I take a seat across from Jess, and Knox sits to my right. Steph closes the door and perches next to Jess. Jess rubs his forehead as the warm and enthusiastic welcome fades from his face. The façade, no doubt, is to keep people calm. His worn features and weary eyes looking back at me tell me he’s been through many sleepless nights. Signs that this battle has been taxing. It must be exhausting to have the lives of so many looking to you for guidance. His duty to find the solution to end this undoubtedly weighing heavily on him.
Especially since doing so means bringing an end to his own brother.
And how, exactly, do you end an immortal?
“So, you’ve requested this meeting in person—I’m assuming you’ve come with news?” he asks.
I waver for a minute. I don’t know what role Myssa will play. Or if she will have any. The pressure of bringing hope to them makes me question if this was the right decision. At this point, it is all we have, though. Something, or someone, has to be better than nothing, right? Confident in my decision, I sit up straighter.
“We have met another Original,” I say.
A glimmer of hope flashes in his eyes. He shifts his shoulders as his interest peaks.
“It has been quite some time since we’ve seen another Original besides you and Knox. Have they crossed over yet?”
I nod in confirmation.
“Her name is Myssa.” My muscles tense as her name leaves my lips. I can see Steph out of the corner of my eye she is fixated on my words and her unwavering stare is making me nervous. I know she’s trying to read my body language, to see what effect Myssa has on me.
Jess and Steph know about my past—Steph found me that night in Aetheriem. The memories are etched in my mind and I can recall them as easily as if it happened yesterday.
The devastation in his eyes as he looked at me. The helplessness I’d felt watching as it happened still haunts me. A phantom pain still lingers, and I absentmindedly trail my fingertips across my chest. The collateral damage of his decision.
Jess stands and begins to pace, deep in his own thoughts.
“That explains the current shift in the frequency. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that Jasper and I are the only immortals in Aetheriem who can sense those changes. So, if I felt it…” He trails off as he stops and turns to look at me.
“Jasper already knows,” I whisper, watching the small flame of hope in his eyes extinguish. It doesn’t take long for fury to appear in its place. His nostrils flare, and the composure he’d had earlier now unravels. He grips the back of the chair so tightly, his knuckles turn white.
“What does that mean, exactly?” he seethes.
I can’t say this is a side of Jess I’m comfortable with. My throat bobs as I fumble to find the right words. I side-eye Knox for a little help, since he was the one who’d had the conversation with Myssa. Knox, however, seems to be having the same issueas I am, except his hands are shaking under the table. Mustering up the courage to speak, I begin again.
“Jasper has been taunting Myssa. He says he has her sister’s soul and is using it against her.”
Jess scoffs at the notion.
“Not surprising there,” he says, pushing away from the chair as he starts to pace slowly again.
I glance at Knox, who’s already focused on me, and he gives me a small nod of encouragement to continue. My gaze bounces between Jess and Knox and I shake my head silently encouraging Knox to continue with the next bit of information.
Steph, always the perceptive one, speaks up. “There’s more, isn’t there?” It was more of a statement than a question. Wide-eyed, as if we were kids that got busted, we both turn in her direction. Jess stops darting his gaze back and forth between us. I hear a heavy sigh to the right of me.
“He marked her,” Knox says.
“How?” Jess asks, his tone softer.
“He ripped through her arm, a wound deep enough that it’s still healing.” Knox pauses for a second as he watches the tension build on Jess’s face.
All I can hope is there is truth in the old saying, “Don’t kill the messenger”.
“He told her it was a reminder,” Knox says as he looks at Steph, clearly to dodge Jess’s glare.
“A reminder.” Jess’s cynical laugh reverberates off the walls, making Knox stir uneasily in his chair. “The state of Aetheriem is an entire fucking reminder of how off the rails he has become,” he thunders, causing Knox and I to wince.
Since all of this started, I’ve never seen Jess get this upset, no matter how bad things got. Steph stands and walks over to Jess, her small hand caressing his arm, he instantly let’s go of the tension with a deep sigh. Pulling her in for an embrace he closeshis eyes, and kisses her forehead. I feel a twinge in my chest as I watch their affection. I want that: someone who can ground a man’s temper from chaotic destruction to peacefulness with one simple touch. Those emerald eyes I have obsessed over in the last few weeks flash in my mind. I want that…with her.
“Is she ok?” Steph asks gently as she steps back from Jess, giving him another confirming squeeze before taking her seat again.
