17. Raelyna #2
My friends nodded as we sat around the couches, and Emberly piped up. “Is this like we will need a few drinks to process everything or—”
I huffed a laugh. A “more than likely” falling from my lips as I began sharing what I’d learned in the past twenty-four hours.
“Wait,” Emberly cut in at one point. “So, you’re saying they actually took the female to the temples?”
“No,” I replied. “Not the temples—the temple that Luc has in the Solis Court—”
“There isn’t a temple in Solis Court,” Sage interrupted. “I would know if there was one.”
“Well, I was standing in one.”
“That’s not—” she started.
“Evidently, there’s lots that we thought impossible, that is actually happening,” Kira said. “The temple in Solis Court, angels collapsing and being taken, the males that entered my testing room.”
“Well, that one at least is answered,” I added.
“Not sure if that’s entirely encouraging or not,” Finn chimed in. “And your arm—the markings?”
I glanced down at the currently onyx-colored mark for a water affinity.
The triangular shape with a water-droplet line in it stood out against my bronzed skin.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I think that maybe Callum could be on to something. That something is going on with my markings, and possibly others, too. It would also explain why Kira saw three different angels in her Marking Day room.”
“Hmm.” The noise fell from Emberly. “There’s obviously something going on with the markings, with the angels dropping. But that doesn’t explain why you would have issues. And it certainly doesn’t give any true explanation of who the Remnant are.”
“I still don’t understand what those two RSG members get from helping you tonight. Why would they give any indication that something was off with your markings?” Finn stated.
“It’s almost like they were warning you . . .” Kira said.
“But why?” I mused aloud. “They don’t get anything out of it.”
“Well, something’s got to be off,” Finn added.
“Oh.” A thought popped into my mind. “When the one guard, Axel, caught me with the two enforcers, and we were heading away from them, Blackwood said something. He said ‘for the love of Aeternus.’ I only remembered because I thought it was strange that he used that term.”
“Are you sure that’s what he said?” Emberly questioned.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I specifically remember him saying that because I had never heard it said like that before. And the only mentions we ever hear about Aeternus are—”
“They’re from the crazies on the streets!” Kira cut in excitedly. “The ones always warning to turn from the darkness.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment at that.
“What if they know about the Remnant?” I asked, my brain struggling to process all the information we’d been given.
“Are you even sure that’s what we should be focusing on to begin with?” Finn asked finally, as he stood, refilling his drink for the second time.
“No,” I admitted, as I stroked Loxl’s sandy-hued coat, smiling at the content purrs that rumbled from his small body, currently curled up beside me. “But at the same time, I don’t feel like we can negate anything currently.”
“We obviously need to do more research,” Kira chimed in, looking up as she continued picking at her nail polish.
“That’s easier said than done,” Sage stated, a subtle hesitation to her tone as she nervously glanced between the four of us.
“And why is that?” Finn asked as he held her gaze.
It was Sage’s turn to nervously tug at the pillow beside her, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes as she finally said.
“There’s been more of an RSG presence at the temples lately.
Most of our records are now restricted in the Astra Tech System, making it harder to access information than before.
Not to mention, there has also been an increase in surveillance drones surrounding the temples lately. ”
There was another round of silence as we all sat with that knowledge.
“Okay.” The word was a long drawl from my sister as she took a drink of ambrosia that she was most definitely too young to be drinking. “So, to recap this shitshow—”
“Language,” I scolded quietly, to which she only scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out at me as a chorus of chuckles filled the living room.
“I had far too many males sneaking into my Marking Day ceremony—although we’ve identified two as members of Luc’s RSG.
Angels are collapsing on the ground and being taken to a secret temple space in Solis Court.
The fact that Lucanus is looking to take affinities for himself, which I didn’t even know was possible to do.
The Temple District has a greater RSG presence than ever before, and the Astra Tech System is now less accessible.
And we may need to consider looking into some old god that we know next to nothing about.
And we need to figure out who or what a Remnant is,” she summed up.
“Oh, and you can’t forget the fact that my episodes have gotten worse, and supposedly, my markings have an issue.”
“I need another drink,” Emberly muttered after the summary my sister had provided. She stood to refill her drink before asking, “Anyone else?” as she waved the bottle of ambrosia and glasses raised across the space.
“Also . . .” Kira’s eyes narrowed on me. “Why didn’t you tell us about the bargain you made for Orela? Why keep it a secret?”
“I didn’t—” I felt her eyes narrow on me as I struggled to find the words.
“It’s not—I’m your sister—I don’t know, okay?
At the time, there was so much going on.
Orela was breaking, and I just did what I had to.
I did what needed to be done to ensure she didn’t have to serve in the temples, that she could have freedoms, even though she was marked as a seer.
We all know how possessive Luc is of the seers.
I didn’t want that for her. I didn’t want her any more trapped up with him than she had to be after he killed our father. ”
“You could have told me,” she replied. “I could have helped.”