Chapter Fourteen

Niko

Long after we fucked each other senseless, I lay beside Cassandra as she sleeps. I watch her and listen to every breath she takes, making sure my mind hasn't conjured her from a dream. She is perfect for me. Beautiful, outspoken, a goddess in bed, and her heart is pure. I couldn't have dreamed up a better woman if I tried.

The thing that bothers me is the part of the prophecy I didn't tell Cassandra. I am sure she wouldn't want to be my Consort or help me save my realm if she knew the truth. If we merge, Cassandra will become immortal. Her life will not end as it should after a certain number of years, she will not pass when I do. She will remain here long after everyone she knows and loves has moved on to the afterlife.

In my heart, I know I should tell her the truth. She should be allowed to make her own choices, but I can't take the chance. I must think about my realm and my people and not the woman who is quickly stealing my heart.

Instead of staying in bed with her like I want to, my guilt has me rising to shower and seek out my mother. I need advice. I need the guidance of the only person I know who has always been brutally honest with me.

I find her in her rose garden feeding the doves my father got for her on their last anniversary.

"Hello, Niko," she says without looking in my direction.

"How do you do that?" I ask as I take a seat beside her. Ever since I was a child, my mother has always known where I was without having to seek me out.

"When you have children, you will understand," she says and smiles softly. "It's a strange bond that I have tried many times to put into words. There just isn't any way I could describe it."

Nodding, I sit beside her in silence as she continues her dove-feeding ritual. She offers me some of the seeds and I join her. The act is calming, and I understand why she does this daily.

"You found me for a reason," she says as she puts the container of seeds away. The doves coo around her in happiness.

"I need advice," I say not daring to look at her.

"It must be serious if you came to me." My mother laughs. "You hate my opinions. My honesty makes you uncomfortable."

"Which is exactly why I had to ask you," I reply leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees.

"Out with it then. I don't have all day, there is still a ton of work to be done for the ceremony tomorrow."

A humorless chuckle leaves me. This is my mother. She loves me to death, will do everything to defend me and make me happy, and always has. But direct to a fault. Something I find both frustrating and refreshing depending on the situation.

I tell her everything. The prophecy, the consequences, the fact I may be falling for Cassandra. When I'm done, I wait in silence as she digests this information. This isn't the time to push. I want her to tell me I am making the right decision in keeping this from Cassandra, but I know in my heart that I'm fucking up. Cassandra will never forgive me if she has to learn this on her own.

"What do you want me to say, Nikolas?" My mother frowns as she turns to me. "You are here, telling me this because you know what the right thing is. I don't have to tell you."

****

Cassandra

Making my way through the palace, I head to Amara's private quarters for the final fitting of my dress before the ceremony tomorrow. I still have to get used to all the opulence surrounding me as I make my way down the halls. Brilliant white walls with golden accents and dark-blue curtains. Floors of white marble with streaks of gold through them. Everything screams luxury.

Gilded golden frames hold portraits of the previous royal families as far back as their histories go. Well, my history too. I will have to get Amara to teach me about all of this. There is still so much I need to learn.

Someone grabs me from behind and pulls me into a crevice in the wall while covering my mouth. I struggle and try to pull away, but I don't have the strength my attacker does and only get dragged further down into darkness. Amara mentioned secret tunnels throughout the palace and said she would show me after the ceremony. Seems I'm already getting the tour of one.

Trying again to struggle free from the person dragging me along, I manage to scratch their face and their grip falters. But only for a moment before I have my head slammed against the rough brick wall. The darkness creeps in and I feel myself sway but I can't give in now. I need to fight for my survival. I thought I was safe in the palace but that clearly isn't the case.

I don't have the chance to run or defend myself as my face is smashed into the wall again and darkness consumes me.

****

My head throbs painfully. At least it's dark outside when I open my eyes. I think sunlight would only make the pain worse. Outside? Where the hell am I? Looking around I see I'm home with my coven. I am in the clearing we use for all our formal ceremonies and meetings.

Every survival instinct I have kicks into hyperdrive. I'm not supposed to be here. Nothing good can come of this. My nerves are frayed at the simple thought of what this can mean. Initially, I thought I was alone, but I am becoming acutely aware of the fact that there are people just beyond my field of vision.

"Why am I here?" I croak out.

Silence is the only answer I receive. Standing, I look around trying to see who is watching me. What the hell are they waiting for? But I get my answer as I turn around. My mother strides through the trees followed by the elders and Owen. She is sneering at me as she draws near.

"Will you shut up, Cassandra!" she yells in my face when she comes to a stop. "All you needed to do was fall in line and all of this could have been avoided." She gestures around us with her arm.

"What is happening? Why have I been brought here?" I ask, standing toe to toe with my mother for the first time in my life.

I hear the slap before I feel the sting. "I am your mother! You will respect me."

Defiance crawls up my spine. The lies she has told all my life filter through my mind. Every backhanded compliment, every belittlement, all the verbal abuse. My magik rises and fills me. I won't be treated like shit by anyone ever again.

"Respect is earned, Mother," I spit the words in her direction.

"You little bitch!"

She goes to slap me again, but I catch her hand. I can hear the sizzle of her skin scorching as my magik burns her. Her shriek rends the night air before she rips her arm from my grasp.

"Did you see that?" My mother turns to the elders. "She has brought harm upon her own mother. Her High Priestess. She is clearly out of control."

Watching her act, I can see now what I never could. The fakeness, the blatant lies. I walk in a circle around her, staying just out of her grasp. I won't be held liable for my actions if she lays her hands on me again.

"High Priestess." I laugh. "You are a fraud. Holding a power you don't deserve. Lying to get more power."

"You ungrateful little brat!" Her high-pitched voice makes me want to claw my ears from my head. "Cassandra is a liar. A defector. She has taken our magik to Runic, running away from her responsibilities to her coven."

Raising a brow, I watch her put on a theater-worthy performance. "So, you kidnapped me?"

"You needed to be brought to heel." Her mask slips as she looks at me and the disgust she feels toward me is clear as day across her features. "Besides, you don't know what you are doing."

"I know I am making my own choices for the first time in my life."

"What choices?"

"I will take Nikolas as my Consort. Together we will rule Runic and control the Panala Coven. My powers have already been unlocked and are growing daily," I state looking at each member of the elders assembled. "Isn't that what is best for our coven? A strong High Priestess with a Consort that can support her."

"I am the only Consort you will have, Cassandra," Owen finally interjects.

I take him in fully for the first time since my eyes have been opened to my mother's deceit. There has always been something off-putting about him and I am finally able to recognize it for what it is. Darkness, death, and decay cling to him like a cloak.

"No. Your arrangement with my mother is at an end," I say loudly making sure everyone can hear me. "There will be no alliance between the Panala Coven and Quietus."

A murmur runs through the gathering.

"What are you talking about?" an elder calls from within the gathering. "Owen is from—"

I cut him off with a raised hand. "No, he isn't." Drawing magik deep from within the earth, I use it to break the illusion that surrounds him.

A woman shrieks when his true face is borne to them. Half his face is that of the visage they are used to, the other half is a grizzly sight. His skin hanging in tatters from the bone, insects, and maggots crawling along the surface, and congealed blood dripping from his chin.

"My mother has deceived you all."

"And you think the fairy has been honest about everything?" Owen asks, his tone dripping with venom. "He intends to use you. He only has the interest of himself and his realm at heart. You are nothing but a pawn."

"And you intend to do better?"

"At least when I'm done with you, you'll be dead," he sneers.

I hear a growl behind me before I am pulled into the muscled chest of my future Consort. I feel his relief at finding me unharmed, his anger at being faced with the true abomination that is Owen, and his desire to take me back to where he feels I belong. I can feel the energy pouring off Hayden who stands firm with his friend as well as my future father-in-law, Merrick.

Owen points his gnarled finger at Niko and seethes. "He intends to have you walk the realms for eternity."