Stay Still, Rabbit
Chapter sixteen
Ione
"Wait, everyone here is accomplished at some fighting capability, or can turn into animals. I'm a human," I stutter. "Not remarkable in any way."
Luciara smiles. "You are, trust me, you'll be fine."
"Once we have his location, we can move." Athanasius continues, ignoring my nervous plight. "The others will take care of any obstacles in our way," Looking down at me, he continues. "You and I, rabbit, will make our way to him."
Chronomir takes a deep breath and speaks. "Every mage has a staff, destroy the staff and the mages power wanes." His soft eyes stare at me. "You can touch the staff, you can destroy it, we cannot."
"By doing what?" I scoff. "Slamming it on the ground?"
"Precisely!" Moireth claps. "That's the spirit!"
"What about after that?" I ask. "Someone here has grand plans for world domination, is that what everyone else is on?"
Chronomir and Rose look at each other, before Chronomir speaks. He reaches out his hand and cups Rose's face lovingly."I promised Rose she would see the realms, we will do that."
Delilah shrugs."I'm happy doing what I am now. Luciara and I hunt men. That is my duty to her, protect the wild spaces and the life that women give."
"What she means is that Delilah here is the most prolific female serial killer the world has ever heard of." He winks at her. "I wouldn't want to be on your bad side."
I'm sorry, what the fuck did he just say? As I look at Delilah with shock, she smiles widely at me. "They deserve it, Ione, I am sure you know men who have earned my fangs."
"We can get into that later," I shake my head. "I cannot sit idly and watch as Athanasius bathes the world in blood."
Moireth chuckles. "He won't." She wags her finger at her brother. "Is that what you've been telling her?"
Athanasius shrugs.
"This isn't time for you to be all nonchalant," I hiss at him. "Tell them what you told me!"
I didn’t mean for it to go this far.
His siblings look at him in confusion, and it’s now—only now—that I realize I pushed his hand too soon.
“You didn’t tell them,” I scoff, trying to mask the tremble rising in my chest. The other avatars are staring at me, and I realize perhaps they never speak like this to their Primordials.
Luciara’s lime eyes narrow, the glow in them dimming like a dying star. “Twin?” she echoes. “What are you hiding?”
Athanasius clenches his jaw. I feel the shift in the room, the way the shadows writhe like snakes beneath our feet. He growls low, a sound so old it feels like the first thunder. “They deserve more.”
“Who?” Chronomir’s voice is cool and patient, but his expression is unreadable. “Be specific.”
“Humanity!” Athanasius throws his hands in the air, shadows trailing his every movement like living ink. “They stole from us, locked us away, and we have to fight—fight—to get back to where we were!”
“No,” Luciara says firmly, stepping forward with grace, light curling around her like a second skin. “Punish those who are deserving. But no more. I am the guardian of life, and I will not see it snuffed out like a candle because of your vendetta.”
Moireth sighs, shaking her head. “I knew something was wrong,” she murmurs. “The moment I felt your destiny shifting. Going off its rails.”
Chronomir tilts his head, the cane in his hand tapping the floor. “Humans view time as linear,” he says softly. “They will remember the pain you cause for centuries. It will set us back—again.”
Athanasius doesn’t flinch. “I don’t care,” he spits. “I am the oldest. I came first. You will obey me.”
Luciara scoffs. “You forget. Light and dark exist in the same arena. There is no one without the other. You do not reign alone, brother.”
“You kill men!” he shouts, voice rising. “You say you protect life, but you’ve culled them—those who take, those who destroy. So what’s the difference between you and me?”
“The difference,” Luciara says, stepping closer now, voice trembling with fury and grief, “is that I do not kill blindly. I choose. I weigh. I spare the innocent.”
“You think we’re different,” he snarls. “But we’re the same.”
“Then let’s start now.” Her voice rings like a bell of judgment. She snaps her fingers.
Delilah howls—no longer human. Her bones twist and warp into fur, fang, claw. A massive wolf stands where she was, muscles trembling with restrained power.
“Don’t be stupid, Luciara,” Athanasius says. His eyes flicker from Delilah to Luciara. "I have to fix the house after you've damaged it!"
“How precious is human life to you, brother?” she demands, ignoring him. “Have you learned nothing?”
He doesn’t answer.
She turns to me. Fear grips my heart, I want to scream. “Then let’s find out.” She points at me—and Delilah lunges.
Chronomir sighs, already placing his hand in front of Rose, shielding her. Moireth screams, the sound piercing, desperate.
My voice breaks free. “Athanasius! Help me!”
“Be still,” he says, voice low, almost broken.
Delilah growls inches from me, her breath hot and thick, fangs glistening.
“Call her off!” I scream, flinching as her paw pins my shoulder to the kitchen floor.
“Remove your wolf,” Athanasius demands.
Luciara folds her arms. “How much do you care for this human, brother? Enough to kill your own kin? Why not start with her?” She snaps her fingers.
Delilah snarls, her teeth so close to my face I can smell the blood from her last meal. I scream.
“STOP!” Athanasius roars—and suddenly everything freezes.
The shadows lash out like vipers, seizing Delilah in midair. She whines, suspended by cords of inky darkness that choke and bind. But he doesn’t stop there. Luciara gasps, clutching her throat. His shadows are wrapped around her too.
“Tell her to change,” he growls, eyes glowing like pits of endless night. “Now.”
Luciara coughs, her light flickering. She presses her hand to her chest. “Delilah,” she rasps, “change.”
The wolf whimpers and begins to shift, shrinking, warping back into flesh and blood, sobbing as she collapses beside me. "I'm sorry, Ione, please believe me, I have to obey, but I would have never wanted to!"
The shadows fall away. Athanasius is at my side in an instant, cradling me in his arms like I’m something fragile, like I’m the only thing that matters. His chest is trembling.
Luciara kneels, coughing. “You care for her more than you admit,” she says, voice quiet now. “Think twice, Athanasius. Think of what your plan will do—to her. To us. To you.”
Silence.
Then a low whistle from the corner. Caspian. He claps his hands once, slowly. “Well,” he says, forcing a smile. “That got dark fast. Let’s all take this to the living room before someone else grows fangs, hmm?”
Everyone slowly disperses, tension still thick in the air. But Athanasius doesn’t move. His arms tighten around me. I can feel the tremor in his body, the guilt, the fear.
He almost lost me.
And for a moment—I saw the monster inside him.
But I also saw the man who chose to stop it.
And I don’t know what scares me more.
Athanasius steps outside with Moireth and Chronomir to speak. Rose, and Caspian are doting over me, and Delilah is still apologizing. Luciara enters the living room, hands clasped in front of her.
"Can you three give us a moment?" She asks softly.
I'm not afraid of her, but I am wary of how far she's willing to go to prove a point to her damn brother. I'm not hurt, just shaken up and shocked by it all.
As they leave, us, Luciara holds up both of her hands. "Please forgive me. I never intended to hurt you, I wanted to make my twin react and see reason. I also wanted to show him what he refuses to see with you."
"Excuse me?" What I want to do is launch myself at her and beat the brakes off of her. Not sure how'd that go though.
"You were not privy to the conversation between siblings much earlier, but, I believe if you'll allow me to explain, things will come into focus. Me having Delilah hold you down was a trick, a ploy to force him to make his move."
Chuckling darkly, I shake my head. "Next time, leave me out of your fucking sibling squabbles."
"Will do." Luciara nods. "Athanasius is stubborn, an asshole, and tenacious," She starts. "Probably enough so that you wonder for his feelings about you."
I don't believe this is a time to talk about that, but go off I guess. "And?"
"Let me explain?" Luciara asks, she indicates a chair next to me, asking if she can sit. "Please?"
"You're his twin." I reply. "What makes you think I'll listen?"
Luciara shrugs. "I don't, and this is not an excuse, but maybe you'll understand why he is the way he is."
Cue the dramatic backstory because I know it's about to happen. "Sure."
“I wanted you to understand,” she says, softly. “And I fear I may have gone too far.”
I don't speak. Forgive and forget? I'm neither God nor do I have alzheimer's. I will listen though.
“When we were free,” she begins, gaze distant as she's watching that period in time through her lime green eyes. “Families pledged themselves to us. In service. In love. In legacy. It was an honor to be chosen. Especially for me, Moireth, and Chronomir. Life. Destiny. Time. We are easy to love, aren’t we?” She smiles, but it’s sad. Tired.
“Even now, humans light candles for us. Whisper prayers. Call on the beauty of life, the promise of fate, the mercy of time. But Death? Darkness?” She lifts her eyes to mine. “They feared those things. They still do.”
She reaches out slowly, and her thumb strokes gently over my knuckles.
“Worshippers came to him too, of course. Athanasius. But not like they came to us. Not in joy. Not in trust. His followers were desperate. Cult leaders. Power-hungry wretches. And others—those who were forced into service, chosen not out of pride but fear. They served because it was easier than dying. Not by his hand. No. But by those who couldn’t bear the burden of walking with death. ”
My throat tightens. I glance across the room where he sits now, eyes like the void. He may not be looking at me, but I know he's watching.
“He never got close to any of them,” she says, voice dipping low. “He couldn’t. They didn’t want him. Not truly. They wanted what he could do. What he could take. Only one… only one ever made it past his walls.”
I feel it before she says it.
“She made him laugh. Asked him questions. Teased him. Made him feel seen. He began to love her. I saw it in him—he bloomed. And then she betrayed him. Sewed false trust like seeds, and when the mages came for him, she smiled. She laughed.”
The silence between us stretches like a thread pulled too tight. I look over at Athanasius, silver haired and smiling at Chronomir who seems bored and tired.
“He broke that day,” Luciara whispers. “In a way even I couldn’t mend.”
I look down at my hands, still held in hers. They’re shaking.
“But now…” She smiles, and I swear there’s hope in it. “He's making the first move. He smiles again. With you. He teases. He touches gently. He wants. I’ve only ever seen him like this once before. And that woman—he never offered her the honor of being his consort.”
“Consort.” I echo, barely above a breath.
“A love chosen,” she says, “to stand beside a primordial. A soul we cherish for a lifetime—or forever, if they’ll have us. I’ve chosen Delilah. Chronomir… he’s only ever shown that tenderness toward Rose. But Athanasius?” Her smile deepens. “He would choose you.”
My heart stutters. Isn't that what I was looking for? Or was it sex? Did I crave the companionship of being with another who held me dear? I was earlier.
“You’re different, Ione. He knows it. He feels it. But that old pain, it binds him. He keeps you at arm’s length not because he doesn’t want you. It’s because he does.”
I don’t know what to say.
“When he spoke earlier, he acted indifferent. Cold. But tonight?” Her gaze pierces mine. “He nearly tore Delilah apart and would have choked me out just to keep you safe.”
I swallow hard. I understand what she's implying.
“I’m sorry for putting you through that,” Luciara says. “But he needed to see it. Needed to see how far he’d already fallen. That revenge isn’t the only thing he’s been chasing.” She squeezes my hand. “He has you. And I know, I know you won’t betray him.”
I exhale slowly. And this time, when I look across the room at him, I don’t look away. He turns towards me, surprised to see me watching him, and smiles.
"Caspian and I will find the wizard," Moireth begins. "Until then, we lay low, and wait until we convene again. No fighting this time." Moireth hugs me. "Have a good night, Ione, and remember, follow your heart, there's too much doubt in your head."
Scoffing, I return the hug. "Thank you."
"Ione." Caspian pulls me in for a hug. "If you aren't a consort, you and I could make some sweet music together."
"Boy," I push him playfully. "It was nice meeting you."
Moireth is sitting in the driver's seat of some sports car, and as soon as Caspian enters, she peels off.
Chronomir approaches me. "A lot of time on your hands," He taps the partially hidden left side of his face. "Don't waste it. Things are best said now." He shakes my hand, backing away to wait for Rose.
"I promise you," She chuckles lightly. "When we get together it is not like this."
"I hope not, be safe, Rose."
"Always am."
A door appears, and they walk through it.
Luciara glares at her brother. "Do not make me force you to say what's in your heart." She snaps. "It's infuriating."
Athanasius raises his hand into a talking mouth."Blah,blah,blah. Leave."
"Goodbye Luciara. Bye Delilah."
"I'm sorry, I really am." Delilah sniffles, before turning into her wolf self.
As they race off into the night, Athanasius stretches his upper arms and looks towards the sky. "It's going to rain tonight."
"Good." I answer. "Could use some."
"Your neighbor is peeking out of her blinds too." He chuckles.
Sure enough, Ms. Taylor is staring at us with her mouth pinched. Lifting my hand, I try to wave at her, but she slams her blinds back down.
"Come inside, rabbit, enough trauma for your neighbors."