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“Unless Hades got a hold of him, Hades knew how close Celeste was with him, hated him more than he hated me,” Kaif chuckles, and I shake my head.
“What about sisters?” I ask him curiously. Kaif is a bit of an oddity to me, and I know he doesn’t like speaking of his past.
“Nah, just my older brother, he was two years older than me, he helped along with me to start the Lycan curse. His power was stronger than even mine, hence why Celeste always kept a tight leash on him, mostly,” he explains. As we near the iron gates, Kaif flicks his wrist, blasting them open, while his grip on my hand tightens.
“Ready?” he asks me, and I watch Kyan’s eye bleed black, fully letting me know Kaif was in full control of Kyan’s body at this moment.
“No, but anything to get out here, this place makes me queasy,” I tell him, and he laughs wickedly when I see the pantry back in the Octavian manor. The entry shimmers, and I see the kitchen table and part of the kitchen, which is empty.
Kaif shoves me through and portaling out of here is nothing like portaling out. The air is frigid and cold, and I can taste burned almonds in the back of my throat. All at once, it feels like it's pulling my soul from my body while simultaneously shoving it back inside me, it's hard to explain yet not something I want to experience again. However, it makes me wonder if that is how Marabella feels when she tries to enter the Moon Goddess realm.
The moment we step into the kitchen, I get a strange sense something is wrong. Very wrong. The energy here is severely off when I hear growling. My stomach sinks, and our group all but race from the kitchen into the foyer to find Temperance breathing heavily, her body heaving. She looks rabid as Marabella, my mother, and Maddox try to calm her down, uncertainty in their eyes.
“What did you do to him! Where is he?” she screams, tugging at her hair as she is backed into a corner when I notice my other hand out trying to calm her.
Temperance smacks her head with her fists. “Make them stop, make them stop!” she screams, her eyes clenched shut.
“Shh, no one is trying to hurt you,” my father says, halting, his burned hand shaking as he attempts to reach out to her when I sense Shadow come forward. The change in her is almost demonic, and my heart stutters in my chest. A feral ticking sound escapes the back of her throat, her growl savage. Maddox growls back at her, yet my Dad turns on him.
“Back off, she’s scared,” he warns Maddox when his eyes fall on me briefly.
“That’s what they all say,” Temperance speaks, but the voice is that of Shadow. My father straightens when I see claws slip from Temperance’s fingertips. She has no control, she is not in her body. My mother also sensing this, edges closer, yet one thing is clear, my mother is not clouded by darkness, her shift having cleared all the energy that usually taints her.
“Shadow!” I snap, moving into the room and grabbing her attention. Her head tilts in my direction.
“You lied,” Shadow murmurs.
I move slowly, ushering my father away and putting myself between them. “I haven’t lied.”
Shadow laughs manically. “But you did, just like Satish, just like Nova, just like all of them. They always lie, I don’t like liars,” she tells me, yet now her attention is solely on me, I feel some semblance of relief. I see her eyes flicker, and I know Nova or Temperance is fighting to regain control of her. Yet, how effortlessly she is able to take that control worries me.
“You all lie,” she hisses, but I can see the spark of madness in the Shadow, she isn’t sane, no part of Temperance is sane yet despite knowing this, I know I can tame them. I need Shadow to realize I won’t hurt them.
I know Shadow is a major player when it comes to Temperance’s actions, her thoughts. Instinct tells me Shadow is the one that kept them safe, while Nova complied to keep them alive. Shadow was the one that fought for them, did the hard stuff. The things Nova couldn’t even do.
“Then leave, you’re free to leave,” I tell her. She watches me for a second before her eyes dart to the door.
“Eziah?” my mother whispers behind me. I know she is worried about unleashing Shadow into the city, the very much human city not far from here.
Yet, I know the only reason Shadow comes forward so easily is because Temperance is scared. I’ve figured out two things when it comes to Temperance. When she feels safe, she can hold strong and keep control. Now I know why. Shadow and Nova are her fight and flight.
When the mind bends, it will do anything to protect itself, just as her wolves will. They’re not only her wolves, but each one ruled by different aspects of Temperance. When Temperance was being abused, Nova hid her. Kept her safe, locked her in the dark, so she wouldn’t have to endure. Yet what Nova couldn’t endure, that’s when Shadow would come forward to fight, to endure the worst parts, making me wonder what was worse than what they went through at the hands of her brother.
“You’re lying, I’m your mate, you won’t let me go,” she snarls.
“So you do recognize me?” She huffs, seething that I caught her out on a lie. “Now who's the liar?” I ask her.
“Of course I recognize you, who do you think is blocking the bond from Temperance and Nova?” she asks.
ChapterFifty-Two
Eziah
My brows furrow in confusion at her words, but I notice how her eyes dart toward the door again. She wants to run.
Moving toward the door, she growls at me, thinking I am locking her in. “Mom?” I call through the mindlink and she startles hearing my voice. I haven't used the mindlink in so long besides talking to Casen. It feels foreign to open it to anyone else.
“Eziah,” she breathes back, opening it to allow both my fathers in.
