Chapter 20

Iswung my mother's white sword, the steel striking the rat beast which stood as tall as me, and the thing fell dead at my feet.

"Not much of a challenge," Darius commented as he withdrew his axe from the head of another monstrous rat.

"Shh, the city of doom is probably listening and it'll up its game," I whispered.

He smirked. "Scared, little shrew?"

"For myself? Nope. I just don't want Tory to have to claw her way into death again to get you out." I gave him a teasing grin. "I've got to protect my big brother-in-law for her sake."

He gave me a dry look worthy of Orion, and I swept past him down the red brick street.

My amusement fell away as we kept walking, searching for any sign of our group.

Something about this city was wholly unnatural, the air too still and the silence too thick. I'd already tried flying up to find them, but nothing but empty streets and terracotta rooftops stared back at me. Whenever I'd flown too far in one direction, I'd ended up back where I started, so we'd guessed there was some enchantment keeping us from finding them.

For now, we were on our own, and I could think of far worse company to keep than Darius Acrux these days. It was hard to reconcile our new friendship with the old hatred that had lived between us, but here we were.

We walked down another maze of streets before Darius broke the silence.

"There was a place beyond The Veil that felt like this," he said, and my ears pricked up at that. I never knew how hard to push him for details about his time in death, but I was brimming with questions.

"Cursed?" I guessed.

"Tainted," he said darkly. "There was an ancient soul there who lived in a cave. She had lost so many pieces of herself to memory, she was barely Fae anymore. She was unnatural to behold."

The grim look in his eyes set the hairs raising on the back of my neck.

"What else did you see there?" I asked.

He frowned, his thumb trailing over the hilt of his axe. "I saw fragments of people who no longer are, clinging to something that no longer is."

My heart sank as I thought of my parents, of Hamish and Catalina too. "Is it that way for all the souls?"

He shook his head. "No, Gwen. There's light there too. Hope, in a way."

"Tell me more," I asked, my voice quiet like that of a little girl hoping for a bedtime story. But this meant more to me than that. It was everything. Darius had spent time with my parents; he knew them in a way I would never know them in this life.

He blew out a breath, his lips lifting at the corner. "Well, your father's an asshole."

"He is?" I asked, disappointment falling over me.

Darius glanced up and down the street before leaning in close to speak to me in a low voice. "The best kind of asshole."

The wind stirred around us, and Darius raised his brows. "If you heard that, Hail. You misheard it."

"You think he's here now?" I asked excitedly, remembering what he'd told us about being able to see people he cared for while he'd been beyond The Veil.

"Could be," Darius muttered. "They're often watching, him and your mother. But it takes a lot of energy to push through The Veil and stand at the side of a loved one. It's easier to watch from afar."

My fingers tightened on the hilt of my sword. "What was my mother like?"

The lump in my throat wouldn't ease as I awaited an answer to that. I'd dreamed of having a mother as a child, someone who held me when I was sick, who braided my hair for school, who was always there for me when it felt like the world was crumbling. Tory and I had become that for each other, fulfilling every need our parents couldn't in any way we knew how. But that burden should never have rested on us, our mother and father should have been there through it all, and we'd been robbed of that privilege. All because of Lionel.

"She's stubborn, fierce, and smart as all hell. She loves you more than anything in this realm or the next," he said seriously. "As does Hail. Azriel too. He told me to tell you how grateful he was for all you'd done for Lance and that he'd be celebrating with all the lost souls who adore you when you seize your crown. Your parents are fit to bursting with pride, they're fucking dying to see you on the throne. It's pretty beautiful, if I'm honest."

I realised we'd come to a halt, and the aged wound in my chest broke apart, the chasm those lost souls should have filled. To learn they were out there somewhere, watching us, cheering us on, loving us even now, it was both painful and comforting.

"And what about your mother?" I asked, my throat tightening at the loss of Catalina. For the briefest of moments, I'd known her affection, and it had been one of the purest things I'd been offered in my life. She and Hamish had been stolen away all too soon, just like my parents had, like Orion's father had. Too much death had been dealt at the hands of the Dragon King and he had so much to pay for. But it could never undo what had been done. It could never bring them back.

"She's at peace," Darius said, emotion warring in his eyes. "She's happy now. Free. It's not life, but death isn't as final as it seems. There is joy to be had for her and Hamish yet."

"That's good," I rasped, the pain of it all near choking me.

Before I knew it, the two of us moved into an embrace, our losses shared and the grief of it eased in each other's arms. It was almost impossible to believe I had come to think of Lionel's ruthless son as a brother, but somehow we'd gotten here, treading an unforeseeable path that had changed us both irrevocably.

The creaking of a door hinge made us split apart, and I raised my sword while Darius lifted his axe.

A single door stood open across the street, leading into a house that looked like all the others.

I stepped toward it, but Darius caught my arm.

"Are you planning on walking right through the door that creepily opened just for us?" he growled.

"It's either that or continue circling these streets aimlessly. I think we have to do what the city wants us to do." I tried to step forward again, but his grip only tightened.

"Gwen."

"Darius." I arched a brow.

He sighed, releasing me.

"Death's made you into a cautious old man," I jibed, striding toward the door with my sword raised and the tingle of Phoenix fire in my palms.

"Bullshit," he hissed, coming up right behind me. "I just don't want you getting your head eaten by a monster rat because you have slower reflexes than me."

I threw my elbow back into his gut and he barked a laugh.

"What were you saying before your super-fast reflexes didn't stop me from elbowing you?" I asked sweetly.

He shoved me sideways with such force that I nearly fell over, and he went strolling into the house without looking back. "Hurry up, Gwen. I won't save any kills for you."

I stalked after him with my lips pursed. "If you keep calling me Gwen, I'll stab you in the ass with my sword."

"That's your mother's sword. And by the way, she mentioned it does this." He twisted around, reaching for the hilt and grazing his thumb over the rivets of the wings winding around it. The blade illuminated in an ethereal white glow and I inhaled sharply in surprise at its beauty.

"Now when you strike, it'll give off an extra pulse of energy or some shit," he explained.

"Where's a monster rat when you need one?" I muttered, wanting to try it out.

The door swung shut at my back with a slam that sent a bolt of adrenaline into my veins. Darius and I were on guard immediately, weapons raised and muscles tensed for a coming fight. When nothing happened, I reached for the door handle, but it was no longer real, the door just a painting on a red brick wall.

"Shit," I breathed.

"Go through the creepy door, she said," Darius taunted. "Nothing bad will happen, she said."

"I never said nothing bad would happen. I said we need to do what the doomed city wants us to do."

"Same difference," he chuckled, then turned towards the only way on which happened to be a very dark stairway.

The light of my sword cut through the gloom, so I didn't bother to cast a Faelight, cautiously following Darius up the stairs. The wood creaked beneath our feet, the sound setting me on edge, every muscle in my body coiled in preparation of an attack.

At the top of the stairs, we stepped through a door, finding ourselves in a room with no windows and no passage forward, so far as I could tell.

The wall shifted behind us and we whirled around as a block of stone slammed into place in the doorway, sealing us in here.

"Fuck." Darius rammed his shoulder against it, shoving it with all his might.

"Step back," I said, and he obliged.

I raised my hand, but no magic came to my fingertips, something about the power in this place locking down my Elements.

"Dammit," I growled, then lifted the sword and swung it against the stone. A powerful surge of energy burst from the blade and a crack ripped out across the stone, tearing into the walls too. But before I could get too excited, the crack sealed over, like the walls were healing themselves.

"Fuck this place," Darius snarled, smoke seeping between his teeth. "I'll shift and break us out of here."

A hissing noise sounded and we hunted for the source of it, finding a pink mist filtering into the room from small holes in the walls.

I grabbed the material of my shirt, hurriedly pulling it up over my nose and mouth, and Darius did the same.

"Shift now," I urged.

"I can't," he cursed.

The mist circled us and there was nothing I could do to keep it out, my eyes finding Darius's and my hand falling to his arm. Terror clutched me in a fierce grip. It wasn't just us at risk. If this mist equalled our deaths, it equalled Tory's too.

But one inhale swept that worry into the breeze. All thoughts were lost to me, and I closed my eyes, blinking away the fluffy haze in my head.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in my bed in Aer Tower, a beautiful summer's day gleaming at me through the window. I smiled contentedly, getting out of bed and falling into the familiar routine of showering and dressing in my Zodiac Academy uniform.

It wasn't long before I was walking up the path towards The Orb, everything perfectly normal and oh so right. Kylie Major waved at me, smiling her friendly smile as I walked into The Orb, and I smiled back.

"Hey bestie, how did you sleep?" she asked brightly.

"Like a log," I said, looking for my twin in the room. And of course, she was there with her boyfriend, sitting on his lap on the red couch in the middle of the room, softly caressing his hat.

"I'll catch you in a bit," I said, jogging away from Kylie towards Tory and Diego. He was grinning at her, and she slapped his chest as if he'd said something funny.

"Hey, Tor," I called, and she looked up, waving me over.

Before I could move in that direction, a voice sounded behind me.

"Morning, beautiful."

I turned, finding Lance Orion walking this way wearing his letterman Pitball jacket over his school uniform. For a moment, I thought his dark eyes were pinned on me, but he swept on by and grabbed Seth Capella, sinking his tongue between his lips. The two of them kissed like no one was watching and I darted past them, leaving them to that overt display, moving to sit beside Tory and Diego.

Tory was adjusting Diego's hat like she was trying to decide just what way she liked it on him. She really loved that hat.

A strange feeling rushed over me, like something was off about this situation. But the feeling passed, and I didn't dwell on it. I couldn't see anything remotely wrong with this scene. Tory adored Diego, and he adored her. I couldn't think of a single thing that didn't make them the perfect couple.

"Ergh, she's here," Tory hissed, and I bristled when I realised who had walked into The Orb.

Geraldine Grus. Queen bitch. The girl couldn't make it through a day without ramming a bagel down someone's throat. She made a beeline for Kylie Major, and Kylie made a good effort of trying to fight her off, but Geraldine soon had her upended in a trash can with a bagel balancing on her ass.

"Do any other whelks want to dance the danger disco?" Geraldine bayed, gazing around the room as she hunted for more victims. She spotted Milton Hubert looking her way and raced after him, the poor guy screaming and running for the door.

Orion and Seth finally stopped making out and came to join us on the couch, Orion slinging his arm around Seth's shoulders with casual intimacy.

"Do you want a coffee, moon friend?" Seth asked him.

"Moon lover," Orion corrected with a smirk, and Seth chuckled, squeezing Orion's knee. "You sit right there. I'll get us coffee." Orion shot away with the speed of his Order, returning a second later with two cups of coffee, handing one to his boyfriend.

I stared between them, an unsettling feeling washing over me. This wasn't…right. Or was it?

A shimmering pink glow at the edge of my vision made me blink and I forgot what I'd been thinking, my attention drawn across the room again to where Geraldine was force-feeding bagels to Milton.

"Take that, you rapscallion of the goon land!" Geraldine cried, making me shudder in terror.

"Cooeeeee."

That sultry voice. Every Fae with a pulse was enraptured by it as Professor Washer stepped into The Orb looking good enough to eat. His leather pants creaked as he walked and his floral shirt was unbuttoned right down to his navel, revealing all that delicious tanned, waxed skin. How was anyone supposed to resist him? He was the epitome of hot.

I bit my lip as he walked by, sashaying his hips and drawing every eye in the room.

"By the stars…" Caleb appeared, his eyes following Washer before he dropped onto the couch. "If I wasn't a taken man, and one taste of Washer wouldn't put me in Darkmore…I'd shoot my shot with that professor."

"I can't believe you're dating her though," Seth said. "Come on, bro, she's our enemy."

"Which makes it even hotter," Caleb said, man-spreading in his chair.

I cursed as Geraldine noticed him, running over at such speed that she held her breasts to stop them bouncing. She landed on his lap with a noise like a yowling alley cat, then sank her tongue between his lips. Caleb groaned, pulling her closer and when they parted, she caressed his cheek and whispered, "My fancy fang-dangler…bite me like a wild grouse in a windy meadow."

Caleb sank his fangs into her neck just as Max appeared hand in hand with Xavier Acrux.

I blinked hard, something about this scene not feeling accurate again, but as Tory met my gaze, I relaxed. What could possibly be wrong?

"Your boyfriend's here." Tory nudged me and I looked around, trying to spot who she meant, for some reason uncertain who it could be.

Darius Acrux came sweeping towards me across The Orb and was upon me in seconds, grabbing my hand and towing me from my seat. I tiptoed up, his large hand cupping my face and his dark eyes turning gold for a moment. I leaned in, but a sense of disgust filled me as his lips closed in on mine.

"He's your mate!" Tory called.

"Go on, kiss!" Orion encouraged, and I blinked hard as the haze descended on me once more.

My mate…of course he's my mate. That makes total sense.

I leaned in for the kiss again, our lips almost touching when a flare of memory tore through my mind. Me standing under the stars opposite the love of my life, Lance Orion. Claiming him while he claimed me.

Darius's mouth almost grazed mine, but we jerked back at the exact same moment, his palm on my cheek now shoving me away instead of drawing me closer while my face screwed up in horror.

The vision dissolved just like that and we were back in the sealed room, staring at each other in disgust.

"What the fuck?" he blurted, wiping his mouth at the mere idea of it being so close to mine.

"Ew, ew, ew." I backed away further, my skin prickling uncomfortably. "That was fucked up. Why does the creepy city want to make us kiss?" I grimaced at him, unable to think of anything less appealing. He was a brother to me. My sister's mate. Ergh.

"I think it was a test," Darius said thickly, clearly as disturbed by the idea of kissing me as I was by him. He was about as appealing to me as a rotten potato. "Fuck that hat kid. He had his hands all over my wife."

"Yeah? Well Lance made out with Seth." I shuddered.

Darius roared a laugh. "That's kinda funny."

"It's not funny," I hissed, a flare of territorial instincts burning through me.

"Alright, alright." He looked around the space and a grinding of stone offered us a new way on.

I raised my mother's sword, walking toward the exit with rage in my chest. If this city wanted a fight, it was about to get one. No one tried to make me kiss my brother-in-law and got away with it.