22. Teddy #2
My eyebrows furrow in confusion when my mother’s voice cuts through the air.
“Your father wasn’t the hero; he was the villain.”
I freeze at her words, slowly turning my gaze back to her.
Her chest heaves as she leans against the brick wall behind her, hand plastered against her throat as she snarls. “How dare you use your magic on me,” she fires, twisting her hand in the air, ready to attack.
“Stop,” I grumble, my spine stiffening when she freezes, hand poised mid-air as she blinks at me.
What the hell is going on?
I never one-up my mother with my magic; she has the ability to twist the air between us before I can even get anything to stick. Now it’s suddenly happening without trying?
Something is off.
“What are you doing to me?” I grunt.
She shakes her head, and for the first time, I hear the presence of the siren song in my tone.
It’s so natural, I can barely feel the magic vibrating through my veins.
“Nothing,” she breathes, and I believe her.
“What games are you trying to play here?” I push, and she snarls, fighting against the magic balanced on the tip of my tongue, but it’s impossible.
I can’t figure out who is more surprised.
“No games. I want to see you crumble.” Her nose scrunches with contained rage as Baron huffs.
“Who the hell says that about their child?”
She ignores him, no magic weaving through his words to demand she does as he says, which leaves the questioning to me.
“Why?”
She hisses. “Because I’m done losing to a world that no longer serves me while you go about your life thinking there is any sorrow in the heartache your father caused. You need to wake up and see the real world around you.”
Is she deranged? I know pain. I knew it at the loss of my father and I continue to know it at the hands of her abuse, but what did she mean earlier?
Clearing my throat, I settle my stare on hers.
“What did you mean when you said my father wasn’t the hero, but the villain?
” I demand, repeating her words, and she laughs, the cords in her neck straining as she tries to fight against it.
But two sharp inhales later, and her lips part against her will.
“Your father didn’t die at the hands of the Second Kingdom; he died for the Second Kingdom.”
I stumble back a step, my mind believing the distance will rid her words from existence, but as I fall into Baron, who manages to keep me on my feet, I know it’s true. Even if my magic wasn’t involved, the look in her eyes confirms it.
A cackle parts her lips, haunting and hollow. “How does it feel to know you’ve idolized the monster all this time?” she shrieks, my veins turning to ice as her laughter grows louder.
“How is any of this true?” I bite, but the song from my tongue is gone, and with a wave of my mother’s hand, she mutes my words, regaining control.
“It’s about time you realized that you can be of importance to the Fifth Kingdom, but they won’t be your savior; it’s not in your blood. Just like your father, I will sacrifice you for the Second Kingdom, because when the reckoning comes, I will rise.”
“That’s enough out of you,” Baron grunts, his voice thunderous through the air, but my mother grins as she aims a crimson-stained nail in my direction.
“This is your warning, Theodore Lupus, oh son of mine. When the Kingdom Champions are selected, I vow that you will stand for the Third Kingdom, and when you stand against the Second Kingdom’s Champion, you will sacrifice yourself like the fool you are.”
Sax snarls, charging toward my mother when she slips something from her pocket, and the air shifts, leaving emptiness in the space she occupied mere moments earlier.
My chest heaves with every breath, her words taunting my thoughts as I lace my fingers at the back of my head, tilting my face toward the ground.
“Get him the fuck out of here. Now,” Baron grunts, a hand on my upper arm a moment later before the ground shifts beneath me.
Adrenaline courses through me as I exhale, trying to alleviate the weight from my shoulders, but it’s futile. Defeated, I drag my hands down my face and pry my eyes open to find us back at Neverbound Academy.
The main building stands off in the distance, while the familiar sound of waves dances below.
Weariness stiffens my spine as Sax pats me on the back, while the rich, ashy scent of fire lingers in the air, drawing my attention to Alaric.
Baron runs his hands over his scales, both of them easing from the contact, while Sax shifts, white fur replacing his clothes a moment later before he darts off toward the forest.
“Take a minute to decompress, man,” Baron starts, his hand still firmly plastered against Alaric’s side.
“Your mother is insane, and whether there was truth to what she was saying or not, we can’t believe everything someone that deranged blurts.
” I nod in understanding, but the words don’t land.
“I mean it, Teddy. Fuck her. Stay focused. Not just for you, but for Ivy too.”
I nod again, but it’s almost unnoticeable as I charge toward the cliff edge, leaping without care as the wind rushes through my hair. I swear I hear Baron call my name, but there’s no stopping me as I plunge into the depths of the ocean.
The icy chill does little to calm my shattered nerves, but as I go farther into the deep waters, silence begins to settle over my mind.
Kicking my shoes off, I make quick work of discarding most of my clothes, each layer bringing me one step closer to peace until I’m in nothing but my boxer shorts, and I finally have half a chance to think. But thinking will only get me so far, and I need more than that, now more than ever.
Darkness floats around me as the water engulfs me, bringing me peace when my feet finally find the rocky bottom. The soft sand nestles between my toes as I exhale, releasing all of the air from my lungs as I lie down.
Closing my eyes, I let my pain take over, just like I do every time I find myself down here. My emotions are distorted by the water, but a vision quickly plays on the back of my eyelids.
My father’s smiling face warms my soul as he reaches for me, hands slipping under my armpits as he hikes me in the air and tosses me in the sea. I swallow a mouthful of water, but come up laughing and spluttering, pleading for him to do it again.
His laughter fills the air, his love unmatched as he bends to my every whim, and butterflies swarm my stomach as he ruffles my hair, pride gleaming in his eyes.
It’s my favorite pastime, hiding down here with just my memories, the closest I ever get to feeling close to my father, but tonight. Even as my childhood memories offer me comfort, something else plagues me too.
Deceit.
It’s in the corner of his mouth, the crinkles to his eyes, and the cords in his forearms.
Shame.
Because the man I idolized my entire life is a fraud, a lie.
He’s not the hero of the Fifth Kingdom.
He’s a mere hero of havoc.