Chapter 43: The Umbra King: Chapter 41

exhausted from the day. To celebrate Caius’ last day of incarceration, they stayed together, doing whatever he wanted. He’d wanted to play arrowball and eat at their favorite spots in town, mostly. He even asked to meet her friends for a few drinks.

He crawled in beside her, quieter than usual, and she assumed he was nervous and excited for the next day, which was understandable.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

He reached out and caressed her cheek. “You. How perfect you are, and how much being apart from you will hurt more than anything in the realms.”

Tension seeped into her shoulders. “You said you wouldn’t go after Gedeon until we could do it together.”

His eyes moved over her face until they met hers. “I’m not going after Gedeon.”

She felt the truth in his words and relaxed. He must have meant when he would visit Erdikoa because their souls needed to be together. Wasn’t that what he’d told her?

“We’ll meet in the soulscape until you come back,” she reminded him.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “We’ll always have the soulscape.”

Rory woke with a start, and when she felt the bed beside her, all she found was air. The clock read a little past eleven-thirty at night. She fell asleep on Caius’ chest, and now he was gone. Where was he?

Her body craved him beside her, especially after they’d made love earlier in the night. The phrase ‘made love’ always made her cringe, but now she understood. She knew in her heart that’s what they did.

Because she loved him, and he loved her. Even if they hadn’t told each other, they both knew. She was going to tell him tomorrow so the day would be filled with happy memories all around.

She didn’t know how the process worked for him. For the others, they vanished from their beds or wherever they were at midnight, but with him being king, she assumed he would stay until he wanted to leave.

Apprehension filled her from head to toe, and all she wanted to do was find him. Even though they spent time together over the last few days, a lot of it was devoted to her friends, who were having a hard time with Tallent’s betrayal.

They were all shocked, of course, and none of them knew if he had an infatuation with Nina before she started working with him, or if she convinced him to betray his friends in such a short amount of time.

Rory preferred the former, because knowing he could be swayed so easily felt worse. The town was rattled to hear the news of Nina and Tallent’s treachery, but what really shook them were the rumors about Rory taking the throne.

The thought made her grin, and she decided she wouldn’t wait until tomorrow. When she found Caius, she would tell him how she felt. His favorite book sat on the nightstand, and she swiped it. Sometimes when he couldn’t sleep, he liked to read or sneak sweets from the kitchen.

When she slipped through the door to the office, she halted.

Sam, Lauren, and Caius stood around his desk, and Sam and Lauren were arguing with him.

“What’s going on?” she asked tentatively. Whatever was happening was serious.

Caius’ head snapped in her direction, and anguish filled his face. “Rory,” he rasped. “You should be in bed.”

She willed her voice to strengthen. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

He hung his head while Sam and Lauren glared at the king. “Caius?” Rory tried again.

His fingers were curled around a piece of paper, and without looking at her, he scribbled something along the bottom. “What is that?” she tried again. No one would answer her, and she was on the verge of a panic attack. Her fingers filled with pin-pricks and grew heavy as her breathing picked up speed.

“I’ve taken over your contract,” Caius said, his voice full of emotion.

His words made little sense, and she looked at Sam and Lauren for clarification, but they refused to meet her gaze. “Took over my contract? I don’t understand.”

She was at his side now, gazing over his arm to see the papers he held. The top sheet was a contract, and she saw both of their names listed on the top.

“What is this?” She tucked his book under her arm, tore the paper from his hands, and scanned the document.

It said her contract transferred to him. She would be released tomorrow, and he would serve another five-hundred years.

“What? Why would you do this?” She was touched by his selflessness, but she couldn’t allow him to give up his freedom. He’d waited too long for it.

His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Your mother needs you, and I can’t watch you blame yourself for her condition.”

She shook her head, grasping for whatever piece of the puzzle she was missing. Then it clicked, and the floor fell out from under her. Her memory would wipe clean, meaning she would forget Vincula, her friends, and . “Why would you do this?” she repeated, raising her voice. “You said you can’t change contracts.”

She’d never seen such pain in his golden eyes. “I can’t dissolve contracts, and I didn’t. I switched them.”

Rory’s mind raced, and she shook her head again. “Please don’t do this, Caius.”

“It’s already done,” Sam said with a voice of steel as he glared at the king. “It cannot be undone.”

“Undo it!” she screamed as she ripped the document to shreds. Her hand clasped around his arm, making him look at her. “I love you, Caius. I love you. You can’t do this.”

Tears slipped from his eyes. “I can’t keep you here in misery. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

“No!” she sobbed as she beat her hand against his chest, the other still clutching the book. “You promised. You promised to get down on one knee when I said it. I’m saying it. I love you, and I am begging you not to do this.”

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth. “Don’t you see? I have been on my knees from the moment you landed in my throne room.”

She shook her head and backed out of his hold, turning to the . “How could you let him do this?

?“ she screamed. Her realm was falling apart at the hand of the man she loved, and tomorrow, she wouldn’t even know it.

“Do you not love me?” she choked out. “Is that it?”

The horror on his face matched her own, and she crumbled from the weight of it. “I love you more than anything, and I always will.”

“I will find my way back to you,” she vowed.

“We’ll always have the soulscape,” he whispered. “It will only be a dream to you, and you won’t remember me, even there, but I’ll be there waiting.”

She choked out another sob and reached for him, but her vision went black.

Caius stared at the spot where Rory once stood, grief destroying his insides. His only reprieve was their soulscape, and the promises to check in on her frequently.

“You should have married her first,” Sam thundered. His best friend was pissed, and rightfully so, but it had to be done.

“Had I married her, she would’ve been on Gedeon’s radar,” Caius yelled back. “I am no fool. Do not think I didn’t weigh every option. You didn’t see the guilt that weighed on her every day after hearing of her mother, but I did.” He lowered his voice. “She won’t know what I’ve done because she won’t remember me.”

The pieces of his heart were scattered on the floor next to the contract Rory destroyed.

“You said you would ask Adila to send her mother here,” Lauren said in a crisp voice. She was never one to yell, and when she stared at him with vast disappointment, he had to look away.

“She said no before I told her who the mystic was or why,” Caius replied. He had a phone in his quarters that connected to his siblings. Adila shut him down immediately, without question.

“We have an arrival scheduled in the morning,” Sam said. “I suggest you sleep, ”

Caius pulled up to his full height and pinned the two with a dangerous look. “Do not patronize me. It is done, and I will punish myself far worse than either of you can. If you want to do right by her, protect her.”

He’d known once their bond snapped in place, he would put her above all else, even his need for revenge, and if he could go back, he would choose to love her every time. Turning on his heel, he left them standing in his office. He was a king, and while his heart was in Erdikoa, his responsibilities were here.

The morning came early, and when he stepped through the back door of the dais, his heart ached at the familiar sight of staff gathered around the room, waiting for the newest arrival. Flashes of Rory trembling on the floor assaulted him, and he swallowed past the emotion in his throat.

Taking a seat on his throne, he waited, willing his sister to be swift. Either an inmate would show, along with an enforcer, or only the enforcer would appear with news of the condemned going to hell.

Minutes passed before an older woman stumbled to the floor at the end of the aisle, and an enforcer appeared along the side wall. Caius sighed, rose from his throne, and descended the stairs. He’d only taken a few steps when the woman scrambled to her feet, frantically looking around.

“Where is she?” She was yelling, and Caius walked faster. “

?“ the woman demanded again, speaking to no one and everyone at once.

The woman spotted him as he continued his path toward her, and her eyes widened. “You sent her already, didn’t you?” she asked, covering her mouth. Now her voice filled with pain, and she met him halfway, pounding her fists into his chest, much like Rory had done. “

“ She swung with impressive strength for a woman her age as she swore and screamed. “

”

The woman sobbed and slumped to the floor, and Caius looked at Sam and the accompanying enforcer with bewildered eyes. He motioned for the enforcer to bring the woman’s contract, never taking his eyes off her as she wept at his feet.

His eyes scanned the document, and his knees nearly buckled.

.

Sentenced to one year for attempted armed robbery of a bank.

The contract fluttered to the floor as he stumbled back a step. “You’re Rory’s mother.” His voice was barely a whisper as shock overtook him.

She looked up through her tears. “And you are a . She was safe with you, and you sent her into his arms.”

?

“Whose arms?” Caius demanded as his voice shook with emotion.

Lenora looked at him with such torment, he felt the weight of it like a tangible thing. “The Lux King.”

The air whooshed from Caius’ lungs. “He doesn’t know about her,” he said, trying to convince himself more than anyone.

Lenora released a humorless laugh. “I have seen it, just as I have seen you.”

She was a , and the prophecy written on a paper in his desk drawer proved what she said was true.

He tried to save Rory, and instead, he sent his mate into Gedeon’s waiting arms.