Chapter 14

Fourteen

As she ate, Kaida fixated on the crackling fire. The ham and cheese sandwich immediately began to elevate her energy levels. It made her wonder if the Witch had spelled the food so it would bring her back to normal. Kaida had already ingested a potion that seemed to take the edge off. The food helped, too, but she could still feel the sting of the rejection. It was dull, but it was still there.

After she finished the sandwich, Kaida tried to focus on the conversation that the girls were having. She would catch a snippet or two, but then her mind would drift off to Enzo. Images of his steel-gray eyes, his perfect smile, and the way he looked at her plagued her mind as the bond grew into a throb.

“It only gets worse if you continue to feed on it, Kaida.”

The sound of her name pulled her out of her thoughts. Kaida’s eyes landed on Sundrei seated across from her. The Vampyre’s silver eyes seemed to hold a sadness in them as she held Kaida’s gaze.

“Trust me, it is better not to dwell on what happened because it will only eat away at you and make you fold into the darkness,” Sundrei continued.

Kaida swallowed hard and felt a scratch inside of her throat. Tears swelled up as Kaida did her best to take a few deep breaths so she wouldn’t start to cry again. She knew that Sundrei was right, but it was difficult for her to just turn her mind off.

“Ugh, it’s like someone died up in here. Can we please get our vibe back? I came out here to have some fun,” Remy groaned.

Adrien threw sand at Remy in response, “You’re terrible! Don’t make them feel like shit anymore than they already do. Stop acting like you weren’t the same way when you washed up here.”

Washed up? Did Remy actually get washed up here or is that a metaphor? Kaida wasn’t sure how anyone would react if she asked since she didn’t know any of them, so she kept her mouth shut.

“I didn’t bring the party down when I got here. If anything, I got it started.”

“You were the first one of us to get here. You can say whatever you want about how you handled what you went through because none of us witnessed it,” Azulia razed at Remy.

Kaida heard the tone the Faerie used and knew that she was poking fun at the Lycan. Remy growled as a warning, and it made Azulia smirk. A chuckle raised in her throat, but she covered it up with a cough. Kaida didn’t know these girls and didn’t want to risk damaging any possible relationship she may forge on this island. The girls all looked at her when she coughed. Adrien had a sympathetic look on her face again before she pointed at the water bottle at Kaida’s feet.

“Drink, Kaida. It’ll help.”

The water was ice cold even though it hadn’t been in any ice that Kaida could see. Her eyes widened when it touched her lips, and Adrien started to laugh when she noticed. Kaida looked at Adrien in bewilderment as she wasn’t aware of how Witch magic worked and what limits they had on their magic.

“Wasn’t me,” Adrien laughed and pointed at Azulia.

“You’re a Water Faerie?” Kaida asked her.

“Worse. I’m an Aether Faerie.”

Kaida’s jaw dropped. An Aether Faerie was an extremely rare breed. Instead of only holding one element, this meant that Azulia wielded all of them. From everything that was known about this, Azulia should have been held to high regard. The fact that she was here and not being heavily protected made Kaida’s head spin. Azulia could pass down to her children the ability to wield all five of the elements. Not only that but she could be paired with either the Seelie or Unseelie Faeries. Kaida even heard that her power could potentially be limitless in what she could do with the elements. She could make her kingdom stronger and even her mate. It blew Kaida’s mind that her Fated Mate rejected her and sent her here instead of bonding with her immediately.

“Why the hell would your mate reject you if you are an Aether?” It came out of her mouth before she realized that she said it.

Ah, shit. I hope I didn’t cross a line.

Azulia sighed and shook her head and said, “Because I was more powerful than he was, and he couldn’t handle it. A future king not being able to handle the fact that his mate would be more powerful than him inside of a matriarchal kingdom is just a waste, if you ask me.”

Kaida nodded her head along with Azulia’s story to show she understood where she was coming from even though her situation was different. She looked around the fire at the other girls. They were all doing the same as her. They may all have different stories, but they all knew the same pain.

“I think all of our men are a waste for what they have done to us. To send us here instead of cherishing us should be a crime,” Azulia said to no one in particular.

“If only we rejected them first. Then we all could have sent them here instead,” Remy said to the group. “Can you imagine them being here? I think they would just unleash their anger on each other, doing us all a favor by killing one another.”

“Well, isn’t that grim as hell. I thought you just liked wearing black clothing there, Rem. I had no idea that your heart was black, too,” Azulia said, poking fun at Remy once again.

“Pitch black with a dash of electric pink.”

“What is the pink there for?” Kaida asked.

“For my sparkling personality,” Remy said and flashed Kaida a full tooth smile and framed her face with her hands.

A laugh burst out of her, and Kaida couldn’t contain it. She didn’t expect to laugh at all, so when she did, it really cut loose. The girls joined in, and it made them all laugh harder when they looked at each other when they would stop. Kaida wasn’t sure why this was so funny that it caused all of this. It wasn’t something she would consider gut-wrenching, but she did know that it was something she desperately needed.

Once they settled down again, Kaida chose that moment to try to get to know everyone else.

“So, you were all rejected because you were more powerful than your mate?”

Adrien shook her head and corrected, “No. Mine rejected me so he wanted to open a portal to the Dark Dimension. What he doesn’t realize is he needs a specific artifact to do it. From what I know, he doesn’t even know the artifact he needs hasn’t been seen in thousands of years. I’m not all that worried about it.”

Uh… Dark Dimension? Her mate is trying to open a portal to something with DARK in the title, and she isn’t worried about it?

“I wish I knew why mine rejected me,” Remy said as she stared into the fire. “I don’t remember shit. I barely remembered my name when I washed ashore here. The only thing I remember is being told that I was a Meta Wolf and then the pain after I heard ‘I reject you.’ Every time I try to remember more, I just get a bad pain in my head.”

Kaida looked down at the fire. It didn’t feel like a moment she should be looking at Remy as the Lycan recalled what she could remember. No one talked for a few minutes after that. It was beginning to feel awkward, so Kaida asked the next person to tell their story. Sundrei still didn’t look up from the fire. Not once had she joined in the conversation yet either, but when Kaida asked her directly, Sundrei looked at Kaida for the first time. Kaida noticed a moonstone hanging on a chain nestled into her breasts. Kaida couldn’t recall what a moonstone was able to do, but she did know that Sundrei was wearing it because of the properties it held.

No one wears crystals in any kingdom without them meaning something.

“I was born on the Solar territory in my kingdom. I am a Solar Vampyre. My Fated Mate was also a Solar Vampyre, but he was in love with someone else. It was difficult for me to face because I had a crush on him my entire life. When I found out he was my Fated Mate, I thought all my dreams were coming true. But instead, I am here.”

Oh. She is a Solar… does that mean the moonstone is helping her walk in the moonlight?

“If you are wondering why I am able to be in the moonlight without burning up, it is because of my moonstone. It gives me the ability to walk at night.”

Oh good. I got it right.

“I’m sorry you all had to go through all of this. It doesn’t sound like any of you had much of a chance with your mate before they rejected you.”

Every one of them looked at her like her head was no longer on her body. Kaida hoped she didn’t offend anyone because that wasn’t her intention.

“Why were you rejected, Kaida?” Adrien asked her.

Kaida felt like an asshole for saying it how she did. There was a slight tone of being insulted inside of Adrien’s voice.

“Well, my Fated Mate and I are dragon shifters, and he actually planned to go through with the ceremony for us to be bonded to one another. We went on a few dates, and during one, he mentioned that he wouldn’t judge someone if their dragon didn’t emerge, so I thought it was safe for him to learn that my dragon hadn’t, but I was wrong. It came out that I was dragonless, and he rejected me for it. What was worse is that it happened in front of everyone…during our engagement party, and he shifted into his dragon to put me here. If it weren’t for him finding out, I would be bonded tomorrow to my Fated Mate.”

All of the girls shared the same expression, the very same one that Kaida gave them during their stories of why their mates rejected them–looks of sympathy since they all knew how she felt. They were all rejected for different reasons, but they were still rejected and sat on this beach together because of it.

“Well, I know one thing is for certain,” Remy said to break the silence. “I will kick my Fated Mate’s ass the next time I see him.”

It felt good to say how Kaida was rejected by someone, and they understood where she was coming from. If anything, her being rejected may have been a good thing. Kaida was gaining new friends, and they felt like friends that would stick by her through bad situations.

Maybe it was a good thing I was brought here.