Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-eight
Ty
For once, thank fucking Iblis, no one pried further into Mel’s Knowledge. These revelations about some being called Omnis, and everything that had happened with Heran’s death and the breaking of the bond, had left everyone reeling.
Ty watched as the group dispersed—Mel and Cris settling by the fire with Turner, and Ena kneeling beside her sister next to the covered body of the matriarch.
Ty stood frozen, though, not knowing where to go or what to do.
He felt guilty for how things had gone down with the matriarch and wanted to comfort Ena, but he figured he should give her and her sister some space to grieve.
He knew he needed to remain vigilant for other intruders, but it was so hard to focus on that.
Because they had actually done it—they had broken the bond—and all around him, there was so much more than before.
His mind raced with his newfound sense of Gaia, or whatever it was, inside him.
This new feeling of purpose—of balance—within.
His every breath, his every move and thought, could still cause chaos, yes—it existed all around him, just as it did before—but now, so did equilibrium.
So did stasis. So did a feeling of calm and regularity that he wanted to reach for, but didn’t quite know how to yet.
He’d lived his whole life feeding into disruption. How could he now live for peace?
He was drawn from his reverie as he saw Ena stand up, saying her goodbyes to Greya who prepared to walk back to her house to wake her husband Perse.
How was she feeling about all this? That became Ty’s only and omnipresent thought as he watched Ena walk away on her own, disappearing into the woods.
Where was she going? Should he follow her? Make sure she was okay? He knew she was mourning Heran and was likely as overwhelmed as everyone else by what had occurred during the ritual. Maybe she just wanted to be alone.
It felt like pulling sharp splinters from under his nails, but he forced himself to stay put and not pursue her.
She deserved time to herself. And who was he, anyway, to go after her?
They were nothing anymore. Not after this, not now that the spell was done.
She would go back to her Coven, and hopefully find some way to be accepted back in, under her sister’s guidance as the new matriarch, and he would… Where would he go?
For the first time since they’d left the Underworld, he let himself contemplate that.
The Underworld was likely in shock right now.
If all daemons’ senses had shifted as drastically as his and Turner’s had, they would be reeling.
How long until they realized what had happened?
Until they realized their magic now worked against witches? What would Cole do then?
Part of Ty wanted to return, to help guide his fellow daemons and explain, but he knew it wasn’t safe for him, not after his escape and what he’d done.
Cole would punish him, maybe kill him, at all costs now.
He was the heir, yes, but only because he was the first son of the first son.
Zak would replace him as heir if he were killed, and if Cole were to make it look like an accident, or something perpetrated by the witches, there wouldn’t be too much of an uproar.
Maybe that would be for the best…
Fuck, why was he thinking like that? The Underworld was his. He should be coming up with a plan to return and overthrow Cole. He should be plotting his next move. His people needed him, were relying on him. But…why did that all feel so hollow now?
All he’d wanted for so long was to break the bond so daemons could reunite with mortals and witches, so they could choose something different than the shit order Cole insisted on.
He’d never loved the burden of being the future king, but he knew no one else was going to fucking do it, so he had to.
And he’d found purpose in that, especially during those years separated from Ena.
But now… Somehow, it all felt empty without his witch.
How could he just say goodbye to her now?
After everything they’d been through? After everything he’d felt?
He’d never loved anyone but her, and he knew deep down he never would.
And he knew that he’d failed to protect her, that in so many ways he didn’t deserve her, but the idea of leaving her now…
Iblis, his entire being rebelled at the thought.
Maybe it was the prospect of actually having to walk away, or maybe it was his newfound sense of Gaia—the completeness he felt knowing for the first time that he could find peace if he truly chose to—but suddenly, he was filled with a clarity he’d never had before.
The only reason he’d failed to protect her was because he’d followed Cole’s orders, and he’d put the Underworld’s needs above hers. He’d felt torn at the time, but he hadn’t listened to his instinct. But now—now it was screaming at him.
And he would listen to it this time.
He needed to go find her. Right now.
He needed to tell her.
Ty took off into the woods, following her scent through the forest surrounding the Sacred Grove. But he didn’t really need it to tell him where she was—he already knew where she’d go.
He followed the bend of the River Wry, the path coming back to him like it was just yesterday that he’d last been here.
He remembered the hope he’d felt as an eighteen-year-old, coming to meet Ena for their dinner under the stars.
The way he’d been consumed by her even then—by her mind and her body and just fucking everything about the way she was.
Quietly, he emerged from the forest onto the rocky beach. The sky above was filled with stars, the clouds having parted to display the moonless sky. Their multitude of tiny lights shone down on Ena as she crouched by the edge of the water—watching.
She turned to look at Ty as he approached, and he could see her face was troubled.
The sight of it made him angry—he wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever it was that was making her upset. Just absolutely obliterate it so he could see her smile, see her laugh. But he knew he was powerless to do that, and that made him feel so damn inadequate.
He swallowed as he approached her. “Hey,” he said, his lame greeting belying the turmoil within.
“Hi,” she said, standing up.
“Are you alright?” he asked gently. It was a stupid fucking question. Of course she wasn’t alright.
“No,” she said, looking away as her eyes filled with tears. “I’m not.”
Ty rushed to her. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, comfort her. Would she let him? Did she want that too? He felt paralyzed by his uncertainty so he settled with something simpler.
Raising his hand, he pushed a strand of her dark hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear before cupping her cheek like the precious thing she was.
She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes as if savoring his touch, but it clearly made her more sad, because tears started to flow down her cheeks, dripping onto his palm.
“Ena,” he whispered. “Don’t cry,” he said, knowing it was futile. She could cry if she needed to, he just hated to see it.
“Why are you here, Ty?” she asked, opening her damp eyes. “The spell’s over now. We did it. Greya will be back soon with Perse, and you should be—”
“No,” Ty said, his voice hard and angrier than he intended. “Don’t say it.”
“You should be going,” Ena pleaded. “You need to go, before other witches come, before…” She paused, taking a deep breath as if to steel herself. “You have a duty now. You need to go back to the Underworld and free them from Cole’s rule.”
“And what about you? Where will you go? What will you do? You and I know that the rest of the Covens won’t be as forgiving as your sister for what you and the others did. What if they don’t accept you back in as you’d hoped?”
Ena looked away from him, and he didn’t miss the way she refused to answer the question. And that settled it for him.
“Ena, look at me,” he commanded.
She turned her eyes back to his, and he lost himself in the deep blue of hers. The peace of the sky on a clear summer day and the mystery of a calm ocean was before him in her eyes. Constant and beautiful. Deep and restorative.
“I’ve made a decision,” Ty said, his voice calm and certain. “I’m not going back to the Underworld. I’m staying with you—here, if you want, or we can go into hiding if we need to. But I’m not leaving you. I’m not putting others above you ever again. I can’t, so don’t ask me to.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Ty, you can’t be serious. What about the rest of the daemons in the Underworld? What about everything you’ve been working towards for them? You’re the heir. You can’t just abandon them. I won’t ask you to do that.”
“I know you’re not asking me. I’m making a choice, Ena, and I choose you,” he said, his voice moving into desperation as fear crept in. What if she didn’t let him stay? “Ena, please, hear me out.”
He grasped both her hands in his, holding them tightly, close to his chest, so she could feel how much he meant this.
“The truth is, I’m selfish, and you need to know that.
Yes, I’ve been working to break the bond to give my people a choice, I do want that, but deep down, the only reason I ever wanted to break the bond was so that we would have a chance to be together.
I know that might sound terrible, but it’s the truth.
None of this means anything without you.
And I know I’m supposed to be king, but, fuck, I don’t want to be. ”
He released one of her hands to run his own through his hair, attempting to soothe the agitation he felt now.
He couldn’t even articulate how pissed he was at them all—his father, his mother, his uncle, Iblis and Gaia or whoever the fuck they were—for forcing him into this life, and he let that fire in him burn for her to see.