Chapter 29

29

The Debt

When Aaron knockedon my apartment door the next morning, I didn’t even consider slamming it in his face. I’d spent the whole night alone, trying to lose myself in a good book to forget about everything. It hadn’t helped one bit. I didn’t feel any better.

“I’ve brought you some breakfast,” he said, setting a basket down on my coffee table.

I plopped down on the sofa and watched him lay out a spread of bread, cheese, and fruits. “Wine?” I asked as he pulled a bottle out of the basket. “Isn’t it a little early for wine?”

“When someone you care about dies, it’s never too early for wine,” he said, filling both glasses. “It doesn’t matter what Ethan did. His death hurts all the same. He was my cousin, but he was more like a brother to me.”

I lifted my glass. “I didn’t know him as long as you did, but I will miss him.”

He clinked his glass against mine. “As will I.”

He emptied his glass in a single go, but I only took a small sip of the wine. That was as much as I dared. Any more, and I was risking a barrage of foresights. And right now, my mind was too fragile to handle a single foresight, let alone a barrage of them.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked, catching his hand as it went for the wine bottle.

“Probably not,” he slurred.

“How much have you had to drink already today?”

“Not enough.”

“No, too much.”

“Maybe you’re right.” He dropped his hand to his lap. “After all, it didn’t turn out so well the last time.”

“Last time?”

“When my parents were executed for treason. It was big news, all over the headlines.” His face contorted with pain—and anger. “I got to hear about my parents’ deaths from a television report.”

“So you spent the rest of the day drunk.”

“I spent the rest of the week drunk. And the next week too,” he said. “You could say that I didn’t handle it all that well. Yes, my parents were guilty, but it still hurt. Just like now.”

I took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

“It was long ago.” He said it like it didn’t hurt him anymore, but I could see the pain in his eyes. His parents’ deaths still hurt him, even all these years later.

I leaned over to grab a roll, pretending not to see him wipe a tear from his cheek.

“And here we are all over again,” he said. “Except you’re here. This time, I’m not alone. There’s someone else who will mourn Ethan’s death, rather than spit his name and call him a traitor.”

I closed my eyes. He was right. Horrible as it was, having someone to share my pain with was better than facing it alone. And Aaron…well, I’d never thought he could be so…vulnerable. The pretenses were gone. So were his arrogance, charm, and every other piece of armor he wore around himself. He was stripped bare. Vulnerable. And he trusted me enough to let me see him like this. I didn’t think Lord Adrian ever got to see the man behind the Diamond Edge mask.

I liked Aaron like this. But I couldn’t forget that he was usually someone else. As soon as the pain faded, he’d be back to the man I’d always known—the vicious, bloodthirsty man who’d betrayed me to advance the vampires’ agenda. That man from my foresight. I’d seen the two of us butcher a field of mages together—and relish in every death.

“Aaron?” I said, looking up at him.

“Yes?”

He seemed to have regained his momentary lapse in composure, so I went on. “This case is done.” I took a deep breath. “And now I need you to go.”

Betrayal flashed in his eyes. He’d bared his raw pain to me, and I’d kicked him in the face. “This is about what happened two years ago.”

Yes, and about what would happen, a future that frightened me. A future where I was a monster killing by his side. Meeting his eyes was breaking down my resolve, so I looked away. I hated myself for being such a coward.

“You didn’t seriously think we could be friends after all that’s happened, did you?” I asked, meeting his gaze once more.

“I regret what happened back then.” And from the look in his eyes, he meant it.

“I know you do.”

“Well, then,” Aaron said after a long silence. He rose to his feet.

I stood too. “I hope you can hold onto this person hidden beneath the cruel shell. Inside you are a good person, Aaron. You need to let him out.”

“He is weak,” he told me. “He would not survive in this cruel, cold universe.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“You’re wrong.” And just like that, Major Pall, the monster, was back. “I’ve deposited the rest of your payment into your account.” A dark, intimate smile curled his lips. “Farewell, Terra Cross.”

* * *

I satin front of the television in my office. I’d tried to work, but I couldn’t concentrate. I’d tried doing pushups, but my muscles had eventually given out. So now I was playing a video game that involved shooting hideous space monsters. Lots and lots of space monsters.

It had been nearly a day since I’d escaped the witches. Wherever I went, I saw the Phantom’s burning gold eyes. I heard his damning declaration over and over again. I couldn’t get him out of my head.

You are dooming the galaxy. She will bring death and destruction upon us all. Worlds will burn. Because of her. You must kill her, or we are all lost.

I hadn’t slept, eaten, or worked. But I had killed eighty-six fictitious space monsters who were threatening the safety of the galaxy. I didn’t want to stop and think about what his words meant. I just couldn’t deal with that right now.

But sitting here moping wasn’t accomplishing anything. My mind buzzing, I left the office, traveling via portal to the Red Woods. That’s where I’d find the mages who guarded the portal to Silver Lake, to the Night Rose Order. I needed to see Cameron. I’d rescued him days ago, and we’d hardly spent any time together since then. Granted, I’d been unconscious for three of those days, but I was awake now. And, somehow, I now realized my twin could soothe the turmoil in my soul.

* * *

The tattooed guardsat the portal let me pass. It was warm and sunny in Silver Lake this morning. The bathing pools were completely full, and the large wooden terrace that overlooked them was serving breakfast. Cameron was eating at one of the tables.

“Terra.” As soon as I saw the way Cameron’s face lit up, I knew I’d made the right decision in coming here. “Join me for breakfast.”

I’d already had breakfast, but I’d also gone days without food. “You bet.” I sat down opposite him.

He pushed a stack of pancakes across the table to me.

“That looks delicious.”

“The food here is pretty good.” He cut off a piece of his pancake and dipped it into a pool of syrup. “How was your job?”

“Exhausting, but I’m done now,” I said. “I hope I never have to see another vampire again. And that goes double for witches.”

“And Phantoms?”

A heavy sigh rocked my chest. “I don’t think I can avoid them unfortunately.”

“Your friend Jason is very intense.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

“Yes,” he agreed with a dry chuckle. “I was trying to be polite.”

I set my hand on his arm. “We’re family, Cameron. We’re not polite. We’re brutally honest. And we always have each other’s backs.”

He snorted. “In that case, you might want to know that Jason is a psychopath.”

“No doubt,” I laughed.

“But he’s your psychopath, isn’t he?”

I poked my pancake with my fork. “It’s complicated.”

“Now it’s you who’s being polite,” he teased me.

“No,” I replied with a smirk. “I’m being coy and mysterious.”

We both chuckled. It felt so natural, so nice. Like we’d been doing this our whole lives.

I took a bite of my pancake. It was heavenly. “What do you say to getting out of here?”

“Go with you?”

“Yes.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

He was on his feet in an instant. “Let’s go.”

* * *

When we gotto the office, the waiting area was packed. Father was there, my older brother Davin by his side. Ariella sat on the edge of my desk, beaming at me. Lana was talking to Everett. Marin and Leonidas were in the middle of a heated, friendly debate about bombs.

“Great,” I said with a bright smile. “You’re all here to help me get caught up on work.”

“No, silly,” Ariella said, laughing. “We’re here for something far more important.”

I blinked in confusion.

“Your birthday,” Father said.

I’d been so busy lately—and so caught up wallowing in despair—that I’d lost track of time. I’d totally forgotten what day it was.

“As a family,” Father added, handing Cameron a wrapped present.

We spent the rest of the night eating pizza and playing silly party games. Leonidas amused us by imitating the voices of the galaxy’s most famous—and infamous—people. His ability to change his voice was almost magical; he could make himself sound like pretty much anyone. His Lord Adrian imitation was positively chilling.

After Father and Davin carried in a big birthday cake with twenty candles—and Cameron and I blew it out together—everyone sat down for a lot of chocolate cake and some conversation. Ariella chatted with Davin. Leonidas pretended he wasn’t in love with Marin. And Father and Davin got to spend some quality time with Cameron for the first time.

I drifted closer to Lana and Everett.

“So what do you do for a living?” he asked her, leaning his arm comfortably against the back of my sofa. I resisted the urge to tell him that his leather jacket looked lovely next to the pink upholstery.

“I’m a priestess for a group of rogues hiding from the Galactic Assembly.”

“I know a thing or two about being on the run.” An easy smile twisted Everett’s lips. “And being alone.”

“I’m not alone,” she told him pleasantly. “I have my brother. Who’s an assassin. Maybe you’ve heard of Jason Chanz?”

Everett swallowed hard. “Jason Chanz is your brother.”

“Yes.”

“The galaxy’s most wanted assassin.”

“Yes.” She smiled at him. “Scared?”

“I’d be a fool not to be.”

She chuckled. Then she looked up at me and said, “Jason will be around soon.” She rose from the sofa. “And I need more cake.”

As she walked toward the cake on my desk, I sat down next to Everett. “Be careful,” I told him.

“With her?”

“Yes. Her brother is…”

“Overprotective.”

I expelled a heavy sigh. “That’s putting it mildly.”

He chuckled. “You’ve got it bad. You know that, right?”

“What have I got?”

“Don’t be coy, Terra. I saw the way your eyes lit up when Lana said Jason will be coming soon.”

I shrugged him off with a smirk. “I don’t need relationship advice.”

“Not even from the galaxy’s sexiest pirate, according to Outworld Affairs magazine?”

“Is there even an Outworld Affairs magazine?”

“Does it matter?”

I snorted. “I guess not.”

“So what’s the deal between you and Jason Chanz?”

“He was my best friend. And now…now, he’s changed.”

“How so?”

“There is a darkness inside of him.”

A darkness that drew me in, that seduced and enticed. That made me want to unravel all his layers, all those shields he’d built up to cover his suffering over the last two years. I wanted to get to the man inside, to ease his suffering—and for him to ease mine. We were better together.

Everett watched me. “You love him.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what I could say. Yes, I loved Jason. But loved him as what? As a friend? A lover? A soulmate? Nothing really fit.

“He thinks he should stay away from me. We were sharing powers, and he caught a glimpse of the future. He’s afraid he’ll turn me into a monster that will destroy the galaxy and all its people.”

Everett whistled. “You don’t have normal-people problems.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“What do you want?” Everett asked me.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

I knew I was attracted to Jason. I could admit that to myself. He brought out feelings in me, urges, desires. Every time he was near, my pulse quickened. Just having him look at me made my skin flush.

But he had darkness in him. And so did I. The Phantom had said a monster lived inside of me too, one even worse than Jason. He’d said I would destroy everything I touched. He’d tried to kill me. Not Jason. Not Aaron. I was the threat. I was the monster. And one of them—or both of them—had the power to release the monster inside of me. I’d seen both futures.

I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit I was afraid.

“You have a good head, Terra,” Everett said. “And a good heart. You just need to get them to agree.”

“Easier said than done.”

Everett gave me a hug, then he went to grab some more cake for himself.

Presents followed. Everett gave me a gun. Lana gave me and Cameron matching bracelets, magical accessories that helped build magical connections in twins. Father gave me a motorcycle as he reminded me not to be reckless. Davin gave me a box of my favorite chocolate—and by box, I mean a crate-sized box. Ariella gave me a bundle of Zephyr Dust with a snicker. When poured into a bath, the dust was a powerful aphrodisiac. Marin and Leonidas brought along a state-of-the-art security system. They even offered to install it.

“I’ll be right back,” Father said after presents were finished. “I have a big surprise.”

There was a weight to his words, as though this surprise would trump all others. I wondered about it. It was hard to outdo his present of a motorcycle.

Just after he left, the bell over the door rang. It was Jason. He stood in the doorway, silent, unmoving, his copper eyes swirling with black magic.

“Using the front door for once?” I teased him.

He said nothing.

“Would you like some cake?” I asked.

Jason glided forward, but he ignored the piece of cake I’d cut for him. As he moved toward me, everyone else in the room seemed to melt away.

He leaned into me, his breath crackling against my ear as he whispered, “Happy birthday.” His voice was an intimate caress, his eyes a firestorm. “I got you something.” He handed me a black box.

I opened the box to find a pair of sapphire earrings inside a velvet bed. They matched my pendant perfectly, the pendant Jason had given me two years ago as an engagement present. This was a sentimental gift. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Maybe my Jason was in there after all, beneath all the layers of black leather and coldhearted brutality.

Or was this just another game, another attempt to seduce me?

I could have asked him. I could have at least thanked him for the present. Instead, I held the jewelry box in my hands and gawked at him like an idiot.

“Do you like them?” he asked.

“Yes.”

I tried to hug him, but he stepped back. “I shouldn’t stay.”

“I wish you would.”

He shook his head slowly. “I bring nothing but danger to you. You were safer without me around. Without my magic.”

I reached out and caught his hand. “Please don’t leave.”

“I won’t leave.” His laugh was hard, humorless. “I can’t leave.” He stroked his hand down my face. “Because I’m a horrible, selfish person.”

I closed my hand over his. “No, you’re not.”

The bell rang again, and a golem stepped through the door. Jason’s muscles tensed, and he prepared to fight.

“Stop,” Father said, walking in behind the golem. “I’ve freed him. He’s no threat.”

Jason’s eyes were pools of dark granite. “He’s still in that golem suit.”

“Yes, but it no longer controls him. The suit, powered by his own magic, once controlled him. It made him a slave. But no longer. With Marin’s help, I changed the suit. I’ve freed his mind. He controls the suit now, not the other way around.”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“Show them,” Father said.

The golem stepped forward. Magic flashed, swirling like fiery gold and red ribbons, and then the golem was gone. In his place stood a man in a sleeveless black bodysuit. He had short, sandy hair and emerald eyes. Edward Chanz. Jason’s father.

The knife dropped from Jason’s hand.

“But he’s dead,” I gasped.

“No,” Edward said. “After the attack two years ago, the Helleans took me. They brought me back from death so they could make me their slave.”

“And Mother?” Jason asked, his voice quiet.

Edward shook his head sadly. “The others were too far gone. Death was…” He lifted his arms, turning them, looking them over. Long, slender scars marred his once-smooth skin. “Death was kinder than what the Helleans did to me.”

“The suit uses Edward’s Chameleon magic to change his shape into the golem,” Father explained.

“It took them a long time to perfect the process.” Edward’s voice shook with pain—and anger. “Along the way, they had to bring me back from death many times.”

“The Helleans are experimenting on mages,” I said. “Like the demons did.”

Father’s fists clenched. “Yes.”

“But why?”

Edward shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t remember the beginning, when they first took me. After some time, they captured more mages. Keys was in a cell next to mine. Then later, the Helleans released us into their artificial environments, forcing us to fight monsters, to jump from city to city to survive. They watched us the whole time, coming up with bigger challenges and stronger foes. At some point, they figured out how to make the golem suit take me over. And then they sent me after Keys and the other mages. Magic against magic. I killed many people. Innocent prisoners.”

“It was all against your will. It’s not your fault,” I told him, sparing Jason a glance. Like father, like son. They were both blaming themselves for things beyond their control.

Jason moved forward, his cold facade cracking as he wrapped his arms around his father and hugged him. Tears pooled in my eyes—happy tears. Father and I had reunited a lot of families in the last two years, but this reunion was the sweetest of them all.

The bell rang for a third time, and Braeden stepped inside the office.

“Terra.” His voice shook. “I’m calling in that favor.”