6. Ivy #2
I cock my brow at the last option, my arms folding over my chest in a defensive manner once again. “What does the torture involve, exactly?”
“We're already in it,” Baron grumbles. “Not being able…” His hand lifts as if to reach for me, but quickly drops to his side, saying what his words can't.
“Torture has already been ticked off the list, Princess. Answers or grovelling?” Teddy offers, and I gulp.
“Answers,” I breathe, and Archer nods.
“Do you have your own questions or should we just free ball it?” he offers, and I find my teeth sinking into my bottom lip.
I can’t decide if the questions are freeing me or irritating me.
“How about you start at the beginning?” I offer, all four of them nodding in sync, an air of guilt and nerves flooding through the room.
“Do you want my magic?” Baron offers, and I shake my head.
“I don't want any magic, I just want the truth. If it's there, I'll see it in your eyes,” I decide, taking the few steps over to the desk to lean back against it for support.
A look shifts between the guys before Sax stuffs his hands in his pockets as he rocks back on his heels.
“We arrived at the ball two years ago, unaware of one another. Well, except for Baron and me, of course.” His smile is nervous.
“It wasn’t our first time at the ball, but the second Professor Viola saw us, we were called into a room.
We had no clue what was going on, but she wasn't alone; Professor Carbon and Hugo were there too.”
Archer sighs, eyes dipped toward the floor.
“Viola explained that they knew who our mate was, and that it was the same person for all four of us. She didn’t go into much detail but it was clear something magical and world-changing was coming, and we had a part to play.
” My chest feels heavy at his words, my pulse ringing in my ears, making it almost impossible to absorb what he’s saying.
“They carried on to explain that our mate would eventually hold the power to be a phoenix, and that it required the four of us to ground her,” Archer states, continuing the explanation.
“They promised that grounding her would be to balance her, which was paramount, but along with it, we would be elevated, not that we knew what that meant at the time, but it was clear that it was essential if we wanted to protect the kingdom, ourselves, and our mate.”
Emotions claw inside of me, unshed tears burning in the back of my eyes with the reality that I am finally getting answers and they are falling so freely.
“Then Viola and Carbon left, leaving Hugo,” Teddy states, and my heart clenches at the mention of my brother’s name.
Teddy scrubs at the back of his neck as he looks at me from beneath his lashes.
“He asked if we'd heard of the Angel of Heaven's Ridge, and we nodded.
He asked if we'd seen you, and we shook our heads.” A soft smile ghosts the corner of his lips.
“He explained that she was the most beautiful person to ever exist, both inside and out. My dick got hard just listening to someone talk about you,” he mutters, and I roll my eyes.
The humor breaks through the emotions lodged in my throat, but Baron doesn't seem as entertained as he slaps Teddy on the back of the head, taking over the conversation.
“Then he explained that the Angel of Heaven’s Ridge was his sister and our fated mate.
” Baron’s tone is dark and edgy in comparison to the others, and it sends a shiver down my spine.
“He looked us dead in the eyes.” His throat bobs before his lips part again, only this time he doesn't sound like Baron, but like Hugo.
“My sister's magic will only come to fruition if she dies.
I need to know if you can live with that, live with knowing that saving this kingdom will cause so much pain to one person in a way there's no coming back from.” My heart ricochets in my chest as I fight to gulp.
“Agreeing to this tonight seals her fate, and I need to know that you can handle it, come what may.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
“I don't know what you want me to say,” Baron states in Archer's voice, before he exhales. "You don't need to. It's not me who needs it, it's her. Always her,” he clarifies in Hugo's tone as Sax clears his throat from his spot beside me.
“We rejected you because we didn't want any of that for you.”
There it is.
The truth.
Thick and overwhelming as it sits in the air, and I struggle to comprehend any of it. But I see the truth in all their eyes, even without Hugo's voice on Baron's tongue.
They rejected me selflessly.
Had anyone, other than Hugo, ever acted that way… for me?
Teddy takes an instinctive step toward me. “I couldn't stand to watch someone else die at the hands of the kingdom, not after my father, but watching the pain in your eyes as we all rejected you will tarnish my soul for eternity,” he admits.
My heart aches in a completely different way than before.
“I watched my mother balance two men all of my life. The idea of four at the time seemed impossible,” Baron states, and Sax rears back in surprise.
“But our mother loves them.”
Baron shakes his head, dragging a hand down his face.
“I’m starting to see that, but regardless, the pain we caused in that moment is unforgivable.
Yet, even knowing that, I would do it again.
I will always choose to protect you.” His words threaten to floor me while his twin looks at me with sadness deep in his eyes, somehow standing taller.
“I will always choose to follow you, even if it leads me into the darkness. Being blessed as your fated mate is a gift. One I'll cherish forever.”
I feel light-headed from their words as Archer scrubs a hand over the back of his neck, his lips tight as his eyebrows furrow.
Finally, his eyes land on mine, and he exhales.
“I shouldn't regret it, but I do,” he admits.
“You deserve more than we've ever been able to offer, but I want to find a way to give it to you anyway.”
With my arm still banded tightly around my middle, my fingernails digging to my flesh, I find the strength to speak. “What changed? What made you show up?” I ask, my voice raspier than ever.
“That’s…” Sax starts, but he can't finish his sentence because Archer exhales.
“It negates everything we just said,” he admits, and I shake my head.
“I don't understand.”
“We realized there was no avoiding the inevitable. You were going to have to face it all regardless,” Archer starts, anger flaring his nostrils, but Baron speaks before he can find the words.
“The man waiting for you at the altar was from the Second Kingdom. A face for Leonardo,” Baron explains. “We reacted irrationally,” he adds, and Archer nods in agreement.
“Without thinking,” Sax chimes in.
“Well, we were thinking, but I don't know if it was for the best,” Archer admits. “Because now you’re stuck here with us, and you're still in danger.”
“And would you change that?” I ask, and all four of them part their lips at once.
“Never.”
They say it in sync, leaving me dizzy.
It's like hearing reject all over again, only this time, it’s for an entirely different purpose, offsetting completely different consequences.
The twisting in my stomach flourishes, hope threatening to blossom.
“We'll make it right, Ivy,” Teddy promises. “We'll make all of it right,” he clarifies as Archer takes a step toward me, but Sax cuts in front of him, head tilted to the side as he looks deep into my eyes.
“Can I fucking hug you or something, or just—”
Without thinking, I move, leaping into his embrace with my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. I inhale sharply, breathing him in as he squeezes me tight.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers against the shell of my ear, and the weight of those words soothes something deep inside me.