Page 63 of Dark Company

“No. No, child. You must understand. Annora didn’t know either. He watched you both from afar, protected you, but he was an Alpha, and I am an unmated omega, one that pledged my life to the service of Ilaria. If he saw me, there’s no telling what he might have done. His heart already held so much pain.”

She pauses for a moment, as if to collect herself. “We live by a code of balance above all else. There’s no way I could have brought you into our fold without two others having to be displaced. And as a mouthpiece for the goddess, I could not leave to be with you unless one came to take my place. I wanted to get you. I ached for you and Annora. You carry the same gift as your mother, as I do. I sang to you in your sleep, stirring up your memories so that you would not forget. I wanted so desperately for you to feel loved.”

I hear the agony in her voice. It calls to me like a balm, soothing my heart. Someone else suffered this loss right alongside Annora and me, even if we didn’t know it. Reaching out, I gather her hand in mine and give it a squeeze, my heart and brain unable to fully process everything.

“Where am I? Where is Brennen?”

She smiles at my questions and motions towards a ball in the center of the room. Until now, I hadn’t noticed it, but it looks like the light sources I saw in my vision. With a wave of her hand, the ball turns black, plunging us into darkness. After a few moments, it shimmers inside, and the image slowly morphs into that of a sandy desert.

“Seems your mate is a very violent man. He made a quick death of your captor.”

“Magic,” I whisper as the image starts to become clear.

She chuckles as she walks closer to the orb. “You would think that, but no. We are just a bit more advanced than your Stanlion. I imagine it’s tied into the fact that we can have visions. Some here dedicate their lives to the advancement of our city-state, and it shows. What I’m showing you is not magic, but an image taken from one of our ships and beamed back here. I just like to have a little panache.”

Unable to fully process her words, I stare at the orb in front of me. Lying there, face up in the sand, I stare at Brennen’s form. Already, animals are picking him apart, but there’s enough still there that I know it’s him. Turning, I place my hand over my mouth, trying to hold back the bile as it rises in my throat.

Without saying a word, my aunt glides over, her dark robes barely whispering over the floor as she hands me a bowl and slides my hair out of my face. My insides clench as vomit pours from my mouth and into the basin, quickly filling it up. She only pauses long enough to pass the bowl to another female and put a clean one under my face.

Over and over, we play this dance until there’s nothing left in my system. The more I throw up the contents of my stomach, the less my body hurts, especially the mark on my shoulder. It’s the only reason I keep going, purging myself until the pain is just a faint memory that tingles along my body.

“Good. You will be well now.”

Once she hands off the last bowl, she urges me to lie back down and places a cool rag on my forehead. The only thing that’s not dissipating is the heat that engulfs me. It’s similar to just before I went into my heat, but this time, it doesn't hurt. There are no achy joints, no feelings of being stretched far too tight.

“Now that the poison is out of your system, your fever should soon break. You’re very lucky we got you here when we did. Any longer, and we might have had to take your arm. Your claiming mark was infected, almost beyond repair. It’s what caused you to pass out.”

I go to reach up, to feel the damage, but she swats my hand away. “You must leave the pellisputrescere to do its job.”

The word doesn’t make sense as I roll it around in my head, but it’s obviously some form of plant. From the small bit I could feel before she forced me away, it had a rough, almost prickly feeling to it. The tactile sensation was so unpleasant that I’m completely fine leaving it alone.

My body, however, is not okay with that. It’s as if it needs to explore the thing on my shoulder, unable to leave well enough alone. I just need to distract myself. Sliding my hands under my butt, I lie down in the bed and look over at my aunt, studying her soft face for a moment.

She’s so calm, so serene, as if nothing has ever plagued her life or made it hard. It’s such an odd expression and not one that I’m used to. No one in Stanlion has this look except the omegas, but even then, how much of that is reality versus what the High Echelon wanted us to see?

I ease a hand out from its entrapment and reach forward, taking her hand in mine so I can hold it. The familial love eases into my body, releasing some of the stress and tension I’m holding. We sit there for what feels like hours, saying nothing, just occupying the space. It’s like magic.

I glance back over at her and watch as she flips through a book with her free hand. She mentioned visions. Could that be what I’ve been having? Does Annora have them too?

Without looking over, her lips curl into a grin. “You seem quite intent on asking me something, and yet, you just stare, as if the question will just appear out of the ether. I cannot read minds, you know.”

“I - I didn’t know that, actually. Everything around here just feels so….”

“Mystical?” Her soft chuckle helps to make me feel less like an idiot. “To outsiders, it may seem that way, but here, it’s as natural as breathing. Now then, what is your question?”

“You mentioned visions, but I wasn’t really sure what you mean by that.”

Pulling her hand away, she stands up and starts to pace, her finger tapping against her lip. “There is a lot that I cannot tell you, not until you’re officially a Laxian, but what I will say is that everyone has a similar reaction. Of course, there are the outliers, but we’re all about the same in that respect. Tell me, have you experienced something you wish to share?”

I bite down on my lip, trying to figure out how to explain it. “It’s as if my body freezes and then either disjointed images or films go across my mind. I don’t seem to understand what they mean.”

My aunt beams down at me, her smile infusing my body with her love. “That sounds about right. The older you become and the more you practice, you will be able to go for longer, diving deeper into the visions to see the entire message.”

“And you said my mom had these visions?”

Her eyes cloud for a moment as she turns back to the orb and rests her hands against the smooth surface. “She did. Ultimately, it’s what took her from here and led her to Stanlion. She was convinced that your father was her life mate. By joining with him, she would help further the people of Stanlion.”

“And then she died.” My voice is barely a whisper as tears prick my eyes.