The air grew colder around them, and as they rounded the corner, Cal stopped dead in his tracks. The smell of decay flooded her senses. This. This was where something terrible had happened. Cal flicked his hand and the room just in front of them flickered to life. Sconces lit, illuminating a room filled floor to ceiling with books. At one corner sat a long table, a game ofcanastahauntingly laid out as if unfinished. At the center were several sofas and chairs that appeared as if they had only been vacated minutes ago. A fireplace on the east wall flared to life, the remnants of Cal’s green magic smoking around the flames.
“Cal–” Ara breathed out.
“The manor was well-warded. It would have taken an army to break through Uncle and Father’s wards. Unless you knew where to look.”
The air was sticky, and it clung to her throat making it hard to breathe. Cal let go of her hand and she could feel her mind floating away. It ached with demanding pressure. She was close to where the call was originating from. Her veins felt as if ice were running through them.
“Cal, you don’t have to . . . I don’t need to know.” Ara tried through the haze surrounding her.
Cal pivoted, so that he was facing her. There was pain, deep and permanent, that shone through his usually mischievous eyes. It hurt to see him reduced to this when he should have only known joy in his short life. He cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to her forehead, once more grounding her in his presence.
Pulling her into him, he sucked in a breath. “Uncle told me after that my father had said it was all worth it. Anything that led to the safety of thousands was worth the life of one. That he would do it again if he had the chance.” Cal’s voice broke. “That he was proud of me.”
Ara wrapped her arms around him tighter as if that could take away the pain he’d been carrying for so long. Tears slipped down her own cheeks as if his pain were hers.
“My father learned of Icarus’ betrayal and it broke him. He lost his sanity. They tell me my mother tried to reach him, but he turned on her. He twisted her mind till it broke. Leaving her a living shell unable to take care of her most basic needs.”
“Oh, Cal.” There weren’t words for the pain he had endured. The loss he was forced to succumb to every day.
“I hate him. I hate that he goes on as if he wasn’t the reason our family fell apart. I hate that he survived when our father didn’t. When all our father wanted was to make the world a better place. Sometimes my father would become melancholy over the lives lost in the war, but my mother always told him that he couldn’t control other people’s response to fear and that ignorance was its own curse. That he fought for something bigger than all of it.”
“I’m sorry.” She wished she had more words for him, but there was no nicety that could undo what was done here. Yet, even as she thought it she was sure that what he spoke of was not the source of the darkness crawling around them. Something else happened here and its dark memory was long and unforgiving.
“My uncle said this is where my father asked to meet his end. That he wanted to be where his best memories were. That always struck me as odd considering what happened here, but my father was always the sort of man to see the good more than the bad. I wanted to be there for my father in the end, but my uncle said my father wouldn’t hear of it. That it was better if it were just him and Sinclair. I’ve always felt like I gave in too easily. That I was a coward.”
“No, you honored your father’s wishes. That was a greater kindness than being there ever could have been. You are brave in ways that most people could only ever hope to be. Never think you are less than you are.”
Cal choked on a wave of emotion. She would always be there to remind him of who he was. She pulled back and took in his handsome face laced with tears laced with years of pain and repression. She leaned up, pressing a kiss to each cheek.
“You are everything your father hoped you’d be. He would be so proud of you. You’ve found the grimoire and soon we will find the omnis stone. You found me. You are close to fulfilling his dream.”
“You are everything, Arabella Marudas,” he said into her hair.
He lifted her chin with a finger, forcing her to meet his eyes which nearly undid her.
She didn’t hesitate when he kissed her, could never hesitate when it came to him. Where their kiss earlier was heat incarnate, this was delicate and binding. When he pulled away, his eyes were less haunted and there was a new flame dancing in them.
“Let’s get this over with so we can get to the to be continued bit.” He grinned.
Gods, help her if his smirk didn’t break through everything she ever was. Holding her hand he walked her towards one of the many bookshelves and before she could ask what he was doing, he pulled a red book and the clinking of chain against chain filled the room. In moments, where there had been a bookshelf now stood a darkened stairwell.
Cal winked at her. “I’m full of surprises.”
She might have burned at the suggestion in his words if it weren’t for the dark magic that seemed to pummel her. It sucked the air from her lungs and danced with her as if she were a prisoner in its grasp.
“Something dark lives down there.”
“Well, it’s my uncle’s sex dungeon so that makes sense.” His voice was hollow.
She jerked her head to him. “No. I feel it like it’s swallowing me whole. Whatever has been done down there is evil.”
She wanted to pull at his arm, tell them to turn around, but he was already halfway down the stairs and where he went she went. Cal’s magic lit the sconces lining the wall until they reached the bottom, and a space encroached in darkness faced them. Ara didn’t hesitate as she called on her own magic, feeling for the places where fire once lit the room. The room flickered to life, and she stifled a gasp as everything she had seen while dancing with Cyrus materialized to life in front of her.
The man she had seen was huddled against the wall as if he was made of stone. He didn’t even bother to look up as the room was illuminated. What had been done to him so that he didn’t search for life amidst the resounding darkness?
“All right. Not sure who you are, but here is your rescue. No need to say thank you. Just be quick about it, I have important business to attend to.” He winked at Ara, but there was nothing except ice in her.
“Calder. That is to be my vision tonight.” The words were thick as if escaping from cobwebs.
