I fight the smile off my face. “Depends on how nicely you ask... might need to add a tinge of begging.” Hmm... I can think of a few ways he can beg.
“Shall we address the elephant in the room?” Of course Derrick wants to bring us back to task, he’s been waiting for me to answer his questions longer than anyone else.
Taking in a deep breath, I prep myself for telling them about Silas and what happened. “I guess you’ve been wondering what happened to place me in a coma-like state, huh?”
“Nah, Angel. Pretty sure we all want to know when the fuck Marcus attacked an innocent village, and why he never told us about it.” Alex shoots a dirty glare toward Marcus. Yikes, I didn’t realize they were thinking the worst of him since then. He shared his memories with me, so I know for sure it wasn’t him, but they didn’t experience the same proof.
“Again, you seeing him there is probably my fault,” I start to explain. Alex crosses his arms, an unbelieving frown on his face. “No, for real! If I tell you my story, it might make more sense.”
Klaus’ arms around me give a little squeeze reminding me he’s here for me. “Does this have anything to do with Silas? Like Marcus’ uncle Silas?” I give a grunt of exasperation with him giving away parts of the story out of order. “Sorry, go ahead. We’re all ears.”
Darn Klaus, throwing me off when I was just getting ready to start. “So, five hundred-ish years ago, Silas showed up at the castle wanting to petition a mark, to find out if it matched with a Royal. It just so happened it did, it matched my mark. The mark was different then... that doesn’t matter for the story though. Anyway, per tradition, which we’re changing for any children we may have, I had to go to my mate’s residence.”
Alex interrupts me, “Aw, you’re already thinking about our kids? I’ll be happy to get working on making those babies right now if you want.” He wags his eyebrows up and down gesturing to the tent behind him.
Tension flows out of me with his humor cutting through my stress. Rolling my eyes and ignoring him, I continue on, “When I arrived to meet my mate, it was at Silas’ castle and not his parents’ like I had assumed. My mate had been raised from birth by Silas, and he was told his parents were dead, which didn’t add up for me because I knew his parents.
“That was just the first thing not adding up when it came to getting to know him, but not the last to be sure. We started to get to know each other, as was expected of us, although it was slow going since Silas kept butting in. Sorry, not vital to the story. We eventually became close and jumped over so many hurdles. I mean... I was starting to love him. He was my mate, supposed to be my everything.” I pause as a lump climbs up my throat and I sniffle a few tears away, ignoring the little white lie I just told.What can I say? I’m in denial trying to save my heart from the pain of admitting I was head-over-heels in love with him.
Klaus rubs on my arms soothingly, and pecks the side of my head. After clearing my throat, I start again, “He finally agreed to leave with me because things were getting more and more shady with Silas. We were going to leave that night, right after he finished helping Silas with a final spell, and trying to get some information from him.
“I finally went to search for Marcellus when he didn’t come back. When I found him though, Silas commanded him to slit my throat and he did... he tried to kill me. He would’ve been successful if we hadn’t formed a partial bond. Because of the bond, my magic was able to siphon enough off of him to keep me alive. But in order to accomplish keeping me alive, my soul had to be separated from my body.
“I’ve spent the last five hundred years floating around by myself as an invisible ball of soul.” I’ve been staring off into space as I tell my story, a transition I didn’t notice until Derrick is next to me wiping away the streaming tears from my cheeks. The tears are something else I didn’t notice. Closing my eyes, I try to gain control of myself again. I’ve already promised myself no more tears over my betrayal.
After taking a shuddering breath, Alex breaks the silence that has fallen over us. “So are you saying there’s a fifth mate out there somewhere who we need to beat the shit out of and lock away?”
The venom in his words gives me a wry smile, my gaze focusing on Marcus who appears just as disturbed as the others. “I think I’ve concluded I’m now in some alternate reality. Probably happened when my soul separated or something... my mate was Marcellus. But this version here,” I gesture to Marcus to make sure they’re all following along, “isn’t the same man who slit my throat.
“Now you know why I acted the way I did when I first woke up, and why it seemed like I was rejecting you.” Glancing around at the others, I try to reassure them and make sure they don’t unjustly distrust their friend. “Marcus shared all of his memories with me, and I thoroughly searched for any similarities in the Marcellus I knew. They don’t share the same youth at all.”
“So, you’re saying this is someFringeshit like the TV show with the same people living in two different worlds?” Alex asks for clarification.
“I guess... I haven’t seen that show, but yeah, that’s my best guess.” Marcus hesitates, unsure of himself, but ultimately decides to slowly approach me. He holds out a hand next to my face, and I lean into it, to show I’m not afraid of his touch.
He lets out a sigh at my actions. “I’m so sorry, Babe. I hate that you went through such a painful experience. The way you acted is totally understandable, and if there are moments where you need to pull away from me, just let me know. I want to support you in any way I can.” I cup the back of his head and pull him in for a kiss to reassure him. Or maybe it’s myself I’m reassuring, I’m not really sure.
“Man, that’s some really heavy shit!” Oh, Alex...
Derrick, always analyzing information, asks an important question, “Okay, so if this is an alternate world like you think, is this Silas evil too? Or is he going to be a decent guy? Should we even bring you around him?”
The thought of any version of Silas being good never even occurred to me. The type of evil attached to him seems like the kind of thing that’ll remain constant no matter what. “The spell protecting me from anyone knowing who I am should be enough protection for me to be around him. Although, I would appreciate it if you’ll all make sure I’m never alone with him. Oh, and I really cringe to ask, but can we keep our marks hidden from him? I don’t want him getting any ideas when he finds out you’re all mated to the same woman.”
I brace myself for their reaction. I may have briefly lost pride in displaying mine from fear and heartbreak, but I still remember how sacred it is to our people. My guys had their moment of pride stolen away from them due to the spell keeping me hidden. They were prevented from realizing the moment their marks showed up, and the bond sparked a void only I could fill. Each one of my mates has felt my absence in their lives, and it’s affected them in different ways. Asking them to hide our marks could be received like a slap in the face.
Marcus seems to answer for all of them, always the unofficial leader, “Anything you need, baby.” There he goes again, making my heart melt with that fucking nickname. I’m relieved they understand why I want to keep it from Silas. I would’ve felt gutted if they were hurt by me asking.
“So speaking of Silas... how are we going to handle telling him about ‘failing’ at both of our missions. I mean, we shouldn’t tell him the truth, right?” Klaus asks the group.
“Absolutely not! He can’t know the truth,” I rush out. Protecting my people is our number one priority.
“I agree, we already talked about how things aren't adding up with Silas and that's before we found out he’s the cause of what happened to Cecily. Maybe we should’ve questioned those at the castle who we noticed, but really, we didn’t have the time. We need to keep everything within our inner circle.” Marcus is quick to agree.
I wanted to pry for more information about Queen's Thistle from Derrick, but right now, I’m so emotionally and mentally drained. Reliving what Marcellus did to me… my pain whimpers with a vicious backlash. No bittersweet feelings here, only bitterness.
Chapter 26
Cecily
