Remember.
Remember, Kaira.
We need you to remember.
Remember.
Over and over again, the cacophony of voices erupted in my ears and as I looked down, my newest companions were reaching for him. Whispering, yearning, and frantically trying to touch him.
Taking a step back, I could see the harsh inhale and pain spreading over his features, but I wasn't playing this game anymore. I wasn't playing any of their games.
"You are the death, Kaira," he finally said.
His words bounced around my mind, like an echo of everything Elandra had already said, but this time those vague sentences weren't enough. I wanted the full truth.
"I keep hearing that, but I'm yet to hear what that means," I bit out, my eyes refusing to leave him. Dark hair fell over his forehead, soaked from the rain, but neither one of us dared to move. Suspended in time, just the two of us, engaged in a staring battle, each waiting for the other to back down.
But I wasn't backing down.
The thunderous skies roared above us, reflecting my own feelings, and with one flick of his left eyebrow he simply smiled, shaking his head as if that didn't bother him.
"I can see you're angry."
"You have no idea what I am," I snapped back. None of them had any idea how I felt. Perhaps I didn't even know the full depth of my feelings, but seeing Lysander fighting to breathe…
Seeing what I could do woke me up.
My core shook from the power I wielded, both terrifying and exciting, feeding into my muscles, into the very essence of who I was.
Knowing who my father was wasn't enough anymore.
Knowing I was being targeted wasn't enough either.
"I'm not sure I'm the correct person to reveal th?—"
"I don't care," I interjected. "Considering that every single one of you keeps going in circles, I'd like for at least someone to start talking, or I'll lose my shit."
"Kore—"
"No!" My voice thundered over the meadow, cutting him off. "First of all." I took a step forward, my finger lifting and pointing at him. "My fucking name isn't Kore," I bit out. "My name is Kaira Vale, and since I came to this island everyone's been throwing things at me." Taking a deep breath, my eyes connected with his, giving him all my pain. All my rage."Information, vague facts, but not one of you has deemed it necessary to tell me the entire truth." My chest rose and fell as my blood pressure skyrocketed. The shadows wrapped around my arms, extending to my fingers, reaching for him. "I have no idea what I am. Hell," I laughed humorlessly, "I don't even know who I am anymore."
"I think you need to calm down," he said, instead of sharing anything. So fucking collected, only igniting the fury inside me more and more.
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down," I seethed. "I almost killed Lysander because no one told me what those powers are. I almost fucking killed him, and for some reason my trigger was you. My fucking trigger was a man who I don't even know. A man whose eyes I kept seeing for almost a year. A man whose fucking shadows seems to be wanting to play with mine. So tell me, oh mighty Hades. What the fuck is going on?"
His head tilted, observing me, dragging those emerald orbs over my face as if he was seeing me for the first time. As if he hadn't seen me this morning. As if he hadn't left me with a gaping hole inside my chest.
As if every single word from his lips didn't feel like a punch to my fucking soul since we came to Elandra's place.
"I don't think you're ready for that conversation, Kaira," he emphasized my name. "And the reason why I call you Kore is because it means maiden in the old language," he added, that voice staying perfectly calm while the storm wrapped around every atom inside my body. "You're angry at the wrong people and?—"
"At this point, Hades," I cut through his bullshit, "you belong to the group of people who are withholding the information from me. You belong to the group of people, immortals, whatever the fuck you want to call yourselves, that's actually lying through their teeth. I asked you several times what the connection wasbetween the two of us and I know you know. I can fucking see it in your eyes." I took a step closer. My palms landed on his chest as I pushed him away. "I can see the torment in you as clearly as I can feel mine, but you're still refusing to spill the truth. Why?" I pushed again. "Why are you all refusing to tell me the truth?"
His fingers wrapped around my wrists, bringing me closer to him. I tilted my head, looking up at him, seeing for the first time since Elandra left with Lysander, the emotions playing in those eyes. He seemed so indifferent, so fucking cold mere seconds ago, but now a new fire flared in him.
The fury mirroring my own sat there, waiting to be unleashed.
His pressure on my wrists increased, but it was not pain I felt. It was need. The insane urge to be with him, to touch him, to kiss him, to give him everything I am. The green of his shadows slammed against my dark ones, entwining, whispering, soothing the sharp edges of my soul. My eyes landed on his lips, on the restrained anger lingering at the edges, and I wanted him to release it.
