“Hello, I’m right here,” Cadmus muttered.
I couldn’t help feeling for him, but at the same time, I was overjoyed. I welcomed anything that gave me and Cadmus more in common. I liked the idea of my Storm Lord being Dark, and it wasn’t as if the thought was a stretch.
Though he liked to joke and have fun, Cadmus had a streak of mischief in him that went beyond Light and surface pleasures. Earthy and deep, he reveled in his sensuality, and his anger at times stirred my Darkness, tempting it to rise.
“Cadmus isn’t a threat to you, Arim,” Lexa explained patiently. I thought her more than tolerant, considering how mule-headed Arim was acting.
Thank you, Lexa sent me. I’m always the bad guy, but see how irritating Light Bringers can be? All holier-than-thou and full of themselves.
I smiled and quickly glanced down when Arim’s gaze shot to me. His eyes narrowed, but before he could speak, Lexa distracted him.
“Darius is mostly Light, and Cadmus mostly Dark. Marcus and Aerolus are Shadowy, hence Aerolus’ bonding to an Aellei, a creature of Shadow. Alandra, by the way, has done more for his magic than you can ever understand.”
“I know.” Arim rubbed his chin as he studied her.
Surprised Cadmus’ uncle would agree with anything Lexa said, I could only watch and wait.
“Did you hear that, affai? We’re more evenly matched than I’d thought.” Cadmus snuck an evil grin at my father that made my mother chuckle.
“I thought Jonas was a pain in the ass,” Ethim grumbled.
“Hey.” Jonas clutched his heart. “I’m wounded. And after all I’ve done to help you.”
Ethim nodded at Lexa. “Help her, you mean.”
“I serve the Djinn.” Jonas bowed regally, but I caught the smirk he shot my father. When he winked at me, I laughed.
My father was right. Jonas was as much a pain as Cadmus promised to be.
Thanks for the comparison, Cadmus growled in my thoughts.
“All of this has been most enlightening,” Arim interrupted. “But what does it all mean? Are you telling me Cadmus is doomed to become a Djinn, now? Will he be bursting in truth at will, or just at random?”
“You are so patronizing.” Lexa sighed. “No, Cadmus is not doomed to become a Djinn.”
“‘Honored’ would have been a better word,” Jonas added.
Lexa continued, “He may burst in truth from time to time, but only when Ellie becomes threatened or his life is at stake. And before you think to condemn that trait, know that his Darkness has saved his life on more than one occasion. Ellie enhances that part of him, but the magic was in Cadmus to begin with. In fighting a Dark Lord, he’ll need that to survive.”
“To survive what, exactly?” Arim’s expression teetered from frustration to anger. Yet every now and again, I swore I saw something more when he looked at Lexa. Something that looked strangely like confusion.
“To survive what I’ve seen coming,” Cadmus spoke up. To me he said, I’ll tell you about it later.
I shook my head. “You’ll explain it now.”
“Tell me, Cadmus. Or would you rather I look for it myself, like I did earlier?” Arim threatened.
I watched my lover blanch and promised myself to give Arim a good talking-to. It was obvious the man ran amuck. Too much power corrupted his authority. Arim, the Killer of Shadow, needed some serious limits.
“Amen.” Lexa blew out a breath.
Cadmus grudgingly explained, “In my vision, Sin Garu is in Tanselm. He’ll have those wraintu with him, those things that have the Nocumat inside them. Lexa’s there, and you too, Arim. And then the wraintu throw me into the mix, all bloodied and battered. But you’re tied up and can’t help at all,” he directed to Arim. “And then Ellie’s there, but there’s something different about her.”
I wondered when Cadmus had thought to tell me about this vision. I’d known of his precognition but thought he’d been unable to see anything since Darius had left for Tanselm months ago. Apparently, my Storm Lord liked to keep secrets. Secrets that involved him bleeding while I watched with Sin Garu in attendance.
Arim yanked Cadmus to him with winds of power. “You might have mentioned this possibility to me before now. As it is, we’ve got Netharat and rumors of Sin Garu flying around the northern kingdom every other day. We need to prepare.”
“Wait.” Lexa held up a hand. “The part about Ellie being involved should concern you more than it seems to. In each attack Sin Garu has made on the Storm Lords, they all involved Storm Lord affai. Yet in this vision Cadmus had, the Dark Lord attacks Cadmus? What is different about Ellie, about this situation?”
