59. Traitor

59. Traitor

Dessin

We stare in silence atthe skeleton on display in the center of the stage. The bones aren’t white because they’re still covered in blood, tendons, shreds of muscle, and bits of skin. And in a medal plaque at its gnarled feet reads:

Here lies what is left of Commander Kaspias Valdawell

Traitor to all of Vexamen

“Traitor?” Niles asks.

Warrose places a hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off.

“Does that mean he managed to get Skylenna out?” Ruth asks weakly.

I take in a breath. “I guess so.”

Kane is no longer anywhere close to the front. Cricket, our gatekeeper, ensures he stays deep inside the inner world for this. Though I’ve switched alters many times to cope with the stress of our new reality. Kaspias hurt our family, caused irreparable damage, scars that may never be healed, and cost me the woman I loved. Yet, he was still Kane’s twin brother.

And that means something to all of us.

My mind spins with questions. Why would he help us? Why save Skylenna? The part of my mind that has been soiled by the Mind Phantoms believes it’s because she was the traitor all along. He helped her because she was just as evil as he was.

But I shake my head against the dark thought.

The memory that Sophia saved where the deeper alters lie gave me much clarity, much to think about regarding Skylenna. So many traumatic memories we all hold are tied to her, and she never seemed to age in any of them. Once I was given a sliver of the truth from someone in our system, it was much easier to believe. Easier to accept.

The way she cried for me after seeing me again. Her emerald eyes were bright red and gushed an endless supply of tears. She could hardly talk. The supreme, unyielding sadness made her entire body shake. God, I could feel the pain and heartbreak from miles away, couldn’t I?

Nothing killed me more.

And that kiss.

Fuck, that kiss was world-ending. Her body leaned against mine like she’d done it a thousand times before. Her lips had mine memorized, and she understood me in ways that could only be described through her passionate touches.

Skylenna is wholeheartedly in love with me.

I have to do everything I can to recover my memories. To find her and learn all I’ve lost. What must it be like for her to look into the eyes of someone she would die for only to have them stare coldly back at her? To hate her with every fiber?

It’s been a few days since we now know she escaped. A few days for me to wonder how I would feel if something terrible happened to her. A few days to watch Ruth and Niles wither away at their imaginations running wild with possibilities of her demise.

“Dessin?” Niles inches toward me cautiously, looking at the skeleton that was once Kane’s brother, then back to me.

“I’m getting us out. Tonight,” I say, taking one last look at the strings of meat hanging off his bones. I don’t know what happened to him. But at the very least, some day, I can tell Kane that his brother died a hero.