Caz saves me a ton of embarrassment by asking Della to find panties for me. She goes into the village for some and returns within twenty minutes with several pair in a paper bag.
Afterward, Caz leads me to his bedroom, and it’s nothing like the other rooms. For starters, his room is enormous. The walls are painted black, including the ceiling. Two sharp-bladed fans hang from the ceiling on opposite sides of the rooms, and a large bed is positioned against the north wall. To my right is a tall black curtain. Caz walks over to separate the velvet curtains and reveals floor to ceiling windows, and just outside the windows is a balcony made of wood with steel railings. I take a look out at the black sea, the water rippling. There’s nothing but water for miles and miles, dark waves that are alluring yet terrifying beneath the gray sky.
“So…this is your room,” I say, looking around. A gray recliner is in one of the corners, next to a nightstand stacked haphazardly with books. Just around the corner is a bathroom, the walls gray, with a large silver tub—large enough to fit at least four people. His shower is built into the corner—no curtain, just a glass wall and a large silver showerhead.
“This is my room,” he confirms, looking around with me.
“It’s nice.”
“Yes. It’s unfortunate that I don’t get to spend much time in it.”
“Why not?”
“Work. Running an entire territory. Blackwater Tavern. I always have my hands full.”
I press my lips. Makes sense. Still, I’d never leave a bedroom like this. I run a hand over his bedding. It’s fluffy and soft, his pillows cool to the touch. My eyes travel up the wall the bed is against, at the portraits hung there. This wall is made of gray wood paneling, the portraits hanging in sections. There are five portraits total, all of them sharp, dark, abstract designs of horses and guns, except the one in the middle, which stands out most.
I focus on the picture in the middle, of a woman and a boy. The woman has dark skin like mine, her hair as dark as the wings of a raven, wild and curly around the edges, the rest collected into one single braid that rests on her shoulder. A smile graces her lips, similar to the Mona Lisa smile—there, but just a whisper of it.
She’s in an emerald dress and she’s holding the hand of a boy. The boy doesn’t look any older than six or seven. He’s smiling hard and missing a tooth. His hair is just as dark as hers, and he has the woman’s eyes—icy blue and bold. He’s barefoot in black trousers and an ivory shirt. He looks happy…and I know exactly who he is.
“Is that your mother?” I ask, turning to look back at Caz.
“It is.”
“Wow.” I face the portrait again. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She was quite beautiful.”
The question from earlier hits me again. What happened to her? Where is she now?
Caz walks up to me. “After we find out what’s going on with the Tether, I’ll tell you about my mother. Deal?”
“Okay.” I look into his eyes. “Deal.”
“Now take this.” He raises the bag of panties Della gave him. “Go and change, then meet me downstairs.”
I take the bag from him, and he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
When he’s gone, I look around once more, but I can’t help going back to the picture of him and his mom. He looked so happy then, so carefree and full of life. Who ruined that little boy and turned him into the hardened man he is now? There is hardly any softness left in him. Who robbed him of that?
The question lingers as I go to the bathroom to wash up, slide into a new set of panties, and then leave the bathroom. I start to leave the bedroom, but something outside the balcony catches my eye.
Outside the window is a floating black figure. It hovers above the water, red eyes pointed in my direction, its black talons revealed. It’s cape billows in the wind, and my heart beats hard in my chest as I stare at it, waiting to see what it will do, but it does nothing. Just floats there, looking at me.
“Did I not tell you that if you go to him, he’ll die?”
The voice rings in my head, coming out like a painful croak. I try to move, but I’m frozen solid.
“The closer you are to the answers, the quicker your death. Accept your fate.”
“You’re full of shit. Tell me, if you’re so powerful, why haven’t you already killed us?”
“It was never that simple,” it says.
“Yeah, because it’s all a lie.”
“There are no lies.” It moves closer to the balcony. I’m still paralyzed, nothing moving but my eyes and my mouth. “I will keep coming for you. If you do not accept your fate right now, both of you will die a painful death once I obtain your Tether.”
“We’ll never accept it. Not when there’s a choice.”
“What a stupid, stupid girl.”
“Fuck you,” I seethe.
Mournwrath makes a throaty, croaking noise, like nails on a chalkboard, and I wince. Finally able to move, I cover my ears and crouch to the ground. The walls begin to shake, and the balcony doors rattle relentlessly.
In a matter of seconds, the glass shatters and shards fly across the room. A gust of wind sweeps in, so powerful it knocks me backward against the edge of the bed. I grunt, tumbling onto the floor, and when the wind stops, I look toward the balcony again.
Mournwrath is gone. Nothing is left but a broken window, open air, and sea.
Breathing raggedly, I push to a stand, and glass scatters off my clothes. The bedroom door swings open, and Caz comes charging in with Juniper and Rowan behind him.
“What the hell happened?” he asks, rushing toward me.
“Mournwrath was here,” I tell him.
“Shit. Did it hurt you? Let me see.” He reaches for my face and rubs my jawbone. I wince from the sting. The glass must’ve cut me there.
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
Maeve, Killian, and Della barge into the room next, and when they see the shattered glass and one side of the room now destroyed as if hit by a hurricane, their jaws go slack.
“What happened here?” Maeve asks.
“Mournwrath,” Caz grumbles, finally pulling away from me. He then hisses through his teeth and tugs the sleeve of his shirt up, revealing his forearm. The black veins are spreading there, and I feel my heart drop as I watch them slither up his arm.
“We need to move out. Now. There isn’t much more time. Maeve, Juniper, Rowan, get Willow out of here and head to Vanora. The sooner you can get there, the better. Killian,” he sighs, looking into his eyes. “I need you, brother. Stick with me.” Killian tips his chin, looks Caz over, then nods. The disagreement from earlier is no longer an issue. He’s dropping it, if only for now.
It’s all a frenzy after we leave Caz’s bedroom. Everyone hustles down the spiral staircase, and from there, Juniper, Maeve, and Rowan strap up to the teeth with weapons. Caz helps me put on the weapons he selected for me, then makes sure to cover them with my cloak.
Right after, we’re being shuttled into an SUV with Rowan climbing behind the wheel. Silvera hops in and sits in the middle, Juniper on the other side.
“Always be aware of your surroundings,” Caz says before I get into the car.
I nod. “I will.
“And if Mournwrath comes again, don’t let it touch you.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Good.” He guides me into the car, and I sit on the seat, looking back at him. He looks me over, and I don’t know what it is about the way he looks at me, but it terrifies me. It’s like he’s looking at me for the last time.
“Hey,” I call, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “Everything will be okay.”
He nods. Lifting my hand, he turns it over and runs his lips over my knuckles like he’s done before—not kissing them, just feeling my flesh on his lips—then he releases me and steps back to close the door.
He gives the passenger window a knock, Rowan bobs his head, and the SUV takes off. I look back as we go, and Caz and Killian stand in front of the house, watching us drive away.
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, fighting the wave of emotion running over me, but it’s hard, because with each mile away, I feel that ache building in my chest again. The one that longs for him, desires his touch, and wants to be near him, and I know he feels it too.
As badly as I’d love to stay in his house, lying in his big bed, staring at the ocean, we can’t. If we don’t figure this Tether out and find a way to get rid of Mournwrath, we’ll never be able to do any of that—so for the greater good, we’ll take this time apart.
Silvera rests her head on my lap, and I sigh, stroking the top of it while Juniper rubs her back. My eyes meet Juniper’s, and the words are spoken between us silently.
We’ll figure this out. We’ll be okay.
That’s what I hope, anyway.
