Chapter 44 #2
“Zephyr, we don’t want to upset either of you,” Rafe started slowly. “Skye, darling, you know I don’t want to upset you.”
“But you’re going to,” she said. It was a statement, not a question.
“Wyatt? You’re already in the dog house, why don’t you go ahead and give us the run down.” Rafe said, though he didn’t smile like I expected.
Skye and Zephyr both looked to me, and I actually gulped. Alone, they were scary. Together? They were downright terrifying.
“This wouldn’t have something to do with how y’all were interrogating Levi the other week, would it?
” Zephyr looked tired. He’d just healed dozens of people, maybe close to a hundred.
Definitely more than me. Because he was better than me.
Stronger than me. But the weariness in his gaze now had nothing to do with the people we’d healed, and everything to do with what I was about to reveal.
“You know where this is going,” I said.
“Where is it going?” Skye looked back and forth between the two of us, and Zephyr sighed in resignation.
“Skyes. Remember when you suggested to me that mom had lied about her Links?” Zephyr asked quietly.
Rafe cringed, then turned around, threading his hands through his hair and pulling.
So, it seemed Skye had her own suspicions. Enough that she went to her brother. We weren’t completely off base. I wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
“Yeah,” Skye confirmed, her voice very soft and…small.
I didn’t like it.
Neither did Aiden, because he moved closer to her, though he didn’t reach out for her. I’d noticed this several times from them. I started making mental notes with things I noticed about Skye, and one was the she didn’t always like being comforted so publicly.
Zephyr didn’t continue, and Skye’s expression began to crumble as she looked to me.
“What is it?”
Some small, sick part of me was still excited by the fact that she was looking to me for information, even if it was awful and debilitating.
“You’ve seen the Crusader yourself,” I said slowly. “He thought you were your mom. Became visibly upset when he realized she’d passed.”
Skye’s eyes welled with tears, and Aiden moved in completely, his chest touching her back though he still didn’t move to hold her. Rafe looked like he was about to pull his hair out.
“He apparently shares the same affinities as you. Landon confirmed the rumors we’ve been hearing.” I went on.
“Landon didn’t mention the teleportation,” Skye whispered.
“Well, that’s good.” Zephyr said with a sigh. “So, Skye and I found paperwork when we were kids. Our mother had been registered under a different surname at one point, then changed it some time after Skye was born.”
“Wayra,” Rafe breathed. “I was…” he cleared his throat. “I was watching you that day, in the lecture. I saw how you reacted during the conversation and that’s why I decided to go question Shafer.”
“Wayra…that’s the guy that can move buildings?” Aiden asked. “I thought that was a rumor.”
“I’m not so sure,” Rafe said hoarsely. “I know Wayra rebranded himself as the Crusader after the massacre. He’s done well to remove his name from most records. I’d looked for information on him after that class, but I couldn’t find anything.”
“So mom was involved with this guy who’s a cult leader now. Big deal,” Skye whispered.
“Skye, come here, please,” Zephyr said, sounding even more exhausted.
Skye slipped away from Aiden, putting her hand in Zephyr’s. He jerked her toward us, making her tumble onto the bed between us. Zephyr pulled her close, then nodded at me. Somehow, I knew what he wanted me to say.
“You’ve seen the Crusader,” I repeated slowly.
“Yeah?” Skye whispered.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, now, and all my excitement at her earlier attention was gone. It was breaking my fucking heart that I had to be the one to tell her.
Aiden moved to the edge of the cot, looking like he wanted to jump on next to Zephyr and Skye, while Rafe stood near the door. Shadows snaked around the concrete floor as if they were trying to search out a threat, clearly reacting to Rafe and Skye’s distress.
“The two of you have some…similarities.” I continued, my mouth dry.
Skye whimpered, turning into Zephyr’s chest and finally sobbing.
Zephyr stared at the ceiling.
“You knew?!” Skye cried, gripping Zephyr’s shirt in her hands.
Zephyr shook his head. “No. I didn’t know. Not until you saw him in the islands. And then when I caught Rafe and Wyatt trying to speak to Levi privately…I don’t know. Something clicked for me.”
Skye continued to weep onto Zephyr, who only stared at the ceiling while Aiden looked on, and Rafe paced back and forth.
“Darling,” Rafe said, finally. Skye turned to look at him. “I–I need you.”
Skye pulled herself up, and Zephyr pushed her lower back to steady her as she climbed off the cot and then fell into Rafe’s arms. Shadows wrapped around the two of them, obscuring them from view while Rafe spoke to her quietly.
Zephyr blew out a heavy breath as he leaned back on the cot, then tilted his head so it rested against Aiden’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Zeph. This shit sucks.” Aiden said softly.
“Yeah, it does.” Zephyr said quietly. “More questions than answers, unfortunately.”
“I think it’s time to have a talk with Levi,” I said gently. “A real talk.”
“Good luck,” Zephyr scoffed. “He hasn’t spoken a word since the day y’all questioned him.”