“So why do they look like tattoos?”
“Punishment I guess, well that’s what Kaif believes, anyway. I can feel them.” Kyan shrugs as if this is no big deal.
My heart skips a beat at his words. “His dead mates?”
“Only their deaths, though, not them. Not how you feel… Not how you can talk to my father. I only get their pain and fear, the worst parts of them that fear Kaif. They don’t haunt just him, but his host. They are a constant reminder of the monster I am capable of being if I let him out.” Kyan twists his wrists. The shadows scatter, bleeding back under his skin and moving back into the strange patterns covering his chest, back, and arms. Kyan glares at Hades’s grave.
“So Hades cursed your bloodline because Celeste left him?” I ask, confused, but wanting to understand.
“No, it is more than that. Celeste took Luna from him when she left him; she refused to let him see his daughter, which angered Hades,” Kyan whispers.
“I am failing to follow what you are getting at,” I answer honestly. This is confusing. Kyan sits down between the two graves and sighs.
“You know the story of how Lycans came to be?” Kyan asks, and I nod.
“Yes, Celeste’s village kept getting attacked by wild wolves, so she and her coven tried to do a spell that would give them extra abilities, but it went wrong, and they turned into the monsters instead, and that is how she created Lycans.” Kyan nods.
“Hades was the one that kept manipulating the wolves to attack her village. He wanted his daughter, and he didn’t care at what cost,” he says.
“But I thought she wanted to protect her brother?”
Kyan shakes his head. “Not her brother. He was already long dead. No, to protect her daughter.”
“So he was sending them to attack her village?” Kyan nods. “So she turned her own daughter into a Lycan?” I ask.
“No, Celeste and her daughter were the only ones that didn’t become Lycan’s. Celeste was a High priestess witch; she was also a demi-goddess, and Luna was a Goddess. They were the only ones that could, in a sense, manipulate the Lycans to a certain extent, without being killed by the very monsters she created.”
I nod, trying to understand what he is telling me. Kora is also listening intently as Kyan goes on to explain.
“After creating the Lycans, they became savages. She tried to pair them first with other Lycans and bring their humanity back, but it didn’t work. Kaif was the first Lycan in the village that turned. He was also a member of her coven. He was the first created. When Hades came for his daughter, Celeste knew she had to act quickly because, even though her daughter was now an adult, Hades would still come for her.”
“Why?” I ask. Kyan shrugs and exhales. “No idea. I think he just wanted Luna so he could manipulate Celeste.”
“So to stop him, she bonded her daughter to Kaif, which angered Hades. He didn’t want his daughter paired with her monsters. Luna refused to leave with him, she refused to leave her mate and her child, the son they had together, but Hades took her anyway.”
Kyan’s eyes flicker to Kaif’s as an angry ripple of energy buzzes around us, circulating within the circle of huge rocks. My heart rate picks up when I watch his skin ripple, and he shudders, gripping the grass tightly.
“Don’t worry, Mara. Kyan can’t shift within the ruins. It’s the only place Kaif can’t come forward in his form,” Jonah explains, and I look over at him. He comes over to me, sitting on the grass.
I also sit down and lay back on the grass, placing my head in his lap, and staring up at the sky. It is overcast, and thick gray clouds cover the sky. It looks like it will rain at some point today… Kora presses forward, also interested in hearing about the curse on Kyan’s family.
“It smells like it is going to rain,” she confirms, and I nod to her. Jonah brushes my hair with his fingers, and I turn my face to look over at Kyan, who is watching Jonah.
Though he doesn’t seem upset when I feel the bond open, making me raise an eyebrow at Kyan. However, I’m shocked and so is Kora that he opens it. Is he trying to reassure us that it is fine to be with Jonah? I have no idea, and neither does Kora, but I can feel Kyan and Kaif, and neither seem to mind Jonah’s affections. Kyan even seems content watching him.
“I keep waiting for him to go back to psycho Kyan,” Kora admits. If I am honest with myself, I am waiting for the same thing, waiting for the other shoe to drop and ruin everything.
“So then, what happened?” I ask, wanting to know more.
“Luna, being a Goddess, could travel between realms. She came back for her son. Kaif refused to let her take him. She had been gone for twelve years, and when she came back, Kaif thought she also came back for him.”
“She didn’t want to be with Kaif anymore?” I ask. Kyan shakes his head. “So, that’s when he killed her?”
“Kaif tried to get her to stay, but then Luna turned around and rejected him, breaking the bond they had. When Luna was taken, her son was a year old at the time. Kage, their son, had no memory of her, so when Luna tried to kill Kaif and take her son, Kage plunged a deity dagger through her chest, which killed her,” Kyan explains.
Thunder cracks around us, making me jump suddenly before the first drop of rain hits me. I wipe my cheek where it fell.
“We should head back,” Kyan murmurs, and I look over at him. He peers up at the sky with a troubled expression on his face before he stands up. I quickly follow, also getting up.
“Thank god, I hate this place,” Jonah whines, and I chuckle when lightning streaks across the sky and then hits the tree with a face in its trunk. I jump at the horrendous noise and expect the tree to explode, but it remains unmarred.
“Yep, definitely time to go,” Jonah says, jumping to his feet. Goosebumps rise on my arms, and the air feels staticky and electrified. Looking over at Kyan, he stares down at Kaif’s headstone when I notice Luna’s beside him. Hers has a hole in the center about the size of my palm.