“Talk. Quickly,” I order.
“It is by choice that I’m here. I allowed Councilor Teagan to bring me.” He scowls, as if angered that I readily believed he could’ve been abducted so easily.
I shrug.
He rolls his beady eyes. “Bale is keeping you sidetracked with getting the relic and shard. She may not need it if you stay alive till the new moon. She’ll come forth, through you, and you will be no more.”
A loud, clipped laugh escapes me, and I lift my tumbler in a toast. “Well done, Bax. I’m effectively unnerved.” Only what he says about staying alive…it resonates. Can a human contain a deity forever?
His growl comes louder. “Listen to me, you bleeding imbecile. The moon goddess only wants Kal here so she can distract you. Bale will fear Kal far less once she’s a walking, living deity in this realm. She knows your obsession, and she’s using it to fuel you on, keep your will strong, so that you survive until the new lunar phase.”
“And so…what?” I play along for the sake of the argument. “Say I believe you,” I say, reclining in my chair and nearly losing my balance. I sit forward and stare at him with one eye open, so that there’s only one of his ugly faces. “How does this effect Kal? And really, what other choice do I have?” I shrug again. “I can’t force the goddess out.” Can I?
Bax sighs, clearly annoyed with my drunkenness. “Slack off.” He paces the small area he’s confined to. “I was to impart this very message to Kal, convince her to become Bale’s new vessel. But I had no such intent. Convincing her, that is.” He stops and turns toward me. “The Councils’ plan is to bait you and kill you before the new moon. Forcing Bale into Kal’s being. I don’t know of all the details, but I do know they were counting on her being the only one near you at the time of your death.”
I’m silent while I process this. Then, “So they know of Kal’s gift.” He nods. “And they know that she’s the goddesses’ weapon. And they plan to use her.”
“Yes, Prince. Not long ago, I’d have been the first to back this scheme. But I don’t think Kal is ready. Not yet.”
“Well, thank you for caring so much for my pathetic life.”
He stares. “No offense, but the only reason I’m telling you any of this is for Kal. I know she’ll punish herself mercilessly if anything should happen to you.”
Understood. I wave a hand. “No offense taken.” The mutant and I have no history—not the way he and the Nactue leader do. And what he says…well. Kal is still in love with me. That strikes a chord deep within, past the barrier of my mind, my soul. Somehow, where the dark goddess can’t reach. It vibrates, hums.
Whatever happens to me, I can’t allow Kal to be used. To be consumed by Bale. If Bax doesn’t have faith in her, who am I to question if she could take on Bale? I mustn’t have had much faith in her either, considering I took her place during the Reckoning.
Swishing the dark liquid around my glass, I stare into the space above Bax’s head. I do nothing, and Bale wins. Now that my brain is lit with alcohol, ironically, I can reason clearly. My power is temporary. I’ll be through, a used up carcass of a once-regarded prince, in less than three days.
I nod. “Game well played, Bax.” Setting my drink on the desk, I rise from my seat, only stumbling slightly. “I’ll do what I can to save her.” I might as well finish what I started in the Cage. All this is worthless otherwise.
“Are you prepared to die?”
I scoff, spittle hitting my chin. Sloppy. “Do I have a choice?” Either way—with Bale restoring the relic, or the new moon bringing her forth—I’m a dead man. I see that now. Without Bale feeding me lies, stroking my fragile ego, I know I won’t survive her transformation. I shake my head. I can’t believe I ever thought I would. “At least this way, Kal has a chance.”
Bax leans against the wall, crosses his shackled arms over his barrel of a chest. “The only choice we have now, Prince, is to try to rectify the wrong that’s been done to her. She’s had no say in any of this. I’ve played a part in it as much as any other.” He lowers his chin.
Despite my derision for the mutant, I can identify with him here. My actions have put Kal in the position she’s in now. Was it really my selflessness that prompted me to take Kal’s place, or did Bale already have her claws in me then? At the time, I believed I was being her hero. Ha. I want to laugh now. If Bale sensed what was inside Kal, then plainly the dark goddess wanted nowhere near the Nactue leader. Maybe I shouldn’t have interfered at all. I don’t know. But I don’t say any of this aloud. The drink isn’t making me that brave.
But no. There’s no way to confirm my actions were m
y own. I stare at the bottle of liquor, my self-loathing coming full circle. Pawns. As Bax said—and as I always assumed—we’re all just pawns.
I’ll never know for sure if it was my choice to sacrifice my life for the woman I love.
For that, I suppose, I deserve what’s coming to me.
Taking the key ring from my belt, I stumble toward Bax. “Tomorrow is a big day, mutant.” I unlock his manacles and gesture toward the couch. “Best rest up.”
With his wiry eyebrows pressed together, Bax massages his wrists. He’s not going anywhere. Not when—probably to his utter resentment—he needs me and his Otherworld brethren. That’s why, like he expressed, he came here willingly. He can’t very well swoop in and save Kal on his own. I’m sure both Councils would kill him on sight, no matter his loyalties.
No one is getting in their way.
I pour one last shot of liquid courage and shoot it. Relishing the burn as it goes down, fueling my resolve. Then as I make my way to the loft, I clutch the emblem in my pocket, imprinting its design in bloody detail on my palm and soul.
? 16 ?
Kaliope