15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Thea

M y head was pounding when I opened my eyes. Fuck, what happened? I groaned as I sat up and was startled by a dozen women staring at me. I was in bed, my boots and cloak gone.

“For the love of the gods, Thea, we thought we killed you,” Genia scoffed.

Her words came back to me quickly.

“Oh gods, Cassius..." I was hyperventilating again. “Cassius is my… my mate.”

“Breathe.” A witch who looked like Genia, only much younger, held my hand and fanned me with her free hand to help my sweaty forehead. I was going to be sick.

“Maybe you should lay back down,” someone else said.

I shook my head, trying to understand what this meant.

“Does my father know that Cassius is my mate?” I asked .

All of the women physically tensed at my question. Their eyes seemed to glow a violent red. Okay; they clearly hated my father.

"No, and if you tell him, he will kill Cassius.”

“Does Cassius know?”

The women smiled brightly.

“Yes, he knows.” Genia smiled. “Your mother said he would love you so strongly that the gods wouldn’t be able to keep him from you. A love so grand that it would break a curse, save a realm, and outlast time itself.”

My mind flashed with all my encounters with Cassius since I left Exile. Stars above, he seemed so happy to see me. He had never hurt me. My eyes drifted to Wisp, who was floating in front of me, her color a dark green.

My darkness swarmed inside of me as I thought of Cassius. It was happy at the thought of him, instead of being angry or disgusted like I was with my father. At this thought, Wisp burned dark purple.

“Fuck,” I whispered. “What am I supposed to do?”

I glanced at them expectantly.

A woman stepped forward from behind the others. Her blonde hair was in a tight updo, her figure was filled out, and her face was pretty.

“You break your curse and get your man.” She smiled. “We will help you any way we can. ”

“Do I tell him that I know?”

“We can’t answer that for you.” She frowned.

Something inside of me told me I shouldn’t tell him. If I belonged with Cassius and Crimson, then he would try to protect me. Wait… I was supposed to kill the Crimson bloodline.

“You called him Prince Cassius.” I glanced at them.

“He is the Prince of Crimson.” Genia looked over me oddly.

No, no, no. I refused to kill him. I would give up all my memories if that was the only way I could get them back. Wisp burned a bright purple at me like she agreed with my thoughts. My father would demand I kill him. What the fuck was I supposed to do?

“Why can you guys tell me things and everyone else has magic tying their tongues?” I asked.

They all glanced at each other.

“Technically, Mikel bound the fae from talking, not witches. That, and we were in a ward because of Yerma, so I’m sure that stopped it too,” Genia said.

“So, you can tell me everything?”

Genia hesitated before glancing around at the women. Her eyes met mine, and she nodded. Genia sat down on the bed and held my hand tightly as she told me everything she knew. I listened carefully. But it wasn’t until she revealed that Cassius had killed me that her words sank in.

“What do you mean he killed me?” I stood up and began pacing around. I waited for the betrayal or anger to course through me, but I felt nothing. Why the hell wasn’t I upset about this?

“He did it to save you.” A pretty woman spoke. “He is not a bad guy.”

Genia narrowed her eyes at the woman, like she said too much. I froze and stared at all of them as they watched me like I would explode.

“Are you alright?” Genia frowned. “You aren’t freaking out.”

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.” I lied because the words definitely sank in, but I didn’t care that he killed me. I was relieved that Cassius was mine. Fuck, how long had I been gone for?

“I need to go before my father knows that I am missing,” I said, panicking.

I stood quickly but paused after getting my boots on. Turning to the woman who looked at me like I was something fascinating.

“I will come check on you guys soon. I have some things to figure out. ”

They smiled and bowed to me. Something about the gesture made me sad.

“Use the bloodstone to call us if you need us. We will be there immediately.” Genia smiled. I don’t know where my bloodstone is. “We will stay here until you have broken your curse and called us.”

“If something happens to me..." I paused and swallowed hard. “Genia will take over as queen.”

Genia’s eyes filled with tears as the women behind her gasped.

“You will do great. Your mother would be so damn proud of you.” She gave me a tight hug before releasing me. A moment later, Cassius’ shadows swarmed around me, and when they moved from my vision, I realized they hadn’t taken me to my room. I was in Cassius’ room; my eyes flickered around the room, and I sighed relieved when he wasn’t there. I glanced over the portrait he had on his nightstand and picked it up. Gods, I looked fucking happy in it. I set it down and closed my eyes. My darkness crept out of me as I told it to find Cassius. It moved silently throughout the castle, searching for him.

I smiled when it located him on the floor below me. Slowly, I walked out of the room and into his living space. Pausing, I looked over the space and had an overwhelming sense of comfort. Smiling to myself, I headed out of his room and downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I glanced around the corner to see no guards. My heart pounded with anxiety about getting caught, but I was also excited to see Cassius.

His deep voice floated through the hallway, and I followed the sound. I came to a door that was open and heard him speaking. I glanced in cautiously. Cassius stood with Haden, Leer, and Zade. The king sat quietly on his throne.

“Maybe we should attack the castle while they sleep,” Haden said.

“Or we could take Thea as a prisoner. She obviously feels something for you.” Leer smiled. Gods, that was the understatement of the century.

“No, we don’t want to complicate this. Thea loves me; she just doesn’t understand. She has blocked me from visiting her dreams, and she does not communicate through our bonds.”

Bonds. Dreams.

He rubbed the crown tattoo, and I glanced down to mine. They were nearly identical. What kind of bonds were these? Fuck, Cassius looked good. The sleeves of his black uniform were rolled up, showing all of his tattoos, and his dark hair was messy and chaotic. I couldn’t help myself, as I admired everything about him. Was this because he was my mate? All these feelings felt overwhelming, and I wanted to march into the room and demand that he take me to bed. Cassius ran his tattooed hands down his face. Fuck, seeing him now after the witches told me he was my mate made me instantly long for him. I watched everything about him. The way his dark hair was messy, or the way his hand rubbed his stubbled chin. My eyes widened as if they needed to be bigger to watch him lick his lips as he concentrated on the map in front of him. Gods, why was I so feral with lust?

A moment later, Cassius froze before rubbing his crown bond that matched mine. His eyes were solid black as he smiled softly to himself.

“What? Is she communicating through the bond?” Haden asked.

“Yes.” Cassius closed his eyes as he gripped the table tightly in front of him. His fingers turned white at the strength he was using. Gods, the muscles of his arms flexed, and his jaw clenched. He was fucking perfect.

“Oh…” Haden chuckled softly. Oh shit, he could feel how turned on I was. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on anything that wasn’t him, but all that flooded my mind were images of Cassius kissing me, smiling at me, and fucking me. Stars above, I was making it worse.

When I opened my eyes, Cassius’ eyes seemed more black, and his shadows swarmed him as if he had no control over himself or his magic. His chest rose and fell in short breaths. I smiled to myself at his reaction.

“So, take her prisoner and tell her the truth,” Leer spoke again as if he had no idea what was happening. “Thea loves you, and she will understand, but we can’t draw this out much longer.”

“I know she loves me, but she still hasn’t brought up the bloodstone or breaking her curse. I don’t know how much she knows. I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell her I killed and cursed her. I was thinking that waiting until she hands me the bloodstone, that way she doesn’t have time to lose her shit. She’ll remember I did it to save her.”

Is that what I felt when he was near me? Love. Cassius was the only one who made me happy. He was my fated mate. Something about that made me feel untouchable. It made me feel like I could take on the whole realm.

“I just don’t want to lose her again,” Cassius admitted to all of them. “This time has been so different. Besides, Bayla has sent extra help. Thea will break her curse and fulfill the prophecy."

Bayla. The man with brown eyes said she had sent him to help me. I had seen how hearing that name affected Cassius. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. He didn't seem worried about it, though.

“Does the curse allow you to take the bloodstone too? That way we can take her and the stone and make her give it to you so the curse can be broken." Haden asked.

“No,” Cassius sighed. “She has to bring it to me herself. It has to be her choice.”

Bloodstone.

My mother’s bloodstone. My bloodstone. I didn’t know where the fuck it was.

“Well, you should tell her how to break her curse. Maybe she will come to the decision on her own,” Leer said hopefully.

“My concern is that her father or Jesper will kill her before she decides that she is willing to try. Thea is smart; she will see how that kingdom treats her, and she will start to ask questions. I just worry that it will raise their suspicions, and I will lose her again.”

Gods, he knew me well, but he didn’t know that I had already reached that conclusion myself. Deep down, I knew that something wasn’t right. The moment I saw Cassius, I had lost that feeling of something missing. He was what I was searching for. He was why I felt so lost in Exile and why I felt it whenever I was away from him.

“Thea will find her way home,” the king said. “She always finds her way back to us, son, even if it is short-lived.” He stood and walked to Cassius, grabbing his shoulder. “ Her heart knows that you are her home. The gods could not take away the fate of you.”

Cassius nodded.

“I just want my wife back.”

Wife.

My darkness vortexed inside of me. I gasped when he spoke the word. Feral need wrapped around me as the word wife pierced right into my heart.

“Someone is in the hallway,” Zade muttered.

Fuck.

I immediately used the shadows and disappeared as their loud footsteps came towards me. I collapsed on the floor in my room. My head just repeated the term wife over and over in my mind. Wife. I was Cassius’ wife. I should be freaking out, but I just sat on my floor smiling to myself because he was mine.

The handle to my room jiggled, and I hurried out of my cloak and boots before diving into bed. I pretended to be sleeping. A moment later, I sensed someone in my room.

“I told you she was here,” one of the guards said. “We make sure she doesn’t leave.”

“Well, she’s sneaky, and I wanted to double-check. Double the guards outside of her room from now on.”

Jesper .

Asshole. They left a moment later, and I sighed heavily into the room. My body was on fire with lust and need. I closed my eyes as I pictured Cassius. All mine.

I couldn’t even think about everything that happened with the witches tonight. All my mind kept thinking about was Cassius being my husband, my mate.