Tainted roots

We let Ari rest for a few hours while we scoured the maps and papers on the desk, using this time to eat the snacks Gemini had thought to pack. I came across another map, one that was familiar. I sat there staring at it for several minutes, racking my brain trying to remember where I saw it when realization dawned on me.

Activating my wristband, I saw I had several messages—ones I hadn’t been alerted to because this time I was smart and put it on silent before entering the realm. The messages were from Ander, Reed, and Harmony, telling me about their progress. When I hadn’t responded, they each sent another message, asking if everything was okay. The last message from Ander was him threatening to come and find us if I didn’t answer soon. Shit.

Knowing he wasn’t bluffing, I sent him back a message telling him everything was okay, we were with Ari tracking down a lead. That we didn’t know if anything would come of it, and Ari and I both turned our wristbands on silent to avoid distractions.

With that out of the way, I pulled up scanned images and flipped through them until I came across the one from the hotel. The mural on the wall of the room was a match to the map in front of me, only the map in front of me was black and white. Runes and scripts covered the five sections. There were even runes on the five bodies of water. Rather than ask the others to translate it, I rolled up the map and stuck it inside my bag, saving it for later.

When Ari joined us in the library, she had changed into new clothes, and her wounds were completely healed. Gemini was hunched over the map on the table trying to figure out the best place to portal into the region with the tunnel networks. Koa and I had spent over ten minutes arguing with her, telling her it was a bad idea to portal there, and that we’d end up attracting the creatures in the area to us. She argued back that we didn’t deal with any of them in the mountains. To which Koa shot back that we didn’t know if it was safe to portal from here, and her magic might react against the magic of this house, the same way Wyatt’s had on the ferry.

I don’t think she appreciated him comparing her to Wyatt. It only strengthened her resolve, because she left the room only to return thirty minutes later, saying the magic would prevent us from portaling in, not out.

While the map did show all twelve of the entrances, it didn’t tell us where the traps were or map out the tunnels. Because why would this fucking thing be useful? We quickly gave Ari the rundown of what we found, and she joined us in looking over the map, debating which entrance would be best.

When a slight headache began in my temples, I excused myself from the room, mentally exhausted from staring at the foreign scripts and maps. Out in the hall, I pressed my forehead against the icy wall, relishing in the cool relief.

The door to the library silently opened and closed, followed by quiet footsteps. I didn’t need to open my eyes or even feel the buzzing bond to know who it was. I knew Koa would check on me. He invaded my space, his body pressing against my back as he grabbed my hips. “You should’ve taken a nap while your sister healed,” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke. A shiver ran down my body at the contact.

“I don’t think I could sleep even if I wanted to.” Memories of my nightmares from last night came to mind. That combined with the eerie unknown magic of the house and all I experienced today, made sleep sound unappealing.

Sensing the direction of my thoughts, he began tracing light circles on my hip bones. Warmth bloomed in my stomach as the tension I hadn’t known I was carrying eased. “Tell me a story, any story, I don’t care what it’s about,” I whispered.

He hummed in my ear, not answering for several seconds. “Do you still want to hear the story about the dragon summoner?” His low and deep voice spoken into my ear sent more warmth through my body.

I nodded, still keeping my forehead against the wall. I could practically hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. “She was fated mates with a jackal summoner and before they were—”

“A jackal summoner?” I cut him off, lifting my head from the wall, keeping my hands firmly placed in front of me.

He chuckled, the vibrations sinking into my body. “Yes, the deities were said to have more animal variations as you should already know. Are you going to keep interrupting me, or are you going to let me tell the story?”

“You didn’t say this was about a deity.” When he didn’t respond, I sighed. “Fine, I won’t interrupt anymore.

“They had discovered they were fated mates, but their bond was far from complete. There are many versions as to why this was and how they attempted to rectify it. The version my mother told me, said they held back on planning the ritual until the bond formed completely. In an attempt to fix her bond, the dragon summoner went to countless sorcerers and sorceresses with the power of prophecy, trying to find out what went wrong. The jackal didn’t join her in all these meetings.

“After months of this, of her mate not caring about their weakening bond—despite all she did to strengthen it—she realized two things. The first was she was pregnant, and the second was the cause of their weak bond. It was him. She confronted him, accusing him of being the reason for all of their issues. You see, he was holding back from her, and was even cheating on her—and as you found out, you can’t be with anyone other than your mate when you are committed to them.”

I hadn’t known that little tidbit, but it made sense. I wasn’t able to dwell on this because he kept talking.

“He didn’t deny her accusations, he confirmed them and told her he was leaving her for an elemental.”

“Did he know about the baby?” I gasped, my horror making me forget my promise not to interrupt.

“He knew, he just didn’t care.” He paused, letting that horrible statement sink in. Memories of Koa leaving came to the surface, followed by the unbearable pain I had felt, even though I now knew why he left, the memory still took my breath away. My soul had felt like it was dying. I couldn’t even fathom how she felt, after all those months spent on their bond. She was pregnant with his baby for crying out loud. It had to be devastating to hear him say he was leaving her for someone else.

A comforting squeeze to my hips pulled me from my dark and sorrowful thoughts as Koa continued the story. “There are more variations on how what happened next went down, but you don’t need to hear those.”

I tilted my head back and stared up at Koa, watching his jaw clench and unclench. “In her her blinding grief, she tried to kill herself but failed. In her attempt, she lost her baby. When she realized what she had done, she renewed her attempts to die. The stories never mentioned how she attempted or why she failed the first time. Maybe it was because she hadn’t truly wanted to die.

“Whatever the case was, it couldn’t be said for the second time around. She would’ve succeeded had she not been stopped by a blood mage. He saw her in town and followed her out to the middle of nowhere and saved her life. She was pissed he stopped her and tried fighting him.” Koa rested his chin on my shoulder and tightened his hold on my hips.

“He was determined to thwart all of her attempts and wouldn’t let her out of his sight for weeks. It took her some time to stop fighting him, but eventually, she found a way to forgive herself, and in that found her will to live again. When he was sure she wouldn’t make another attempt, he let her go.

“She returned to her pack, and let herself take the time to fully heal and move forward with her life. But she kept finding herself thinking about the blood mage, realizing she actually missed him. It took a few years, but eventually, she found the courage to allow herself to risk being hurt again and went looking for him.

“It took her several weeks to find him, but when she did, she realized he had been waiting for her to find him. Waiting for her to be ready to allow herself to live and love again. They had their mating ritual within a couple months, and a baby a few years later.”

We stood in silence as I absorbed his story. So many emotions flowed through me all at once. Pain, for what she went through. Happiness, that she found someone who saw her worth and truly loved her. Despite how sad it was and everything the dragon summoner had gone through, I could see why Koa liked this story enough to tattoo it on his body.

“What happened to the douchebag jackal summoner?” My voice had taken on a rougher quality.

“I don’t know.”

“I just don’t get how he could do that to her, or how she could be fated mates with someone so awful.”

Koa didn’t respond, he didn’t need to. This was just one of those things that we’d never understand.

The door to the library swung open and Ari stuck her head out. “We’re ready.”

“We’ll just be a moment,” Koa answered before I could. Ari retreated, closing the door. Before I knew what was happening, Koa spun me around, pressing my back against the icy wall. “These tunnels will be dangerous, even if we weren’t portaling in. I need you to promise to stay by my side the entire time.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. “Please.”

My mouth snapped shut at that word. A dirty move on his part. “I hate when you say, please.”

A true smile lit up his face. I stared at him dumbfounded, my heart rate picking up its pace. His thumbs skimmed over my cheeks as he cradled my face, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. It was a small and quick kiss, but not lacking in meaning. It spoke words neither of us had yet to say to each other.