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A hush fell around us. Even the breeze seemed to have stilled.
I stiffened and shifted on my feet uncomfortably for a moment.
“Tell me it’s not true, Reilyn.” Araki took a step closer to me.
“But how could it be?” My lip trembled, and tears pricked my eyes as I recalled seeing some of my coven members turned Strigoi, “Master Briggs died… Opaline wouldn’t allow such atrocities to happen.”
“Yes, the woman, you blindly follow her orders,” Araki scoffed, his tone ringing a certain familiarity.
“You speak like you know her. How do you know her?”
A sardonic smile stretched his face. “How do I know she’s the leader of the Nightshade?”
“Answer the damn question!” I demanded, growing increasingly impatient and stirred crazy by the lack of answers as the days passed.
“I spent my fair share of time with the Nightshade, Reilyn. But I suppose Opaline never told you that.”
“That’s impossible,” I shook my head, flabbergasted, “You can’t—”
“How do I know her name, then?” Araki challenged. “How do I know she calls herself a priestess?”
“She is a priestess.”
“For herself, certainly.” He spat.
“I don’t have to listen to this.” I broke eye contact and saddled. I moved to turn around, but Araki was there, grabbing the reins before I could. I startled, not used to him moving so quickly around me when we weren’t facing off monsters.
“You have no idea who the people you work for truly are. The attack at the warehouse and every other was her hand.” Araki said darkly.
“You’re right, Araki. I have no idea who you are.” I replied and touched his hand to push him out of the way. His sharpened gaze moved up my arm. My skin prickled. The power inside him once more took my breath away as my fingers shifted, touching the thin strip of exposed flesh between his sleeve and glove. Is he really telling the truth? I studied his face. Could it truly be the Nightshade are behind such monstrous acts?
The latter set my teeth on edge and rattled me. So why did I want to listen to Araki’s tale in full? I shouldn’t want to know how he knew about the Priestess and why he thought of her the way he did. Who was Thebe to him? Why had he decided to kill him? Did he know me like he claims to know Opaline? Had he planned to kill me those many years ago? Why did he kill my parents? How could I allow myself to feel any softness toward him? Most of all, I shouldn’t have these feelings building in my heart. I was sent to kill him and reclaim my throne.
I made to remove my fingers from his wrist when his power suddenly coursed beneath the surface. More than that,the sheer force of it pulsed into my fingers, seeping outward without me even having to consciously take it. It dawned on him too. A split-second decision sparked in my head as he was about to speak. I teleported with no destination in mind. We fell hard onto an overgrown, grassy knoll. Araki yanked his hand from me, cursing under his breath.
“And just what was that supposed to accomplish?” Araki demanded as he stood up.
I brushed off my knees, rising as well. “Maybe I just don’t want to go back to that stuffy palace of yours.”
“Take us back. Right now.” He commanded.
I shook my head as I rubbed my temples. “I can’t just instantly transport us again. I don’t even know where we are.”
Araki huffed and turned around to take in our surroundings. I took the opportunity to look at where I had brought us., I spotted carved stones dotting the hill. As I moved away from Araki, looking more closely, I realized they were gravestones. Moss and lichens grew over them. Some were cracked down the middle, and others weathered badly. Some seemed to have once been carved by skilled hands, others the names chopped crudely into the rock. I stopped at a statue that had once been the image of the Queen of After. Her face was completely weathered away, but her hands were still outstretched as though bidding me to step into her embrace. Turning around again, I sought out Araki. He’d sat down, his head in his hands. For once, the emotions that emanated from him were as clear as my own. Sorrow. Regret. And somehow, mingled with it all, a flicker of hope. The world was silent around us, not even a breath of wind stirring the grasses. I returned tohim and took a seat a little down the hill, just before a single slab of stone with two names carved into it.
“I didn’t have a destination in mind when I teleported us,” I finally said. “So, you must have been thinking of this place.”
Araki lowered his hands. The anger was gone from his face. “I was. This is the graveyard where my parents are buried.”
Shock rippled through me. What sort of people had raised this man to become the King he was? I knew he had to have parents at one time, every person did, but I never thought of them as real beings. A bright yellow flower beside me swayed in the breeze, and I pinched it off at the base.
“My parents,” he continued with a distant expression on his face, as though he was transported back to an old time, “loved each other greatly. They loved me, too. They were concerned when I was born with so much power. They knew I had to be trained to use it; otherwise, I might destroy myself. So, they brought me to the Nightshade coven, so I might understand my powers.”
My brows shot up, taken aback by the revelation. I’d never heard anything about Araki being part of the Nightshade. Trained by the Nightshade? If he were, I would have been informed. Because if he was, then killing him wasn’t just about the kingdom and reclaiming my rightful throne. It was revenge for the Coven.
“That choice brought me to where I am now. Had they decided to find a different way, I wouldn’t be on the path I’m on now. And perhaps they would still be alive.” He continued solemnly.
His parents were dead… I could hear the pain in his voice as he admitted it. My parents were dead, too.Because of you.Master Briggs was dead… fresh grief washed over me, along with a trace of panic.What about Nala?
