“You only saw me in my wolf form—the day that you and your god dragged away my pack in obsidian chains.” My breathing slowed as the memory came to mind. “I do believe that it wasyoursoldiers that slaughtered the pack of my second in command. Her name is Naomi, by the way. She lost her entire family that day.”
“That order was not given byme,” I reminded him. It was Ryuk that had control of my army at the time. He had wanted to “cleanse” Andonia, start anew.
Malakai laughed, though the sound came out bitter and harsh. “You’re right, Kaiden. Nothing is ever trulyyourfault, is it?”
Before I could answer him, we stopped at a room, and Tristan entered with Morrigan. He brought her to the bed, laying her down gently on a pillow covered in black sheets. The entire castle resembled a place of death—cold, colorless. I supposed it wasn’t far off from what mine looked like.
“I’ll go retrieve her mother and the little wolf,” Malakai whispered to Tristan before turning to leave. His shoulder coincidentally shoved into mine as he passed, but I paid it no mind. It seemed everyone here had a lot of reasons to be angry with me, but in truth? I didn’t care. I was here forher. Nothing else mattered.
I followed the path to her bed and stood on the opposite side from Tristan. It was almost impossible not to stare. The markings on his skin were nearly identical to mine, though his skin was a few shades lighter. Some of them even stretched onto his face, covering one of his eyes. I assumed that was the cause of his iris being almost completely white. His other eye held a bright, iridescent blue that contained the glow of a god’s power within. It appeared dimmer than I remembered the others’ to be, though… and perfectly resembled his mother’s.
I pulled up a chair and sat down, keeping my eyes trained on both of them as I watched the scene before me. Tristan leaned against the bed, his hand resting on top of Morrigan’s. It would piss me off if I wasn’t so torn.
“Is it true?” I asked him.
Without looking at me, he nodded. “It is.” He removed his hand from Morrigan and sat back in his chair. “For a long time, I assumed that you knew. None of the other lords had the kind of power you did. And he spent so much time with you… I realizenowthat you didn’t know.”
Ryuk. My—Ourfather. Then, the thought of him caused another bout of anger to make its way through my arms, settling deep into my chest. He had sent me on a wild goose chase to find Rosina so that Dez and I could… “I couldn’t take it back, even if I wanted to, you know,” I told him. “If you had remained in Andonia, the war never would have ended. Even more people might have died.”
“Like they were truly better off with the seven of you,” he scoffed. Finally, his eyes met mine, and the only thing reflecting back at me was hatred. It ran deeper than either of our markings that bound us to our father. “I have more control overmymonsters than you have over yourselves. If it had been me in your place, Morrigan never would have been taken by?—”
“Easy,” I warned him. “God or not, Ihavekilled for her. I will dowhateverit takes to keep her safe.” I peered at her sleeping body, pale and brittle compared to the strength I had seen in the woods. “I want the truth. Where did that power come from? When I last saw her, she couldn’t even manage a single flame on her own.” I returned my gaze to Tristan. “That light? I’ve only ever seen a surge of power like that from a?—”
“God? Yeah. Morrigan’s not what the gods planned for her to be.” He leaned closer to her, and I couldn’t help the prickle of awareness on my skin that made me want to tear him away. “When Ryuk tried to kill me in the tunnels, he broke a piece of my light somehow.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. But when Morrigan was born, I couldfeelit. The other half of my power seemed to shift, like it called to me in some way. It wasn’t until she was much older that I started seeing her dreams. She had these… horrible nightmares. Most were because of Maeryn, but some were…” He glanced at me before looking back at Morrigan. “I did what I could to keep her safe. Calmed her when she was scared. When your lords beganbondingwith her,” his lips pursed with obvious distaste, something we couldbothagree on, “the connection between us grew stronger. The bonds must have created a ripple effect, forcing my light to the surface.”
Things are making a lot more sense now.I thought back to the day her room caught on fire. Eris had told me she was yelling at someone before she went silent. “You were there. In the room.”
He nodded, and a look of regret flashed over his eyes. “I tried to awaken the light, but I didn’t expect it to be so rooted inside of her. It was no longer my own. Once our magic touched, it set off a surge of power that I couldn’t stop. It forced her into a transition that her body wasn’t ready for.” He leaned back, distancing himself as he turned away from Morrigan. “That’s when I realized what had to be done… and I wasn’t sure that I could follow through with it.”
Suddenly, he stood and walked toward the vanity. He opened the drawer and removed a small dagger, not made of obsidian.
“She’s not the only one struggling with her magic. I had an episode as well, and I’m not strong enough to heal her. I…” He rolled his eyes as he approached, flipping the blade so that the handle faced me. “Blood is the only thing that will heal her quickly enough. It needs to be powerful, and you…” He gave me a condescending once over, and I hated how familiar it felt. “I guess ahalf-god is good enough.”
Half-god.I didn’t even want to touch on that subject right now. Accepting the blade, I stood and replaced him at her other side. Leaning over the bed, I smoothed my hand over her forehead and got my first good look at her.I’m sorry,I thought to myself, wishing that she could hear it.I should have told you. Iwilltell you. Anything you want, I’ll give it to you, Morrigan. Just… Don’t hate me.
With the dagger, I sliced a clean cut down my wrist and moved it quickly to her mouth, allowing my blood to drip down onto her lips. I used my other hand to pull her lips apart, waiting as I counted each drop that landed on her tongue.
“You were telling the truth, weren’t you?” Tristan asked. “About Mara.”
I had to swallow the lump that threatened to form in my throat, trying not to think about what she looked like as Morrigan’s flames turned her to ash.
“Yes,” I bit out. “I was.”
“Morrigan told me that Cain has the ability to change his appearance.” My head snapped up to him, curious as to what he was implying. “I’m not saying he did it, but… hedidtake Morrigan… and we both know he isn’t against hurting a woman to get what he wants.”
Morrigan’s lips moved, twitching as her throat swallowed. I leaned closer, bringing my wrist to her mouth so she could drink faster. "I'm sorry about Mara," I said to him, and it was genuine. “I don’t know what your relationship was with her, but I mourned her for a long time. I’m just sorry it had to happen like that.”
When I turned to look at him, he was shaking his head at me.
“You see, Kaiden, that’s where we differ. I loved Mara, though it was far different than the loveyouhad for her. But the second she brought that blade to Morrigan’s throat, her fate was sealed. I wouldn’t have allowed her to walk out of those woods. Be grateful her final death was fast at Morrigan’s hand; mine may not have been so generous.”
A soft hand wrapped around my wrist. Morrigan’s eyes were still closed, but she pulled my arm down to her and wrapped her lips around the cut. I struggled to suppress the groan lodged in my throat as she pulled from me. Feeling her touch again sent shivers over my body.
“I’ve got you, little dove,” I whispered, and a small whimper left her throat just loud enough for me to hear. “I came for you. Just like I promised I would.”
