Chapter 125: Chapter 9

ADELIE

We were all gathered in King’s study for a meeting. Leonard was the one leading the discussion.

“There will be men outside your radius at all times,” he assured me.

I chimed in, “You also need to put guards by Elia’s room. And let them know he has a knack for sneaking out.”

Leonard laughed at that. “A little explorer, huh?” he asked, and I nodded in agreement. He moved toward one of the cabinets in the room. “I have one of those too.” He bent down and opened the cabinet door, revealing one of his daughters hiding inside, a quiet little thing about Elias’s age.

She crawled out of her hiding spot, not uttering a word, but looking up at her father. “We’ll talk later,” he told her. He didn’t seem like a strict father, but she looked a bit scared as she scampered out of the study.

“I’ll make sure all our children are safe,” he promised. “And you too,” he added, looking at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, suspicious.

“Kairos will accompany you,” he added. I glanced at Kairos, who seemed to already be aware of this arrangement.

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“He knows the forests well.”

“I’m a nymph.” I pointed out, as if that explained everything. I could never get lost.

“He’s one of the best fighters,” Leonard argued.

I knew that. Kairos had always been the best fighter.

And then Kairos chimed in. “I won’t take no for an answer either.”

He had promised to stay out of my way for the rest of the visit. Was that just a lie? My gaze shifted to Leonard, who had already moved on to speak with Collin. Even Kairos left before I could argue.

I turned to Maeve, who was already watching me, knowing what I was thinking. “Don’t overthink it. Two heads are better than one.”

As night fell, I found myself walking with Kairos to the pit, while the others stayed back.

“What do you do with the bodies?” I asked Kairos.

“Forest nymphs are left on the ground. Water ones are brought to the water…and so on. Their bodies disappear quickly. But you know that.”

“How many?” I asked.

“If we count all we saw, then thirty-one.”

“I’ll spend the night here. Be a dear and let them know to take care of Elias when you get home,” I told him, and started looking for a good hiding spot.

“Adelie, I can’t leave you here,” he protested.

I didn’t bother to answer him, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be leaving.

“The woods are dangerous,” he warned.

“How much do you know about me?” I asked him, not giving him a chance to continue.

His eyes darted around, avoiding my gaze. “Not a lot.”

“I meant my powers. How aware of them are you?”

“I know what you can do.” He shrugged. “Everyone knows.”

“I don’t flaunt my powers.”

His eyes steadied as he paced around. After a moment, he crouched down where I was, behind a boulder. “I know about your healing. About the vines.” Of course, I had trapped him with them when I first came here. “Your root creatures, Blooms.”

My eyes shot to him. “How do you know they’re called Blooms?” He didn’t answer me. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

He coughed awkwardly. “Apparently someone knows,” he said quickly.

He was lying. But I wasn’t sure if it was his memories he was lying about, or how he knew about my powers.

“What is the last thing you remember?”

He looked into my eyes. He was too close. His breath warm on my face. “Why such a question?”

“Answer!”

“Did you know me before?” he asked, squinting at me. Suddenly, I felt guilty. In his mind, he had done nothing wrong. He was innocent.

I looked away. “I didn’t.”

Because how could I know someone if they did something so unexplainable to me.

I noticed a flicker of a flashlight. Kairos was right next to me, but he wasn’t about to stay down. I put my hand on his chest to stop him, but realized that might not be the smartest thing to do. I noticed how he looked down at my hand on his chest, and I slowly removed it, trying not to be bothered by it.

Someone was dragging a body to the pit. It was clear the victim was a woman. Another nymph, her dress stained with blood.

I waited until the person dropped the body down, and then I used my fingers to move the vines to trap the person. His hat fell off, revealing a scrawny looking man. He started panicking as the vines climbed up his legs.

Without thinking, both Kairos and I lunged at him. From the other side, someone was quickly approaching with a silver dagger, running toward us. It drew my attention away, and the man who had dropped the nymph ran away, while the other one was now fighting to get away from my vine hold. “What are you doing?” he screamed, struggling to break free.

It was a human… Hunting our kind.

Kairos sighed… He also knew we had been tricked. This human wasn’t with them, it was just a distraction.

From behind, the pack’s doctor approached us with a syringe in his hands. I looked at Kairos, who must have mind-linked him. “He’ll get a dose to put him in a coma. He won’t remember anything when he wakes up. We can’t risk mundanes learning about the mythical.”

Soon enough, they all left. Only Kairos and I remained. Only because I kept wandering around.

“Maybe it was just that,” he suggested, while I searched every corner for something.

It couldn’t be. I was called here. There must be another note. I looked down into the pit. It wasn’t deep, but falling in would certainly break your neck.

I stepped forward, and wooden steps appeared. I slowly descended, looking back to see Kairos watching the stairs I had created. “You can come,” I told him, hoping to ease his worry that the steps weren’t safe.

He cautiously followed me down.

It was dark, but not too dark to see. Kairos had better night vision, being a werewolf. I slowly ran my hand over the wall of the pit as I walked around.

As I took my next step, my shoe hit a rock, causing me to stumble. Kairos quickly jumped to my side, his hands holding me by my waist. “Careful,” he warned.

He didn’t let go of me. I turned my head to meet his gaze. He was looking right into my eyes.

Like he had just woken up, he let go of me as if he had been shocked. He cleared his throat. “So. Is there something specific we’re looking for?”

“No,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper.

I let my hands guide me, since I could barely see anything.

I heard him approach me. This time, he stopped at a safe distance. Then, a small flame appeared. A silver lighter with an orange flame. He handed it to me, then returned to his previous spot.

I hated this feeling. This feeling like he cared. Maybe he did. But he didn’t remember how he had hurt me, how he had left me.

Kairos was very quiet. Not moving. He had his back toward me, his head hung low. “Kairos,” I called, trying to get his attention.

I walked forward, and then he turned around, reading a small card.

My breath hitched. My emotions surged. What if this card revealed that Elias was his child? What if he was reading the truth I had been hiding from him?

He lifted his gaze and handed me the note.

My eyes scanned the writing under the flame.

~Dear Adelie.~

~The next letter will be with coordinates. We will be most pleased to see you with the vampire book in your possession.~

~Or else we would like to take Elias for an adventure. Like we did last spring in the human city. On April the fifth.”~

~ ~

And no, Kairos didn’t read the truth. But my heart clenched for different reasons. My son.

~“~What happened on April fifth?” Kairos asked me.

And a vivid memory of that day flooded my mind. “Elias…he. He is different. He likes to hide away, go to dangerous places. He isn’t scared of anything. He goes away without telling anyone.

“When he started doing it, I was losing my mind over where he was, and then…it became the norm. And everyone around knows to bring him back for goods in exchange.

“He was always safe. I couldn’t even try to contain him. He would always find a way to trick me and go out. And one April fifth, last spring, he went to the human city.”

I couldn’t help but pace around. “It doesn’t seem like the most dangerous place…but he came back. All scratched up and bloodied. Someone had hurt him.”

My gaze fell on Kairos. “He never spoke of it. He never showed any change in behavior. He was…okay. I couldn’t find any trace of what he did. Only that rogues saw him wandering the city.”

Just because he had a knack for slipping away didn’t mean I should have allowed it. “I should have been tougher on him. Set stricter boundaries. I should have been more firm.” My head was bobbing in denial, my hands trembling in sync.

“It’s not your fault,” Kairos’s voice boomed, contrasting my hushed tone.

I took a half-step toward him, tilting my head to meet his gaze. This time, I didn’t care about appearing vulnerable before him.

“My son is in danger now! They’re aware of him. They’ve met him. And I failed at the one thing I was supposed to do as a mother. Protect my child. And I let them take him!”

“Adelie!” His shout echoed around us, as if the trees were about to topple over. He closed the gap between us, cradling my face in his hands, causing me to jump. I instinctively reached for his wrists, but didn’t push him away. “You’re an amazing mother and your child adores you. That’s already a lot in this screwed-up world we’re in.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and my voice choked. “They will take him…”

“They won’t! Because I’ll protect him! Do you understand? I’ll give my life for him if necessary.” The world around me froze. How often had I fantasized about him acknowledging his son. A fantasy where we both loved our child equally.

Tears trickled down my cheeks, wetting his palms. “Why?”

He didn’t know the child. He didn’t know he was the father. Why?

His gaze softened as my tears continued to flow. “Because he’s your child. I’ll protect anything that matters to you. And I wish I had more power to destroy them right now. But I’ll guard that child just like I’ll guard you.”

He looked at me. For the first time since I arrived, he looked at me as if he recognized me. As if he had always known me.

And then, the world I thought I had mastered crumbled. I was no longer the icy leader. I had warm blood coursing through my veins and a light in my soul that had been suppressed for far too long.

What magic his lips held against mine.