“It helps that you had a dragon on your side.”
“Especially with the basilisk.”
I closed my eyes and let out a breath through my nose, trying to calm down. “You were alone up there with Braelynn, trying to save yourself. And I was here, in meetings, trying to form a plan. I should have been out there looking for you.” I pulled away from her and started to pace, my Fire sliding over my fingers as Earth rumbled under my feet. I knew the others would be able to feel my Wielding, my temper. But I figured…screw it. I was tired of holding everything back for fear they would think I was a king of no kingdom who couldn’t control my emotions.
They could deal with me later. Right now, I needed to make sure that Lyric was whole, and I had nowhere else to focus my anger, not when we couldn’t fight our enemies head-on.
“You couldn’t leave our people behind,” Lyric said, her voice stern, but my brain locked onto one word.
Our. She’d said our people.
So weird to think that I wasn’t completely alone in this anymore. That I could feel her within my soul, her own heart beating beside mine. I never thought to find my soulmate, and in some respects, I hadn’t been sure I possessed one to begin with.
I had been cursed, had lost most of those I loved and was forced into a life that I hadn’t chosen for myself. People had hated me, the prince of the dark court, at least during the time when light had to be good, and dark must be evil. We had been set on the paths of our fates long before we were even born. Yet, somehow, I ended up with the other half of my soul.
It didn’t seem like I deserved her. It didn’t seem fair that I should have this moment of peace and happiness when others had nothing.
Maybe it’d be better if I walked away. If I gave her a chance to thrive without me. But I wasn’t that kind of man. Plus, I had walked away before. I wouldn’t do it again.
She was mine, just like I was hers, and the world and the fates would have to deal with it.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Lyric asked, her tone cautious.
“I know you told us what happened with The Gray, but I also know you left some things out,” I said after a moment, studying her face.
Her eyes turned dark, and part of me hated myself for bringing it up, though I had to know.
“You’re right. There are some things I couldn’t tell the others.”
“You can tell me.”
She searched my face and smiled, even though it didn’t reach her eyes. I reached out and traced her cheek with my fingertips, loving how her eyes closed, and she leaned into me.
“I know I can tell you anything. It’s so weird that I can.”
I let out a laugh. “Really? Weird?”
She blushed a pretty pink that covered her cheeks and descended down her neck.
“I meant it’s weird that I have somebody I can tell things to. I didn’t know that I ever would. It feels like I’ve known you my entire life instead of however long I have.”
“It does feel like so much longer, doesn’t it? But I guess that’s what it means to be soulmates.”
“I suppose that’s what it means to have that word be real,” she countered, and I nodded, knowing she was taking the long way around to the subject. That was fine. I could wait. But I hoped she would tell me everything eventually.
Not only because I needed to know, but also because I knew she needed to get it off her chest.
“You know it wasn’t just The Gray who hurt me, right?”
“Yes, I know,” I growled out. The flames in the hearth beside us grew, the white tips of each flicker so bright and hot it could sear flesh in an instant. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I shrugged.
“You know this is going to make me angry, no matter what you say, and my Wielding needs to go somewhere.”
“I do know that, but please don’t burn down the castle.”
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best,” I said dryly.
“At least that’s a start.” She let out a sigh.
“It was The Gray, but he had Durlan cut me. He was always the one with the knife.”
A single crack appeared in the wall beside us, my Earth Wielding growing intense as the Fire raged in the hearth. Suddenly, Lyric’s hands were on my face, caressing my skin and then moving down my chest as she soothed me. “Stop it. I’m fine. He didn’t even scar me. There’s nothing left of him on me.”
“I’ll gut him.”
“You might have to stand in line because I want to gut him first,” she growled.
I kissed her. She’d never been so damn hot to me before.
“He’s still out there, but I killed Garrik,” she said without a hint of remorse in her tone. I was grateful for that. If she had felt bad about his death, I would have done everything in my power to make her understand she shouldn’t feel remorse for what she had been forced to do. Not given what Garrik had done to us.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be the one to do it for you,” I said honestly.
“There are some things I need to do for myself, and not just because I’m the Spirit Priestess.”
“Maybe. But if I could shield you from the bad ones, I would.”
“That would be nice, but not truly feasible.” She let out a breath and pulled away before she began pacing.
“What is it?”
“The Gray said something to me, and I know I should take it with a grain of salt, but I’m anxious to know if it’s the truth.”
“What?” I asked, uneasy now.
“He said there are others on his side. People within our ranks.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I growled, anger surging within me once again.
“He said that he has a son.”
I froze, blinking, my mind whirling. “The Gray has a son?”
“Yes, and he told me his name,” she whispered, her hands shaking now. I moved forward, holding her close.
“Who is it?” I asked, my voice barely above a murmur.
“Luken,” she whispered.
I froze and cursed under my breath.
“The bastard of the Lumière is The Gray’s son?”
“Don’t call him that,” she snapped.
“That’s the title they gave him, it’s not what I call him myself.”
I pulled away so I could look down at her. “Luken has no idea, does he?” I asked, knowing that had to be the case.
“No. And that’s why I know he’s on our side. He would do anything for Rhodes and Rosamond and Braelynn. He’s not truly The Gray’s. But I don’t want anyone else to know because I don’t want them to look at him differently. I don’t want distrust to slide through the ranks. If it does, we’ll become weaker than we already are. Plus, I don’t want Luken to hate himself even more than he already does because he couldn’t protect Braelynn.”
“He’ll need to know eventually,” I said, hating myself for even mentioning it.
“I know. But first, we need to figure out who his mother is.”
My brows rose. “Wasn’t he raised by his mother?” I asked, trying to remember some of what I remembered about Luken’s past.
“He was raised by a woman he thought was his mother, but The Gray said that his mom is someone we can’t trust and a person we may know.” Lyric looked at me then, her throat working as she swallowed hard. “His mother is someone we must worry about, though I don’t know where to start looking for her.”