16. Ivy #2
“The Fates have been around forever. There’s never really been an acknowledged date when it all began.
It seems some things are better left a mystery,” he starts, opting to ignore me altogether.
“Back then, there was only one kingdom. Unfortunately, some of those blessed by The Fates were hungry for more than what they were given. They didn’t want to feed the land in return for their magic; they just wanted to continue taking, as if it was their right to do so.
They also didn’t like the idea of sodalities mingling.
The Fates split the land into five parts, giving them what they wanted while continuing to create a safe environment for those who chose the laws laid out.
The First Kingdom is Fire, which shouldn’t be a surprise since you Fire Protectors are the most wicked,” he says with a wink, but moves on too quickly for me to even consider a response.
“The Second Kingdom is made up of Water Protectors, because we all know they’re a crazy lot too,” he continues, referring to Teddy.
“Third Kingdom is Air, Fourth is Land, and Fifth is us, a mixture, still operating as the single kingdom did all those years ago.”
I blink at him, hoping there’s a note of that in one of the files he’s going to send over so I don’t forget.
“Professor Grogan mentioned two of the leaders in class yesterday: Leonardo Corrigan from the Second Kingdom, and Mallen Ferris. One is famously known for drowning his victims with their own saliva, the other is an expert at burning you alive with your own rage.”
I gulp. “That’s some power to wield,” I rasp, and he nods.
“The leader of the Third Kingdom is Deandra Dormer, the most fiercely known dragon rider who changes the gases in the air to suffocate you without you knowing until it’s too late.”
“Why are they all so vicious?” I blurt, internally berating myself for interacting with him at all.
“Power hungry, remember? Which leaves the Fourth Kingdom: Land. Polasara Stanford. She can shape-shift into any beast you can imagine. I once heard that she turned into something that had never been seen before. Like a mashup of different monsters all rolled into one.”
“Are they a threat to us?”
He scoffs. “Your father really kept you under a rock, huh?”
I want to snap and deny it, my pride and ego rearing their ugly heads, but I swallow them down. I’m not here to defend my father, I’m here for me. “It sure seems like it,” I admit, and he nods again, still no pity in his eyes as he speaks.
“The tension is high between every kingdom. It’s all politics at this stage.
People are angry with one another based on how they run and operate their lands, but the prize on the map is the Fifth Kingdom.
It seems because we’re not specifically run by a set sodality, that whoever wins control of us will have the most power. ”
“So they haven’t learned from their mistakes yet?” I ask, and his eyes widen in surprise.
“What mistakes might you be referencing?”
I shrug, suddenly doubting myself. “I’m not sure, but it seems as though they’re still striving for things out of their reach. Enough should just be enough. Or maybe they’re chasing what they no longer have, what The Fates offered them.”
He nods. “I think they’re chasing the magic our kingdom harnesses, but they’re not aware enough to realize it’s what they once had before they forged their own paths and divided themselves from one another.”
“Who represents us among the other kingdoms? I have to assume it’s not The Fates themselves.”
“You’d be right,” he confirms with another nod. “The Fifth Kingdom doesn’t operate behind the actions of one person, but a council.”
I blink at him, my eyebrows gathering as I try to think. A council? Have I heard my father mention that at all? The tighter the knot in my stomach becomes, the more sure I am that I have my answer.
“How do I not know this?” I mumble to myself as I press my fingers into my temples, and the bed dips beside me as a hand falls to my lap. My heart stutters in my chest as I blink at our connection. Warmth spreads across my skin, right up to my cheeks and down to my ankles.
I can’t breathe.
“Don’t focus on the negatives, Ivy. Acknowledge that you’re here, right now, in the present, hellbent on forging a path where you are better educated on the current climate around you.
It doesn’t matter what your dumbass father didn’t mention.
Hell, it doesn’t matter that Hugo kept you in the dark too. You?—”
“Hugo?” His name is ice on my tongue as my gaze snaps from where his hand rests on my thigh to his face. The warmth that consumed me moments ago is now erased by my brother’s name.
He realizes his error, but it’s too late.
Scrambling off the bed, I brush my hand over my uniform, avoiding his stare as I hurry toward the door. It’s only when the handle is firmly in my hand that I dare to look at him. I drop my shoulders, remembering my mother’s poise as I blink at him.
“Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it, but I would like you to leave now.”
Despite the calmness in my tone, he must sense the burning fury inside of me because he doesn’t push back like before, continuing to make himself comfortable against my wishes. Instead, he swings his legs over the side of my bed, slipping his boots back on before he rises.
He lifts his palms in surrender. “Ivy, I don’t know?—”
“You’re right. You don’t know. You don’t know anything,” I snap, despite my better judgment. Inhaling sharply, I try to lock down my emotions, but as he draws closer, it feels impossible. “You know Hugo?” I ask, desperate to see him lie, but he nods slowly.
“I do.”
My lips purse. “When was the last time you spoke to him?”
His eyebrows gather slightly. “Yesterday. Why?”
My nostrils flare as my stomach drops, disappointment taking root.
Tightening my grip on the door handle, I shake my head.
“The next time you speak to him, you let him know that it’s rude to talk to your sister’s enemies when you can’t also take her call,” I snarl through clenched teeth, watching as his jaw falls slack.
“Hugo hasn’t spoken to you?”
“Do you think I would be this mad if he had?” I’m taking my anger out on the wrong person right now. Or am I? Regardless, I need room to breathe, and I need it now.
I pull the door open, swiping my arm dramatically, indicating for him to leave, but when he doesn’t move and his eyes almost bug out of his head. I follow his line of sight.
Standing on the other side of my door is a bloodstained Archer.
He grins manically as he enters my room without an invitation. Blood drips from his nose and his hair is a mess, but it’s the crimson splotches all over his shirt that concern me the most. Especially when droplets of blood drip onto my floor.
“Sax. Angel,” he grunts, his smile somehow growing wider as he wipes the back of his hand over his face.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shake my head in disbelief. “Sax, get out. I can only deal with one of you at a time.”
Sax parts his lips, his eyes silently pleading, but to my surprise, he offers me a soft smile and a salute before he slips around Archer, disappearing from sight.
I regret it instantly as Archer turns his full attention my way, stumbling slightly as he settles his eyes on me.
“Why are you here, Archer?” I ask with a sigh, and he shrugs.
“I thought it might be worth seeing if you had healing abilities.”
My eyes widen at his comment before my gaze drops to my hands. “And you think I’d use them on you if I did?” I blurt, putting my mother to shame as he grins.
“Have you figured out your abilities yet?” he presses, and my silence is answer enough.
“Then, if anything, it’s me doing you a favor.
” He inches closer, bringing us toe to toe, and when I don’t move, he reaches for my wrists, lifting my hands until they’re so close to his face I can feel heat radiating from him.
“Wouldn’t your chest be better?” I rasp, dizzy from his close proximity.
He glances down at his shirt for a split second and returns his gaze to mine a moment later. “That’s not my blood.”
I gulp. “Who?—”
“Focus, Ivy,” he interjects, taking a slow, deep breath, and I instinctively follow suit. “Close your eyes and center your attention on your palms and my face. If there are any healing abilities inside you, I’m sure they’ll rise to the surface,” he breathes, and I do just that.
Silence stretches between us, cranking my pulse to full throttle as I will something to happen, but nothing comes.
“I don’t think I can,” I rasp, prying my eyes open to find his gaze settled on my lips.
“I don’t think so either,” he admits, his fingers flexing around my wrists, cranking the tension up higher, but as heat slicks up my spine, it snaps my focus and I jerk back.
My back hits the wall beside the door as I plaster myself against it. “You can leave now,” I blurt, his eyes storming with something I don’t care to explore further. When he doesn’t immediately move, I curl my hands into fists at my sides. “You’re getting blood on my floor.”
He follows my line of sight, watching the next droplet splatter in the small pool that’s formed, and he grins.
“I have to leave my mark somehow, Angel,” he whispers, disappearing from sight a second later as my door frame rattles with his departure, leaving no trace he was ever there except for the pool of blood I now have to deal with.