Moonlight bonds, p.3
Moonlight Bonds, page 3
Finnegan’s hand is tight in mine as we come to a clearing. Every tree here is the same, oak and covered in shadows except for one. Moonlight pours down onto a single silver tree in a bright clearing. Despite how beautiful it is, my skin feels like spiders are crawling all over it. Finnegan trusts me, and it’s never clearer as we walk straight up to the tree. I lift my hand and let my Nexus crawl out, turning my nails black and long. I run my nails roughly down the tree, scratching the bark, and it bleeds red. As soon as the blood starts dripping down the silver oak, a portal rips out the centre of it, the whole tree creaking as it bends apart, revealing an arch of shimmering magic, showing something more than the forest on the other side.
“We need to watch our backs,” I warn Finnegan. There will be Vian here, and worse monsters than them lurking about. News of what happened to Starlight City will be everywhere by now, and we are walking targets. I imagine the Vian king has a hefty price on me and my safe delivery to him. Money turns even the pure-hearted dark. I pull up the hood of my sweatshirt, and Finn does the same, concealing our faces the best we can. “Let’s get what we need and go.”
For a minute, all I do is remember my trip with Alek to the black market. I remember us fighting. I remember him pinning me against a tree. I remember his tongue. Heat flushes my cheeks. When I blink, Finnegan is staring at me, eyes darkening in a delicious way that makes me lose focus all over again. “You can tell me what you were thinking about when we’re alone in the car later.”
I wink at him before I nudge him forward through the portal with me. The warmth of the market hits me first, from the crackling fire baskets that line the middle of the market. Tents and stalls sit on either side, vendors being visited by hundreds of cloaked customers. I don’t stare at anyone too long as we slip into the crowds, and I lead Finn to the lockers, rows of them that line an old tent. It’s dark, but I find the locker easily, the number twenty on the outside in black ink. I rest my hand on the metal, and it glows black before clicking open. “They are all linked to my bloodline.”
Finnegan hums as I open the bag, checking the hundreds of thousands in different currencies inside before taking a bunch and handing it to Finnegan. I zip it back up and put it on, closing the now empty locker. “One day I’ll empty all of them, and then they are really gone. My parents, I mean. They won’t still be looking after me anymore.”
“But you will never be alone, Sun.” He kisses the side of my head. I close my eyes for a moment before taking his hand and going back to the main part of the market together. We visit a few of the tents, stocking up on weapons. Finn looks like he’s shopping for his birthday present at nearly every store we go to, his questions never ending, and he buys a shit ton of weapons, holders for them and a few poisons. Eventually we get to the back, to the old tent that’s withered and covered in red leather and so much smaller than the other tents. The door’s slightly open, and I step in, Finn coming in behind me. There she is—the witch I remember from my childhood.
Eternally beautiful is the only phrase I can ever think to describe her. Her smooth pale skin is the perfect olive colour, and there isn’t a scar, a blemish or anything to be seen. Her dark black hair hangs over her shoulders in delicate soft waves that no curling iron would ever have gotten as perfect as this. She has thick eyelashes, and there is no need for makeup when she naturally looks perfect. A red dress hangs off her curves as she lounges on a throne-like chair in front of a wooden desk. The tent is bare other than this.
She glances at us both before resting her eyes on me. A challenge lies in her eyes, and I don’t lower my gaze. Her eyes are the only part of her that’s not beautiful. Her eyes are nothing but endless pits—almost black. She blinks once. “Even as a child, you commanded a room, Gwenieve. Oh, how your mother was intimidated by you. Did she ever tell you how she feared you so? Fear can often be the only feeling in the world that overrides love.”
“Fear only overrides the weak,” Finnegan answers her question as my heart races. I don’t look away from the witch first, even though I can tell she wants me to.
Time ticks on, and finally, she looks away as a low growl echoes from my Nexus. She just laughs. “Come in. I’ve been expecting you for a long time, Gwenieve, and one of the star-crossed mates. It seems you found each other in this lifetime.” What the fuck does that mean? Finnegan and I glance at each other. “Do you Nexus beings say one for good luck, two for a favour, and three for a wish? That’s what the old Gods used to say when they flipped a coin. Should I flip a coin on our meeting and see if I should help you?”
“No.” I drop the massive bag of cash that I pulled out of the locker. “Money talks better than riddles. This will pay for what we want and more.”
She opens the bag before clicking her fingers, and it disappears. She makes two chairs appear out of nowhere, and we sit in them. The room seems warmer somehow. “What do you want?”
“I need to hide. From the Vian and from my Vian mates. I want a potion strong enough to hide just for a short while—a month,” I ask.
“You’re hiding from your mates, yet one of them stands beside you?” She hums. “Others are looking. Why do you want to hide from them? Mates are born to—”
“Not all of mine.” I stop her. Her eyes flash with annoyance. “They let someone hurt me. They betrayed and lied to me.”
She clicks her fingers, and a small vial appears on the table. “Very well… You wish to know your future, as do many, but I cannot be paid in money for such a wish. This time, I’ll allow it for a deal.”
“What deal?” I snarl.
She smiles, revealing black teeth. “When the war is done, you will come and release me from this prison. I was bound to this market a very long time ago by someone your Nexus knows well. I want to be free, and you can free me.”
Finn tenses, but I consider her. We need information, and our lives depend on it. Setting her free might be a very bad idea, but it feels like a problem for the future. I look at Finnegan, and he nods. My choice. “Fine. You have a deal, but only if you answer all of my questions and you hide nothing. You do not lie. If you break any of these, magic will know and there will be a cost.”
Her laugh is like a child’s. “So, we are bound, Nexus.” She looks at Finnegan. “We could make a deal… Creatures like you are almost as rare as I. You’ve only touched your power. Why do you hold yourself back?”
Finnegan is still as I look between them. “I am commanded by one, and she has not needed it…yet.”
“Time will change that,” the witch answers.
“Do not focus on my mate. I don’t like to share, especially not with a witch,” I snarl at her. “He is mine.”
She shrugs a slender shoulder. “I don’t dabble with Nexus beings…they are the reason I’m trapped here. Too much trouble.”
My Nexus relaxes an inch, and Finnegan touches my hand, linking our fingers.
“Why are you the only one left?” Finnegan questions. “My knowledge of witches is low, and I’m curious.”
“And yet your mate is the only one left too. Why not ask her Nexus why she is all that remains to fight the darkness? Why they hunt her?” I swear the room freezes as my Nexus watches her. She looks at me, at my one grey eye, where my Nexus never hides. “Should I call you Gwenieve, or should I call you the Morrigan? What do you prefer in your reborn state? Should I bow as many did before?”
“Are you saying she is the Morrigan reborn?” Finnegan demands.
“I am and we prefer Gwenieve. I have no memories of before, only that I was once called a Goddess or a witch to some. Darkness to others,” I answer. My Nexus told me as much on that cliff. Finnegan only stares at me, and I can tell he is pissed I didn’t mention it. I promised my Nexus that it would be for us alone, and I will not betray her, not even for my mates. She is the other half to my soul and sent to me for a reason. “I have no intention of making anyone bow. I want peace.”
“Oh, you are naïve.” She laughs. “Only the Morrigan could have killed half a city and threatened the entire world yet still want peace. They would have drained your body of every inch of life, and who says they haven’t done this before? The king has been alive for a long time. Even I remember him.”
My Nexus is silent, and I wonder if she remembers that. Now is not the time to ask. “How long would you say he’s been alive?”
She grins. “Perhaps you should ask one of your mates as they have served at his side for long enough to know.”
I straighten my spine. “The prophecy, anything of my future. You know what I want, and I want to know how I can do it without dying in this lifetime. I want to kill the Vian king to get revenge for what happened.”
“Yes, I see that, but your fate is not to kill the king.” She waves a hand. “He is readying for war, and he has an army. Your power was only really a warning, an easy way to win, but he will not stop until the world is ruled by Vian, and that means the Nexus, the humans and all of us are slaves or dead. He’s been growing an army of thousands for years. They have at least five hundred thousand, and this world will be destroyed. From what I can see, we are on a stone, balancing on the edge of a cliff. One stumble either way will make a difference in which way the stone lands and what world will be left. An army like that would take over the world in minutes—an army that’s been feeding on Nexus powers for years.”
My mouth dries. “How do we stop him?”
“Only a betrayal will end him. But, like I said, that is not for you. If only you’d come here with the other.” She sighs.
“The other who?” I demand.
She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes at me. “You need power to protect your people. You need to go to Morriganis City.”
Where my aunt lives. I can’t see her or the people of Morriganis being welcoming to me right now. “Why?”
“I will not give you all the answers. I see that telling you too much will skew the future. But you need an army—they’re the biggest city left for the Nexus.” She shrugs. “Maybe the answers you seek there are all you need to win this war. Then the world will bow, dear Goddess, to you.”
I don’t want a world bowing to me.
Finnegan shakes his head. “How could they possibly have five hundred thousand that they were hiding? Where? For years, our reports were that we’ve been running them into the ground.”
“Well, they were not telling you the truth.” She looks at me. “But I am. For my own release, I swear this to you, Goddess. You need the power to save your people, and you know what you must do. A hard, delicate choice, but it must be done. Maybe you should ask me a story of the past. There’s little I can tell you about the future anymore.”
“What story of the past?” I ask, gritting my teeth. I feel like she’s playing games with me now.
“I am aware you know the old legends of the five Gods that walked the earth, and what they were said to be, yes?” I nod to answer her. “But the Mortal God had a twin. There were six born, not five. The Morrigan was his twin, but she was cast out, forgotten by history, unwanted almost.”
It doesn’t surprise me that the Nexus lessons weren’t honest. “Why?”
“Many do not know. I’m sure there are old records that would tell us exactly why. But the Morrigan went to the Vian—some say she even created them—and became a Goddess to them. She helped them, and in the end, the Mortal God killed her.” She watches me closely. “Be careful fate doesn’t repeat itself. Gods are walking this world again, and they wish for you to be gone.” She stands. “They’re not done with this world or the games they like to play. You entered one… Do you think they just gave up on you?” She looks at the door. “It’s time for you to leave.”
I pick up the potion and drink half of it, and Finnegan drinks the rest. When I look back, the witch is gone.
Finnegan touches my chin. “You’ve always been a Goddess to me…but tell me about the Morrigan?”
I open my mouth to tell him some of it when I feel a tug in my chest, in my very soul. One of my mates is here.
I don’t know what to expect, but I rush outside with Finnegan behind me. Alek? Onyx? Severi? Did one of them finally find us? The smile drops from my face when I see Rhodes standing outside the tent.
Chapter
Three
Rhodes.
Commander Rhodes of the Vian Army.
My mate…who betrayed me.
He’s here, standing in front of me like nothing’s changed. Rhodes looks as heartbreakingly handsome as always, with the same smile I’ve grown to expect, the same kindness that I once fell for like a stone dropping into a lake. His green eyes are sharp and vivid, staring at me like we are still the same. The way he has always looked at me, right until he didn’t.
I never expected to stand in front of Rhodes and feel like he is a complete stranger to me. A stranger who shattered my heart into pieces and made no apology for it. Gods, if I thought it hurt before, it’s nothing compared to how much it hurts right now to see him. His scent carries on the wind to me, wrapping around my senses and making my betraying heart beat faster. He’s still my mate, and I wish somehow he weren’t. I wish the world ripped out the bond along with my heart that once beat hard for him. All the memories of us, all the things I thought I knew about him, trusted about him, are gone and tainted with lies. Now all that lies between us is just an empty, fractured shell of what our relationship was before.
Time seems like it freezes as he stands there, so still, so silent. A million emotions are shooting through his eyes, but I can barely breathe through my feelings. I’ve never broken like I did when he betrayed me. I’ve never screamed at the stars to change a single moment, but I did in Wales. I screamed, I cried, and I picked myself back up afterwards. I knew I’d have to face him at some point, but I’d hoped for more time. For me to be stronger and not to feel anything when I look at him.
“Give me a chance to explain.” His voice cuts through me. A voice I used to search for to make me feel better. Now I just remember him handing me to the Vian king. It makes me want to cry. Breakdown. Unravel.
My Nexus brushes across my mind. “I am here, and he will bow. He will suffer.” She burns as brightly as a dying star. “I will begin with cutting off his—”
I cut her off before she finishes that train of thought. My hands are shaking, and Rhodes glances at them, his jaw tightening. “I won’t hurt you. You never have to be scared of me.”
Finnegan steps out beside me, pulling out a dagger marked for death. He points it at Rhodes. “No, she won’t, because you’re already dead.”
Before he gets another step, Rhodes lifts his hand and Finnegan at the same time. I reach for Finnegan, but Rhodes sends him straight back into the tent, smacking into the desk with a massive bang as it breaks into pieces. He tries to get up, but Rhodes’s power holds him down, even as he shifts into his bear and roars for the world to hear.
“Let him go, Rhodes,” I cooly reply, barely trusting my voice to be steady.
“He’s not dead, just angry, and I want to speak to you alone.” He clears his throat like he is nervous. He should be. “I never meant—”
“Are you really beginning this with more lies? You never meant to what? Hurt me?” My laugh is hollow and fractured. “Oh, or is it kill me? Should I expect the Vian king to be around the corner with Georgina to finish the job? Did they send you, their little half-breed pet, to capture me?” I narrow my eyes. “This time you won’t find it so easy. You shocked me last time, Rhodes, but this time I see you for exactly what you are. I’ll kill you before you get a single chance to take me to them.”
“That was never, ever the point. I’ve never wanted you dead.” He shakes his head. “They aren’t here. Gwen…I’m sorry for what I had to do. It was the only way.”
He takes a step forward, and a warning growl echoes out of my throat. I let my Nexus flash in both my eyes, my hands turning into long claws. I can feel my hair changing colour, my skin draining of any life. “Take one more step and see what happens.”
“Fair enough. I deserve your hatred. I deserve every inch of what you’re feeling right now.” He puts both his hands in the air in front of him. “I’m not here to fight you. I’m asking for a minute to talk.”
“I don’t want to hear anything you’ve got to say.” I wave at the market. “Leave before I make you. Let Finnegan go.”
I turn to go to Finn, keeping my senses wide because I can’t trust turning my back on Rhodes at all. Not when he could stab me in it again. But then he says something that stops me. “The first time I met your mother and the man that brought you up as his daughter was when you were in her womb. She turned up in the Vian city and told me that my mate was—my mate is—her daughter, and you were going to be born to a world that would kill you at every chance it got. She told me of prophecies that had been said, of your fate, of your future. The four of us planned to save you.”
“Four of you?” I turn back, my voice catching. He met my parents when my mother was pregnant with me and Georgina. How could my mum possibly have known who my mates were before I was even born?
“Hollis.” Figures that asshole knows. “When we both found out, everything changed from that moment. Everything. All the sins I’ve done since may portray me as your enemy, may make you hate me, but you’re alive. That was the only point to all of it, and I would do it again. I was selfish just once, when I came after you when you ran out of the house after we got you back. Hollis and I agreed to keep our distance and make you hate us because it would be so much crueller to lie to your face every day, but fuck, when I got close to you, I couldn’t stop. I was addicted to you from the moment we met, and I fucked it up.”
“You gave me to the Vian king!” I shout back at his “holier than the Gods” shit. “You let Georgina carry me to the sky and kill hundreds of thousands of my people! Your people!” He says nothing. “You’re half Nexus and they’re your people too, and you let him—you let both of them—do that to me.” I feel my heart cracking. “You killed Howard. He was kind and innocent, just a boy trying to do the right thing and help people. You did that.”
