Page 76 of The Arcane God

Max looked over at Kaya, some unspoken communication passing between them, then he sighed heavily. “The idea of leaving our home, our land, does not please me, but…I fear it may be time to consider this. What do you think?” he asked Kaya.

Kaya sighed, shaking her head. “I agree that it may be time to leave, but as for the other part of your proposal…you have no idea how dangerous Cole truly is. Any of you,” she said in warning. “There is no doubt in my mind that he needs to be removed from the throne, but it’s incredibly risky.”

“What do you mean we don’t know how dangerous he is?” Ty asked Kaya, feeling like there was something she wasn’t saying. It felt a bit strange to speak with her directly still. He hadn’t necessarily been avoiding her these past few months—they coexisted peacefully enough, but he still had never given her the opportunity to say the things she wanted to, and that unspoken weight of the past sat between them every time they spoke.

Kaya hesitated, as if reluctant to explain, and she looked away from Ty.

“You need to tell them what happened,” Max said to her gently.

“What happened with what?” Ty asked, his stomach clenching at where this topic was likely headed.

“With me, and Cole, and…your father,” she said, her tone heavy.

Ty stiffened. He was correct about where this was heading—to the past, his past—and he still wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it.

“Excuse us for a second,” Ena said, tugging on his arm and dragging him away from the group so they could speak privately.

“What?” he asked, caught off guard at the sudden disruption.

“Enough is enough, Ty,” Ena said speaking gently but firmly. “You need to let Kaya explain what happened all those years ago. You’ve been avoiding it way too long, and now we actually need to know—especially if it’s important information for overthrowing Cole.”

Ty sighed, stroking his beard, before meeting Ena’s gaze. He wasn’t the only one who was annoyed—he could tell she was too—but he couldn’t hide from her. He never could.

“What are you so afraid of anyway?” she asked, her blue eyes filled with a vulnerability that invited his own.

“I don’t know,” he said truthfully, and it frustrated him. “It’s not like I hate her or anything. She seems like a nice enough person, I just…”

“You’re mad at her,” Ena finished for him.

“Yes,” he said emphatically. “Of course I’m fucking mad at her. The choices she made…no matter what the reasons, even if they were justified, still ended the way they did. Leaving me without a mother, and eventually, without a father too. They left me at Cole’s mercy.”

“I’m not telling you to not be angry, Ty, I’m just telling you to listen. I think, deep down, if you’re ever going to let go of your anger, you need to understand what happened,” Ena said, her tone even and fair.

Fuck. He hated it when she was right. Which was often.

Ty sighed again, shutting his eyes for a moment. “You’re right,” he admitted, opening them. “I have been running from this.” He felt defeated even saying that. He felt cowardly—and he fucking hated feeling that way.

“So stop, and just face what you need to face,” Ena said. “I know you can.”

The way she looked at him then—her eyes filled with love and faith in him—made him feel like the strongest man in the world. He knew in that moment, that he’d do anything to make her proud of him. To please her.

“Okay,” he said. “For you.”

“Uh-uh,” she said, shaking her head and smirking at him. “For yourself.”

He growled playfully at her, which only made her smile wider. “Fine. For myself, then. Lead the way, viper,” he said, gesturing back towards the group.

“Our apologies for the disruption,” he said as they rejoined the others around the fire.

“Not a problem,” Turner said gleefully. “Did you successfully talk some sense into him?” he asked Ena.

Ty side-eyed him as Ena responded with a satisfied, close-lipped smile. The two of them were so smug, he made a mental note to kick Turner’s ass at cards later and deliver a spanking Ena would never forget.

Ty cleared his throat meaningfully. “Kaya, if you wouldn’t mind telling us what happened with Cole, especially if it’s relevant for our plans, then…we’re listening,” Ty gritted out, his heart pounding harder than normal.

Kaya’s eyebrow quirked up in surprise. He’d been avoiding this topic for so long, he was sure it was jarring for her to finally be invited to speak on it. “Well,” she began. “I don’t know if it will be relevant for deposing him, but you do need to understand what he’s capable of—how badly he likely resents you.”

Ty knew that Cole hated him—that had always been clear—but he always thought it was out of jealousy, since Ty was the rightful heir, not just a placeholder like Cole was.