Daniel leaned back. “He had definitely been there but was clearly tipped off before we arrived. We just missed him.”
“What about Rao?” I said, a part of me worried for the big scarred dude. “He protected me, Daniel. There’s something good in him still, if we can just get him away from Laous.”
Daniel reached out and took my hand, our arms forming a bridge between us. I liked being able to watch him like this, water slicking across his face, looking so damn beautiful.
“Rao was gone, also.” He paused, and my heart hurt at the grief in his eyes. “I honestly can’t believe he’s still alive. I thought I lost him. I’ve mourned him for years. I should have known … there was no record of his soul through the justices. Every soul that dies is recorded in this large tome. I always assumed my father couldn’t bear to see Rao’s name, so he wiped the ledger.”
I understood a parent doing that. Losing a child was a pain worse than any other, in my opinion.
Speaking of his brother reminded me of something else: “Dan, I think I saw Fraizer on the platform. He was part of the resistance.” As he sat straighter, I quickly added: “I don’t know for sure. He jumped off the side before I could confirm it. But it definitely looked a lot like him.”
“Fraizer is missing.” Daniel sounded resigned. “He hasn’t been in House of Imperial for two days. And there is no record of him through the network. He’s off the grid.”
“The council is looking for him?”
Daniel nodded. “He’d better hope they find him before I do.”
My voice grew hard. “I guess we know where these leaks and betrayals are coming from. The resistance had members of all four houses.”
He cursed. “I’ve never been so pissed off with my own people. We have to assume there are more than just the ones who attacked you.” Flames flickered in his eyes. “The council have those betrayers Chase captured. They will be interrogated, and hopefully we’ll find out who the ones still in hiding are. Then they will be punished.”
Judging by his expression, this punishment was not going to be pleasant. Since they killed Marsil, I was okay with that.
I straightened then as I realized something. “We’re in House of Imperial,” I said slowly. Daniel nodded. “Marsil’s soul … is it here?” He nodded again, and my heart raced and ached at the same time. “Well…” I pushed. “Tell me what is happening with him?”
Sorrow carved very fine lines around Daniel’s eyes and mouth. “When a Daelighter dies a true death, it’s different to what happened with you, or even with Emma when she was thrown into the justices. Marsil has no body left now, it’s only his essence. Energy. At the moment it is in the incubation zone, where those domed structures are.”
“The egg room…” I pushed.
“Yes, the egg room. He will be there for a few days while his energy deals with the trauma of dying. Then he will be weighed, judged, and make his choices.”
“What do you think he will choose?” I whispered, still not fully understanding how their afterlife worked.
Daniel’s hand tightened over mine. “I’m not sure. I didn’t know Marsil that well, but something tells me he has unfinished business, so he may choose rebirth.”
“And we’ll never know which child he becomes?”
He gave a simple head shake. “That’s a power beyond Imperial.”
I still wasn’t sure exactly how to wrap my head around my new world.
“So what do we do about Laous now?”
Using just his impressive abdominal muscles, Daniel stood, pulling me with him. “Right now, there’s nothing we can do. He’s cut off all avenues of tracking. We had the one shot and we blew it. We didn’t know about this resistance, but now we will be more aware. Our next step is to find the third family of secret keepers before he does.”
“And ferret out all the resistance.”
Daniel brushed some water from my cheeks. “Fraizer isn’t the only one to disappear. I’ve already had fifty or more Imperials fall off the radar in the past two days. It’s definitely time now for me to get my house in order. I have let them drift along for too long without a solid leader. It ends now.”
Determination straightened my spine. I was no doubt channeling that from Daniel, from the sense of team and kinship I felt. “I will support whatever needs to happen,” I told him.
He lifted my hand and pressed his lips to it. “You will be at my side. We lead together.”
I had no idea if I was even remotely capable of such a feat, but somehow, staring into my love’s determined features, I kind of felt like we could do anything. Together.
Epilogue
Chase
