Chapter 53
Skye
“I can’t believe Raaz pulled a fucking sword on my mom.” Aiden said with a snicker.
I grinned, ready to laugh alongside him because that sword thing had been insane, and then suddenly, my knees buckled.
I gasped.
A terror like I’d never felt coursed through me.
“Skye?”
“Ms. Aria?”
I stumbled, and my affinity caught me, though it let me hit the ground a moment later as another wave of terror washed through me.
This fear was like nothing I could imagine. I couldn’t breathe, it was so all-consuming.
I could feel someone grab me, and then they were pulling me along. I gasped for air, briefly registering someone was speaking, but my lack of oxygen took my focus. My affinity felt like it was blipping on and off in my arms, with rolls of static jolting through me.
We were in the hallway before I realized it was Aiden. The static crackling around me, sending the hair on my arms into the air was from Aiden.
And he was pissed.
“What’s wrong? Is she sick?”
“Baby. You’re scaring me.”
“Rafe,” I gasped. “Wyatt and Rafe. Where are they?”
Aiden held me against his chest, my back to the wall with his back to whatever threat. Through a gap in my hair I was able to make out the shape of the guard, Raaz watching us.
“He’s in the dungeons,” Raaz said.
“Something’s wrong,” I gasped. “I can feel it. Rafe is…”
He was absolutely terrified.
This was nothing like the pricks of anxiety I’d been feeling. The sensation had been building slowly, but I thought it’d been Aiden’s fear at seeing his mother. What filled me now was…
“Rafe,” I gasped again, then blinked as I tried to reach his mind.
Where are you?!
My knees buckled, and Aiden held me as I slid to the ground.
Dungeon.
Fire.
I jolted, my affinity pushing me to my feet.
“There’s a fire in the dungeon. Rafe and Wyatt are down there.”
Raaz cursed viciously, then started barking orders into a radio at his side.
Trapped.
“He’s trapped!”
“Let’s go,” Aiden said, pulling me to my feet and following as I stumbled up the hall. “I can put it out.”
Good. That was good. But I had no idea where I was going. I’d never been to the Palace. But Rafe needed me. I had to help him.
We came to the end of the hall, and I eyed the keypad alongside the door. My affinity could handle that–
Aiden slammed his hand down on the keypad, and sparks flew. The sound of electricity surging rang through the quiet hall, the sconces on the wall flared bright and then the doors slid open.
Raaz was right behind us, barely breaking a sweat as he strode through the doors.
“Come with me. The Palace is going on lockdown.”
“Lockdown?”
My affinity bristled.
I didn’t know the layout of this building. I didn’t know where anything was, and blueprints of a castle weren’t a thing. This Palace was a rabbit warren. The kings of the past were varying levels of paranoid, adding different wings every time they got twitchy.
“Ah, there she is. Raaz, thank you for bringing them to me.”
Aiden and I froze. My blood ran cold.
It was the Crusader.
Aiden pushed me behind him right as Raaz stepped in front of us.
“I’ve done no such thing,” Raaz was quick to snarl. “My loyalty is to the Crown.”
A woman stood near to Crusader, picking at her nails. She looked exhausted, with the kind of dark bags beneath her eyes that makeup couldn’t hide. Her dark hair and fair features looked oddly familiar to me.
Oh, fuck. Aiden said.
Who is that?
It’s–
The woman took one look at me, then fucking screeched, “It’s her! That’s who killed my son!”
The Crusader frowned at her, then looked at me and his frown faltered.
“You’re sure?” he asked in disbelief.
Lena Iykos, Aiden sighed.
“Yes!” Lena shrieked, and this time I flinched.
I’d never imagined I’d come in contact with anyone else from Landon’s family. The guilt that’d been eating me alive had slowly dissipated over time, especially after I learned I probably hadn’t killed him. A strong Telepath had killed him. And even if it had been me, he’d asked.
“Didn’t you see her!?” The woman screamed, and I couldn’t help but reach for my ears.
“Jesus, lower your fucking volume, lady.” Aiden called out. “We’re right fucking here.”
The woman shrieked again, clearly out of spite, and my fingers twitched a moment before the Crusader spoke again.
“Lena, we need to have a private conversation. Let the others down.”
Aiden dropped from beside me.
Just crumpled to the floor.
I gasped, my heart feeling like it would beat out of my chest. I caught Aiden, using my affinity to keep my strength, right before his head could hit the ground. On the other side of us, Raaz hit the ground hard, out cold.
I checked Aiden over quickly, looking for signs of an injury, but he was fine. Just…asleep.
Lena’s eyes bugged out of her head as I shot her a glare. She opened her mouth to probably scream again, but I’d had enough of this. With a flick of my hand, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she went down, her head slamming against the stone floors with a sickening crack.
The Crusader held his hands up placatingly, his eyes wide as they watched me.
I held Aiden, partially on my lap, partially on the ground while I hunched over him.
I didn’t even care that my dress was rumpled, the beautiful silky fabric a bit torn as I shuffled across the ground.
I stared down the cult leader in front of me, ready to kill him the moment he made a wrong move.
But he didn’t make a wrong move.
He took several steps away from me.
My chest heaved for several seconds while he only watched me in silence.
“You remember me? Avery?” he asked finally.
I nodded once.
He blew out a breath. “Good. Good. I had no idea, that day in the Gulf. It was only when I saw you right now that I…” His gaze dropped to Aiden, and I hunched even further, wanting to hide him from view.
This man was some type of monster, and he didn’t deserve to look at Aiden while he was vulnerable.
“I’ve never met another affinate that can block Lena Iykos,” he said, his lips twitching toward a grin. He straightened his sleeves, adjusting his cufflinks. “I’m impressed. He must keep you protected all the time, am I right? That’s incredible.”
I breathed out slowly. I had no idea who he was talking about.
“You look so much like her,” he whispered after another second. “Did she ever talk about me?”
I shook my head, my movements jerky and stilted. I felt like the world was tilting on its axis. My mother never mentioned another man to me. Never mentioned an ex boyfriend. Didn’t even have male friends. How could she have had a relationship with this man and never mention it?
She didn’t have to, though, did she? She’d been sick. My whole life, practically. She had good days and bad days, but a lot of them were bad. She’d lay down in the dark, ice pack to her chest with her eyes closed. Never sleeping, just…existing while in pain.
It was startlingly obvious to me now she’d been suffering from a rejection. Having felt it myself over last term, I now knew how quickly it could evolve into something much worse than an irritating ache.
I slowly moved to stand, thankful my long dress hid my buckling knees. Avery remained several steps away from me, giving me space. He slipped his hands into his pockets, then glanced down to get a look at Lena. Her temple was turning purple from where she’d hit the ground, and I almost felt bad.
“She never mentioned me?” Avery asked quietly.
“No,” I replied, speaking for the first time. “She never spoke about men, period. Didn’t even have a brother.”
Avery blew out a breath, but nodded as if he’d expected that.
“And your brother?” he asked. “Would you tell me about him? His affinities…”
I furrowed my brow. “My brother?” Why did he want to know about Zephyr? I thought he’d been looking for me all these years. Maybe he thought Zephyr had killed his men during the massacre?
The longer Avery looked at me, though, his eyes wide and imploring, I began to realize…he didn’t know. He was pretty sure the phantom was a woman, but he didn’t know who I was to him. He knew I was Iris’ daughter, but he thought the one who shared his affinities was Zephyr.
I shook my head as if that would somehow change the truth. I knew Zephyr’s father was Levi. It was obvious, given the skin tone.
“He has an unheard of affinity,” Avery went on, nodding.
“Scary at times, right? I know. I know what it’s like when his temper gets out of control.
He killed my men at the massacre. I saw the aftermath.
It probably frightened you, but…he can do beautiful things, too, right?
He killed those men to save you, didn’t he? ”
I continued shaking my head, even as a strong force rammed against my mind. I winced, and his eyes narrowed just slightly. I tightened my hold on Aiden, then, making sure I shielded him along with myself. This man wouldn’t get through, and I didn’t know what he’d do when he realized.
“All these years, I’ve been searching. I knew he’d have the divine affinity, but I never imagined he’d have used them to protect a sister. It makes perfect sense.” Avery began to pace, and I blinked several times.
He had no idea.
He thought he had a son.
Also, what?
“Can you take me to him?” Avery asked suddenly. “Is he…” he breathed out sharply. “Is he here? Will he see me?”
I only shook my head in disbelief.
“Please, show me where he is.” The force rammed against my mind again, but I didn’t even flinch this time. He couldn’t reach me, I was sure of that now. He was sending his affinity at me full force, and it wasn’t getting anywhere.
He rammed against me again, and my affinity perked up in my hands, then began vibrating like it was getting ready to strike.
If my affinity sensed a looming threat…I couldn’t ignore it.
I squeezed my hands into fists, stepping back to cover Aiden more thoroughly. I wasn’t sure how to wake him. I really hoped this wasn’t some affinity thing where I’d need Lena to wake him back up, but I wasn’t opposed to kidnapping.