16. Chapter 16
Q uickly, Eden went around to the back of the house to go in through the side door to avoid her family. She reached out to pull open the door just as it suddenly swung open and was met with two men's laughs followed by a quick shush. Bastien and Corvus made their way out at the exact moment she was trying to sneak in which made her momentarily forget the day's events. Corvus moved a few steps down the stairs as her uncle closed the door quietly still with his eyes locked on Bastien. Sneaking out like teenagers. She rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. With an intentional clear of her throat, she caused the two to jump and turn to face her. Bastien let out a sigh of relief when his eyes found Eden there with her hands on her hips.
“Eden- It’s just you.” He smiled as the couple walked down the three steps toward her followed by the demon.
“Yup, just me Bas.” She put on an obviously fake smile as Corvus approached her.
“Nice to see you again, Eden.” He held out his hand to her, but took it back when she didn’t move to shake it.
She nodded and tried to move past them as her irritation with the day grew. “And you, if you excuse me.”
“Of course,” He stepped aside as Basiten patted his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, her bark is bigger than her bite.” He whispered as she made her way to the door.
“Heard that! Suck it, Bastien!” Eden held up her middle finger at him, which he returned with a bright smile.
She made her way into the sitting room and rummaged through her bag for her notebook. She took a seat as she pulled it out and waited for the sound of the door latch. What was he thinking bringing Corvus over here? If anyone else would have seen them- Eden knew this was Bastien’s secret routine he kept hidden from everyone in the family, fun between the mundane of waiting for the right moment to carry out Eloise’s plan. Her eyes stayed glued to her unopened notebook as the consequences that could have followed if it had been Eloise or Richard that discovered them swirled in her mind. Footsteps broke her train of thought and she peered up to see Bastien make his way back toward his room.
Eden stood from her spot and took a few steps forward. “What the hell were you thinking, Bas? Bringing him here? You know it’s too risky to bring your conquests here.”
“I was thinking no one was supposed to be home.” He stopped and told her defensively by the stairs.
“Yeah well, one of these days it might not be me who comes home unexpectedly. If Eloise, Richard, or for fucks sake Stacey were to be the one?” Her eyes grew wider as she spoke as she remembered Richard’s reaction the night of Rue’s death.
“Look- I know, okay? You don’t have to worry about me.” His voice raised, frustration plain on his face.
“Yes, I do Bastien. Of course, I do!” She raised hers in return and frowned. “I can’t lose you, I need you with me when I become the matriarch.”
“If you do-” His eyes widened as the words seemed to have fallen out.
The two locked eyes in the sudden heavy silence as the look on his face softened with a silent apology. His body seemed to relax and he stepped toward Eden whose face was still bright red with anger at his comment.
“You better explain what you mean by that.”
With a sigh, he stopped a few feet from her. “I’ve been at almost all of your training sessions. When you first got here, you wanted nothing to do with the missions. It took two years for you to settle into your role, to stop questioning Eloise and Stacey every step of the way. I know what it looks like when you’re questioning things, it’s in your eyes. I’m surprised Eloise hasn’t noticed.”
“She’s too busy making sure Stacey is happy with how the plans are going,” the red on her face started to fade away. “Besides, you know I could never walk away from the family.”
“But you could, if you’re happy that’s all that should matter.”
“That’s just it Bastien, it’s not all that matters. Without Eloise I would have grown up in that orphanage and who knows where I would have been now if that was the case. I’m an Heiress and that is my duty to this family.”
“It should matter, Eden. You’re more than that.” He told her softly. “You deserve to find happiness too.”
Eden’s eyes met Bastien’s again, out of all the times they had this conversation there was finally an underlying sense of understanding between them. This time his words struck deeper than they ever had. It was clear how happy he was with the demon, he was different with Corvus and one day if everything kept going the way she saw it, he would be gone. A pang of sadness weighed her heart as the realization came to her though deep down she had already put the pieces together about a week ago. She looked at him gratefully, the sound of the door that squeaked open softly in the front entrance once more made her jump and quickly cut off the conversation.
Heels clicked on the floor which announced Eloise’s arrival into the house. She turned to face her mother behind them, Eden could see the stress written in the Matriarch's eyes.
Bastien turned to her with stifled worry in his gaze as he seemed to realize how close he was to almost getting caught. “What’s going on? Why is everyone home so early?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Eloise frowned.
“Mother- Would you please explain what I saw?” Eden coaxed impatiently.
“What did you see?” Bastien interrupted and looked pointedly at Eden. “You didn’t tell me you saw Eloise doing something.”
“I didn’t have the chance, but since you must know I saw Mother here with a silver knife to Remi Moon’s neck.”
Eloise peered at Bastien and shot him a look to leave the room. “You mean I don’t get to hear this?” He complained and crossed his arms over his chest. “You know Eden is just going to tell me later.”
Eloise rubbed her temples as she walked over to the leather couches in the middle of the room. Eden followed her mother with Bastien close behind her, a look of concern now clear on his face. The two joined Eloise and took a seat in the two leather armchairs on the other side of the coffee table. Her face had fallen into her hands, elbows on her knees; she only met their eyes when they took their sets. She drew a deep breath in and Eden suddenly became aware of how tired her mother looked. Is this my future? The intrusive thought drew her attention away just before Eloise started to speak once more.
“When I was thirteen, we had just arrived at a house in Massachusetts and newly installed a setup in the basement. When Stacey and I went down together she had already brought a werewolf and locked it away. Remi who at the time was a loner anyways, had no one to come looking for her. For over a year she stayed with us as a training tool until she escaped. That was just before Stacey brought me here for the first time on a mission after she discovered the school's existence.” Eloise explained briefly as she sat back against the cushions. “When I brought us all back five years ago, I found out that Coyote thought she was dead… And that’s what I had hoped since that would have solved the current situation we find ourselves in.”
She and Bastien starred as she told the story, Eden knew that her grandmother and mother had many arguments over using live training tools for years especially in the initial years of her in the family. This must be the reason she won’t use them.
“Do you think she’ll tell her brother?” Bastien asked.
“No, she won’t risk losing the family she has found here. She knows what we are capable of. But as a precaution, I have a spell I can use to make sure she can’t talk about it with anyone. I have to perform it tonight. She'll still remember but if she tries to talk about it, her words will start twisting.” Eloise explained to the two.
“Good because I think we have an even bigger issue at hand.” Eden told them.
“We do, Cleo Anderson has arrived at the school.” Her mother told Bastien who seemed confused.
“You mean the hunter with morals? Dammit, she’s such a buzzkill.” He leaned back into the chair.
“We have to tread lightly, make sure you aren’t seen without your cover. Stay out of her sight, even with them you still are recognizable to her as she seems to know the family.” Eloise rubbed her temples again. “I have to go do the spell before she finds the balls to go to anyone.”
With a nod from both of them, she stood from her spot on the couch and made her way out of the room. It was quiet for a moment after the heavy conversations. It was only dinnertime, but she could have gone to bed as exhaustion tried to take over.
She caught Bastien’s eyes and saw he also seemed just as tired, “Why don’t we all go get some rest?”
“I will, I’m going to get dinner… Do you want me to bring you anything?”
“Well, maybe just a small thing.” she let a grateful smile drift to her face. “I’ll leave something by your door.” He stood and put a hand on her shoulder before he squeezed it lightly and made his way out as well.
Night had fallen and Eden had found herself unable to find rest. Memories of the last few days replayed behind her eyelids every time she tried to sleep. To distract herself she started to read anything she could find on Xemos and had brought every relevant mythology book from their library up to her room. Books scattered across her desk, she flipped through the pages in search of his name. The image of his face in her mind’s eye, she opened the next book in the pile. Finally, halfway through the seventh book she finally came across him among a pantheon of various gods and goddesses.
“In the beginning, there was Xemos, God of elemental magics, curses, academics, and necromancy along with 3 others. A twin sister Renas, Goddess of deals, destruction, and war. Themos, his brother, god of thieves, trickery, death, and law. Renas also became later known as a creation goddess due to her creation of man. Their brother, Themos would soon become jealous that she could create while everything around him seemed to die at his touch. Coming from his home under the earth, he cursed Renas so death came to any of her loved creations. This created the cycle of life and death.
Xemos would spend years studying and trying to break the curse on Renas. Eventually figuring out how to take the curse from her and put it into the world's first Death’s Head Hawk Moth. marking them as a symbol that the curse was near.
When Themos discovered the curse was broken, he chained Xemos to an iron gate he created in a small woodland by a lake in Romania.”
Eden paused when she saw the description of the place of the gate he was tied to. Her hair stood on end as she realized there was a good chance the place she met Xemos at training session was the gate he was tied to thousands of years ago. Though she still had trepidations, he hadn’t lied about who he was. The mental image of the death head hawk moth that sat on his collar sent a shiver down her spine as she continued down the page.
“Renas eventually found him but was unable to free him from the chains wrapped around his arms. Going to Themos, she made a deal. If he freed Xemos, she would let Themos rule over the Gods.
Once the deal was struck, Xemos was released, meeting his wife in the small town. Each god would soon take a spouse and create a generation of demi-gods.”
She stared at the wall in front of her and attention fell on the photos of various places she and Bastien had done missions in as it was tradition every time they went somewhere new. On the other side, a mirror reflected her image back at her. For the first time in a long time, she really took a look at herself. The dark circles that sat under her eyes seemed permanently set and her amethyst irises looked dull to her. She looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, and in that moment it felt like it.
Eden leaned closer to the mirror and started to see similar features to Lennox written across her face. Their noses were the same and she even saw the same face shape as her. Quickly, she reached out and turned her mirror around, and looked back at the photos of the family. If I’m going to be a matriarch, I’m going to need to be able to protect them better. Do I even want to be the matriarch? Wyatt’s face came to mind and her heart sank. If I don’t they will kill him if they find out he’s the reason. But would it even get to that point? Right now he was interested in her but how could she trust that one day he wouldn’t lose interest? Even if he gets past the fact I’m human and I lied to him for months, one day I’ll get old. A demon like him isn’t going to want me when I’m old and gray. Either way, I may need to hear Xemos out.
Eden stood from her seat and picked up the book she found him in. She searched her desk and found a shell Bastien had given her when they were young and stepped to her closet. Quickly, she grabbed a thick jacket and went to her spell tools and herbal collection. Eden bent down and searched her personal store of herbs for pomegranate seeds, candles, and a feather before she filled her pockets and left the house.
Determination filled her chest as she walked the same path she had the previous day. She had to see if the gate she read about and the one she came across were one and the same. She approached the edge of the lake, it was harder to retrace her steps to the gate in pitch black. Her gaze went up to the sky to find a crescent moon, Eden wished it was full for a little more light. She pulled on the blue thread of magic and lit a fire in the shape of an orb above her palm now that she was sure no one could see her from campus. Where is that gate?
Light illuminated the trees, she pressed forward into a clearing of pine. Eden walked for at least thirty minutes as the smell of pine found her followed by a cold breeze that drew goosebumps on her exposed wrists. Her eyes narrowed as the light from the fire in her hand fell on the cluster she had hid from Eloise in. Her heart skipped a beat and her pace picked up as her head turned in search of the gate. As she turned to the right of the trees, she saw it.
The mostly standing stone arch with precarious iron gates stood in the middle of the clearing. Eden approached the gate, pulled her jacket off, thankful she had worn a thermal long sleeve as she knelt down. Though the wind had died which made it much more bearable, it was still colder than she would have preferred and started to unpack the bag. No wind this time, at least the candle will stay lit. With quick hands, she placed the candles on either side of the gate and knelt in the center of the iron entrance. Eden tugged at the blue strand of her magic and with a snap, the tall white candles in front of the posts sprang to life. She then placed a feather, a dried pomegranate seed, and a shell in a circle in front of her herself and pulled out the book with Xemos’s lore and placed it beside her.
A sudden wave of confusion made her freeze as she realized she had no idea how to actually call on the god. Lennox hadn’t specified clear instructions, however she remembered his words from her encounter with the god. “Eden, you have a choice and I can lead you toward where you want to be. When your mother made her promise to me, she received powers that were also passed to you. I can do the same for you, add to what you can already do, and assist you in your choices.” With a deep inhale, Eden gazed up to the moon and started to speak.
“Xemos, God of elemental magic, curses, academics, and necromancy. Twin to Renas, Goddess of deals, destruction, and war. Accept this offering as I have come to discuss your offer.”
For a second, the clearing remained silent as she waited for him to appear. Her eyes drifted back down to the lit candle, she started to question if she had done it right. Her hand grazed the cover of the book which sat on her bag to keep it clean, under her fingertips the leather was cold. That was until the space around her seemed to warm and something unseen brushed her hand.
Eden turned and noticed a large moth fly toward her from behind in the night. She stayed still and watched it get closer until it flew overhead and landed on the gate above the right flame. Eden examined it closer as it settled, the brown and yellow spotted top wings fluttered to show the bottom portion of the wings, yellow with two brown stripes. A white patch in the shape of a skull looked back at her as the moth let out small high-pitched squeaks.
A hand rested on the gate on the other side beside the moth, the sudden appearance of the man caused her to jump. In the candlelight, the form of Xemos could be made out as the moth crawled to the collar of his shirt.
“I’m surprised to hear from you so soon, Miss. Miller.” He came through the entrance of the ready to collapse gate and knelt on one knee in front of the circle she created. His expression held none of the surprise he spoke of, but a smile curved his lips.
“I met Lennox in the hallway and saw the marks on her arms,” Eden admitted and motioned to the book beside her. “She gave me some more information, then I found your story.”
“Ah you did. Tell me, what did you discover in the lore book?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Actually, I do believe this is the very gate Themos chained you to.”
“Very good, it is indeed.” The god smiled softly with a spark in his eye that reminded her of Wyatt. “I value truth as much as I value knowledge. I will never lie to you, though I may not always tell you things directly.”
“Why not?” The question fell from her mouth.
“Because, there are times when too much knowledge is dangerous. I will not put my devotees in harm's way unnecessarily.”
“Why was Themos so jealous of Renas?”
“He was a grumpy god who couldn’t keep a plant alive even if his immortal life depended on it. Renas breathed the very souls into her creations but was boastful about it when she drank. Humans fell in love with her creations and left her the best offerings of all of us. He became so jealous he decided the quickest way for our sister to know what it was like to know death was through the curse.”
“The life cycle.”
“Yes.”
Eden stopped for a moment and watched the god’s face shift into entertainment. Nothing in his demeanor showed annoyance of her questions like Eloise had when she tore apart everything her mother said.
“Why are you offering this to me?” She watched his gaze drift to his now extended hand.
She paused for a few seconds but stood with him without accepting his hand. “After only a few days you’ve managed to find one of the very few books with the truth inside. I am invested in you, Eden Miller. I think you will be great and I know you’re looking for help.”
“Have you been watching me?”
“Not on purpose, however your run in with Miss. Cade I did look in on.”
“You are definitely honest.” Her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise as he admitted to his attendance on that occasion.
“My deal still stands, Miss. Miller. I will help you gather facts and guide you forward. In exchange for the additional magic to protect the ones you love, you must accept my guidance. I will lead you to places you may not like so you can discover the truth. You will also learn from other devotees when I send them. Will you accept my terms?”
Eden nodded.
“I need you to say it out loud, Little Moth.”
“I’m ready to accept your terms.” Eden agreed after a small pause at the sudden nickname.
He stepped into the circle and held his hands out to her, their gazes locked. Her heart raced as she glanced at them, this was it and there was no way to turn back. “Take my hands if you’re ready.” His deep voice echoed in the clearing. Eden lifted her hands to his and placed them into his palms. His fingers closed around hers and chains started to form from his arms and crossed over her hands and twisted their way around to her elbows. Sigils started carving themselves into the metal links and the iron started to hum with magic.
“Eden Miller, will you adhere to the guidelines that you have been given by myself?” He asked as the sigils started to glow bright orange and started to heat up.
“I will,” she confirmed through gritted teeth.
“Will you allow me to guide you in the protection of the path you choose?”
“I will.”
“Then accept your power and put your trust in me, no matter where it will lead you.”
The metal heated up to the point of burning her skin. She grimaced and fought back her reaction to the heat and only allowed herself one glance down to see the hot links. Panic rose in her chest and she felt her hands shake in his grip. Everything in her fought to pull away, to fight and pull out the weapon on her hip. For my family, she tried to remind herself why she was here.
“Hold on, Little Moth. It’s almost over unless you wish to go back?” Xemos’s velvet voice was calm, as if it didn’t matter if she said yes even now. She was surprised she still had a choice as the metal left burns.
“No, I want to know the truth, and protect my family.”
A strange sensation made its way from her arms and filled her body with warmth. The chains sunk into her skin and revealed the outline of healed silver scars in the shape of the chains and sigils had made around her arms. Xemos released her hands and dropped his own down to his sides. Eden’s hands drifted to her arms where she found the matching marks to Lennox now branded silver into her skin. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and fought back the strange sadness that threatened to overtake her. I’m not becoming her. She attempted to fight off the feelings as she peered back at the god.
“Rest for a day before trying to overexert your magic. You will discover the elemental power you already lean into will become stronger. Your first lesson is to work with joining two elements into one for a better result. Start small and work your way up, okay?” Xemos instructed her. She nodded and he was already standing and took a few steps back. “I will see you in a few days, Miss. Miller. Go home before Eloise discovers you’re not there.”