Chapter 249
I don’t speak until we’ve left the Marble behind.
Even after the corridors shift from glass to steel, from eerie blue light to fluorescent glare, I don’t say anything. I can feel Wake beside me, quiet and coiled tight like a spring, every movement restrained with too much precision. I know better than to break that silence too soon. We both need time to sort through what just happened in that room.
It’s only when we’ve reached our quarters, the door hissing shut behind us, that I finally exhale.
“That…” I begin and trail off. Because I don’t even know where to start.
Wake runs a hand through his damp hair, jaw clenched. He doesn’t say anything at first. Instead, he moves around the room like a caged animal, checking the corners, the vents, the console panel that probably connects to whatever surveillance system they have in here. Only once he’s jammed a small black device into the console—one that Cora gifted us for some basic interference—does he finally relax enough to speak.
“You agreed that you wouldn’t let him sway you,” he says flatly.
I blink at him, caught off guard. “You don’t believe him?”
Wake stops moving and turns to face me. “I didn’t say that. I believe some of it. Maybe most of it. I believe he loved her. That much was real.”
I sink down onto the edge of the bed, trying to piece it all together again. “He’s lost someone. Just like you almost lost me.”
Wake’s expression darkens. “Exactly.”
There’s a pause—heavy, lingering.
“I feel for him, believe me I do,” he admits. “I can’t keep ignoring that I’ve had a part to play in shaping who he is, and that at least I know he was being honest about. I did keep secrets back then—fuck, how many times have you checked me on it now? It may not have been intentional, but I pulled away first. I caused this rift between us.”
I cross my arms. “If you’re owning that, then why are you still so suspicious?”
“Because none of that negates the fact that he wants to wake a demon, Phoebe.”
Fair enough. “So, what? All of that was for show?”
“No,” he say pensively. “Not all of it. Maybe not any of it. But I also don’t think that he would have shared it unless it forwarded his own agenda.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, I don’t know if I’ve got it in me to be that cynical.”
Wake runs a hand over my hair and pulls me in to drop a quick kiss on my forehead. “You’ve got a soft heart, mate.”
“And you’re too quick to assume the worst,” I counter gently. “That’s what makes us a good team.”
Wake doesn’t smile. He just watches me with that unreadable look in his eyes—the one that says he’s working out all the angles, weighing all the risks. I can practically hear the gears grinding in his head.
“I just want to understand,” I say after a moment. “The three of you—Wake, Shoal, Axel—You and I have been drawn into something bigger than either of us, right? Neither of us asked to be dropped into the middle of an ancient prophecy, but here we are. But the thing with you and your brothers….”
“I should never have brought that up,” Wake grunts.. “It brings up far too many questions that we don’t have the time to answer.”
“Not talking about it doesn’t make it any less weird or true, Wake. What are the odds that you and both your brothers would all have mates—human mates—all at the same time?”
“I have a human mate,” Wake corrects me. “Shoal has a very sad story, and Axel isn’t even really a part of this conversation.”
“Then let’s start narrowing things down,” I say slowly. “I think I might have a way to start finding some of those answers.”
His gaze sharpens. “I know where you’re going with this.”
I raise my eyebrows, waiting.
He steps closer, resting one hand on the wall beside me and leaning in. “And have I told you today how brilliant you are?”
My lips twitch into a smile. “Not today, no.”
He kisses my temple, then pulls back. “You want to try and find Elena.”
I nod. “Finding ghosts seems to be a specialty of mine.”
Wake goes quiet for a beat. Then he says, “I do think that would help clear some of my doubts. Because I do want to believe Shoal, he is my brother. And, if what he told us is true, then he’s carrying a wound deeper than any I can imagine. One that would shame him in the eyes of our people.”
I frown, confused by the intensity in his voice. “But it wasn’t his fault. Elena’s death—how could he have known something like that would happen?”
Wake shakes his head. “Our people won’t see it that way.”
He sits beside me, and for a moment, he doesn’t look like a warrior or a prince. He looks like a man bearing the weight of his entire lineage.
“To lose your mate is considered the worst fate an Abyssinian can endure,” he explains. “But to fail her? To allow her to die when it was your duty to protect her?” He shakes his head. “There’s no atonement for that. It’s the one thing our people consider worse than treason.”
“That’s… horrible,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
Wake nods slowly. “It’s not something we talk about. It’s just… embedded in us. Baked into our upbringing. Duty. Honor. The sacred bond. We’re taught to die before we let our mate suffer harm.”
I reach for his hand. “You don’t have to live by those rules anymore.”
He gives me a small, sad smile. “Don’t I? It’s in my blood, Phoebe. In the marrow of my bones. Some things… they shape you whether you want them to or not.”
I squeeze his fingers. “Then maybe I’m the lucky one. Because I get to help shape you, too.”
He looks at me for a long moment. “You already have.”
I lean in and rest my forehead against his. “Alright. We find proof. If we can confirm what he said about Elena—if she really was his mate—then maybe we can understand what he’s trying to do. And why.”
“Good. Because if he is telling the truth, then he’s more dangerous than we thought.”
I frown. “Why do you say that?”
Wake’s eyes darken. “Because, then he’s not just trying to change the world. He’s trying to make make himself whole again, no matter the cost.”
I shiver, not because I’m afraid, but because I understand what he means.
“And, I know exactly how far I’d go to keep you safe, Phoebe.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
