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26
Lena
After the conversation at Octavia’s house, my mind won’t stop spinning. I always suspected my mom had never left. Evelyn’s journals hinted at the worry she had for her friend. Hearing Octavia voice the same thought that has plagued me for years, it’s too much. Archer dropped me off at Rhys’s bar so I could fill him in on what Octavia told us. Not wanting to incite another fight, he left me at the door, waiting until I went inside before he took off for his office.
The low hum of the fading lunch crowd buzzes inside the bar. The steady growth of my magic has me seeing auras everywhere, and I’m tempted to rub at my eyes. It’s like staring at a screen for too long and then finally looking up. Everything is a little fuzzy and haloed in colors. They run the gamut, a soft white, yellow, pink, blue. The books I checked out have given me an idea of what the colors mean, but I haven’t begun to memorize them yet.
Rhys is behind the bar, washing glasses, and he doesn’t stop when I sit on a stool in front of him. We haven’t really talked about what happened at Miri’s place, yet. I sent him a message the next day asking how long he was going to be mad at me. He called me a butthead and then told me to give him another twenty-four hours. That’s just how Rhys and I operate. He might hold on to grudges like a pro with other people, but never with me.
Rhys looks up to say hello. The smile on his face quickly turns into a scowl. I’m obviously not doing a good job of hiding my emotions.
“What’s wrong?” He gets me a glass of water without having to ask. It’s so strange to look at another human being and see so much of yourself in them. We have the same black hair that shines blue in certain lights, identical blue eyes that tip over into almost violet depending on what colors we wear. Rhys might be my minutes-older brother, and protective as hell, but that goes both ways. We took care of each other when no one else was there for us. He was my support system, my shoulder to lean on, my confidant as a child. It wasn’t a one-way street, though; I was his, too.
He’s never doubted that our mom ran away and left us behind. I know it kills him deep down inside, wondering why she abandoned us. I don’t think either of us ever had any question why she left our dad. He’s a violent, abusive piece of shit. I don’t know how she managed to stay with him as long as she did. It’s the fact that she disappeared without us that has always haunted Rhys.
There’s enough activity in the bar that no one is paying attention to us. No one is close enough to hear my words when I speak.
“I went to go see Octavia today.”
Rhys lifts a brow. “Don’t you see her at least once a week?”
“Yes, but this visit was a bit more specific. We’ve never considered the fact that Octavia has more knowledge of this island than just about anyone else.” I stop and take a drink of my water, but it’s hard going down my throat. It’s closed up with dread.
“She mentioned something today and I want to check it out.”
“What did she say?” Rhys’s hands are on the bar, and he’s angled toward me to keep our conversation private. I can sense the tension in his stiff posture.
“She made a comment, something that I’ve thought about for a long time now, about mom.”
Rhys rears back, his entire face pinching with displeasure. His aura flickers a grayish-brown and I gnaw at my lip.
“Not this again Lena. I know you want to wipe her slate clean, rewrite history, whatever you want to call it, but she left us with that monster. You aren’t going to be able to change that fact.”
Rhys turns to walk away, but I stand on the rung of my stool. I fling my hand out to grab his wrist and keep him close.
“I overheard Scott last night. He was talking about Mom, and he’s afraid. He doesn’t want anyone digging into his past.”
“For once, I agree with him.”
I know that’s not true. “Stop. Listen, if it doesn't amount to anything, so what? Nothing changes. Everything we already know is true. But if we find out that we were lied to? Isn’t that worth knowing?” I plead with my brother, knowing he wants to pretend it doesn’t matter. That because it’s all in the past, it doesn’t have any bearing on our future. “I need to know, Rhys.”
A heavy exhale makes his chest heave, but he doesn’t look at me. “How would we even find out the truth, Lena? It’s not like daddy dearest is going to confess to anything.”
I lick my lips, nervous energy skittering beneath my skin as I let go of Rhys. “My magic is life and death magic. I think I can find out.”
At that, Rhys swivels his head back toward me, his eyes full of frustration and pain. “That is a supremely bad idea.”
“Why? Are we all going to continue shoving our heads in the sand and act like this isn’t happening? It is. We might not have the last person to form the Axis, but I feel it coming. It’s happening whether we give our permission or not.”
The betrayed look on Rhys’s face is a punch to the gut. Am I pushing him too much? I know his fears, all our fears about the Axis. For years we grew up thinking that our parents formed the Axis, and it did something to them. Set something off that left them twisted and dark.
Miri learned that the reason the Axis messed with them all is because they tried to force it to happen. Anthony cobbled together a group of people with some hint of Fae ancestry in their lines and thought it would be good enough. Instead, it made those of them who already walked the dark side that much darker. Or maybe that’s just who they always were. It didn’t change Miri’s mom. And Ezra’s dad, mine and Rhys’s, Davis’s dad, Archer and Ruby’s moms… what if they were already terrible people?
“I’m sorry, Rhys, but I need to do this. If you can’t be there, I understand.” I bite my lip again, the tender flesh abused by all my worrying.
“I won’t let you do this alone.”
