Chapter 40
Nexus Bound
ANNA
Isaw Blake for the first time since Ash’s chambers at play rehearsal a few days later.
To my surprise, he was going to resume his role as Aryus Ryth’enir. It was as if he were someone else as I watched him rehearse and when it came to our scene together, I was so nervous that I could barely remember my lines.
Of course, I wasn’t going to get out of this.
His eyes were the familiar slate, no trace of red anywhere but my memory. Being near him on the stage was like a test. While near me, he was still being watched, and he was in the mindset of one of the most notorious blood mages in the history of the Realm.
If he could be near me here, then perhaps we would be okay.
I understood him. But I still hated it. The brief moments of closeness during rehearsals were not enough. I missed him.
It was late one evening after rehearsal that I finally caught him before he disappeared right after.
We were backstage, and the others were still chatting in the theater. I realized the previous rehearsal there was a back exit, and he had been coming this way to avoid me.
I crossed my arms, glaring at him.
“Anna,” he said, his voice weary and frustrated.
“Stop avoiding me,” I said firmly. “I’m not scared of you, Blake! It’s not like you’re stalking women like Malakai. You have this under control.”
“I have it under control because I am being careful. Perhaps pretending to be a raving mad blood mage who murders his lover after drinking her blood is not the best idea right now,” Blake retorted. “But that is not why I am avoiding you.”
I raised my brows. “Then what is?”
Blake ran his hand through his hair. “I do not want you going to the Realm for me. It is not safe. There were so many wraiths in Divide’s Edge that day—it’s getting worse.
And I certainly do not want you to come to Raven Falls.
I came to Nightfall to find a way to stop the bloodmist and stabilize the rift and get my people out one day, not to bring more people back to my world which is falling into oblivion.
But I have failed, the curse is more unstable than ever and only getting worse. ”
I staggered back as if he’d shoved me.
“You can’t be serious?” I whispered.
Blake looked down, his face unreadable. “Anna, I cannot be the reason you get hurt. Not by me, or by anyone near me. I do not want you to go to the Realm.”
I shook my head. “You said there was time.”
“I thought there was. But Melanie was right. You would be a fool to go there now.”
Blake neared me and pressed his forehead to mine. He stayed there for a moment before quickly abandoning me to my thoughts.
When I got to my room I slammed the door, emotionally and physically exhausted, and spotted a scroll on my bed. Grabbing it, I ripped it open.
I stared at the words, my hands shaking, and rushed to Isabella’s room.
I threw her door open without knocking and found her sitting in the corner chair.
The room was dark with only slivers of moonlight creeping through her closed curtains.
My nervous excitement faded as I paused, unsure if I should enter.
My arm went slack at my side, my hold on the letter loosening.
“Bella?” I called.
She didn’t say anything and I wasn’t sure if she was awake. Her face was cast in shadows. I moved in closer, trying not to alarm her.
“Bella?” I whispered, reaching for the curtain and shifting it.
When the moonlight struck her face, I gasped. She was sitting there, perfectly still, her eyes staring right through me. She didn’t blink.
Alarm and fear flooded me.
I stood there for several moments trying to decide whether to run for help or go to her, but neither sounded like a good plan. Then, her voice hardened my stance even further.
“I’ve been lying,” she said, her voice quiet and soft.
My heart raced and I searched her face for a hint of a smile, or a mischievous curve of her cheeks, but it wasn’t there.
“I saw my father in the village today. He’s not my father,” she continued, her hollow gaze still boring right through me. “I don’t know who he is. I don’t even know who I am.”
Sucking in a breath, I tried to regain some composure, and I noticed the same scroll on her side table. She had been selected, too. But what was happening to her?
“What do you mean you don’t know who you are?” I asked.
“I’ve been to the Realm. I remember it. I was small,” she said. “My mother was there.”
I gaped at her, shocked by what she was saying.
“Is she still there?” I asked.
Isabella still had not blinked.
“I see her sometimes,” she said. “She looks different from the way she did back then.”
“Different how?” I asked.
“Well, she’s dead,” Isabella said. “She doesn’t look as pretty as she used to.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“You mean you have nightmares about her?” I asked.
Isabella looked rapidly to the left.
“No, I see her. I can see her now.”
I didn’t breathe as I looked, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
A moment that stretched an eternity left me with a chill that rivaled the one the night my mom was killed. Isabella’s gaze snapped onto mine.
Her giggle resonated deep in my veins, chilling my everi into stillness.
She raised an eyebrow, her cheeks rosy as a grin spread across her lips. “You should see your face. You totally bought that.”
I didn’t sleep at all that night.
Isabella, insisting she was kidding, dismissed me to go to bed and I couldn’t remember getting from my spot by her window and under my covers, but there must have been a trail burned onto the carpet.
Isabella was always bubbly and excited and last night was weird.
It reminded me of that time on the balcony, before her and Saryna were attacked.
I thought about talking to Roslyn, but as an Aurkai I wasn’t sure what she would be bound to do. I didn’t want to put Isabella in any danger.
I checked on her before classes and she was singing as she put on her makeup as if nothing had happened. Perhaps she was experimenting with too many cocktails lately or this was Malakai’s doing somehow. My everi burned through me as I thought of his sneering face.
She waited for me after, like she always did, and fell into step beside me.
“What time do you think we should leave tonight for the Aurkai wing?” she asked, holding her books to her chest.
The letter about our selection hit me like a cold shower. I’d been worried over her odd behavior that I’d forgotten all about it.
“Oh yeah,” I said. “We should leave at six so we aren’t late.”
Isabella nodded.
A pregnant silence fell between us.
“Anna,” she said, “about last night. I’m sorry for being weird. Sometimes I have vivid nightmares if I don’t get enough sleep.”
I glanced at her, seeing the smear of her mascara and the creases in her foundation. She did seem to be worn down lately.
“Was what you said true?” I asked. “About your dad?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ve known for some time that he wasn’t my real father. He’s the closest thing I have to one, though.”
“And what you said about the Realm,” I started.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I was born there, but I don’t think he realizes I remember it.”
“Welcome.”
Ezreal Kalmont stood at the head of the table by the fire, the glow making him look wreathed in flame.
I sat next to Isabella at the table inside the Aurkai wing.
I made brief eye contact with Blake but he looked away.
My heart sank. I was tired of this. It wasn’t fair. I let my everi flare, forcing him to glance at me again and I frowned.
He exhaled in an irritated huff.
Oh, he was mad? Good.
Caelan and Saryna caught the exchange and Caelan cleared his throat.
“You are both here tonight to be recognized and informed by the Aurkai of what the selection process involves. Currently, you are the only two this year to be selected. Once informed, you will be given a choice to accept or decline,” Caelan said. “Do you understand?”
Isabella and I nodded.
“Good. As you are aware, the Aurkai are representatives from each of the three Kingdoms of The Falls, Celestia and La’Thenya.
Should you choose to enter the Realm through the rift, you will be meeting with the Council that will decide your path forward and which kingdom will host you,” he said.
“You may put in your requests to the Council, but ultimately, they will determine where you go from there.”
Unease shifted into my joints. “I thought it was our choice?”
I stared at Blake but he wouldn’t look at me.
“The Council will consider your feelings on the matter,” Roslyn said. “But given that Adepts have only Nightfall and the Aurkai as a foundation for each kingdom, Adepts usually express their desires based on affinities and tutelage rather than political affiliations.”
“This is correct,” Ezreal said. “You will be sent where you will be most needed based on your skills. Once a decision has been made, there will be no more consideration. Being selected is a rare event for an Adept, and some years, none are chosen. There is a reason for this: entering the Realm is not for the weak. Passing through the rift unassisted and into our world is not an easy task.”
He was watching me. I didn’t look up. How did he know Blake took me?
“Any selected Adept must accept that passing through the rift may cost them their life,” Roslyn said. “It is why we only choose those who are the most capable.”
I glanced at Isabella. There was no way she’d say no. She wanted to go to the Realm as much as I did to learn more about her family—like me.
“Okay.”
Blake and Roslyn looked up.
“I don’t need to talk about it anymore,” I said, standing abruptly. “I accept.”
I gave Blake a pointed look before I left the chamber.