CHAPTER 26

Nika

Father's words struckme to stone, and I stood from my seat, drawing the eyes of both men in the room. The feeling of her came swooping in, the wispy, dream-like presence as elegant as the memory trapped in my necklace was.

"I've missed you so much, Nika, darling." Her sweet, musical voice filled my head, overpowering the rest and flooding my body with powerful, intensely loving emotions. "You've become such a strong, beautiful woman. Don't despair, my love. You may think you were fated for darkness, but I've seen a different future for you—and the choice is entirely yours."

Tears poured from my eyes. The other two were in utter chaos for minutes trying to figure out what was happening, but all I could do was cry as my father and mother's warmth filled my head and their joined voices soothed and healed my broken heart.

I held onto my mother's necklace, rubbing the gem with my thumb. Like my distress propelled him across the floor, Silas was swiftly in front of me, already holding my face in both of his stupidly large hands with a crazed look in his eyes. Without meaning to, I laughed at the state of the man who had, only seconds ago, been the scariest thing in the room.

"Now's not the time to be adorable, love. What did those wankers in your head say? Oi, lad, tell me if that book of yours will vacate these free-loading prats from Nika's head. It's time they found somewhere else to squat," Silas growled angrily, his eyes back to a terrifying silver.

Lev opened his mouth, forever flabbergasted by Silas's antics. "Well, actually—"

But I giggled again and caused my friend to pause in his answer. With a scoff, I reached up and cradled Silas's jaw with both of my hands, mimicking his gesture and leveling a scornful look at him. "It's not them who made me cry, you big idiot."

"Well, whoever it is, little rebel, they have another thing coming. No one makes you cry except me. And that's only in bed, yeah?"

Rolling my eyes, I smacked the asshole's head with enough power that his chin nearly hit his chest. "Shut it, Silas, or I swear to everything powerful and vengeful...I'll lay you out right here, right now."

"Promise?" the mercenary countered, rubbing the back of his head with a sneaky grin aimed at me.

I can't with this asshole...

I'd all but given up trying to talk sense into him. He never listened anyway. It was pointless to think this time would be any different.

Lev watched the two of us bicker, not sure whether to intervene on my behalf or stay on the sidelines cheering. But after a few smiles and snickers, it appeared he decided I had it all handled. Because I did. Or at least, I pretended I did.

But if there was one thing I knew, it was that I couldn't be sad or angry for long around Silas even if I tried. It was impossible. He never let the sadness or rage truly take hold.

If I were honest, I'd never smiled as much as I did with this oversized child. I was often smirking or laughing before I realized. And I'd come to rely on it. I might complain and find the shameless man ten levels of obnoxious, but I was forever grateful for his loud, always-on-brand outbursts. The feeling of loss never truly took hold because this ridiculous mercenary kept me distracted any chance he got.

"I told you I had a feeling about this one, Bane. I knew that vision of him was significant, and I'm glad you saved him that day..." I heard my mother whisper inside my head. "Our sweet girl is in good hands. Just look at the way he stares. It reminds me of how you always looked at me."

"You're right, my love. He came through the way you said he would. Then again, your visions have very rarely steered me wrong."

When had they known? For how long had they anticipated one day this would be my future? But neither one answered me as I stewed in my thoughts for a second.

Their whispers continued in the background, making it hard to focus when Lev came over, confusion etched into his brow. "What voices is Silas referring to, Niks?"

It was impossible to explain everything without spending several days recounting how it all occurred, so I pointed down to the notebook he'd given me. "I can talk to the souls I collect. Here." I pointed to my head next. "It's weird, but anyway, I collected my father's soul the other day to keep him safe."

"Keep him safe? From whom?" Lev tossed Silas a look, but the mercenary was wholly focused on me.

"I promise I'll explain everything, but Silas...I didn't just collect my father's soul that day," I tried to say in a rush. "My mother was there too for some reason. I collected her soul with my dad's."

Silas's brow furrowed in perplexity, and his thumb brushed across my cheek, wiping away the drying stream of tears. "Can you talk to her, then? What's this prophecy nonsense that old sea wench keeps harping on about?"

As if in answer, my mother's voice whispered through my head again like a gentle melody. "Your grandmother collected souls to usher them to their awaiting afterlife, but the Dark Fae Council wanted more. Like the others before her, they wanted to control her power—to use my mother as a weapon the same way they had every Soul Collector in our family. And when she refused, they killed her. Then they locked her soul in the Box of Black Souls."

My distaste for my kind grew with every secret uncovered. I may have been ousted by them from the beginning, but I would've chosen it myself eventually. They deserved to be buried in their sins, and I'd gladly be the one to do it.

My mother continued despite my warped thoughts. "That was when I had a vision. One day your father and I would have a daughter and she'd be as my mother was—a Soul Collector. At that time, I only knew you'd have the gift and that one day you'd be in grave danger, but nothing more. The rest of the pieces came one after another as the years went on."

I listened carefully, lifting a hand when Silas quirked an eyebrow at me. It was all he needed to understand that I was in the middle of a conversation with the voices in my head—a sad normality I had come to terms with.

"You see, my visions would come in dreams. Always in pieces and subject to change because fate could be altered by the choices we made. Unfortunately, most of these pieces were unreliable at best, but the unmovable, never-changing pieces were always crystal clear, in full color, and came to me multiple times without changing. Those were the ones your father and I acted on. They were what guided us to make the moves we made."

She went quiet for a moment, almost as if she were taking a breath. But the dead didn't breathe, and maybe that was why another tear slipped down my cheek.

Silas wrapped his arms around me, ignoring the sound leaving Lev's throat in protest. It wasn't like the man to care. And he didn't. He held me like he had so many times before, always knowing before I did what I needed. The powerful Fae gave me strength when my own wavered.

"A few months before I fell pregnant with you was the first time I saw something I'd never seen before. Something no clairvoyant had ever seen. My death. Then two days later, your father's. It was how I knew someday we'd both be gone and you'd be forced to face your fate alone."

Weight hit my stomach.

She saw their deaths? It hurt to think my mother was burdened by the reality she wouldn't live forever, and worse, she couldn't be with the people she loved most either; that she'd leave her only child behind knowing the terrifying future laid out for me. Had she seen everything that happened to me? She must've. It was clear after Ryker talked about my past that they were somehow privy to my memories—my damage.

It sat in my throat as my mother continued, briefly pausing when I thought about the torture I suffered just before Lev helped me escape. "We couldn't leave because if we did, it might alter your future. Our deaths were one of those unmovable pieces, Nika. No matter where we went, it was inevitable. Because you can't outrun death. Death will always find you. So, we couldn't risk what might happen should you not be where you needed to be the day your fate was set into motion. For that reason, we stayed and put measures in place so you could reclaim your power when you needed it."

My mother's sadness washed over me, living inside my chest and throat. It was overpowering and agonizing. It took me several seconds to regain control, but Silas never stopped holding me.

"One day you'd cross paths with the Soul of Life and the Soul of Death. You'd be drawn to both, unfortunately, and we can't tell you who is which, but your father and I think Silas is one of them. Something I'm now confident is the case. Whichever soul you bind yourself to will determine the path your fate takes—the world saved or ended. I wished I could tell you more than that, but those were the only pieces I understood. I have faith that you will know what to do when the time comes."

Mother's kind voice rang in my ears, but I couldn't say I was entirely surprised by what she said. I'd gathered that Silas was a significant part of the unfolding fate everyone was talking about; that one day I'd be forced to make a choice. Though, I'd already made a choice, and he was presently trying and failing to act like he wasn't terrified of what was being said in my head.

Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around the giant Fae holding me and pressed my cheek against his chest. Sighing a little, I closed my eyes and tried to digest all that my mother had told me.

My lips lifted a little when Silas grumbled, "It should be illegal how bloody adorable you are, little bird. Have mercy on this poor sod who's trying to be a gentleman right now."

Lev muttered under his breath. "Gentleman? Where? All I see is an opportunity-seizing asshat."

"Oi, say that with your chest, you cute wanker. Don't mumble under your breath like some kind of prissy prat. And don't think I can't still lay out your adorable arse with this sweet creature in my arms. I can—and I will—if you keep giving me lip," Silas admonished, making my friend huff petulantly.

"Try it, old man."

"Old man?!" Silas growled, pivoting with me still locked in his arms. "Say that again, you pretty bugger."

"Oh, scary. The Glittering Assassin is cursing at me, Niks. Save me. He might cover me in his terrifying sparkles."

Snickering, I tuned the two men out as they continued to trade saucy insults but never actually go after each other. It was plain as day they were having fun and none of it was mean-spirited.

The devastating sadness that had first taken me hostage disappeared and was instead replaced by something else. It didn't make sense, but I could swear I felt my mother and father smiling.

It was surreal to think that the mother I'd lost all those years ago would be here in my head, talking urgently, knowing it was my future we edged towards—a future as dark and ominous as the person chasing after me.

Still, all I could think was how grateful I was to hear her voice again. To feel her familiar warmth wash over me. I recognized it now that I could put a name to it. It was the feeling she always gave me before she was just...gone. When she'd wrap her arms around me and promise everything would be okay. When her love chased out every bit of sadness from my head and body.

I'd missed it, but I knew I couldn't keep it.

Her voice soothed and whispered the same way it did when she was promising it'd all be okay. "Nika, darling, I know this is all a lot to take in. I wish I had more time. I wish I could spend forever with you. I wish everything were different. But I know from everything I've seen that if there's anyone in this world who can handle what's coming, it's you."

I refused to cry again, so I buried my face in Silas's scent, and as if knowing what I currently battled, Silas dipped his head down next to my ear. "I'm here, love. It doesn't replace them, but you'll never be alone again. Lev and I won't let you."

"I hate to agree with the oaf, but he's right."

I laughed and cut a look over to my friend, who just shrugged and smirked in a way only Lev could.

Then my mother's voice filtered back in. "Lev's right. You need to get to the Box of Black Souls. Your grandmother will help you. She knew far more than what any of them have written. Far more than your father and I could tell you. She can help you meet that demon on equal footing."

Demon? More like Death.

Her tone adopted a powerful note I wasn't used to hearing. "You may think Rilas is Death, but Death is balanced and just. As a Soul Collector, you have the ability to shepherd souls into their afterlife, but something most don't understand is that you can even help them find redemption. If anyone's Death, it's you, my love."

I wasn't entirely sure what my mother meant when she said I could help souls find redemption, but something about the three men inside of my head had changed. I couldn't put my finger on it, but Bear Claw was lighter when he reappeared. Altered. Warmer. If I could collect my grandmother's soul, she might be able to tell me why.

My father's voice cut through before I could respond to my mother's speech about fate and my inevitable choice. "Your mother has waited all this time to tell you all of this, Nika. I couldn't be with you because my fate was always meant to be this, and had I taken a different path, you may have met the demon first. So...I took a chance. I left you, hoping their greed would win. I left everything Lev needed to get you out safely and in touch with Silas."

My eyes widened. That was news to me. I jerked my eyes over to my friend, who seemed worried I'd never explain what was happening. "My father was the reason I was able to escape and why you got in touch with Silas in the first place?"

Silas turned his head, just as surprised as I was to hear it.

Lev's mouth twitched, and he sighed. "He made me vow not to tell either one of you. He said that your future was at stake if I did. But yes, he was the reason I managed to find Silas. He was right, though. I couldn't protect you. Silas could. Given the choice, I'd still choose him to get you away safely—even with how everything turned out. It was weird, though. Bane knew about the favor this jerk owed me."

I idly wondered if they'd gotten it all from visions or if Father did a little recon. I could ask him, but Silas's voice stole my attention before I could.

"Oi! Is that really true, lad?!" Silas belted out angrily. "And to think I thought you and I were mates..."

Shrugging, Lev's mouth tilted. "In what world are we friends? Besides, you wore that mask when I helped you escape. How did you expect me to ever find you? Kind of shady you didn't give me a way to call on the favor, just saying."

Silas locked an arm around Lev's head and gave him a noogie. My friend fought back, but I could see on their faces that it was all in good fun.

It was a relief to see both of them getting along after the uncomfortable discovery of me and Silas's relationship. Too much had happened in such a short period of time, my head was still reeling. But as was my way, I took it all in stride.

My father's laughter filled my head, and I smiled without meaning to. "I may have aided in Crux's assassination and Silas's escape as well..."

Wait, what?!

Before I could demand more on the topic, my father continued, "I hate to cut to the chase, but your mother has been stuck wandering this plane all this time. Stuck here as a wandering spirit. I can tell you everything you need to know, but I thought we could perhaps send her to her much-deserved afterlife."

I startled and visibly stiffened. "Can you teach me how?"

"You already know how, Nika. You simply need to will it into existence, and your power will do the rest."

Did that mean I could send them all—Ryker, Tometi, Bear Claw, my mother and father? Could I finally do what I'd pledged to do all this time? But the thought of parting with them hurt worse than knowing they were dead. Because once I ushered them to their afterlife, they were gone forever.

"I won't go," came a voice I never expected to hear. Bear Claw's rumbling tone hit with a power very unlike him. "Even if I risk never crossing over, I won't leave you when you need us most."

"Nor I," came Tometi's strong but kind tone.

"Fuck you guys! You beat me to it. Well, sorry, Nika, but you're stuck with us. Send your parents to their new lives, but we're staying until the end. If you need my wolf or Tometi's bear, we'll be here to help you take down that After bastard," Ryker chimed in, his husky wolf voice filling my head after the others.

It was ironic. The same man who not only tried to kill me, but who I then killed and collected his soul, was suddenly refusing to leave me out of support. A man who, at first, hated me so much it radiated in my head every time he appeared.

"Don't make this a fucking sappy-ass friendship story, little girl. I'm doing this because I don't like to leave things unfinished," Bear Claw interjected gruffly.

Ryker's wolfish cry was full of taunting. "That's just Salvator's way of saying he loooooves you."

"Shut up, you shameless fucking dog."

I laughed out loud, and Silas instantly pouted, his massive shoulders slumped. "Lev, hear your big brother out..."

"Oh, you're my big brother now, are you?"

"We need to exorcise those head-squatting wankers living rent-free in her head before they steal any more cute smiles. I can't take it. They're a bloody nuisance."

Lev threw an arm around Silas's shoulder and grinned at me through the space between them. "Can't say I don't know what that feels like, but you reap what you sow, big guy."

"You might be adorable, lad, but you're a diabolical wanker, yeah?" Silas mumbled angrily as I collected our things.

The good fun eased away when I realized we had to get to the Box of Black Souls before Rilas did. Which meant going back to the place where I'd been tortured my entire life. I had to hope that Rilas didn't already somehow know where it was or how to get to it, but I could at least trust that if he had, he'd be here. He'd find me. So, we were rushing against time.

I looked up just as Silas took something out of his pack.

Lev peered at it in confusion, then his eyes went wide. "Is that a traveling stone? Where did you get it?! Those things are impossible to make and expensive as shit."

Smug, Silas steered his eyes over to me. "What can I say, they don't call me the Shimmering Assassin for no reason, lad."

Not the flex he thought it was, but I smirked and said nothing.

Lev and I had the same thought apparently because he snickered and crossed his arms. "That's not the flex you think it is, but go on. Feel good about yourself, old man."

"Saucy wanker," Silas growled, holding the stone between his fingers, the beams of the overhead light catching an ocean of color. "But lucky for you, I made sure to have everything we'd ever need. It's a good thing we only had to use a couple, love. I only had four. So, we have one to get there and one to escape. We can't waste time. This little beauty will put us right in that little crawlspace you had me escape through, lad."

"That's fucking genius," Lev whispered in awe. "Okay. I'm guessing you have a plan?"

Beckoning me over with his hand, Silas answered Lev with that sexy smirk of his, "Always. But before we go, you're going to draw me a few things and give me a few names. I have some names to write in silver."

Confused, I looked up at Silas. "Yuma?"

"And every bastard who's ever hurt you, princess," Silas amended with a devilish grin, handing a torn page to Lev to write. "Every. Single. Person. If they so much as touched a strand of hair or tossed a snide remark, put their name on there. With that photo-whatever mind of yours, it shouldn't be a problem. Draw their faces. Give me their names. I've got some collecting myself to do."