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Lyka heard us even through the wall. I noticed a motion out of the corner of my eye as he approached the viewing window and craned his head.
“Fenris, is that you? Come closer,” he said. I could barely hear him scent the air over the sudden roar of blood in my ears.
Celeste nudged me toward the window, stepping further out of the way so Lyka could see me. She motioned with one hand for her friend to join her.
“Lyka.” I didn’t entirely know what to say to him. After Sabine’s attack, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear my brother’s voice again, much less in such a reasonable tone.
“Did I hurt you badly?” Lyka asked after a beat.
I blinked, taken aback. Before I could ask him what he meant, he pointed to his own chest, and I knew at once that he was referring to the episode centuries ago when he’d tried to claw my heart out from under my sternum.
My muscles clenched.He remembers that?He was completely out of his mind, never mind how long ago that was.
I must have worn my shock on my face because his expression fell. “I did, didn’t I? I’m glad to see you here, all the same,”he said.
I took a moment to compose myself.“I am glad to see you back to yourself,”I said, and that was the whole truth.“I have waited a long, long time.”
Lyka didn’t seem as worried about hiding his emotions as I did. His relief was obvious, even through the glass.
“Liana and I are going to give you two more privacy,” Celeste said before kissing my cheek and heading back down the hallway. Liana followed, though not without giving Lyka one last look as she left.
Lyka’s eyes trailed after her before they fell back to me.“Don’t worry,”I told him.Your fated mate is safe with Celeste.”
He shook his head.“My memories are coming back to me,”he said,“but some of them are still foggy. I have had a lot of time to think, though…”He trailed off, motioning at the spartan room around him.“I am grateful that you’ve kept mealive when I was the one who decimated most of our pack. Or whatever was left that the Solar Sovereign hadn’t gotten to.”
I sighed.“You were clearly not in your right mind.”
His frown deepened.“I was not,”he said.“And I realize now Sela was not my fated mate, no matter how deeply I believed it at the time. She was clearly priming me so the Solar Sovereign could take complete control and finish off our pack. She nearly got her wish.”
I blinked. I knew that Sabine was working with the Solar Sovereignnow, but I’d assumed she’d pledged to my rival because Lyka had killed her sister and she wanted revenge.All those centuries…I bristled at the thought that the pair of psychic witches were playing with my brother like a toy for the Solar Sovereign’s pleasure. Now Sabine and the Sovereign herself were using Celeste as a weapon against me.
“You deserve justice,”I snapped, my skin prickling with anger.“And I will get it for you.”
Lyka shook his head.“I am not interested in justice or revenge. I just want peace. When I am near my fated mate, things are…I do not even know how to describe it. It is quieter. I feel calmer, more myself. My thoughts are cloudy, yet I’m not as bothered by it, even if I cannot find my way through the fog.”He sighed.“I would like to be able to speak to her like this. I have no idea what she is saying, and I do not want to get any closer to her. After what I did to Sela…”
“You did that because the witch was tormenting you,”I snarled.“I am sure you wouldn’t do that to your actual mate.”
He shrugged.“I was entirely convinced Selawasfated to me,” he said.“And that is not a risk I am willing to take with her.”He paused and gave me a look.“Tell me how to say her name. She tried to spell it out for me, but I am afraid I did not get it right.”
I wanted to argue with him, but I did as he said, teaching him the syllables “Li-an-ah” until he could say her name smoothly. Once he could repeat it, I found myself still talking, explaining how different the world was now—where I lived, how different the Temple of the Moon looked. When I began explaining how we got to and from all these places, Lyka held up a hand and shook his head.
“That is enough for now,”he said, chuckling wearily.“My mind is spinning from meeting Liana alone, much less all these changes. But…I think the future looks good on you, my brother. You look well. I mean that. And your mate…I am glad to see you have accepted her. You seem happier than I have ever remembered.”His smile grew.“I think ruling suits you, Fenris.”
I frowned, but did not argue his point. I didn’t particularlyfeellike ruling suited me as it did Lyka in the decades before Sela began influencing his mind. I pressed my lips together and decided I couldn’t keep my brother in the dark, especially when everything might change.“The eclipse is coming. It is just weeks away,”I said.“The Solar Sovereign has made her presence known, and I am confident she is going to try to attack during the eclipse and kill me without hope of rebirth.”
Lyka’s smile fell away, a stern look replacing it as he stood up straighter.“I know I am not in particularly good shape, but if there is anything I can do to help you, just say the word, and it is yours.”He gave a firm nod.“I will do anything, as long as I am not in the Lunar Lord’s way.”
I laughed.“You were the Lunar Lord once. I think I liked it better when you were barking orders.”
“I did notbark,”Lyka protested.“But we see how well my reign ended. I will be happy to follow whatever orders you have to give, my brother. However you see fit to take on the Solar Sovereign, that is how we will do it. You are the rightful Lunar Lord, and you should see yourself as such.”
Chapter 13
Celeste
Fenris’s Private Villa
Isla Lobo, Panama
