45. Kian

45

KIAN

K ian paced between the living room and the closed door of Allegra's room. The silence stretched on, broken only by the soft sounds of his daughter's steady breathing coming through the baby monitor. Syssi had been in there for what felt like an eternity, and with each passing minute, his worry grew.

Summoning a vision wasn't easy, and the intensity, duration, and effect on Syssi varied tremendously. Some left her just a little shaken or puzzled, while others made her lose consciousness, and those were the ones he feared the most.

She was immortal, he reminded himself. Nothing was going to happen to her.

It wasn't self-talk to make himself less worried. It was the absolute truth, and yet he couldn't help the churning in his stomach. Maybe Syssi was right, and it was his obsessive need to be in control of everything that made her visions seem so dangerous to him. He didn't understand them; he couldn't do anything about them, and they affected the person he loved most in this world.

Syssi would be appalled to hear him say that, which was why he never did, but as much as he loved their daughter, one day Allegra would fly the coop to find her own destiny, and then it would be back to just Syssi and him, and that was fine. She was his entire world.

It was taking her too long this time.

Perhaps he should check his emails as a distraction from the gnawing concern in his gut.

When his phone rang the moment he pulled it out of his pocket, he nearly dropped it. Cursing under his breath, Kian checked the caller and was surprised to see the name on the screen.

Frowning, he accepted the call even though it was the worst timing. "Toven. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. Mia and I are visiting Margo at your penthouse, and I'm happy to announce that we have a new Dormant who wants to join our village as soon as possible." He continued explaining about Margo's brother's situation and why he wanted to move into the village right away.

"It's okay," Kian cut in at the first opportunity. "I'm dealing with something else right now, so I leave it to your discretion."

"Thank you. Mia and I will host him until his situation resolves."

As Toven ended the call, the baby monitor clipped on Kian's belt crackled, and then he heard Syssi say something almost too faintly for him to understand.

It sounded like she'd said, "What the heck was that?"

Her bewildered tone sent a jolt of adrenaline through him, and he sprinted toward Allegra's room. Yanking the door open, ready to rush to Syssi's side, he nearly collided with her.

He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders and searched her face. "What happened?"

Syssi's eyes were wide, but that was probably because of their near collision. She wasn't pale or shivering or exhibiting any other signs of trauma from the vision.

Had she seen a spider or a cockroach?

His brave mate was terrified of both, but then her response would have been much more vocal.

Syssi took a deep breath. "I had a vision, but it was very strange."

All of her visions were strange, but pointing that out wasn't constructive.

"How so?" Kian guided Syssi back to the living room, settling them both on the couch.

"It was a vast desert. I could feel the heat and smell the sand. It felt so real." She closed her eyes as if trying to recapture the image. "There were endless dunes, stretching as far as I could see, and mountains in the distance that looked like camels' backs." She opened her eyes. "I need to draw them, those distant mountains. Maybe there is something distinct about them that can point us to their location."

"Was there a clue about Khiann?"

"Maybe." Syssi leaned her head against his shoulder. "I didn't see him, but I saw someone else who seemed significant."

"Who?"

"It was a woman," Syssi said, her brow furrowing. "At least, I think it was a woman. She was dressed in men's clothing, with a turban and everything. Like she was trying to hide her femininity." She chuckled. "Not that it was working with all those curves."

Kian nodded. "I can understand the necessity for such a disguise. In certain parts of the world, women cannot move freely. Could you see her face?"

"Only her eyes, but they were striking, and her gaze looked familiar. They were dark brown on the outer ring of the iris and lighter near the pupil. It looked like they were reflecting the sun or swirling golden flakes."

Kian felt a jolt of recognition. "Golden flakes? Syssi, we both know a woman with such eyes. Jasmine."

Syssi didn't look surprised, which meant that it had occurred to her as well.

She smiled. "Those curves certainly looked familiar. Her eyes were different, though. Probably because she was squinting against the sun. Anyway, the implications are profound. Jasmine has the ability to scry for a location, and she helped locate the twins' pod. She might be able to locate Khiann."

Kian held up a hand, tempering her enthusiasm. "It's not the same. Jasmine had been seeing the prince in her tarot spreads for a long time before we approached her, and she came up with the idea to scry for his location. The Fates wanted her to find Ell-rom."

"Maybe the Fates want her to find Khiann now," Syssi countered.

Kian ran a hand through his hair. He hated to dampen her spirits, but he needed to be realistic. "The vision didn't show you whether Khiann was alive, right? And it didn't provide you with any specifics about the location either."

Syssi let out a breath. "I agree that this case is much weaker, but it was also pretty weak for the pod, and yet Jasmine still found it."

"We know from my mother's tale that Mortdh murdered Khiann when he was en route from Sumer to Egypt. The desert between those two locations is vast. It's a much bigger area than what Jasmine had to work with in Tibet. We could be just wandering aimlessly for decades in hopes of stumbling upon a clue as to where we should dig for him."

"I also saw ruins." Syssi perked up. "I forgot about them, but I saw remnants of ancient buildings protruding from the sand."

That was a thread they could actually follow. "Do you remember more details? Anything distinct about their architecture or layout?"

Syssi closed her eyes. "There were crumbling stone walls. Pieces of broken columns were strewn about, weathered by centuries of sand and wind." She paused, her brow furrowing. "I think I saw hieroglyphs carved into the stone. Some looked like depictions of birds and flowers, and others I didn't recognize."

Kian quickly pulled out his phone and opened his notes app. "This is good. Keep going. Any other details you can remember?"

She opened her eyes. "I'm afraid that's all. Maybe I should summon another vision."

He shook his head. "This is a good start. I don't want you to summon another vision so soon. I'll ask Shai to do an internet search for ancient ruins in the Arabian desert that match this description. It might not narrow things down a lot, but it might give us a place to start."

Syssi nodded. "Should we talk to Jasmine about the vision?"

"Not yet. Let's see what Shai comes up with."

"I'm sure that another vision is needed, but I'll wait a few days before I attempt it again. What are we going to tell your mother?"

He winced. "Nothing. Not until we have something concrete."

"Yeah, I guess you are right."

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, and then Syssi stirred in his arms. "What if we're interpreting the vision all wrong?"

Kian pulled back to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're assuming the vision is about finding Khiann because that's what I asked for, but I also asked about Khiann when I was shown the twins' pod, so it might be trying to tell us something else." Syssi's eyes lit up with renewed energy. "Maybe this isn't about finding Khiann but something that Jasmine needs to do. Or maybe something that's going to happen to her? After all, the vision showed me her, not Khiann."

Syssi's intuition had proven invaluable time and time again, but he had a feeling that she was wrong this time. Jasmine had already found her happily ever after, so the Fates were not making her the star of the story this time. They had a job for her to do. She had a valuable gift that would only get stronger once she transitioned, and it might help them find what they were looking for.