Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
She’s hurting.
She’s been hurting for a very long time, it seems.
“It pains me that you think I’d willingly hurt Warren,” she says. “I spared his life. I refused to let him become one of those things Selah wanted him to be. I refused to allow her to use him.”
“I—I don’t understand. What about our parents on Earth? How did they end up raising us?”
“It was me who delivered you to your Earth parents. I was left with no choice. I found a couple who’d been trying—a barren woman who desperately wanted children. I left you and Warren inside her car, and she found both of you after a work shift. I figured if both of you stayed there and I kept away, you’d be safe.
“We wanted to prevent you and Caspian from mating for as long as we could and figured there was no better place for you to be than on Earth. You were only babies, so I knew you’d adapt. But Selah traced the two of you. She and Decius. That’s why she tormented your parents. She wanted you both alone and vulnerable. She was hoping to trigger you both with visions and memories of your past lives so you’d question yourselves. And Decius, well, he took advantage of that link Selah provided. I assume once she sent her whispers to The Council, the return for both of you was made much simpler.”
“Oh.” I drop my gaze, unsure what to say.
“I didn’t know Xinthia long, but she was close to me,” she goes on. “I trusted her more than I would any other descendant of Selah’s creations. She was an honest woman, kind too. Before meeting her, when the Seed of Yuri was born—your Caspian—I could feel it. There was this pull—something calling to me. It felt like a warning. That’s when I knew that sooner or later, the twins would arrive too.
“It took me a while, but I’d finally found the person carrying the twins. Turns out Xinthia was Mythic. A very powerful one too. And she had a lover, Tepper.”
“Tepper?” I repeat. I’ve heard that name. Maeve mentioned him once, back when I first met Caz. She said Tepper was dead, that he was the mate of a woman who looked just like me. That woman must’ve been my birth mother.
“He and Xinthia were very strong. And, oddly enough, she was a virgin.”
“Really?” I ask, stunned.
“Yes. I’ve never been sure why she was chosen to bear the twins. I suppose it was to protect you, and perhaps it’s because she was already friends with Caspian’s mother, Azira. We don’t get to decide who births the Cold Tethered children again once they’re reincarnated. We just wait and see where they wind up next. I revealed myself to her and Tepper and told them what you and Warren were destined for. She then took me to Azira so I could inform her about who Caspian was.”
I try not to let my jaw drop. “Does Caz know this?”
“He’s not aware of it yet. But she did all she could to protect him.”
“I should tell him.”
My mind drifts to when Caz and I first met, around the time Silvera first came to me. I saw a vision of a woman in all black feeding and talking to Silvera when she was a puppy.
That had to be Azira. She knew I would come.
“After my visit, your parents and Azira had one mission and it was to protect the Cold Tethered children. But during my visit to Azira, I could feel Decius’ energy everywhere. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so close, but I sealed Azira’s home and told her to cut contact with everyone but Xinthia and Tepper. She had a chosen child. She could not let him fall into the wrong hands.
“I didn’t know then that Decius was pretending to be a man called Manx, but since I’d blocked him from Caspian, he took another route to get to him instead. He had Azira killed and Caspian taken under new custody, thus leaving Caspian exposed.” Korah pauses, eyes glistening.
“I knew exactly what he was planning to do with Caspian, so Hassha and I agreed it was best to take the twins away. Get them out of Vakeeli so that Decius wouldn’t be able to force an immediate bond between you and Caspian. He was only a child. He wouldn’t have been ready for what came next. With you gone, there was nothing he could gain from Caspian then. Yuri’s power hadn’t yet been activated and the tether he had with you would be fractured.
“I’d informed Xinthia and Tepper that this had to be done, and though they were sorrowful, they agreed it was best. I took you away, but when I came back to Vakeeli, both Xinthia and Tepper were dead. Decius came looking for you and Warren. When he found out where you’d been taken, he killed them out of rage.”