Violet
The car ride back to Starlight was full of stories. I had told Kylan everything I could remember, mostly about Adelaide, Alaric and the royal family, Gloria, Esther-and of course, Baelor.
I even told him about the bond between Adelaide and the Elite Team, how much they loved and protected her-but most importantly, how King Elyx ended up betraying her.
There were too many details, I could hardly remember. I was certain I might have forgotten something along the way, but for now, it was enough.
Once I finished talking, I glanced at him, waiting for his reaction. He didn’t respond, his eyes were fixed on the road, and his expression was unreadable.
For some reason, I had expected him to match my energy. I thought we could laugh together about Adelaide or even the king’s nickname, but there was nothing.
“So what do you think?” I asked, attempting to get a reaction out of him.
Kylan squinted his eyes. “So,” he finally spoke up. “We’ve met before and our parents exchanged names?”
There was so much more interesting stuff I had just shared, hence I wasn’t sure why he was focusing on that part. It seemed like he was purposely trying to ignore the more important details. Maybe it was too much for him to take in for now, or maybe he didn’t want to believe it. Whatever it might’ve been, I couldn’t tell if he was doing it for my sake or his own.
“We did meet,” I confirmed with a nod. “And Kayden was so kind to me.”
“Of course he was,” Kylan scoffed under his breath. His lips twitched a bit, showing that he wasn’t impressed in the slightest.
I thought back to the memory of Kayden as a little boy. I had only met him once, but from what I had observed he hadn’t changed a bit. He was still as gentle, kind, and easy to interact with.
The saddest thing? He loved walking…
That’s the part that stuck with me the most.
I swallowed. A part of me wanted to tell Kylan about the darkness Adelaide had sensed in either him or his brother-but something stopped me. Kylan barely cared for anything, so I doubted he would care much.
Even though I had sometimes managed to break through that icy shell, his personality was still cold as frost. If anything, she must’ve sensed his darkness.
My lips curled, thinking about Adelaide…Mom, and the power she had possessed. For all those years, I had sworn to wear those glasses, feared what would happen if I had to live without them. I hated my cursed eyes, the ability to see what others couldn’t-and when I found out they could glow, when I found out I was half-witch, a child of blood-I felt embarrassed.
Not anymore, though.
I didn’t mind being a witch, and I didn’t mind being Adelaide’s daughter.
I looked down, playing with the ring on my finger. First, it was the glasses, now it was this ring-and I was still unsure whether it was helping me or holding me back.
“What are you thinking about?”
Kylan glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and I suddenly felt as if I was being interrogated. He had almost sounded like Esther when he asked me that question, but I knew there was no ill intent behind it.
I smiled softly. “I don’t think you understand just how powerful these eyes can be.”
His brows furrowed. “I saw them glow, Puppy. I think I know.”
“Yes, but not the full extent,” I said, a little too excited. “I can move things with my hands, with my eyes, put people to sleep, curse them-”
“You don’t even know how to use them,” Kylan cut me off. He didn’t sound frustrated or angry, just honest.
“I know, but Aelius can teach me,” I said. “I could learn to control them, and I could even give you your ring back. That way I won’t be a burden anymore-”
“You will not be giving me anything back,” Kylan said, jaw clenching. “At least not for a few more years until you got your eyes under control. You heard Aelius.”
His grip on the wheel tightened like he was holding himself back. Was that not what he wanted? For me to be able to handle myself without having to depend on him?
I released a soft huff. “I feel like you’re not happy for me, Kylan.”
“Well, you’ve just confirmed to me that the king is a piece of shit, and that many people had to bare the consequences of his decisions while he continues to fuck up this world-can you give me a second?”
“I can give you a second,” I hummed, calmly. It wasn’t just that, there was more behind his reaction. I could feel it.
“If I work hard enough,” I whispered, “I could even leave Starlight and live in the caves with the Children of Blood.”
“The C-C-Violet?” Kylan scrunched his nose, looking disturbingly repulsed.
“No, I never said I was going to do that. I don’t want to live in some cave,” I quickly backtracked. “I just mean that if I wanted to, I could.”
I knew what I meant, but he was right. Something about that sentence didn’t feel quite right. Of course I couldn’t live in some cave. That was unthinkable.
“It’s been a long night,” Kylan said before I could say anything else. “You’re sleeping in my room tonight.”
“Did I upset you,” I chuckled in disbelief. “Was it the caves thing? Because I wasn’t being serious.”
Besides, why would he care about what would come of me when we were one day bound to go our separate ways?
“I’m not upset. I don’t care,” he shrugged nonchalantly, pursing his lips slightly. “It’s just…your priority right now should be training your eyes. You heard what that old man said. For now, that’s the only thing you should be thinking about.”
“I know, I am.”
“Good,” Kylan said. “Because if Baelor is as dangerous as you told me, you need to learn how to control those eyes-Violet. We don’t know what the future holds.”
Violet…it was my name, but I hated when he called me that.
The rest of the ride was silent. Trees blurred by as I was still trying to make sense of everything in my head. Not about Adelaide because I knew everything I needed to know for now. I was trying to make sense of Kylan.
He was so helpful, led me to Aelius himself and encouraged the idea of him teaching me how to control my eyes, but now he was different. It seemed as if he didn’t really want me to go down this path, and I did not know why.
When we finally reached Starlight, Kylan parked the car at his usual spot. We didn’t leave the car yet. We just continued to sit in silence, both staring out the window like one of those couples who had to talk out their argument but didn’t know how to start.
However, we didn’t argue right? And we weren’t a couple.
“Do you really think there’s no need to worry about Esther?” I asked. “I assume she still has no powers, but she did sense mine from day one, and I don’t know what that means.”
I had been confused for the longest, wondering why she would ‘accidentally’ call me by the name of a woman I shared no resemblance with whatsoever. But now I knew. For some reason, she had sensed my powers, just like she had sensed hers.
Everything she had done until now showed that she was still somewhat a threat and obviously had some kind of hidden agenda.
“You just do as Aelius said and continue as normal,” Kylan instructed.
“Take your classes, go to training…be my…mate.”
Mate?
A small smile reached my lips. Something about the way he said it, the delay in his words, made my heart skip a beat. It wasn’t much, it was just a word-but it was important to me.
Kylan stepped out of the car, and I waited patiently for him to open the door for me.
Once he opened it, he stuck out his hand. I grabbed it for a second, but then I let go, giving him an apologetic smile. Adelaide was strong because she didn’t need someone holding her hand every second. If I wanted to be even a little like her, I had to learn to stand on my own a bit more.
I straightened myself, and stepped out without Kylan’s help.
He cleared his throat, then awkwardly dropped his hand. “What’s the about?”