As soon as the question passes my lips, my eyes snap back to the lost souls that surround us, as if they are a magnet and I am obligated to watch over them. I won’t deny that I feel sorry for many. They are trapped in a time only they can see.
“You set Luna free, free of her anger,” Dominic says.
“And that will break the curse, give Kaif his redemption?”
“Redemption is a strange word, it means we have done something wrong that needs to be forgiven,” Dominic says as he side-glances at me.
“These women, though, were going to kill their children. I don’t believe he did anything wrong,” I admit.
“Ah, see, that is my point. To break the curse, you must set Luna free. But redemption was not something Kaif needed to seek from someone else, it was something he needed to find within himself. He has to forgive himself. Only then will he have the freedom he desires.” Dominic explains with a loud sigh.
“Again with the riddles, can we speak like I don’t know the modern-day language? I think I would find it easier deciphering emojis,” I whine.
“What is this emoji you speak of?” Dominic asks.
“Come on, you aren’t that old, you haven’t been dead that long,” I deadpan. “The little pictures in text messages,” I offer.
“You mean those funny little faces?” Dominic pulls kissy lips and sticks his tongue out. I didn’t think it was possible, but this massive, intimidating man looks like he is goofing around with me.
“I never understood the meaning of those things, especially with the eggplant and cucumber one that Jonah likes to send you. I think riddles are a much cleverer thing, makes you think, makes you wonder,” Dominic adds.
While his face is completely set in stone, my face flames up and burns in the infernos of hell. Thank god this man can’t speak emoji.
“He meant salad, eggplant, and cucumber salad,” I lie.
“I will have to remember that,” Dominic says.
“So is Luna here too?” I ask to change the subject and look around. Dominic glances at me.
“No, she is trapped within the stone. Find that, set her free, and that will also set me free,” Dominic tells me.
“If you saw the future, why did you die for it then? Why not alter it?” I whisper, a little afraid to hear the answer.
“Because fate is a funny thing, like a domino effect. Change too little, change too much. It all follows a sequence, sometimes better, sometimes worse. I saw two ways this went. Kyan kills me and I die for not saving you, or I save you and fate kills me and you live. I chose the option that let us both live, the one that sets him free.”
“But if I go back, I will become like them eventually,” I whisper and stare into the nothingness.
“No, don’t you see Marabella, I figured it out. Us, men, were bestowed with the horrors of our mate’s pasts. We saw what they became, yet the women were bestowed with Luna’s rage because they thought Kaif betrayed them,” Dominic stresses.
“Again with the riddles. I think you just enjoy speaking nonsense,” I laugh.
“You are different, Marabella. When I died, I gave you the shadows. You would be tainted with Kaifs when you return, but you are stronger.” Dominic turns his body to face me.
“How? It makes no sense,” I whisper as I look up at him.
“Because you lived with them, see, that is where we went wrong. They all saw the future of what could be. They were filled with Luna’s rage at her betrayal. Her own son killed her, so that is what they saw. They saw Luna’s end and then end for each other, and saw Kaif turn on them. You, though, have seen why he killed them. I didn’t just give you my magic. I gave you my shadows so you could learn to live with them and understand the action behind what Kaif did. The shadows know this: they are filled with so much hate they don’t want Kaif free. That is why they tried to kill you. They know you can break the curse, they are stuck in the time in which they died, they see no error in their ways, you, however, have seen the darkness that becomes of them, the shadows can’t touch you, twist you, because you have always lived with them.”
My skin begins to flicker brightly, and Dominic smiles. “Your time is up.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, wide-eyed.
“We will meet again,” Dominic tells me.
I try to reach my hand for him as panic surges through me. I’m not done yet. He has to tell me what I need to do. “But wait, I need to know how to break the curse.”
“Find the talisman,” Dominic states right before suddenly. It feels very real when he grabs me. His hands no longer pass through me like a ghost while I look down, where his hands clutch my arms.
“Break the curse, Marabella, don’t forget what you are. You don’t just harbor my magic, you aren’t just an Octavian woman, you are Gemini, you are the darkness of your brother’s light,” he says each word louder than the previous one, and then, he shoves me.
I feel like I am falling for a quick moment, and then my eyes shoot open wide as the feeling rushes through me. Like wind passes through everything and I suddenly can’t breathe again as I fall through the abyss. I fall until I am in the comfort of darkness once again.
I try to suck in a breath, try to find my sense of self, and then I notice a glowing orb in the distance. I close my eyes, aware that the orb was about to crash into me, so I brace myself for the impact and suck in a breath. When I gasp, I am choking.
Air fills my lungs. I lurch forward, gagging and choking on air. I cough as I try to catch my breath and clutch my neck. Eziah is in front of me. A dagger falls from his fingertips and Lucas… I blink. What is going on here? Lucas’s face falls, and an immense amount of blood spurts from between his fingers as he desperately clutches his neck.
“No!” Kyan screams beside me the moment Lucas collapses and crashes to the floor. He lands in a pool of his own blood and Kyan explodes in rage.