Chapter 18 #2
I need time to stop, right here. At least for a few moments, where I can catch my breath and just luxuriate in the feel of Amri’s touch.
Alexandros plops into another chair, the lion shifter seemingly relaxed other than his observant gaze taking in every possible way in or out of this place.
With a gentle tug, he pulls Sadie into the chair with him and wraps an arm around her waist. Bodi stands behind them, looking more like a bodyguard than their adoring mate.
Rian stands by the door, keeping the main exit available to us, and Kat leans against the wall at his side, her eyes still on the bird perched on Circe’s shoulder.
It’s Amri who breaks the silence. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”
Circe drops her hand from where she was petting the bird, and she lets down her bun and starts playing with her braids as she says, “Hela came to my island a week or so ago.”
Sadie lurches forward on Alexandros’ lap. “My yiaia came here?”
Circe sighs. “We’ll never get through this if you keep interrupting me. Just let me get this out, then we can do questions.”
Sadie looks like she’s going to burst, but she nods and sits back.
Circe presses her lips together in thought before saying, “Actually, I’m not sure exactly when Hela arrived. Time moves so differently on my island … but that doesn’t matter. She came to me with suspicions she was trying to unearth with the help of her shifter friend.”
My beast chuckles. “That’s certainly not what we expected her to say. How intriguing.”
Circe goes on. “I wasn’t sure what to say when she first asked me to confirm or deny, but then, surprise! My father confirmed her story, and let me tell you, it was quite the shock. Like I said, I’m still processing it all myself.”
I project into everyone’s minds. “So, you’re saying that Helios is our sire? Helios, the Sun god?”
Amri leans forward, her fingers tightening in my fur. “This is it! My hunch was right! This explains it.”
Circe smiles at my mate and nods. “Yes, I think so.”
Bodi growls, “Explains what exactly?”
Amri runs her nails over the back of my neck. It feels so good, but I don’t allow myself to get too distracted by her touch as she says, “Why Leonora targeted you three from birth, and why she’s kept you close all these years.”
Pieces slide into place in my mind until I’m practically vibrating. I say, “We’re half god.”
Rian says, “And astrologically, Leos are ruled by the sun, which means Helios’ power could rival Leonora’s as ruler of the Leos.”
Circe rolls her eyes. “ Psh . As if he’d ever show interest in anything or anyone other than himself. But yes, his blood in your veins means you have a legitimate claim to the Leo throne.”
The responsibility I’ve carried for the Leos gets heavier. I have the power to save them. I shake my head, because if that were true, why did we fail last year? Why wasn’t I strong enough?
I ask, “So Leonora knows?”
With her hand still stroking my fur, Amri says, “It would explain her obsession with you, but then why would she agree to let Circe take you out of the palace? She wouldn’t have done that if she knew Circe was your half-sister.”
I nod. “That’s true.”
Circe shrugs. “All signs point to Leonora knowing your bloodline, which means her letting me take Malik is a trap. I just don’t know what it is.”
Rian asks, “Why didn’t Leonora just kill us when we were cubs? If we’re a threat to her throne …?”
Circe fingers her braids again. “I don’t think Leonora can kill you due to your half-god blood, so she’s kept you close. She gave you everything she thought you wanted, trying to keep you placated, content at her side.”
Alexandros nods. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
I shake my head. “If we have that kind of power, why weren’t we able to take her down last year?”
Circe frowns. “I believe Leonora has been syphoning off your magic your whole lives. Even now, after restoring some of your power, I can sense it’s a mere fraction of what it should be.
” She looks at Bodi. “Yours is a little stronger, probably due to your time away from her and out of the palace.” She turns to Rian. “Same with your magic.”
I hear the frown in Amri’s voice as she says. “So, the deal you made with Leonora?”
Circe assesses my mate, her gaze lowering to Amri’s pocket before traveling back to her face. “I must say, I’m quite impressed. I had no idea you were in that solarium with us. Where did you get that spell?”
Amri clears her throat. “The Council has access to many things, both magical and not, that we keep secret … to keep the peace.”
Circe eyes Amri, her expression holding skepticism. But then she turns to me and says, “I had to find a way to get you away from Leonora without drawing her suspicion. I had to make the whole thing her idea.”
Amri stiffens. “So you bought him with the witches’ magic? ”
Circe rolls her eyes. “It was the only way. I’ll restore their power. Give me some credit. I am the original sorceress which makes all witches my descendants. I’m not my father. I don’t abandon my family.”
If all this is true, and not just Circe playing both sides, I might have seriously misjudged the sorceress.
My beast huffs. “With good reason.”
I continue to project to everyone, but direct my question to Circe, “Our mother. Did Leonora kill her?”
Bodi growls louder, and Rian straightens with tension, his claws sliding out.
Circe lifts a single shoulder. “Helios wasn’t sure, when I asked, but I think so.
Leonora couldn’t have her raising sons who might one day have the power to take her throne.
And Leonora wouldn’t want anyone else to know about your lineage.
Helios said your mother had a friend she used to talk about all the time.
I tried to track her down to see if she knew anything, but her trail went cold a few years after your mother died, and I assumed Leonora got to her too. ”
Alexandros scoots to the edge of the chair, almost tumbling Sadie off his lap. “What was her name? The friend?”
Circe taps the arm of her chair and hums. “Umm. Vas something?”
Alexandros swallows. “Vasia?”
Circe nods. “That sounds right.”
Bodi reaches over the chair and clutches Alexandros’ shoulder. Sadie wraps her arms around the lion shifter as Alexandros whispers, “Mom.”
My beast tilts his head, speaking only to me. “Wait, so our mother and Alexandros’ mom were friends? And now we think Leonora killed them both to keep the fact that our father is a god a secret? ”
I sigh. “Seems like it.”
“If that’s the case, then Vasia was one badass Leo because Leonora never found out about Alexandros.”
I eye the beta, whose face has gone pale. “A fierce female and a loving mother. She protected him to the very end.”
Turning my voice back to everyone, I ask, “So, what’s the plan?”
Circe leans forward, and the bird flies off.
She ticks off tasks on her fingers. “We spend the remainder of the time I bought for you building up your magic. I’m hoping there’s enough time to fully unlock the power of Helios’ blood inside you.
Then, I bring you back to Leonora, but with”—she looks around the room—“with backup.”
From her place next to Rian by the door, Kat asks, “Why are you helping us?”
Circe looks at me and holds my gaze as she says, “Like I said, I don’t abandon my family. I’m not going to pretend that I care what happens to the Leos, but I do care what happens to my brothers. And my witches. Leonora is a threat to both.”
Amri rubs my ear between her thumb and forefinger, drawing a purr from my chest as she says, “Say all that goes to plan. Who’s going to rule the Leos?”
My muscles bunch with tension as that burden turns its heavy gaze on me.
Circe shrugs. “I don’t really care, though I assumed …” She stares right at me, and I want to shrink away from her gaze, from everything she’s implying, from everything expected of me.
Amri continues to pet me with soothing strokes. “What if he doesn’t want to? What if none of them do?”
I startle under her calm touch, amazed at how easily she comes to my defense without me saying a word .
Again, Circe shrugs, turning her attention to Amri.
“Your friend at the Council, Mara? She said it’s protocol for the Council to install someone, temporarily, to keep the Zodiac magic from unraveling in the power vacuum until a new deity is approved and put into place.
” She looks back at me, a sly smile on her face.
“So if all three of my brothers want to walk away, I guess they can.”
I ask, “So, is the Council backing this plan?”
Circe shakes her head. “No. Mara is the only one who knows about this. She’s been using Amri to spy on you three and Leonora, but all without the Council’s knowledge.
We are talking about a hostile takeover here.
So, no. No Council. Mara was just stating what the procedure is in the event of a deity stepping down or being removed. ”
I flick my tail. “There’s too much that can go sideways. Like you said, this is probably a trap. Leonora would not have let you take me out of the palace otherwise.”
Circe stands, brushing her hands down her wrap skirt. “Which is why we need to get to work on unlocking your true power.”
Rian reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a giant ivory tooth. I go predator still. Is that it? I completely forgot about it. Rian holds it up. “We also have this.”
Circe’s eyes go wide. “Is that the Tooth of Sobek?”
Rian nods. “We think so.”
Circe laughs, throwing back her head once more with that full-body cackle.
“Delightful! With access to your sun magic and with that weapon … Holy shit, we might just pull this off!” She sobers, her voice dipping.
“But we need to act fast. I suspect Leonora has several plans in play, and we need to be as prepared as we can be when she springs her trap … or traps. ”
Kat claps her hands. “Okay. With that cheery thought, let’s get to work.”
Sadie kisses Alexandros’ cheek and whispers something to him as she slides off his lap. Poor Alexandros looks a bit shell-shocked, and to be honest, I think we all are to some extent. As Sadie stands, she holds up a hand. “Sorry. Real quick. Where’s my yiaia?”
Circe smiles. “Oh, she went back off with her shifter friend. She wouldn’t tell me any details, but your grandmother and that hunk of hers are cooking up some scheme.
She said she’d be ready when I took Malik back to the palace.
” A wistful smile lifts her lips. “I’m proud of that one.
She’s a credit to all witches everywhere. ”
Sadie tightens her ponytail. “I have a billion questions, but there’s no time. So, how do we activate their god powers?”
My beast growls with delight. “God powers. This changes everything.”