Azael stared after Tissaia's receding form, unable to believe what he'd just heard. This whole time, they both knew their father was planning on murdering him and his family to take the throne, and that he was originally using Tissaia to do it. Their betrothal had been a ploy all along.

    She had known, and she never told him. Never tried to warn him. And when she'd watched him fall apart at his mother's death, when she'd held him for so many hours because he couldn't stand to be alone...because he needed her...she had known. She had known that somehow, her father might have been responsible for Elwyth's death.

    Even after all that had happened between them recently. Even after last night, she hadn't told him. He couldn't believe that she wanted to help Roshan accomplish his goals. He didn't believe that she truly wanted him or his father and mother dead...but she had never warned him.

    The stinging in his eyes worsened, the sobs that flooded him internally threatening to spill out for the first time in centuries. Perhaps they might've, if he hadn't been too stunned by a fist colliding with his jaw. Azael hit the ground tasting blood and spat a mouthful, then shoved to his feet and rounded on Talarion.

    The male was already upon him again. Azael ducked beneath his blow but another one caught him in the gut. He stumbled back, and Talarion's foot slammed into him, knocking him down again. Azael caught his next kick and wrenched him off balance.

    "What the fuck!" He demanded, standing once more. "What the Hel is wrong with you?"

    "What the Hel is wrong with you!" Talarion countered. "You don't get to blame my sister for our father's actions! She never knew the full truth of his plans. How could she have tried to warn anyone without proof to back it up? You wouldn't have believed her before! You don't even believe me now!"

    Talarion shoved him backwards. "You fucking bastard! You have no idea what Tissaia has been through for your sake. You expect her to tell you everything? Have you even asked her what our life has been like?" Azael just took Talarion's next blow. "Every choice we have ever made has cost us both, and so have yours!

    "You had Tissaia all last night, and you still only saw what you wanted to see! Our father wanted to throw you a pretty plaything, and that's exactly what you saw her as. You've probably never noticed how she hides her body, have you? How she covers her back at all times, and has never once trimmed her hair in the centuries you've known her?"

    "You probably didn't even notice all of the scars there, and you certainly never considered that they were given to her because of your actions! Have you ever paid attention to how lightly she sleeps? How she curls into herself as if she's afraid of something coming to snatch her? Our father was that something. I can't even count all the times I had to fight him off of her in the middle of the night because he was angry about something you did, and she was punished for it!"

    "I know you've seen some of my own scars," the male continued. "And yet you never bothered to look for Tissaia's. Who do you think gave them to us? Why do you think she never showed them to you or told you anything about our life? You never asked, because you never cared."

    Talarion shook his dark head and grabbed Azael by a strap across his chest. "Fuck you," the male snarled into his face. "Tissaia and I will finish this on our own. Go back to Arcan, or wherever the fuck you want to, since no one there cares about you either."

    Talarion shoved him aside and strode in the same direction Tissaia had gone. He spared Kahari a warning glare when the female opened her mouth as he walked past. She closed it, and neither of them said a word until the male was out of sight.

    Then, Kahari turned a tearful gaze his way. "We didn't lead Roshan here. I swear."

    Azael closed his eyes and gave a faint nod. "I know."

    "Are you going to let them leave?"

    "He'll kill me if I try to stop them."

    "What are we going to do?" Kahari rasped.

    "I don't know." The tide dragged him under, pooling in his lungs and sucking his breath away.

    He didn't know, and it didn't matter anymore. Kaius was gone and Talarion was already out of his mind. Tissaia likely hated him now, and he couldn't blame her. Because everything Talarion had said was true. How could he blame Tissaia for never opening up to him, when he had never given her a reason to think he might believe her?

    And now she was gone too. Everything was in shambles, and he was as lost here as he had always been in Arcan. A useless Prince and a worthless male. Condemning everyone he loved to misery and death. Azael buried his face in his hands, and a few tears managed to drip down his cheeks.

•༻☽☾༺•

    Kaius opened his eyes with a groan as pain split through his skull. He was lying on his side, his face pressed against a damp stone floor. Judging by the stalactites overhead, he was in a cave somewhere. He shifted his hands with a grimace, managing to bring them up by his face.

    He furrowed his brows at the odd shackles binding them together. They were of a material he'd never seen before, like some sort of black stone mixed with iron, and whatever it was, it was suppressing his magic. He could feel it coiled behind the mark on his chest, lingering just out of reach.

    Kaius pressed his braided bracelet to his nose, drawing a deep breath of Talarion's scent to ground himself. His first task would be to remain calm. He wouldn't be able to make a plan of escape if he was overrun by panic. Second, he had to find some way of removing these shackles.

    And until he managed to escape, he would have to lay a trail for Talarion to follow. The mating bond remained warm and intact, which meant he must have survived the fire, and it wouldn't be long before he came after them. He tensed as footsteps scuffed against stone and Roshan Lochren appeared in his line of vision, accompanied by the same strange male as before.

    "Welcome back," the Lord said. "I have to admit, Phoenix, you've impressed me. I never thought you capable of much in the past, yet somehow, you've managed to steal my son out from under my very nose."

    "Did I steal him, or did you just not pay attention?" Kaius retorted.

    "Fair point." Roshan clasped him by the shoulder and dragged him into a seated position, then crouched before him. Kaius held his gaze as the male tilted his head curiously. "To think, I've spent so many years trying to figure out how to get my hands on you, when all I had to do was watch my son a little more closely."

    "Sorry to disappoint, my Lord, but I'm not interested in older males."

    Roshan scoffed a laugh. "I suppose it's my own fault I never saw this before. Take pride in the fact that I was as convinced of your ruse with Tissaia as the rest of Mavron's court. I should've known better. You're exactly the kind of male my son would want. But how he managed to hide this from me..." He lashed out and grabbed Kaius's left wrist before he could react. Roshan studied the braid of hair, then the scar across his palm.

    "Not just lovers, but bonded souls. Was it hard for you, sending him back to me over and over again?" Kaius kept his mouth closed this time. The Lord's mouth peeled into a cruel smile. "Well, I can only imagine the pain my son will be in when I send you to Nepenthe. But we have something to do before then. The artifact. Lead me to it."

    "How can you say you'll kill me when you're in league with Astaroth?" Kaius countered.

    If he had a grasp on Roshan's plans, perhaps he could find a way to impede them, or play them to his own advantage. And something told him that his death was not a part of Astaroth's intentions, which meant Roshan was going to double cross whatever bargain he had struck with the Spawn.

    "I have no intention of being that creature's puppet," Roshan retorted. "And unfortunately for him, he revealed his own weakness to me. He needs you for something, desperately. And I don't intend to let him stand in the way of my own success. Now," Roshan stood, "you're going to tell me everything you know about this artifact and where we'll find it."

    Kaius lifted his chin, holding Roshan's gaze defiantly. "I don't fear you, and I don't plan on telling you anything."

    "I thought you might say that." He waved a hand and the strange male stepped forward. "If you will not give, then I will take. Have you had the pleasure of meeting a Mindseeker before?" Dread seeped into the pit of his stomach as Kaius met the male's gaze.

    He had only ever heard of the beings known as Deimens, and he had prayed he would never meet one. Even as a child, stories about them had terrified him. They were supposedly the merging of all four god-bloodlines in one body. A child descended from the four gods who had dwelled on the mortal plane, and though their blood was considered diluted, they were gifted with a dark and dangerous power over the mind.

    That explained what had happened to himself and the others earlier, and it filled him with terror of what was to come. But Kaius kept his face blank, refusing to let his fear show. He kept reciting his plans to himself, and steeled his nerves.

    He could face this, because it meant Talarion was not here and forced to endure it in his stead. Kaius swallowed, dragging the nail of his middle finger across the side of his left wrist, where he could hide the damage beneath his bracelet. He felt the warmth of blood and let a few drops fall to the ground. The first mark on his trail.

    "Very well," Roshan sighed. "At least it can't be said that I didn't give you a chance to avoid pain. You may begin," he said to the Deimen.

    At once, those piercing talons closed around Kaius's mind once more. His breath came in short gasps as he felt the male closing in. And then his mind was invaded, every inch of it being torn open and sundered in search of his visions. Kaius lurched to the ground, writhing against the invisible force to no avail.

    Memories flashed through his mind, each one unbidden. Old memories of stolen moments with Talarion and Tissaia. A few glimpses of his parents' faces. The Blood Fae tearing into his body. His first vision from Drenusha. Every vision that had followed.

    Kaius gritted his teeth as fiery pain lanced his limbs and burned hotter as he fought against the Deimen's invasion. And then Talarion's face was in front of him, as real and clear as if he were actually there. Mocking laughter rang in his ears as he saw Talarion's lips move with the words he had uttered, and his own response.

    "Your mind is the only place I can't protect you."

    "There's nothing in my mind that I need protection from."

    "Get out of my head!" Kaius screamed as Talarion's face melted away.

    "Give me what I want," Roshan murmured. Kaius's eyes rolled back, and the Deimen continued to flay his mind apart.