Page 74 of Lethal Souls
“I am not letting Willow get in the middle of this,” Caz declares. “My mate will go nowhere near the mess Selah creates.”
“He’s right, Hassha,” I add as I push out of my chair. “I’m not a fighter. I’m not saying I’m useless, but from where I come from, there aren’t just magical fights and brawls breaking out on my streets. It was generally safe. I’m not sure it’s wise to add me to this, plus it’d be a waste of your time.”
“Korah will guide you.” Hassha provides a gentle smile. “Many women on my island didn’t believe they could protect themselves, but they surprised themselves. It’s inside you. Don’t doubt it.” Her eyes soften while maintaining urgency. “I will also bring your brother’s ashes to Blackwater for you to do as you wish with them.”
My throat closes in on itself at the mention of Warren. With all this talk of the unknown Regal Yuri, the past of Vakeeli, and Caz being the chosen one, I allowed his death to momentarily slip my mind.
I swallow to block the emotion, but my throat is still thick. Caz shifts closer to me, the back of his hand brushing against my forearm.
It’s all right, I hear him say.
As if she senses the buildup of emotion too, Hassha walks around the table to take my hands in hers. “You must believe me when I say if there were any other way, Willow, I’d have spared Warren. I promise you. The last thing I wanted was for him to die. Things with Selah were never supposed to escalate this soon. We thought we had more time.”
“It still wasn’t right. You should’ve let me see him one last time, at least,” I tell her, voice cracking.
“It wasn’t safe.” She pauses, like she’s searching for the proper words. “The closer you were to him, the easier you would’ve been to taint. Your mind would’ve become just as corrupt as his did. That’s what Selah does. Those whispers she plants into your head, the nightmares, the lies—it morphs into something that cannot be tamed or controlled. Warren was lost long before we made our decision. We just held out and hoped things would change the harder we tried. They never did.”
I sigh. Though she’s being kind, I’m still pissed about what she and Korah did without even telling us. They could’ve at least let me make the decision to put him down, but they didn’t.
At the end of the day, they murdered him, and I’ll never get to see or speak to him again. He was the only blood relative I had left—the only one I relied on. We were siblings who shared a womb. A bond like that doesn’t just go away.
“I understand your anger.” Hassha steps back to press her lips. “But we still need you. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, tell me and I will do it. Whatever it is, it will be a debt I am willing to pay.”
I hold her multi-colored gaze for a split second before dropping mine and nodding. “If I think of something, I will.”
“Good.” She turns her attention to Maeve and Juniper. “I’m glad you two are already fighters,” she says, causing them to shift in their chairs. Caz’s clan has been rather speechless since the memory of Vakeeli’s past.
I mean, there are simply no words for what we saw. It felt like a fever dream. We could see everything so vividly, feel the weight of every single emotion, their heartache, hear the wail of the children. Everything.
“Maeve, I don’t expect you to partake in this fight, but Juniper has proven herself to be quite useful.” Hassha smiles at Juniper as she perks up in her seat. “It’s that feminine rage inside you, that demand for respect that this world needs. You’ll let nothing stand in your way.”
Juniper twists her lips to fight a smile. “I can’t guarantee anything, but you’re right. I am pretty badass.”
“I don’t want the women of my clan involved in this, Hassha,” Caz counters.
“That’s not for you to decide.” She studies each of us again, eyes flashing as she scans for something. “They’ve all made their decision anyway. You’ll have to take it up with them.” Hassha walks past him but not before saying, “I will return within a few hours with Korah at my side. Prepare your best swords, and if you don’t have any, have them made. As far as your treasured guns, I suggest you make as many bullets as you can so that I and Korah can grace them with our energy and use Caz’s blood to increase their power.”
With one last look at everyone, she vanishes, and Caz huffs as Juniper and Maeve murmur to each other. Killian and Rowan lumber toward us.
“So, I don’t know if it was just me,” Rowan says, scratching his head, “but what I gathered most from those memories is that she was fucking her brother and then had his babies.” He plants both hands on his hips, looking at all of us.
“Oh, Row, come on! Shut up,” Juniper yells.
“I mean, are we really just going to ignore the incest part?” Rowan breaks out in a laugh, and I can’t help smiling.
“To be fair, all the gods of Earth used to fuck each other too,” I say, shrugging. “Can’t say this surprises me. It’s different for immortal people, I guess.”
“You’re kidding,” Rowan chortles. “Fuck me, that’s nasty. I need a drink.”
“Get an order on the weapons, then you can have your drink,” Caz says. “We need to start on this sooner rather than later.”
FORTY-FIVE
WILLOW
“The seeds never lie.” Maeve stands next to me, peering into a bowl full of crushed lakefruit seeds. There’s a drop of my and Caz’s blood in the bowl too. Maeve mashed it all together before pouring an elixir into the mix.
“You’re pregnant, Willow. That evil Regal wasn’t lying.” Maeve’s eyes light up like a million stars, and a smile twitches at her lips, but I can’t bring myself to join her with my own.