more guilt onto my daughter?”
His eyes snapped to hers. “How does me going home hurt Rory?”
Her brows rose. “If she finds out you intentionally avoided having fun, she’ll blame herself.”
“She won’t find out,” he argued.
Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer. “Want to bet?”
His mouth fell open at her ruthlessness. “You wouldn’t do that to her.”
She harrumphed. “You don’t know me very well, dear. I suggest you follow me back to the girls, or you won’t like the outcome.”
His lips twitched, and Lenora grinned widely. “Lead the way.”
When they reached the others, Caius rubbed his jaw. “I have a room perfect for games,” he offered.
“We get to party in the palace? I’m in,” Cat announced and marched ahead, making Kit roll her eyes.
Lenora and Bellina linked arms as they followed the other two, with Caius trailing behind.
By the time they arrived at the palace, he was laughing at something Bellina said, and when Lenora looked at him and winked, his chest swelled with gratitude.
He led them into a banquet room undergoing construction. He had secretly started the remodel before Rory left as a surprise for her.
When they walked into the room, Cat spun around in awe. The bar was unfinished, but tables were set up across the wide room.
Kit looked at him quizzically. “You’re building a bar in the palace?”
He nodded and removed a cover from one of the tables. “What else do we need?” he asked Lenora.
Scanning the room, her eyes landed on a table meant for larger groups. “A longer table.”
From there, they worked to ready the game surface, and as he watched the women chatting and laughing amongst themselves, his heart longed for his mate. She would love this.
This carefree behavior was out of character for him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. It was fun, and he would return to being the king tomorrow.