12. Twelve

Twelve

Caspian

I swear the maddening little Primary is trying to kill us all.

Immortals, my ass.

We're all one more catastrophe away from dying of heart attacks.

Elementra must realize that she hasn't just handed us our Primary, but the literal being of our existence. You'd think for an all-powerful and all-knowing creator, she'd start giving us warnings when things like that are to occur, so we don't go on a destructive war path that could cause this realm to crumble every time something odd happens with our Primary.

As we watched her descend, Tillman instantly dropped to the ground, digging his fingers in the earth to feel the vibrations in the soil to make sure she landed safely. While Draken kept his tight leash on their bond to make sure she was okay to be alone.

I just rolled my eyes. Yes, I'm quite obsessed with needing to always know she's fine, but unlike them, I know when someone is on the verge of losing their shit. And that she was. She needed her own moment to collect and sort her feelings without any interruption from us.

Corentin, though…My poor brother, who is still truly and fully consumed by their bonding frenzy because that's the most in control he's ever felt, lost his mind immediately.

He started his pacing the moment she told Draken she needed a moment alone to fly. I'm surprised his timekeeper still works seeing as he checked it at least a dozen times in the five minutes he allowed to pass before marching his way to the clearing to check on her. Then when we didn't see her, his hell broke loose.

His gift flared out of him, combining with his air to spread the clouds in the sky above, and forced the rays of the sun to shine blindingly bright. There was nothing left in the air to obscure his sight of her. It was clear skies as far as my eye could see. His only intention was being able to see her flying up there and he made damn sure there was nothing blocking his view.

Once he realized she wasn't flying, he zipped through the rays of the sun cutting through the forest at literally the speed of light. I'm pretty sure he covered the entirety of our enormous property in minutes.

When he returned to us empty-handed, he jumped right back into leader mode, ordering us around and hollering down the communicator at Gaster and Oakly to get here now. It was the most immense amount of power I've ever felt come out of him, and I don't think he knew it was happening because his emotions were running so wild with finding her.

We haven't told her about his little power boost yet, but the small smile on his face right now tells me all I need to know about how aware he is that he got an upgrade.

Sighing, I tear my eyes away from the infuriatingly gorgeous creature who's currently mad as hell because she can't control his gift and focus back on the text I was reading.

The mess that's all of this, is like trying to rebind a book with a custom-made cover, but instead of the chapters being neat and orderly, they were dropped, scattered across the floor, then swept up by the wind. And for some fucking reason, it's been made our responsibility to locate the pages and put the story back together again.

"Whatcha reading there?" Draken's cheery voice cuts through the concentration I was trying to build back up as he plops down in the chair next to me and slings his arm over my shoulder.

"Must you invade my space?" I ask exasperatedly, closing my book.

Again.

"Yes, I must. Are you looking for answers on my little wanderer's sweet, sweet blood?"

Draken may seem or at least come across as only playful, but don't let the dragon fool you. He's one of the smartest people I know. He just doesn't show it off because in his mind, his uneducated childhood and adolescence reduces the value of his knowledge. As if his survival skills, hard labor, and abuse somehow don't count as learning.

So he takes his role seriously as the happy one, the fun one, never crossing the line into the other responsibilities of the Nexus. He stays the cheery balance we all need so we don't drown in our seriousness. I see that facade for what it is, though. No one can hide their dark side from me.

"Tell me what you think about her mother and what she did with her blood, dragon."

"Huh, you know I'm not quite sure. Blood must've been a thing for ladies around that age back then," he says nonchalantly, smirking at Willow.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask, completely confused by his off the wall answer.

"Well, I can remember, barely remember anyway, this little melody my mom would sing to me in the bathing chambers at the brothel…" he says, his gaze becoming unfocused as a hum starts up in his throat and his finger begins to tap on my shoulder in sync with the sound.

"In the veins where crimson streams flow,

Ties of blessings begin to show.

The essence of the realm's comes to start,

From the blood of one's beating heart."

His opening verse draws everyone's attention and they all slowly make their way to the table, to us, and Draken's none the wiser as he's still staring out into the open, jumping into the chorus of his song.

" One's blood, many souls twist tight,

Bonds run deep, but the tapestry fights.

Vows we keep must come to light,

One's blood will weave things right."

"Something like that anyway. Blood must have been popular some two hundred years ago with ladies of that generation. Sorry, no more help there, shadow man," he says shaking his head out, patting me on the back, and smiling like he didn't just belt out some cryptic-ass song his mother sang to him twenty-four years ago. "You done practicing, little wanderer? Are you our newest and strongest light bender?"

How his fucking mind works, I'll never understand.

"No, we're taking a break before I shift and eat Corentin. I'm finding his gift much harder to manage than the rest. Anyways, what was that you were just singing?" she asks, cocking her head curiously at him.

"Oh, just some song my mom used to sing to me. I haven't thought about it in years, but Caspian asked me something that made it come to mind."

"Huh. I liked it. So what are you reading?" she asks me, rapidly changing the subject, which makes me think the sneaky little Primary knows something the rest of us don't.

"Histories and records of powerful bloodlines documented in the realm, but none of these that I run across seem to stick out. They're all elites or powerful enough families to make a name for themselves, but we've always been aware of them. Whoever you come from, Primary, I believe were incredibly secretive," I tell her honestly.

"Well, can you blame them? With people like the Summum-Master and Franklin chasing after them, they didn't have another choice. You all like to keep me a secret and that started before we even knew of Franklin's role or the fact the Mastery was after me."

"No, I can't blame them. If they have a bloodline that consist of powerful females, it was smart to keep that a well-kept secret," I easily agree.

Powerful females have always been targets and basically classified as Primaries even without Nexuses because it's pretty much a guarantee they'll end up someone's Primary, whether it be true or chosen. The more we've figured out about what the Mastery's doing, it's easy for me to assume they target them so Nexuses can't be completed, and true Nexuses can't come into full power.

Even if the route to take a chosen is selected, the Nexus still gets a power boost. It's nothing compared to what we'll get, but still it's more than what they had, and that's most certainly a threat to the Mastery's plan.

"How far back do these particular records go?" she asks, plopping down in my lap, running her finger down the worn, bound parchment.

I blow out a slow breath because everything in me wants to pull her ass back and forth slowly across my already hardening cock. Fuck, what this little creature does to me is damn near unbearable.

"Around a thousand years," I say casually as if the feeling of her body on mine isn't causing me to lose my fucking mind.

She hums, still caressing the pages. I contemplate throwing the damn book and demanding she run her hand across me like that, but before I can, she asks, "When did the Vitos take power?"

"Two thousand years ago, princess," Corentin answers.

"What? Damn, that was a long time ago. I don't know why, but I had it in my mind that the grandma you told me about was the first of the line. Wait, so that means…" she trails off, shooting Gaster a devious little smirk, to which he laughs and shakes his head.

"Yes, child, I was alive then as well, but still you're no closer to getting that secret from me."

With a huff, she crosses her arms and leans back into me fully. I can't help the rumble of laughter in my chest because I too have been trying to figure out the mystery of the old man's age for as long as I can remember. Elementra calling him the ancient one leads me to believe my assumptions are still inaccurate, though.

Wrapping the Primary in my shadows, I give in just slightly to my depraved need for her and drag her even closer to me. Twitching my hips just enough to taunt her, let her know what she's caused, and a triumphant smirk crosses my face when the quietest of noises bubbles out the back of her throat.

Clearing her voice and squirming in my lap, she says, "So let's start there since we know the Summum-Master hates your family."

"Our family, little wanderer. You're our family now too," Draken says, and love blooms in my Primary's chest. I don't have to be fully bonded to her yet to feel that's what she craves the most.

"Right," she says bashfully as her face reddens and a breathtaking smile breaks out across her cheeks. "Our family. What's our family history?"

"I say you tell the story, Grandpa Gaster. You're the oldest amongst us. You'll recount a mini-Vito family history lesson the best," I declare smugly, hiding my smirk in Willow's hair as he arches a brow and sends me an unamused look.

"Fine. Very well. Willow likes my stories better anyway," he states confidently, causing her to snort.

"Two thousand years ago, the Vito Family entered the Realm Trials when the ruling Matriarch was killed. She was a true Primary, so her death brought about the entire ruling Nexus's downfall. This was the first time in many, many millennia that there had to be a trial because up until then, there had always been an heir.

"The trials were ruthless, as any trial such as this is and the five families that made up the Ruling Nexus's council all entered with the want to win the throne. The Dew Family, the Beyla Family, the Newort Family, the Choice Family, and of course the Vito Family. All were willing to do what it took to win, and needless to say, without the graphic details, the Vito family was victorious. No one else survived."

"What? What do you mean no one else survived?" Willow sits up, flabbergasted.

"The trials were to death, which was agreed upon by all the entering families. They all knew, if they lost, but were still alive, it would mean unrest, war. None of them would've bowed to the other," Gaster explains.

"Damn. So, unlike the Alpha trials, there was no submission or forfeiting, nothing like that?" she asks, wide-eyed.

"No, little warrior, none of that," Tillman says.

"Shit, that's rough. Glad we've moved away from that then," Willow says, leaning back onto my chest.

Oh sweet, sweet Primary…

Draken's snicker at her assumption draws her attention and he attempts but fails to hide his bloodthirsty smirk.

"What the hell? The trials would still be to the death today if we had to have one?" she shrieks.

"Yes, child, especially with the five families on the council now. But obviously, there hasn't been another Realm Trial since, and there won't be one in our near future, Elementra willing. Once the Vitos took over, they formed a new council made up of those not from the elite families but from the overlooked families. One from each of the territories and one from the central. The elite then, and unfortunately now, had a skewed belief that they were far more important than everyone else."

"But the five we have now weren't the five then."

"Yes and no, Primary. The sitting council now is the heirs of the past council members. Their seats are passed down just like the throne. But the elite doesn't just consist of the five families. When we say elite, we aren't even talking about the five. The elite are the powerful families below them. They're the power that builds up each territory, and they have sway, always have, when it comes to the opinions and actions of the council families. And we know for sure the Everglows are spineless swines who gave in to the Mastery's elite that've been corrupted," I grit out angrily.

How pathetic they are to be able to give in to such fucking trash beliefs.

"Well, that whole same council, only it's their heirs' shit won't be happening when we take the throne," my Primary states firmly, casting her eyes over to Corentin as if my brother would disagree with her on this.

"No, it won't, princess. When we take over, we'll be replacing the entire council. Even the two that my parents will have to replace when we get rid of Gima's family and the other betraying us," he agrees easily, which earns him a naughty little bloodthirsty smirk from my Primary.

I'll admit, I do love when the more vicious side in her comes out to play.

"So somewhere down the line, the elite started to influence the five families on the council," she says, turning her attention back to the old man.

"Yes. For many years following the new council the Vitos put together, it was peaceful, no hierarchy nonsense being thrown around, exactly what the Vitos wanted, but it didn't take long for the elite society to get into the minds of the new council, and by the time, Corentin's, Tillman's, and Caspian's grandparents began their rule a thousand years ago, half the council felt the way the higher society families did. And they still do now, probably all of them in some sense. They're just not as loud about it as they used to be," Gaster tells her.

The council we have now, in my opinion, is absolutely useless. The whole lot of them. Why my mother even insists on keeping them, I don't know, but she needs to replace the whole group as soon as we pin down who the second traitor is.

"That's helpful to an extent, but with how old we know Franklin is, we can easily assume the Summum-Master is probably older. We know the Mastery was formed before your mom took the throne, so I think his issue with the Vitos goes back to the beginning or possibly your grandma did something."

Snorting, I shake my head. "That wouldn't surprise me. She was a cold, old bitch."

"Caspian," my brother says exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I know his disapproval is coming from a place of not wanting to tell the Primary what happened, not my lack of love for the heartless cunt. None of us had a good relationship with her, a relationship at all honestly. She hated her own children. There was no doubt she was going to hate her grandchildren. And we hated her.

"She's…"

"Dead? Yeah, Primary," I say callously, earning myself another firm glare from Corentin.

"I have a feeling this is a touchy subject, but was she killed? Could her death be pointed in the direction of the Mastery?"

"The Mastery did not cause her death, princess," my brother says ominously as if that's going to sate her need to know. If anything, it causes her curiosity to rise. I feel the questions pumping through her blood.

"Okay, I sense the apprehension thrumming through all of you. It can't be that bad. I'm pretty sure I've been through and heard worse."

Yeah, she has.

I have no qualms about her knowing the truth. Draken doesn't either. He wasn't directly affected by this, so it doesn't matter to him. It's Corentin and Tillman who have the issue. This is a piece of history I know Corentin didn't talk to her about, simply because he doesn't want to admit that this one accident had a lot of influence over how messes make him feel. It also probably has a lot to do with why he absolutely destroys shit when his emotions truly get out of control.

There's no doubt they're worried for some reason this will make her think less of our family, but I know it won't. If there's anything my Primary isn't going to tolerate, it's a child being abused.

"Our mother sentenced her to death, Primary, and our fathers carried out the execution," I blurt out, not giving anyone a chance to steer her away from the conversation.

"What?" She gasps, turning around in my lap to look at me.

"Our parents were leaving for a week trip around the realm. It's something that should be done every so often to see the people, the territories and what not. Aunt Tilly and our uncles went as well, just for a vacation and a break, so we were left in the care of our grandmother.

"She despised me. Plain and simple. I wasn't as structured as Corentin, calm as Tillman, and I was a tad too high-spirited for her. The first day my parents were gone, I got the three of us in trouble because I was up to my normal nonsense, and I accidentally broke a portrait of her that hung in the Central quarters of the palace. When she asked what happened, none of us answered. Both Corentin and Tillman knew if they told on me, my punishment would be fierce. So when she began screaming at us, at the same time we all took the blame. Which royally pissed her off because that meant two of us were lying, one of us was telling the truth. So she gave us three lashes each with vines and for that entire week, she locked the three of us away in the prison below the palace.

"We were treated as prisoners the entire time. Told we were going to learn our lessons for destroying her things and being dishonest. There was nothing anyone could do about it. We got one meal a day, our wounds were never treated, and we sat in the dim lit cells for the remainder of the week. We could see each other, but she cast a silencing bubble around each of us, so we couldn't speak to one another," I tell her.

"How old were you all? Where was your uncle? Gaster?" she spits out, looking at Gaster, then at me with water building in her eyes.

"They had their own responsibilities, Primary. They weren't at the palace daily to know that was happening. It was easy enough for her to tell them we were off playing, and she secured the door with a ward so no one was getting in or out without her permission. Corentin was ten. Tillman and I were nine."

"None of you had your powers yet," she whispers.

"No, we didn't. When everyone returned and we weren't there at the front to greet them like we normally would, my mom asked where we were, and Drudy proudly walked her down to the dungeon to show her. Said she'd taught us a lesson that they should've taught us already. Mom snapped. Told her it was one thing to abuse her and her siblings as children, but if she thought for a second she'd get away with doing it to her children, she thought wrong.

"Pulling her shoulders back, Mom looked her right in the eye and declared, ‘By the Elementra-blessed ruling placed upon me, I sentence you, Drudy Vito, to death. For endangerment to the heirs of the realm, unjust imprisonment to the heirs of the realm, and lastly for thinking you had any fucking right to punish my children. Your sentence will be carried out as soon as they are out of these cages.' And with a clap of her hands, a wave of power swept through the dungeon. The sentencing blessed by Elementra herself. And that was the last we saw of the old bitty," I say with a relieved exhale.

It's kind of surprising to me to feel the small amount of weight that came off by admitting that. After it all happened, none of us talked about it again. It's always been like that event was buried right along with her. But truthfully, I feel better telling her. I can tell Corentin and Tillman do too by how their shoulders aren't as bunched around their ears like they were when the topic first came up, but they're hesitantly waiting for her to speak. Their worried gazes are drilling holes into the back of her head that's staring out over my shoulder into the lawn.

"Will," Tillman says, strained after she lets the silence drift on. His worried tone has her whipping her head over to him and quickly wiping away the few stray tears that escaped her.

"I don't think any differently of either of your moms, your family, or the choices made. I can understand why you two are fearful of that, but I promise you, if someone were to do that to our children, I'd have their throat sliced open faster than they could've explained what happened. No matter who it was. I'll never think badly about a mother defending her children. I'm so sorry you all experienced that," she says sweetly, surely, instantly calming the worried expressions on their faces.

Those expressions immediately turn heated, though, and I know it has everything to do with the proclamation of what she just said. Both metaphorically speaking about our future child, the protective nature she already has over it, and the thought of how that child, children if history repeats itself, will be made has all three of my brothers about to go feral.

I may or may not be affected as well.

"Your assumption of the Summum-Master's vendetta may be true, child. Drudy was a ruler that didn't veer from the law for any reason and she wasn't a kind person. To anyone. Her belief was all duty. There was no room for flexibility, no chance for understanding or bending of anything. It made her more of a dictator than anything else," Gaster says solemnly. There's regret reflecting in his eyes, and I know it's directed at the story just told. He's always believed he should be able to keep all of us out of harm's way.

"And what about her mother before her? The Vitos were obviously on the council prior to taking the throne, but that isn't a fight to the death. The Ruling Nexus and Matriarch choose, right?" she asks him with a little strain still in her voice, but with a shake of her head and a little readjusting on my lap, she's back to business.

"That's correct. The Vitos were the Central family. The Dews were from Aquaria, the Choices from Terian, the Beylas from Aeradora, and the Neworts from Pyrathia. When the Vitos won, Drudy's mother and her Nexus selected the new five bloodlines for the council. Those are the five bloodlines still on the council today. Drudy's mother was strict as well, but she had compassion. She wanted balance and equality in the realm.

"She worked tirelessly to achieve it because Elementra then was not as it is now. It was everyone for themselves and there was always a battle for power. Death could be found everywhere you looked. But for the most part, she achieved her goal. When she passed the throne to Drudy, there was no compassion to be found. It was almost as if Drudy felt she had to preserve what her mother worked for and the only way to do that was to push the current law hard, not allowing adaptation or changes. Which ultimately made everyone despise her. We were moving away from the punishment of death, but that was Drudy's preferred sentencing."

Willow doesn't respond more than a hum, and she gets lost in her thoughts, absorbing everything she just learned. It's a lot to process at one time. My brothers and I have had our entire lives to learn the history of our family, of this realm, but she's only learning bit by bit as we go or when a very convenient memory of hers surfaces.

The little Primary doesn't let that discourage her, though. Does it frustrate her? Absolutely. Does it frustrate me? Fuck yes. But regardless, she sucks it all in, analyzes it, then moves on.

"You're nearly vibrating on my lap with the ideas and conspiracies running through your mind. The squirming is going to drive me mad, so say what you're thinking, Primary," I whisper heatedly in her ear, which causes the shifting to stop, and she attempts to push off my lap, but I tighten my hold.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, nor did I say you could leave me. Just talk us through your thoughts," I demand lightly, smirking behind her head when I hear the shuddering breath she just released.

Good. I want her to be as affected by me as I am by her.

"I'm not even sure if I could get all the thoughts out. They're everywhere," she says.

"Fuck yeah, they are. It's like running a maze in your mind right now," Tillman teases. Well, not really. He's most certainly reading her thoughts. Like always.

"Not funny." She growls, shooting him a warning look that he just smiles at. "Everyone in the other four families died during the trials?"

"Yes. The entirety of all the bloodlines. Why?" I ask. I know she's heading somewhere. She just can't articulate it on her own yet, so I'll nudge her.

"Were there any teenagers or children?"

"No. From what I can recall, three of the five had heirs already, and they were older, around your ages, if not older. The two who didn't were the Vitos, and if my memory still serves me, the Choice family. No children were harmed in the trials," Gaster reassures her, and her relieved exhale fans across my shadows.

"So it's possible those other three heirs had Nexuses already?" she follows up.

"It's possible. Though those records are sealed," Gaster says begrudgingly.

"Well, I have a couple theories and I don't know if they even make sense, but I'll say them anyway. Is it possible the Summum-Master could've been one of the heirs' Nexus brothers? And his vengeance comes from their death? Or another thing I was thinking since you made the comment about Drudy's preferred punishment, is it possible she killed his Nexus brothers? You all have told me numerous times there's not much Nexus brothers wouldn't do for one another. Oh shit…" She gasps, suddenly sitting up.

"What?" all of us yell at once.

"What if Franklin and the Summum-Master are Nexus brothers?" she asks in a flurry of bewilderment.

Her question seems to silence the atmosphere as we sit and ponder that. Well, ponder all the assumptions she just made. All three are sound possibilities and I have no doubt she's on to something.

Personally, I know that if someone killed one of my brothers, I'd never stop fighting until they took their last breath. And it would be a bloody, struggling breath. But I can't say I relate to the Summum-Master. Whatever his motivation is, he's taking it out on the entirety of Elementra, not just our family. I may get plenty of satisfaction from ripping the Mastery apart, literally, but I wouldn't murder or kidnap innocent people, especially children, to seek my revenge.

"There's no other location of those records?" I ask Gaster.

"No. Unfortunately not." He sighs, shaking his head.

"Where are they and why can't we access them?" my Primary asks, looking between all of us.

This is actually a story I don't want to share. It's both painful and it pisses me all the way off just to think about it. It also doesn't help I'll never get the answers I seek.

"Certain records are lost to the south wing, princess. We'll never be able to access them again," Corentin says.

"The south wing of the palace? Why?"

"Because our uncle was full of secrets. Then he decided to off himself, get killed, whatever the fuck happened, before ever taking the ward down so we could find out what he was up to." I lash out before I can contain the bitterness that rises in me every time my uncle or that Elementra-forsaken south wing gets brought up.

"Caspian." My brothers, including Draken this time, and Gaster all bark at me. Hitting me with furious glares that cause a growl to sneak out of my little Primary.

My uncle is a sore spot for me. I'll admit. I don't believe ever in my life I've loved someone so much and hated them all at the same time. He was my rock when I was rescued. Corentin, Tillman, Gaster, and him were the only ones I let in for a long time. I felt shame every time I looked at my fathers and I couldn't stand for my mother to touch me for years. But he showered me with understanding, knowledge, books, spells, then he just…pulled away.

He was still loving, supportive, and would show up, no questions asked, if we needed him, but he was different. I've always thought he was a spy. All his secrets and probably the secrets of everyone else, he kept locked away in that wing. When I was a teenager, that seemed like the coolest thing in the world to me, but after his death, or suicide, who fucking knows, I just thought him a fool for putting himself in a situation that took him from us.

Losing him cut me to my core and admittedly, I obviously haven't handled my grief well.

"Maybe we should discuss that another time. The hostility you all are pouring off has my bond and dragon on edge. They're about to flip their shit." Willow says softly but also firmly. Basically, telling all of us to cut out our shit.

Clearing his voice, Gaster says, "That would be for the best. I'll dig through my personal records of that time, Willow, and see what I can find, if anything. Those aren't deniable claims, so it's a good place to start."

He's met with silence, and the rising tension hits me in the gut because I know I let my emotions get the best of me before thinking about anyone other than myself.

"Sorry," I mumble to my brothers and Gaster, who are trying to now hide their irritation at me from Willow.

"He loved us, Cas, all of us. I wish you'd let that anger go," Draken says quietly, tugging at my soul with those sad dragon eyes of his.

"I'll try harder," I swear, pulling my Primary back down to my chest, letting her light clear the darkness trying to rise.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" she asks, turning everyone's attention back to her and off me.

"We're going to the lab in the morning to get an update from Jamie and Nikoli on how the Bane of Essence is coming along. Then whatever news they share with us, Tillman is going to start organizing which teams will be accompanying us to the Forsaken Forest. And training for that will begin. For all of us. You were right in saying we can't put it off, princess. Our next move is getting into the forest and capturing Keeper," Corentin declares.

Capturing an ancient vampire who's the rightful ruler to another realm.

Fucking fantastic.