Bleeding Ink

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"How long has it been?"

Adeena stared at the male sitting in front of her. It had been several weeks since she'd seen him, since he remembered what his name in life had been. The only reason she'd managed to now was because she needed a place to sort through everything, to come up with a plan once she was back in Krahzara, to think of a lie convincing enough to tell Sophea whenever she was called to the empress's side, to get close enough to rip that godsforsaken necklace right off her neck.

"What do you mean?" she asked, folding her hands together in her lap.

Destan's russet eyes locked on hers, so much brighter and alive than she'd seen before. "Since I left my family."

She didn't want to sound harsh, but she had to tell him. "A little over twenty years ago. But you didn't leave, Destan. You died. You're still very much a part of their family, though. Trust me."

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you know them?"

"Only from books I've read. Books that have you in them as well. Have you been able to remember more about them?"

"No," he said, shaking his head, clearly frustrated with himself. "Nothing more than their names and faces. That's why I was waiting for you. To help me."

"Then I'm sorry it took me so long to come back."

"How long?"

"Three weeks."

He cracked a smile that was more like a sneer than anything else. "What's three weeks when it's been over two decades? I feel like I've been here for seconds and millennia at the same time."

Adeena didn't know what to say, not with the anger that laced through his tone. Not toward her, exactly, but just in general. She couldn't blame him, though, having lost so much time with those he loved. She knew from experience, though her time had been much, much longer. She planned on being with her sister and grandmother again one day soon. Destan didn't have that option.

"Why are you here then?" he asked then. "Why is it that you and I are the only ones ever here?"

"I can't answer for why you are, but I can for myself at least."

Her answer seemed to ease away his anger as curiosity and craving for interaction lit up.

"The reason I'm here," she began, "is because I was killed when I was four years old for something I had no control over, for something I was born with that others thought would one day bring their entire kingdoms to their knees. And it will. Soon, if I have anything to do with it."

Destan's head quirked to the side as one brow rose, a look Adeena knew would become one of her favorites of his. "But you're alive, aren't you?"

"I am, but only because of my magic. I was able to find my way back to the land of the living and bring my grandfather Evander back with me. In all honesty, I don't think the death gods of any world appreciated losing two souls, especially one as powerful as I am over the domain. One of those gods thought they needed to have me controlled, so he gave that power to the very person who sent the assassin to kill me. She's the one I'm trying to get away from, but my magic won't touch her because of it."

"You have...dark magic? How?"

"My mother...when my sister and I were conceived, both she had dark magic in her. While I don't think of it as my light and dark magic, the darker parts of me are what I have the most control over. Mainly, it's power over the mind and soul. I can kill someone without even touching them, make them see things that aren't there, feel things while nothing breaks skin with blades, liquify their minds with just a twitch of my finger. It's power I use for my work."