Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,108
without guards, right?
In the morning, I slipped on and knotted an emerald green dress and flung open the door with my deodorant, toothbrush, and toothpaste in hand.
Kes stood up like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Larken.”
“Not a word,” I spat, stomping to the bathroom.
When I came back out, he was still there, watching for my reaction. So calm and patient. It infuriated me. “Did it scare you? Knowing what I was?”
He met me toe to toe. “Yes, I was afraid. I knew you were capable of killing me then, just as I know you are capable of killing Taurus now.”
“His fifty-seven other children didn’t stand a chance before the slumber, and none of the rest have since,” I argued, tipping my chin up.
“His other children weren’t you.” Kes shook his head. “At first, I think he was intrigued because the pledge placed you near Aries and it wouldn’t allow him to drag you into his territory. More than that, when he got close, he sensed Aries and wanted retribution for sheltering you. When he saw you and realized Aries had pledged to protect you, it sent him into a rage.”
“Dad is in danger, Kes.”
“I know, but he’s still alive.”
“You’re sure?”
He nodded. “I check on him when I can. Only for a brief second, but I do. Taurus allows it. He wants you to know he’s alive.”
“What happens when he doesn’t want him alive?” I flung my things on my dresser and walked to the balcony, to my once-happy place that now felt anything but, knowing he’d follow.
Kes waited at my side, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“I never should have asked you to go after them, even to check on them. I put you in danger,” I started. “I told myself that if they and you died, if something happened to any of you, I’d die, too. That somehow my heart would know and wouldn’t want to be without you. But the truth is that I wouldn’t have been able to handle it, the same way Mom couldn’t handle Kestrel’s death. I would’ve unraveled. I would’ve fallen completely apart, and I felt like that the whole time I was waiting on you to come back. Like I was a thread on a sweater someone had pulled. The longer you were gone, the less of me remained whole.”
Tears brimmed in his eyes.
“I was terrified Mom or Dad would ask you to stay and you would. I didn’t want them to lose you twice, but I didn’t want to lose you either.” I was so freaking selfish. “And I hate that she’s with Libra and Dad’s with Taurus, but you’re here with me. They need you. But I’m glad they won’t know if something happens to me. And when Dad and I...” I hiccoughed. “Well, I hope you know how much you’ve meant to me, and I hope you’ll tell Mom I went down swinging. Because I fully intend to.”
“Don’t say things like that,” he pleaded.
“It’s true.”
“Don’t say it. Do you think that just because I’m a Guardian I don’t worry about the same things? That going after Mom meant I had to trust everyone else to keep you safe? That it meant I might not survive it? Libra is cruel when she wants to be. Even being in her territory was a risk, especially after what Aries did to them, but Mom was worth it. It’s been worth the risk to check on Dad, because he’s worth it. And so are you, Larken. You’re my family. I hate this as much as you do. I hate they were ever unearthed,” he spat.
I saw something move in my periphery. A flash of pink, then Aries was gone.
Kes groaned. “I didn’t mean for him to hear that. He’s honestly the best of them, Larken.”
“I know.”
A strange feeling crept over me, like the one I had the morning the Zodia began collecting their people and rearranging our planet and upending our lives. I looked up into a cloudless, blue sky, the sun shining brightly over the land. I crushed my hand to my stomach; I felt a sensation like an unseen force was trying to pull me apart, and that was the only way I could hold myself together.
“What is it?” Kes asked, his muscles going rigid.
I looked at the sky again. “I don’t know, but I feel weird. Like I did the morning the world ended.”