22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Malina
“ M alina.”
A distant voice sounded in my dreams—a deep melody that soothed the roughest edges of my mind.
“Malina. Gods, sunshine, what happened to you?”
Wait. That’s not in my dreams.
My eyes opened to find the silhouette of Hakoa. He came into view as I blinked away the sleep from my eyes. He held my face in his hands with worry etched across his face. I was on a cold surface, and I had no memory of how I got there—the last thing I remembered was lying in the tub.
“What are you doing here?” I asked groggily as I sat up.
Hakoa leaned back but didn’t take his eyes off me. I was on the floor in my bathing room. I twisted my fingers to wield light into the room. I looked down at my body…
“Udon’s balls. Why am I naked?”
“The water was freezing, and your lips were blue. You were unconscious so I pulled you out of the tub,” Hakoa said roughly.
“Naked?” I asked again.
His brows flattened. “I’ve seen you naked before. ”
I scrambled to cover myself, but there wasn’t anything around. “Where’s the towel?” I felt my body and my hair, noting I wasn’t wet anymore. “How am I dry?”
“I’m a water wielder, remember?” He reached up and grabbed a towel from the cupboard then handed it to me, and our fingers brushed against each other. “Shit,” he exasperated. “You’re still as cold as ice. You scared the shit out of me.”
The side of my mouth curved up. “It’s okay. I don’t feel anything.” That was all I wanted.
I draped the towel over me, covering my breasts to mid-way down my thigh.
“Come on.” He got to his feet and grabbed my hand. “Let’s get you some clothes.”
I used my arm to hold the towel in place while he helped me up. I stumbled a bit and nearly fell over, but Hakoa caught me with his arm around my waist. My hand instinctively braced against his broad chest to keep from falling into him. His hand came up to mine, resting over it while my fingers grasped his shirt.
Time seemed to stop when I looked up at him, finding his amber eyes gazing into mine. Still dazed from the effects of the demid, I smiled.
Gods, he was handsome. And strong. And sexy. I had missed him.
Our particular situation was appealing in so many ways. We were alone in the dark, and I was already naked.
Fuck it. I could use a good time, and I know he can give me one.
I walked backward out of the bathing room, leading him toward my bed before letting go of his hand. He immediately went to the wardrobe and pulled out a loose pair of pants and a shirt, then handed them to me.
I didn’t take them.
I dropped my towel and slowly stepped closer to him until we were nearly touching.
He didn’t take his eyes off my face the entire time. I rose to my toes to kiss him, but stopped. His eyebrows creased as he looked more closely at my face.
“Malina. Your pupils…” His face fell.
Oh no.
He didn’t say anything more, just bent down to retrieve my clothes and help me dress. He didn’t look at my body once, despite my nakedness. He led me to the bed and pulled back the covers, encouraging me to lay down.
I crawled under the blankets, and the moment my head hit the pillow my eyes grew heavy.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back soon,” he said.
“Don’t bother…” I said as I began to drift off to sleep. It would be better if he didn’t come back.
I felt his weight lift off the bed then his lips lightly brushed against my forehead.
My eyes cracked open sometime later to the sound of grunts and clamoring in the distance. Drowsily, I got out of bed. I wrapped my arms around myself and padded out of my rooms. The sounds were coming from Nikan’s rooms down the corridor.
His door was ajar, and I could see light spilling out onto the floor. Scholars peered out their doors, curious about the commotion. I quickly tiptoed over and peered through the crack, wondering what he could possibly be doing at this hour making all that ruckus. My mouth fell open, and I felt adrenaline wash the remnants of demid from my system.
I shoved the door open and burst into the room.
Hakoa and Nikan were fighting. The floor rumbled as they threw their bodies around, slamming into the walls and furniture. Nikan had a busted lip, and Hakoa’s skin had split above his eye.
All I could do was balk at the sight. I didn’t know what to do, and I certainly wasn’t getting in the middle of two strong males who were clearly out for blood. But they weren’t using their elements, which told me no one had intentions of killing.
I flinched when Nikan pulled his fist back before squaring Hakoa in the jaw. Hakoa lunged for Nikan and tackled him to the ground.
“Why didn’t you tell me she’s on demid? Why didn’t you come to me?” Hakoa roared in Nikans face, punching the side of his head.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nikan shouted and twisted his leg up and over Hakoa’s torso, slamming Hakoa’s large frame to the floor and flipping over him. Hakoa shielded his face with his arms as Nikan pummeled him.
“I know what it looks like! I’ve had to dismiss warriors because of it.” Hakoa elbowed Nikan in the side of the head and flipped them over again, pinning my brother beneath him.
“Stop!” I yelled. “He didn’t know, Hakoa.”
Both of them stopped and looked up at me in surprise. I rushed over and shoved Hakoa.
“Get off him, you brute!”
Hakoa fell on his ass, relieving Nikan of his weight. They looked at me as if I were a stranger.
“Why?” Hakoa asked.
I blew out a breath. There was no use in holding it in anymore. I couldn’t even deny it if I tried. I closed my eyes and willed myself to finally speak of my torment.
“Because I can’t handle the fact Kya made me kill her. I can’t handle that I did it, and I can’t look at myself. I don’t know how to keep going, knowing what I did. Or that Nik made a deal with that bastard to spare our lives. I don’t want to feel like this. I just want to forget everything. ”
“Mal…” Nikan whispered and rose to a stand. “Her death is not on you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. She told me to. But I’m the one who put an arrow in her chest. I’m the one who took her life, and I can’t live with that.”
Hakoa stared at us, horror dawning on his face. “You haven’t talked to Ryker?”
Nikan and I glanced at each other briefly before looking back at Hakoa and shaking our heads. He held my gaze as he stood.
Hakoa approached me and took my hand. His voice was gentle. “Kya’s alive.”
I held back a scoff.
“What do you mean Kya’s alive? How?” Nikan asked warily.
“I don’t know. But Ryker is certain.” Hakoa shrugged.
“Can he talk to her? Feel her?” Nikan pressed for information.
“I don’t think so. But he’s adamant about it. Something about their bond.”
“The bond is driving him crazy. Of course he claims she’s alive. If she weren’t, then he would be driven to death by insanity,” I stated. It wasn’t that I didn’t want it to be true—there was just no way she had survived the Rip or the Onyx Kiss.
“I know it sounds unlikely, but I believe him. And you should too.” Hakoa stepped into me and placed a hand on my cheek, tilting my gaze to his. “It means you didn’t kill her.”
“Get out,” I whispered.
This was too much to handle right now. I didn’t want false hope only to be crushed all over again. I wouldn’t survive it. And Hakoa was threatening to cut what little shred of myself I had left.
“What?” he asked with bewilderment, his eyes searching mine. Whatever he was looking for, he wasn’t going to find.
“Get. Out.” My voice nearly broke.
“She told you to leave, so leave. I’ll find you later, and we can talk, but right now, you need to go.” Nikan stepped forward and pressed on Hakoa’s shoulder, trying to push him away from me.
Hakoa’s eyes slid to Nikan with a glare that would make any normal male tremble. I started to pull away but Hakoa gripped my arm. I really didn’t want to fight him and make this situation worse.
Hakoa swirled his hand, and I heard the crackling sound of ice. Nikan jerked back and looked at his feet. I glanced down and saw Hakoa had frozen water over Nikan’s shoes, securing him to the floor.
“Let him—Hey!” I shouted.
Hakoa threw me over his shoulder and quickly walked out of Nikan’s rooms. The Scholars with their heads poked out of their doors quickly shut them as we emerged.
“Put me down, and let Nik go,” I demanded, pounding on his back with my fist, but all he did was hold me tighter. I could hear Nikan grumbling from the room.
Hakoa took me down to one of the lower levels of the library. It was dark, and with the tinted glass walls of Morah, the moonslight didn’t provide much help.
He stumbled slightly. “Sunshine?”
With a frustrated sigh, I threw up my hand and wielded a small ball of light above us, intentionally smacking the back of his head at the same time.
He gave my leg a grateful squeeze and weaved through the maze of floor-to-ceiling shelves, filled with books of all kinds, until we came to an area with several tables.
I knew the library like the back of my hand, having lived here for most of my life. I knew without looking at the titles we were in the theological section of the third level.
Hakoa carefully placed me on my feet and gave a small smile. I wanted to hit him, but I refrained. I turned around to see Ryker’s familiar frame sitting at one of the tables on the far end.
I stiffened.
I didn’t want to see that asshole. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to feel the blame in his glare like I did during our last encounter.
But something was off about him. He was muttering to himself, and his head twitched as he flipped the pages of the books haphazardly strewn about the table with a small flame-lit lantern in the center.
He looked crazy to me already.
I glanced at Hakoa with a look that conveyed my earlier skepticism about Ryker’s sanity. He just placed a hand at the small of my back and led me over to the Lord of Oryn.
“Ryker,” Hakoa greeted.
Ryker looked up from the pages, and my heart sank. It wasn’t blame that I saw in those silver eyes, but unimaginable pain and anguish—a desperation so potent I could taste it.
He glanced at me for a short moment before turning his attention to Hakoa. “What do you need?”
“I need you to explain to Malina that Kya is alive. Maybe she’ll believe you.”
Ryker’s face was blank as he looked at me. “I don’t care if you believe me or not, but she isn’t dead. Our bond is fractured, but it’s still there. She’s in another realm, and I’m going to find her. If you’re not going to help, then get out of my sight.”
I flinched. I would always help her. He still had no idea what kind of bond Kya and I had. If he did, he wouldn’t have made it sound like I didn’t care. I knew Kya still hadn’t told him the three of us were from Atara. That we were bound on a different level by our mutual trauma over losing our homeland to the Glaev and our families to the Drift Islands.
I contemplated telling him just that but decided against it. Kya didn’t want to tell him until she was inducted as Lady of Oryn and could ensure she was able to bring back our people safely and give them a home. Personally, I didn’t think it mattered anymore. She was the Worthy of Atara anyway. But it was her choice, and I wasn’t going to go against her wishes.
Could she really be alive?
I allowed myself to consider the possibility.
If she was alive then that also meant…
“What about Daegel?” I blurted.
Ryker’s entire demeanor changed right before my eyes, and I could see the Bloodlust Lord of Oryn.
“If she survived, he could have too,” I clarified.
“I don’t know,” he growled through clenched teeth. “As far as I’m aware, he hasn’t returned here—but that doesn’t mean he’s dead.”
“So I may have sent her into another realm wounded for no reason?”
“Yes,” he clipped.
I looked at the books on the table. All of them were related to the Rip and myths. I glanced back up to my sister’s husband. “And how are you going to find her?”
Ryker continued to hold my stare as he pushed one of the books over for me to see and pointed to a passage. Hakoa and I bent down to read it. Both of our jaws dropped.
Hakoa stood straight up and tensed. “No. Absolutely not.”
“But…” I stumbled. “What if it doesn’t work? What if you die?” I turned my head to face him.
Ryker leaned forward. “What if I don’t?”