Chapter 18

18

Vega devoured her first plate of fish and was offered a second. The pungent flavor was an afterthought to the rumbling in her stomach once she realized how starved she felt.

The only thing on Vega's mind was finishing the second plate of food until the door opened and Arlet walked in.

Vega's eyes fell to her outfit, which seemed to be a take on the training suits Vega saw the others in. The deep black contrasted against her golden skin. Arlet looked lethal—she was back where she belonged.

So far, it seemed like everyone was always dressed for battle in Castra—besides Khort, who she'd learned was working on the machine that kept their drinking water clear of salt, which would explain the oil stain.

Vega jumped from her seat and met Arlet halfway to wrap her in a hug that made the chill in Vega's bones melt away. "How? How did you get us here?" Vega breathed in, the smell of Arlet that of a summer's day. Sweet, warm, a scent of happiness.

Vega pulled back from their hug, eager to hear all about what happened. She had no idea what she'd done in any of her lives to deserve a friend like her.

Khort had taken Vega into a private room to eat, saving her from the prying eyes of the people of Castra. He promised it wouldn't always be like this, that people would get used to seeing her around again soon.

The large room was filled with more screens than a sports bar, and though there were still people in here, they were too preoccupied with their jobs to sit and stare for long.

This was the headquarters of Castra—where they kept an eye on the happenings of Tolevarre through hacked cameras, and only those with enough clearance were allowed inside.

Arlet looked over her shoulder, catching the gazes of a few people who looked away when they were caught staring at the pair's reunion.

"You done eating?" Arlet asked.

Vega hadn't finished her second helping, but the urgency in Arlet's tone made the last few bites on the plate seem insipid. "I am now."

"Let's go for a walk." Arlet motioned for the door.

She turned to see if Khort would be joining them, happy to see he was already striding over to her and Arlet. Even without her memories, the pull she felt towards Khort was strong.

Having the two of them close made whatever anxieties she felt about the unknown of her future settle. In this life she'd only known Khort for a couple hours, but it felt like a lifetime.

He felt like home.

And Arlet had proven herself as such long before Vega realized it.

Maybe home wasn't a place after all.

Vega followed Arlet through the winding halls, her ears popping as they descended further into the depths of Castra.

Vega hugged herself, the chill back in her bones. Khort grabbed her shoulders, squeezing lightly to remind her that he was right behind her.

Just like her hug with Arlet, Khort's touch sent tendrils of warmth through her body.

They arrived at a room shaped like a dome—glass walls rounding the ceiling in a way that made Vega feel like she was in a large reverse-fishbowl. Seats started at the bottom level and extended up against a thick glass wall like a large college lecture hall. A whiteboard on the opposite side of the room was clean, save for a small map of Tolevarre hanging to the right. Looking beyond the glass revived every fear Vega had about what the bottom of the ocean looked like and what monsters might be lurking in the depths.

Vega ogled for a few more moments, forcing herself to let go of the fears that would do her no good. "Why the secrecy?"

Khort and Arlet leaned against a long desk at the front of the room. Vega bit her lip, nibbling at the skin in anticipation.

Arlet met Vega's gaze, grounding her. "Because sometimes we need to talk as bonded friends with no one else around… and this is one of those times." Arlet steepled her fingers, looking down for only a second. "The men from the redwoods, they're the commander and general of Tolevarre's army."

Vega felt the blood rush to her head. "Bridger is the commander of Marlena's army?" He had been the one giving orders. Vega knew it wasn't the other way around. "What… what happened between us?"

Khort's lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm sorry. What did you just say?" He turned his head to Arlet. "I must be hearing things. How do you know his name?" he asked, pivoting back to Vega.

Arlet filled her cheeks with a bubble of air and deflated them slowly with a puff through her lips.

Vega's eyes bounced back and forth between them. "Um, I… Arlet?" Her eyes stayed on Arlet, looking for help. Arlet and Khort glanced at each other. His jaw was set, clenched as the muscles in his face danced. His anger was distinct .

"I mean, what did you expect when I told you she was seeing pieces of her life? That Bridger wouldn't be a part of that?" Arlet's eyebrows drew together.

Vega couldn't remember everything, but the things she could felt so real—even after years of telling herself that they weren't, that her dreams were just a way to escape the past she couldn't remember.

Khort's jaw tensed more, and his mouth barely moved when he spoke. "You shouldn't have left that part out."

Arlet rolled her eyes so hard only the whites were visible. "Relax. I wanted time to process on my own why she was all of a sudden in this life getting her memories back naturally. Albeit slow and in small pieces, but still seeing bits… At first I thought it was the curse, but I don't think that's the case anymore. It's never allowed her to see her life before, so why would it start now? And wouldn't it do the opposite if it was the power running out? Wouldn't it take from her, not give ? I think it's the bond. Our bond is unbreakable, the glue that holds us together. We've been changing, evolving over time since the bond was made. It's like it always knows what we need, when we need it. What makes you think it would suddenly stop after all these years? It's doing what it can to make us stronger." Arlet pushed herself off the desk, squeezing Khort's shoulder as if to give him a little warning to calm down.

"So having Vega remember Bridger is making us stronger?" Khort grumbled.

Her hand left his shoulder, her attention returning to Vega as she crossed the room to her. "Bridger is a bit of a sore subject around here, if ya can't already tell." Arlet spoke through the side of her mouth, eyeing Khort, whose lips were pursed in an unmistakable pout. She reached out to grab her hand, the same one with the brand around her wrist. Arlet's index finger went to the ring on Vega's hand. "He gave this to you in one of your earliest lives and promised to never give up on you." Her finger grazed over the gold band. "You threw it into the sea a while back. I had someone find it. I knew we could use it."

Vega watched as Arlet flipped her hand around to show her the underside of the ring. Arlet tapped the small band once with her finger. "His initials are inside if you look closely."

Vega took the ring off and noticed the engraving for the first time.

BD.

How did I miss that?

Vega's throat burned with bile as the ring fell to the cold floor with a tink . "Why would you give that back to me if you knew I didn't want it?" She stared at the ring until it stopped spinning, settling at the toe of her boot.

"We need Bridger to win this," Arlet told her, inciting a groan and the start of manic pacing from Khort.

"Bullshit," he muttered.

Arlet shot a look to Khort. "Whether you want to believe it or not, Khort, it's true. He's bonded to us, all of us. Remus wouldn't have included Bridger if he thought we could do it without him."

Khort scoffed, shaking his head. "We don't need him. We've never needed him."

Arlet sighed, a sound of exhaustion. Vega wondered when the last time she'd gotten a full night's sleep was. "Bridger back on our side cripples Marlena."

Khort fired back. "He can't be trusted. We knew that from the very beginning."

Vega listened to them pinball for a moment, taking in any bit of information she could.

Arlet stood up taller. "That's because Bridger never wanted to have our backs. It was always about Vega. He was with us for Vega. He became our family because of Vega. Once she was gone, once he'd been broken down enough, tortured enough, of course he was easily manipulated. Marlena wanted him. She needed him. She knew what breaking the four of us up would do. I hate him for what he's done to her, to us , but you can't be blinded by your own anger enough to deny that Remus didn't plan for us to be apart. To win, we need Bridger."

"Wait, stop." Vega took a step towards the two bickering friends. "Hey." Their argument drowned out her meek interruption.

"Exactly! We don't need someone so selfish on our side. Someone who's only looking out for himself. Let him dig his own grave. Leave him where he belongs—with Marlena, where his soul will continue to rot until there's nothing left of him." Khort flicked his wrist, the one with his matching brand.

"We can use him, Khort."

"Hello?" Vega waved her hands at them. The two continued to go at it, unaware she was even there. Vega crossed the room and picked up a ruler from the whiteboard's rim, then slammed it against the board with a whack that echoed through the room. The flimsy wood snapped in two, splintering down the middle from strength Vega didn't know she had.

Khort and Arlet jumped, their argument ceasing instantly.

"Thank you." Vega smiled as she dropped the useless ruler to the floor, glad to have their attention. "Just because I can't remember anything doesn't mean either of you is going to make decisions for me." Her eyes bounced between them now that she had their undivided attention. "Stop arguing and answer my question. Why did you give the ring back to me?"

The ring still sat on the floor.

Arlet glanced at it and then back to Vega. "Because I hoped that if Bridger saw it, he'd falter, that something in him might crack… and it did." Arlet crossed her arms across her chest.

"What?" Vega felt like she'd worn this question dry—like a child constantly asking her mom, "What?" and "Why?"

"When you went unconscious, I had to fight them both. I managed to stab Bridger and knock Meyer out long enough to get under Bridger's skin." Vega listened intently, her hands starting to shake. "He saw the ring. I told him that you'd been seeing him, and then he let us go. That's how I got you back here. Bridger let us go." Arlet lost confidence when she admitted that, her posture slacking. "I'm strong, I know that, but I didn't stand a chance against him. Bridger is the strongest warrior this realm has ever seen. With or without his powers, he was going to tire me out and kill me. The ring saved us."

Khort's jaw dropped—apparently, Arlet had been keeping a few secrets from him.

"I got back through the portal with you, and you started seizing. Somehow Halo, a Fraus-born you haven't met yet, found us. He got us back before I lost you. We don't have another fifteen years for me to find you again. I can't be gone for another six months, a year. We have to get this right this time, Vega."

"Why wouldn't you tell me that Bridger let you two go?" Khort asked, hurt breaking through his anger.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're not Bridger's number one fan, so I don't particularly like talking about him with you. And I wanted Vega to know before you, or at least tell you both at the same time."

Khort rolled his eyes. "Don't think that him having a little moment of weakness means he's back on our side."

"No shit," Arlet conceded.

Khort's nostrils flared, and Vega knew that he was going to let Arlet have it later. "We've been keeping you in my room, only allowing our closest healers to work on you. We weren't ready for the rumor mill to start. Our people need to see you strong, ready to fight. They're getting tired, beat down."

Vega's head started to pound. "Don't you think our people should give me a little grace? I'm being put through the wringer here." Vega was exhausted, and it was only the beginning… Again. "What is this? My twentieth life?" Vega chuckled, but the air around her turned se rious. "I've got a lot to catch up on. Starting with why the man who used to love me is working with the sister who's trying to kill me."

"He gave up on you," Khort clipped, changing the subject quickly. "This is all new to you for now, but to them, to our people, you've had plenty of time, and now it's running out. There is no more time for grace. They're getting antsy. I told you earlier that you're the face of hope, but not everyone feels that way. Fifty-five years is a long time to have hope for something, for someone who never delivers." His posture was stiff, every muscle in his body rippling with tension.

"Ouch." Vega's voice sagged along with her shoulders.

Arlet frowned, staying quiet, but Khort stepped forward and reached for her. "I'm sor?—"

Vega held a hand up. The pounding in her head grew between her temples. She didn't need to hear apologies just for the sake of her feelings. "Save it."

Khort's hand fell.

"I guess I better figure it out this time then, huh?" The laugh that sawed out of her mouth was sad. She'd gone from a loser on Earth to an even bigger disappointment here in Tolevarre.

Arlet gave Khort another look—they were really good at communicating silently. "You're not in this alone. We've all failed, but we're on the right side of this. It's not over yet."

Yet.

The word hung over the three of them like a sinking ship ready to disappear below the water for the last time. Vega would eventually be that ship, gone forever, along with the hope of the people who were rooting for her—who needed her.

Without her memories, Vega couldn't remember the love she felt for these people and the realm she'd been fighting tirelessly for.

"Before we do anything, before I smite anyone, I need my memories back so that I can make this choice for myself." Vega was terrified. For what? She didn't know. Those memories were hers to have.

Vega had lived so many lives—who had she been in the last life? The one before that? Who was she in her original life? Arlet had commented on how much like herself Vega was in this life, but what if she were more now? All of her lives had to add up to something.

Khort nodded in response.

Arlet grinned. "Memories, here we come!"