When I’d returned to the pines an hour ago, I’d told Saros everything I could remember that she’d revealed during our time illusioned away on the astral plane.
“She gave us some answers. Now we just need the evidence to prove them,” Saros said, not letting on any more than that, but it seemed like something had clicked into place for him. “Once they work through the last few wards, the answers should be there.”
“Won’t you get in trouble for her escape? She did help kill Acacia, after all.” While I wasn’t too sad about Acacia’s demise, I didn’t want this to crash down on Saros and Lynx.
“Aurora saved Atlas by exposing her gift.” He leaned back against the tree trunk we were seated in front of, hands clasped and resting on his knees. “But they would have learned of her Incarnation ability soon enough, and we both know how bad that would have been for her.”
“What about Fitz?” I asked, brushing away clumps of pine needles before sidling up next to him. I’d given him a few inches of distance between us, still unsure how he felt about touching me, even though I knew it no longer showed him my worst.
“That’ll be a problem for another time,” Saros said with a shrug. “No one has contacted us, so I’m guessing we aren’t the ones being looked at for Aurora’s escape or the…interrogation.”
“Who do you think put Aleander up to this?”
“I have no idea.” His tone turned hardened, his brows drawn together. “But I sure as fuck intend to find out.”
We sat there in silence, and stared at Atlas’s rib cage continuing to expand and contract. Lynx had been watching over him, a hand on his shoulder. He’d wanted to make sure to keep him calm when he woke, trying to pour as much into him as possible. I also had the sneaking suspicion he wanted to give Saros and I some space to talk.
“Hey.” Another thought came to me now that we had some time where we weren’t on the move. “You said there were two others like Lynx and I that you saw the good moments when you touched them. Who were they?”
He turned to face me, taking my hands in his. “I didn’t have the greatest childhood. My father… Let’s just say he ruled with an iron fist.” His focus dropped to where our hands were clasped together. “He’d never laid a hand on me, but my mother…that was a different story.
“The first time I ever discovered my gift was when I was fifteen. I’d gone to give my mother a hug goodnight and images flooded into me. Her most treasured memories.” His face contorted in pain, as if he were reliving them all over again.
“What did you see?” I asked.
“They were all memories of us as a family. Or ones of my father bringing her gifts, showering her with attention after hisepisodes.” He took a deep breath, and I squeezed his hand, waiting for him to continue. “I hated my father. Hated how he treated her. Hated how she just forgave him over and over again.
“After the first few times, I started avoiding hugging her. I couldn’t take watching through her eyes how much she loved him. Her abuser. It made me sick.
“I left home when I turned sixteen. That’s when I stayed away from the full moon, letting my magic dwindle, living among the mortals. Aleander found me in a shelter outside of Salem, told me there was a way my gift could help other supernaturals. That there were people who needed me to save them.” Saros pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s when I moved to the capital and started working for SNO-OPS…handling their cases that needed myexpertise.”
Tears welled in my eyes, ribs pinching in my chest, heart aching for the boy he was—all he deserved. He’d gotten so much less. “Saros, that’s horrible.”
“It was. I went back when I was older and had a handle on my gifts. My mother had apparently fled a few months after I left. It was just my father at the house. He actually wanted my pity.” He chuckled darkly. “It was the one time I didn’t regret showing someone the worst of their life. I forced him to relive the pain he inflicted over and over until it eventually scrambled his mind. Never saw him again.”
“What about your mother?”
“I have no clue where she went. I’ve looked for her off and on over the years, but there’s been no sign of her.” He shrugged. “I’m just glad she got out of there and that I found him before he found her.”
“I’m so sorry, Saros.” I rested my head on his shoulder, pressing a kiss to it.
He lifted my chin, evergreen eyes soft like a lush forest grown just for me. I could stare into those eyes forever and never tire of them. “It wasn’t until years later when I met Lynx that I found someone that I didn’t see their worst. And not again until you. I think my gift only shows me the best moments in those I’m fated to love.”
Fated to love.
“So the first time you touched me…”
“It took me by surprise. You scared the shit out of me.”
His gaze dropped down before it dragged back up, and I ran my palm along the stubble of his jaw. “Who is the fourth person? You said your mother, Lynx, and me… Who is the other?” I asked it tentatively, so blown away that he’d admitted so much about his past and his feelings. “If you are fated to love someone else, I would underst—”
“It’s not what you’re thinking, Midnight.” He smiled, those brilliant white teeth of his on display.Goddess, his smile is breathtaking. “The fourth has me wrapped around his tiny little fingers.”
“Aspen?”
“Yes. That first time he reached for me, it was the strangest feeling. The vision itself was mostly a blur but then there wasyou.”
The breath pulled clear from my lungs, heart thudding against my rib cage. It was the only thing I heard over the wind sweeping through the pines.
