Chapter 59
ERDIKOA
Rory, Caius, and Adila sat in a booth in Erdikoa, and Rory rested her hand on Caius’ thigh, reminding him she was there to support him. It’d been weeks since the showdown with Gedeon, and Adila called Caius every day, asking to see him.
She understood her mate’s hurt, but she also understood fear, and fear kept Adila on a tight leash for five-hundred years.
Rory insisted they meet in the city to ensure there were no interruptions while they spoke. With the changes happening in both realms, someone always needed them.
As they waited on their drinks, Caius asked Adila if they’d made any progress hunting down Gedeon’s spies.
The day Gedeon died, Caius rounded up a few Aatxe guards and barked orders like a commander. He had experience running a palace, whereas Adila looked like a frightened bunny.
The trusted guards rounded up the non-Aatxe guards hired by Gedeon, forced a truth potion down their throats, and learned about a large number of spies the late king had stationed around the city.
A guard named Titus had the most information, and when he showed Caius where to find the files on all of Gedeon’s spies, Rory was hurt to learn Fiona was one of them, but the biggest surprise was learning she was Nina’s mother.
Adila rattled off the latest updates as Rory half listened, lost in her morose thoughts, and after their server brought their drinks, Adila cleared her throat loudly. “Thank you for agreeing to hear me out.”
Caius drummed his fingers on the table, avoiding eye contact. “I know what you’re going to say. I understand you think you had no choice.” His eyes met hers. “But I’ll never understand why you gave up as easily as you did.”
The Lux Queen’s face filled with shame. “I’m not you or Atarah,” she admonished.
“I’ve never fought back a day in my life, and I hate myself for it.
I hate myself for accepting things as they were.
I am not excusing my actions,” she assured him.
“I am asking for another chance to be the sister I should have been.”
“Five-hundred years is a long time,” he replied quietly. “It will take me longer than a few weeks to get over it.”
“I know.” Her eyes looked hopeful. “And I’m not asking you to get over it. I’m asking for a chance to make it up to you.”
“You’ll get one.” He threw back his drink and signaled for another. “Just not right now.”
“Rory?” a man’s voice asked, and they turned to see a handsome guy in his twenties with shaggy hair gawking at her.
Where did she recognize him from?
“How are you here?” he asked, and her eyes bulged when she realized who he was.
Wyll the virgin. Shit. Rory still used her alias in Erdikoa, pretending to be Aurora Raven’s cousin, but she’d answered when he called her name. Double shit.
“I think you have me confused with someone else,” she replied politely.
Wyll’s eyes flicked to Adila, widened, and rolled back in his head. Caius shot to his feet, catching the man before he hit the ground. “Who is this?” he asked Rory.
She grimaced. “I slept with him not long before I was arrested.”
He scowled and dropped Wyll like a sack of potatoes.
“Caius,” Adila hissed, looking around as she scooted out of the booth. People were staring, and she lifted a hand. “We’re fine. He got a little excited.” Some turned away, but a few still watched curiously.
Wyll’s eyes opened in a daze. “I fucked The Butcher.” He turned to Adila. “And you’re…”
Caius’ eyes flashed, and he lifted his foot above Wyll’s head. Rory reached out and forced her husband into the booth before he could stomp the poor guy to death. “Don’t you dare.”
Adila held out her hand to help Wyll up, and when he grabbed it, they both gasped.
He pushed himself into a sitting position, and his eyes almost popped out of his head as they ate up their surroundings. “How is this possible?” he whispered, turning his wide eyes to Adila. “What did you do to me?”
He and Adila were lost in their own world, and Caius glanced at Rory.
“We need to get him out of here,” Rory told him sternly. “Help him walk out, but if you hurt him, I won’t touch you for a week.”
“You slept with him,” Caius replied through clenched teeth. “I am fighting the urge to disembowel him.”
She tried to rub the tension from her forehead. “You can’t kill anyone who touched me before we met.”
His brows rose. “You did.”
“That’s not the same,” she said hotly. “She tried to kill me. Pick him up.”
Wyll drank in his surroundings, his handsome face filled with child-like wonder. Rory knew that look.
Caius roughly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his feet. “Walk, or I’ll kill you.”
Wyll straightened, nodding as he stumbled alongside Caius. A man grabbed Rory’s arm when she passed his table. “Do we need to call emergency services?”
Caius shoved Wyll forward and caught the man’s wrist. “If you touch my wife again, I will break every bone in your hand.” For fuck’s sake.
Rory had convinced him to wear casual clothes today, and while she loved him in a t-shirt and jeans, the black veins covering his arms made him look menacing. He was going to give this innocent bystander a heart attack.
“Wyll is fine,” Rory told the man with a polite smile. “He needs air. Thank you.”
She pushed her husband forward as he glared at the concerned patron, and when they were outside, she threw her hands up. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I don’t like people touching what is mine.” His eyes slid to Wyll. “No matter when it happened.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” she warned him and turned to Wyll and Adila, who stared at each other intently.
“Adila, is he what I think he is?” Rory asked her. She remembered Wyll was a Sylph and eyed the Lux Queen up and down. It was probably an inappropriate time to ask what twisted Sylph ability she inherited from her Aeternum, and Rory made a mental note to ask later.
“Did you have grey-scale sight?” Adila asked Wyll, who nodded in response, confirming their suspicions. “And can you see color now?”
He nodded again, and Caius muttered, “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Call the car,” Adila said without looking away from her Aeternum. “We need to take him to The Capital.”
Wyll finally came to his senses and held up his hands. “What is going on?”
Adila looked both ways down the sidewalk, ensuring no one was close enough to hear her. “I’m going to show you something, and then you must come with me to the Lux Palace.”
He ruffled his hair and exhaled loudly. “Okay.”
She pulled him to the side of the building and motioned to Rory and Caius. “Can you two cover us?”
They both moved to hide the other two from prying eyes, and Adila held out her hand, calling light into her palm. It twined around Wyll’s fingers, and he stared at it in awe. “It’s beautiful,” he murmured.
“I am the Lux Queen,” she whispered to him. “There is much we need to discuss.”
Wyll glanced at Rory, and she nodded. “She’s telling the truth. My husband is the Umbra King,” she said, pointing to Caius. “Show him.”
Caius glared at her, and she glared right back in a battle of wills. “Fine,” he reluctantly agreed and held out his hand, showcasing his ability.
“Aether,” Wyll muttered under his breath. “I don’t know if I’m losing my mind or if you’re telling the truth.” His expression softened at the pleading look on Adila’s face. “Fuck it. I’ll go.”
The three Royals breathed a sigh of relief, and Rory called Caius’ driver to pick them up.
Caius pulled her into his side and leaned down to murmur in her ear, “If you ever threaten to withhold your body from me again, I will make you suffer when you give it back.” He licked the point of her ear, sending tingles to the apex of her thighs.
“The next time we meet one of your past lovers, I will fuck you in front of him to stake my claim.”
“We can hear you,” Adila snapped.
Caius smirked, never taking his eyes off his wife. “Good.”
After dropping Wyll and Adila off at The Capital, Rory and Caius stayed the night in Erdikoa instead of returning to Vincula right away. As they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk toward one of Rory’s favorite restaurants for dinner, she did a double take at the man across the street.
Could it be him? Tapping Caius on the shoulder, she discreetly pointed, trying to stay calm. “Is that who I think it is?”
He followed her line of sight and chuckled when he saw the other man. “I believe it is.” She pressed a hand over her pounding heart, and Caius gently tugged her forward. “We can say hi.”
Her stomach did somersaults, and once they crossed the street, she jogged after the guy, leaving Caius behind as she called out to him. “Hey!”
He turned, and his messy hair and goofy grin made her heart stop. “Yeah?”
When she reached him, she ran a hand nervously through her hair. “I know you don’t remember me, but we’ve met before, and you promised we’d hang out. You never gave me your number.”
Turning to her fully, he crossed his arms with a smirk. “How do you know I don’t remember you?”
“What’s my name?” she challenged, mirroring his stance with a popped brow.
He narrowed his eyes at her and then laughed, shaking his head. “You got me.”
She stuck out her hand with a smile so big her cheeks hurt. “I’m Lo, and that’s my husband, Caius.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward Caius as he approached.
The man looked at her mate’s bare arms and whistled. “Nice tats, man.” His gaze slid back to Rory, and he shook her outstretched hand with a smile. “I’m Asher.”