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“Hmm no. It’s either fuck or fight. Sometimes both. Then it’s see ya never. And what’s worse is I can feel how being wrapped up like that affects you…”She pretends to cough up a fur ball, eyes him, then stands to slowly walk toward us on all fours. A spark of pain pings in my slide with every step she takes. “I bet if I bite him, he’ll leave.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Fine!”she snarls, then plops back down in front of me. A gust of wind flips up the hay on the ground and sends my hair swirling around Kai’s face.
His eyes shoot open as he jerks back, swatting my curls from his face. Then he notices Luri and jolts, sliding up to a sitting position a few feet away.
“Tell the small man I don’t intend on having him for breakfast. I’d rather eat swine. He’d be much too gamey.”
“It’s okay,” I say, huffing out a breath and sitting up. “She’s not going to hurt you.”
“Not what I said.”
“Wait, does that mean—” I nod, and he tucks his chin to his chest. “Well, okay then. Congratulations?”Congratulations? That’s all he could come up with?“I should probably go. I’m sure my father will have words, but for the moment being, you and Luri should stay here. We’ll take her to the prison world soon, but there’s going to be fallout from…”
“I get it,” I say, not needing him to go into the gory details.
“I’m sure the council will want to discuss it if they haven’t already.” Kai pushes up to his feet. “I’m not sure how any of this will go, but we’ll figure it out.”
I’m not sure what he wants me to say. I know what I did will have consequences, but I stand by my choices.
“Well, I’ll be back soon, then.” He leans forward, as if he’s going to kiss me, then thinks better of it and pops out of the box.
I turn to find Luri’s eyes wide and flicking between me and where Kai just stood.
“What did I miss?”
19
Kai
“I take it you read the scroll,” my father says, standing over the glass casket my mother’s preserved in. It’s as if she was placed in there yesterday, with her blonde hair swirling around her innocent face… His button-up shirt is slightly skewed, undone partially in the front, and wrinkled. But it’s the whiskey glass wedged in his hand that’s the most concerning. He only drinks to bad news.
“I did… and I’m not sure whether to feel betrayed or grateful. More importantly, I’m not sure I can trust anything you say anymore.”
He turns, dropping the hand with the glass down to his side. The other is still propped on top of the glass box. “Trust me? I’m incapable of lying.”
“We both know you’re still able to get your way at all costs.” I skirt around the room, moving closer, the scroll clutched in my hand, and the knowledge it contains burning a hole in my mind. “Why didn’t you tell me you bargained my soul, or that you used the fates to get Alice on your side? To fall in love with me… Is any of it real?”
He chuckles, lifting the glass to his lips for a deep swig. “Of course, it’s real. And I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t your call to make.”
“Wasn’t my call… It’smysoul.”
“Well, yes. But it was always meant to be. This is a long game, son. I’ve been planning this war since before you were brought into the world. Your existence just gave me another reason to fight it.”
“That’s why you had my brother, though. Isn’t it? You knew you weren’t strong enough to defeat Michael, so you spawned a nephilim, knowing the child would be. Then when you fucked up and spellbound him, you got your do over with me.”
“Yes and no,” he says, scrunching his brows together until a crease forms between them. For some ungodly reason, I hoped he’d prove me wrong. That he’d show me some other reason I’d been incapable of seeing. Instead, my father made the void forming where my heart should be bigger. “Your mother wanted children… but yes, I did see the potential in it.”
My father crosses the room, slightly swaying on his feet. “With you, I did it right. It was your mother’s wish for her child to know true love, though. So, before we had you, we found a pair of souls. We held on to the other, expecting to use it after the war when you’d be free to start a family without God’s scrutiny. Where you could love without an anvil looming over your head. However, when I heard of Celeste and Azazel’s child, I decided to rig the game. I made sure Alice was your other half. I knew she’d be powerful, and I wanted you to have a match that was your equal. She’s everything you’re not and vice versa. Even without that deal, you two would’ve found each other, eventually.”
“So, what she feels is real?” I ask, fingering the scroll’s edge.
“Mostly. I’m sure the deal sped up the process, but the feeling would’ve happened.”
I run a hand down my face, pinching my jaw a moment before letting it drop back to my side. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Don’t you have a beast to return to a prison world?” he seethes, taking another sip.
