“She went looking for you,” Jarek says through his tears. “We found you, but you were already dead. We were attacked, Kaida…she didn’t even know what happened I don’t think, and I couldn’t live without you, so I stopped fighting.”
“Jarek,” I whisper in horror.
“It’s okay; we’re together now.”
“In the Culling Grounds,” I remind them. “About to die again.”
“We’ll be okay,” Jarek says, but I think we can all hear the lie in his voice.
I pull free, knowing I need to deal with the wolf in the room. Cadel is staring at us, his eyes blank, but I know it’s hurting him to be excluded.
I take a breath and hold it.
“He’s part of our pack,” Jarek says firmly, cutting off my words before I can say what needs to be said. “He belongs to us now.”
I don’t tell them that he won’t be here with us long and that once he’s gone, it will be forever. One lifetime is enough, right? We can have that, can’t we?
Cadel approaches slowly, looking at me cautiously like he expects me to hit him. “If you don’t want me—”
I slap a hand across his mouth. How could he think that? “I have wanted you since the moment I saw you. I tried to find you, waited as long as I could. The All-Seer was to pass on a message. Cadel, my Winter Wolf, Iloved you then, and I love you now,” I pause. “I just can’t bear the thought of what will happen. Of losing you again,” I confess.
His eyes glow red as he stares at me. I slowly remove my hand, but he surges forward, and I’m lost in a kiss that is full of ice and snow. I can hear a howling. I cling to him, kissing him back, trying to show him exactly how I feel.
When I pull away, he lets me go. It’s so hard, I just want to hold on to him.
I turn and catch a glimpse of the skull. My mother, I go to walk and stop, my whole body shakes as I turn back to stare at it.
“Why is the All-Seer here?” I ask in a hollow voice.
“We don’t know,” Jarek says quietly.
My mother, the prophet, and the All-Seer are the same. “She was here. She came here, too, my mother? What kind of game is she playing now?”
“Well, she’s been sending us dreams for the last few years, so maybe she’s helping,” Mordecai says gently.
I stare at her skull. No wonder I felt such intense love for her. No wonder she was so skilled.
“My mother,” I say slowly. “She became my mother? Did she love me, or was this a manipulation, too?”
Jarek presses up against my back, kissing my shoulder. “Kaida, she loved you.”
“Do you think the beta knows?” I say instead of answering.
“No, I think if she knew, you would have been killed outright. Besides, the goddess is so arrogant she probably is sure she got everyone.”
“Are there others here?” I ask carefully. “Like, have you met any of them yet?”
There’s a long, heavy silence.
“Yes,” Mordecai says at last.
“Who?”
“We don’t know. We’re all fairly reclusive; I didn’t meet many other gods. So I don’t recognise them, but from the things that they have been doing and achieving, I would guess there are a lot.”
“But not like us?”
“Some like us,” Jarek protests. “I suspect Legion is a fallen.”
