Chapter 20 #2
Stellan’s jaw flexed. “I’m the oldest one here.
I’m the only one with any real experience with Vega or the Sanguis in this room.
I’m the one who’s seen what the future holds if you leave Elyria right now.
” His gaze swept across the room, landing hard on Cade.
“Trust me, it doesn’t end well. Do you think just because you’re the prince we should all listen to you?
Guess what, you’re not the only one of those in this room. ”
Castor raised his brows. “I trust Cade’s judgement. Besides—”
“You left,” Cade snapped. “You disappeared for three years without even bothering to tell us the truth about anything. You didn’t even want to come back here. If it was up to you, we would still be in the dark right now. We’re going to Andarre.”
Cassia locked eyes with Bridget. There was a plea for help there, but words got lodged in her throat. Something ancient swirled in the air. There was too much history loaded in Stellan’s statements. She couldn’t help but think their confrontation was a long time coming.
“What do you expect to tell your father? If you leave, he’ll know Bridget’s here. He’ll know about Nylah. I don’t think he’ll like the interruption to his wedding plans for you.”
The books on the shelves around them trembled in place. Finn backed Archer closer to the door.
“It’s time. I’m through playing his games.”
“Is it?” Stellan asked, a ghost of a laugh on his face. “The second he knows, every responsibility you’ve avoided comes crashing down on you.”
“I can handle it,” Cade snarled.
“I know you can’t. Your little stunt with the gate and blood magic proves that.” Stellan looked Cade up and down. “You’re not him. Not the Cade I knew. Right now, I’m not sure you ever will be.”
Cade and Stellan stood chest to chest.
“Take me to my father,” Cade said, his voice low and lethal.
Cassia’s stomach swooped to the floor. Their father was unpredictable. Every time they truly fought, a major life change happened. She didn’t think she could take another one.
Cade grabbed Stellan’s arm. The Shaman laughed.
“Do you think because you’ve seen me do the spell a few times, you know how to? Your powers—”
A crack almost exploded Cassia’s eardrum. She covered her face from the sheer force of magic that exploded throughout the room. After it passed, she looked up. Cade and Stellan were gone.
“Where did they go?” Bridget demanded from the floor. Finn and Archer helped her up.
Cassia couldn’t take her eyes off the spot where they’d been standing. Cade was confronting their father. She couldn’t shake the image of their fight four years ago from their mind. The next day, Cade had left. Her father had changed. Elora had changed. Everything—
“Where’s your father right now?” Castor’s hand on her arm brought her back to reality. The sound of her own heartbeat almost drowned out his voice.
Bridget’s anxious face appeared in front of her. She hadn’t even seen her move. “You have to have some idea.”
It took a moment for Cassia to find her voice. “Probably his study. He always spends the afternoons there when he’s stressed.”
They were all out the door faster than Cassia could blink. Castor grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him. She could barely keep up with his quick steps. Her mind wouldn’t stop spinning. The others were arguing and shouting things at each other, but the voices sounded like gibberish.
A blur of rooms and hallways turned into her father’s study.
It was hidden behind a portrait of her great grandfather.
His sly smile and twinkling eyes had always intrigued her.
Now, as she looked up at it, he seemed to mock her with secrets.
Shouting echoed from inside. Wordlessly, Cassia ran her finger down the painting’s gold frame until she found a latch.
She was shoved through the tiny opening before the portrait had even opened an inch.
Her father’s study was darker than she expected.
Usually, sunlight illuminated her father’s study and the floor to ceiling windows and glass roof shimmered with the afternoon sun.
But dark clouds swirled over the heads. For once, the lamps in the corner were on.
They flickered every time her father spoke.
His tan skin looked purple as he glared at Cade and Stellan.
Cassia didn’t think he could get any redder.
Until his gaze zeroed in on Bridget, who had stumbled in behind her.
“You,” he hissed, raising his hand.
Before any magic left his fingertips, his hand was slammed into his desk by a gusting wind.
“You’re not touching her,” Cade growled, his eyes ablaze with growing power. The morganite pendant under his shirt glowed a dark orange.
Their father shot out of his seat. “I am your father and I—”
With a flick of his wrist, Stellan had him wrapped in an invisible rope. Their father snarled and struggled against the binds. Stellan tightened them. “It’s time, Deckard. I know you thought you could outsmart fate, but it’s here. It’s time to accept it. There’s nothing more you can do.”
“What’s he talking about?” Bridget asked, trying to get closer. Finn pushed her behind him.
Cassia’s throat was a hard knot. “I don’t know.”
“Cassia, maybe you should take a step back,” Castor said, tugging on her arm. Since they’d arrived at the study, he hadn’t strayed more than a few inches from her. “You don’t have to be here.”
“Yes… I do.”
There was something in her father’s eyes she’d never seen before. Something he was trying to hide, but failing.
Fear.
His throat bobbed as his gaze flickered between Stellan and Cade. Cassia wasn’t sure which one was making him nervous. Still, he continued to thrash against the invisible binds. At his hip, his obsidian dagger practically vibrated from the power he was trying to channel.
“Elyria is on the brink of ruin,” her father bellowed.
“War is coming. It might already be here. I’m doing what I can to prevent it and make sure the continent stays as stable as possible.
” His fiery gaze cut to Cade. “And you think running off to Andarre with your girlfriend is the answer? Remember, we have a deal.”
“Do we?” Cade narrowed his eyes, then cocked his head toward Stellan. “If he’s to be believed, I’m technically already married. There is no deal.”
Beside her, Cassia heard Bridget choke. Her father glowered.
Cade barked a humorless laugh. “Which you already know, apparently. I should have known. You already had Stellan camouflage me at birth to hide who I was. Have you ever told me the truth about anything?”
The slight break in his voice pierced a hole through Cassia’s heart.
Her father let out a roar. The binds around his feet broke free. “I did all of that to protect you. I’ve shown you what she’ll do.”
A bead of sweat rolled down Stellan’s temple as he tried to keep her father contained. Cade noticed and sent a wave of roaring wind at his father. He stumbled back a step. The whiskey glass and pens on his desk slammed to the ground.
“It’s not going to happen,” Cade hissed.
A drop of blood escaped Cade’s nose. Cassia’s stomach swooped to the floor. He was going to push himself too hard to prove a point.
“In every vision, it’s never changed. Not once,” their father hoarsely choked out.
Bridget broke free from Finn and darted toward Cade.
Stellan raised a hand and blocked her from reaching him.
She glared at him and pushed at the barrier, even as Archer and Finn tried to pull her back again.
The wind around Stellan and Cade had picked up tremendously, swirling around them like a terrible storm.
Cassia could almost taste the magic buzzing around them.
The air was heavy with it. Her blood began to sing.
“What is it?” Bridget demanded, having to shout to be heard. “Cade, what will I do?”
Cassia saw her brother hesitate before a vision flooded her senses. She grabbed Bridget’s hand, just in case, but she had a feeling Cade was unloading it on everyone. It felt too messy, too raw, like he was struggling to share it and maintain control.
They were no longer in Astraeus, but Cavamyne.
Cassia could tell by the runes in front of her.
She’d seen them sketched in a book. Cade and Bridget stood in a low pit, between two stone thrones.
They circled each other. The sword in Bridget’s hand gleamed in the moonlight.
All of a sudden, Cade stopped. The moment he did, Bridget thrust the sword through the center of his chest.
Cassia struggled for air when it finally ended. Her fingers clawed at her chest. She’d felt the sword as if it’d struck her. That couldn’t happen. Cade couldn’t die. And Bridget would never—
“No,” Bridget gasped.
Cassia had forgotten she’d taken her hand. It trembled in her grasp. She squeezed it tightly as she watched Bridget stare at Cade in horror. Her brother glanced over his shoulder at them. The wind lessened slightly as the power radiating in his eyes flickered.
“I would never…” Bridget rasped.
Cassia silently agreed. She’d seen what the two of them would do for each other. She couldn’t fathom a world where the vision would ever come true.
“Enough,” Stellan hissed. The blue tattoos snaking around his neck turned the brightest blue. “You’re not in control of the future. How many times have I told you our visions aren’t to be trusted?”
Cassia narrowed her eyes. But hadn’t he been asking them to trust him based on his visions almost the entire time? What made this one so different?”
“She needs to go,” her father hissed, breaking free his right hand. He raised his dagger.
Cade stepped forward, fire behind his eyes. He snarled, “It doesn’t matter what time or place, I am her and she is mine. We will not be separated.”
With a roar, the magic that had been building in his chest unfurled.