Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,65
for her.”
He gave her a scathing look.
“You fight it, but you do,” she added carefully. “You don’t want to break your pledge because you love her. You want to protect her, because she will be parted from you if you do not.”
Kes appeared and quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. A tiny, surprised, strangled sound escaped and Aries stiffened, as did Virgo. They swiveled toward the library to investigate, but Kes disappeared with me in tow. I tried to keep from screaming.
Once we landed on the balcony, he kept his hand over my mouth until I finished yelling. My skin was on fire. Why did it hurt when Kes made me disappear, but feel smooth as satin when Aries took me somewhere?
I shouldn’t complain. He just saved my butt.
“How they didn’t scent you, I have no idea,” Kes said, stepping away from me. “I didn’t expect you to find his rooms so easily. Have you been in them before?”
My mouth dropped. “No, not that it’s any of your business.” I narrowed my eyes. “You told me to look for clues and most of the damn castle is empty, Kes. Did you call her to distract him from me?” I asked.
“Yes, and because I knew if anyone was watching the other Zodia, it would be her. She still has a debt to settle with them, and she will. It’s only a matter of time and opportunity. Virgo may look innocent, but her heart was broken the day Lager was murdered. Before all is said and done, she will have her revenge.”
I rolled my eyes, still stung by Aries’s rejection. “She didn’t seem vengeful to me. She begged him to break the pledge he made to me.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“She said if he did it, he wouldn’t be weakened.”
I didn’t have to spell it out to him. If Aries broke his pledge, there would be no reason to fight, no battle or war. The Zodia would not come after him, because he would again be their equal. And while they would still be angry because he put them to sleep, they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, because with me out of the way, they were once again evenly matched.
I was the one thing that could weaken Aries. I was his Achilles’ heel. Slash me, and they could cut him down.
“He could break it and apologize, and all would be forgiven, wouldn’t it?”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Kes argued.
“If he breaks the pledge, what will happen to me?” I asked. “Will I just go live in Taurus’s territory?”
He closed his eyes.
My stomach began to ache. Is it that bad?
“Are you saying he’d still kill me?” I asked hopelessly. “Why? If Aries broke the pledge, wouldn’t that be proof that he didn’t care about me?”
Kes swallowed, his signature move and Kes-speak for I want to tell you, but can’t or won’t.
“Virgo said they were amassing.”
Kes cursed, raking both hands through his pale hair.
“There’s no way out of this, is there?”
He took in a long breath. “I did what I thought was best for you, but I think I made things infinitely worse, Larken. For that, I’m sorry. Sorrier than you can imagine.”
I shrugged it off with as much nonchalance as I could muster. “I would’ve done the same for you. That’s what you do for the people you love. You do what you think is best and hope you’re right, even though it might not end up that way in the end.”
Emotion tugged his lips down. He pulled me in for a quick hug.
Then he disappeared.
ARIES
Her scent was in my rooms. It lingered in the library, just behind the desk… driving me mad just as she did.
16
He had to know I’d been in his rooms. I chewed on my thumbnail, worrying about how he’d react. If Kes was punished because I found his dark lair, I’d be furious.
Lair was the only way to describe it, I decided. Shadowed. Richly appointed. Shattered and gothic and fit for a king. An inhuman king.
Kes and I had to be more careful. As retribution, Aries could easily kill the body he currently resided in and force him to come back as a baby with whom I couldn’t communicate until he was older and capable of meaningful speech.
As I brooded and mused on the balcony, the door opened and a very confused looking Xavier stepped out, escorted by a Guardian with a spiky blue mohawk.
“Hey,” he said uncertainly, watching Mohawk Guy pull the door closed.