Kaif whispers something I can’t understand and swiftly thousands of candles light the room. The flames go to the high ceiling before dying down and creating flickering light that casts shadows on the walls. A huge black pentagram sits in the middle of the floor and there are three stairs that lead to some sort of stage that looks out the bay through huge windows. It has an enormous table covered in strange mementos and herbs and knickknacks. Kaif stands aside and lets me look around, and I wander up to the table.
“You said Kyan’s grandmother had a coven?” I ask Kaif. He hums in agreement. “I thought all Octavian women died?” I ask before finding a strange knife, and I pick it up, looking it over. It is smaller than a sword, but bigger than a dagger. A big hole sits in the center of the handle.
“Yes, they do. Usually, at childbirth, except for the 12th generation, my reincarnation generation, they die from something else. Kyan’s grandmother was the first and only exception. They thought she actually broke the curse until Dominic’s wife died when Kyan was born and he was born covered in the shadows.” Kaif tells me.
“How do your mates die?” I ask curiously.
“By me,” he tells me, looking away. A shudder runs through me at his words and I go to ask why when Kora speaks up.
“Don’t press him, Mara. Leave it be, Kyan will tell us when he wants us to know,” Kora whispers, and I look at Kaif to find him watching me. I swallow and look back down at the dagger.
“How did his grandmother die?” I ask, yet not expecting the answer I get.
“I killed her,” Kaif says matter-of-factly, and I look over at him as he stands in the center of the pentagram. Jonah touches my shoulder, making me jump having not seen him sneak up on me.
“So why didn’t she die like the others?”
“She did, but Kyan’s grandfather was the first Octavian man who had been destined for another witch. Like Kyan’s grandfather, they were both witches. They thought it was the key to breaking the curse. She died having Dominic, but his father brought her back using necromancy. She wasn’t the same, however, she was alive,” Kaif tells me.
“How wasn’t she the same?”
“The woman was cruel. When Dominic was eight, she sacrificed her entire coven in this room. She killed him right in front of him. She slit his throat and made him watch,” Kaif answers. My mind goes to Dominic, thinking of what that must have been like when his voice is suddenly below my ear.
“She wasn’t a nice woman,” Dominic answers me.
“How so? Besides the killing your father part?” I ask him curiously.
“When she came back, she had no ability to love, growing up in a loveless home, I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, I merely existed for her to use my magic, so she could try to take it for herself,” Dominic tells me.
“How old was Kyan when she died?” I ask Kaif.
“He was five. It was in the morning and Kyan came into this room. He was always drawn to it, but he was also forbidden to enter.” Kaif walks up the steps of the alter, I am standing on, drawing my attention to him.
“Why did you kill her?” I ask, giving my attention to Kaif.
“She hurt his father. Kyan came in here and knocked something over. She went to hit Kyan. Dominic immobilized her power and told her if she ever touched his son, he would get rid of her. He loved his mother, despite never receiving her love in return. Dominic never spoke ill of her and looked after her in her old age. But at the same time, he kept Kyan away from her, and wouldn’t allow him to be subjected to the same torment he endured,” Kaif answers, taking the sword thing from my hand and placing it down.
He reaches over the table to a box and opens it. It is full of little films that would fit in the palm of my hand. “I can show you, but it may scare you?” Kaif offers.
“How can you show me?”
“Through memory, the shadows, which is what Kyan wants to teach you to control,” Kaif answers and I bite my lip, wondering if I want to see such a thing.
“Does Kyan want me to see it? I don’t want you to invade his privacy for me, Kaif,” I tell him.
“He thinks it may scare you. It’s how the game came to be. He used to play it with his father.”
“Dominic was angry you killed her?” I ask, but Kaif shakes his head and Dominic answers me.
“Never, but it scared Kyan. He didn’t like that Kaif forced his hand, and didn’t like that he killed someone. Let him show you. It’s grotesque, but you should probably know what Kaif is capable of,” Dominic says, and my eyes dart back to Kaif.
Kaif tilts his head to the side and observes me. “His father?” Kaif asks, and I nod my head. Staring up at him, I wonder what he is thinking and how he can tell when Kyan can’t.
“Your aura changes, it goes darker,” Kaif answers my thoughts. “I hadn’t noticed it, but the shadows that follow you, they darken more,” he adds.
After a moment, Kaif has another question for me. “What did he say?”
“That he wasn’t angry you killed her, and that I should see what you are capable of,” I tell him, biting the inside of my lip. Kaif looks at Jonah behind me.
“Will you hold her in case she faints?” Kaif asks him, and my stomach drops, wondering how gruesome it will be if they are worried I will faint.
“No issues there,” Jonah tells him, tugging me to the three steps. He sits on the top one, pulling me onto his lap and my eyes widen when I see the shadows swallow both of Kyan’s gigantic hands before he grabs my face in them. The room warps and ripples around me when my surroundings change slightly.