Twist Of Fate

Chapter 20 Eve

It's the middle of the night when I sneak out of bed, hoping everyone is asleep. I listen carefully at the doorway to the even, deep breathing, before gently checking the bonds. I do a silent celebration dance and tiptoe downstairs.

Making a quick pitstop at the laundry, grabbing a crop top and cargo pants out of the dryer, and quietly pulling them on. I go to the backdoor, which I know is squeak-free, and slink out of the house barefoot.
For once in my life, I want answers. I want to look my nightmares in the eye and laugh at them. I want to punish and get revenge. I want... something...

I didn't really have a plan. I was going to play this one by ear and let my gut guide me. My only concern was I was either going to get caught in the act or found out after. My mates were going to be super pissed. But it was like there was a gun to my head, a pressure telling me this was what I needed to do. I stop in front of the men guarding the entrance.

"Let me pass." One stands aside immediately, the other is one that likes to drink with Garret.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, do the guys know you're here?" He asks.

"Let me pass and tell no one of my visits." I let the slightest bit of power out to nudge him, cringing that I was taking away his free will. He growls at me and I mutter an apology as he steps aside and I sweep past him.
I descend the steps and take a lantern off the hook at the bottom. I bypass the rooms swiftly, my nose sorting and dismissing the scents as I move. Finally, I step up to the one I want.

I hook the lantern to the wall illuminating my surroundings and sit on the hard rock ground, taking in the contents of the room. An empty bed, a toilet, a sink, a single bar of soap, a small towel, and a roll of toilet paper.
I snort, thinking how different it had been when roles were reversed. The sound rouses the occupant inside the cell. The head lifts up, squinting in the light.

"Who's there?" A voice rasps. "Are you going to show me what a man you are and beat me to a pulp too?"

"Personally, I think women are way worse than men. A little more vindictive and they hold grudges. We may forgive sometimes, but we never ever forget." I say with a shrug. He sits bolt upright.

"Eve?"

"Bingo. Hey daddy-o, I believe we need to have a chat." I say eyeing him with disgust.

"Oh, thank God! They wouldn't tell me a thing about you. I'm so glad you're ok!" I cock my head to the side, looking at his frantic face. Before I laugh.

"I will not take part in your twisted plans. Your kingdom will fall and your king is fighting a losing battle. You do not need to worry about the well-being of your little pawn. You had your fun, now your toy has been taken away." I scoff.

"I didn't know! I had no idea you were my daughter. Sabine never told me she was pregnant. My father wanted to take over the dragon's rule and then eventually hand the reins to me. But I needed to have a queen. I chose you as one last 'fuck you' to your mother and that imposter Ruben. It killed two birds with one stone. I got my revenge and acquired a potential queen."

"What could my parents have possibly done that was so horrendous you had to destroy not only them but their pack and children? Nothing can justify what you have done." I hiss.

Then he told me the whole story - of my mother being his mate, the betrayal of his mate and best friend, and his entombment that nearly destroyed his mind from the pain and isolation.
I found myself shuffling through my memories of my parents. Imagining a life where I had both my fathers, where my beautiful kind mother had been kind to him.
I could not imagine my mother (who wouldn't raise a hand to anyone) plotting to kill her soul mate, manipulating the love of another and using it against his friend. Draining the blood from the body of the man she had made love to the day before, creating me.

I found myself sympathizing with the madness he encountered in his entombment, having been there myself. So many regrets and missed opportunities. Every word he spoke I could sense was true, a side effect I had gained from mating with Mikyda. I didn't want to empathize with him or understand him. But damn it to hell, I did.

"You still chose to torture an innocent party in all this. You chose to do what you did. You took your revenge when you killed them. Yet you let your brother break me down anyway. Your actions destroyed more innocent lives, including a baby still in the womb, until your brother ripped it out." I remind him, fighting to keep him on the hook.

"Eve, if I had just known, things would have been so much different. I can't take it back, no matter how badly I want to. I used to dream about my mate loving me back, carrying my child. You would have been most treasured. Once I knew who you were to me, I was more horrified than you will ever know. It broke me more than what my mate ever did to me." Sirus said with shoulders slumped.

"Mate's, plural, Ruben was hers too." He was silent for a moment before he let loose a stream of curses.

"Regardless, what is done, is done. I have since worked hard to get the dark Fae to you, once I heard of the prophecy. The brothers seemed to be prime candidates and it got their army away from my idiot father. I've also turned many vampires away from my father's way of thinking and fed spies false information." He sighs. "I know you will not forgive or forget what I have done. I have given what information I can to Darius. I would ask for the small mercy of ending my life. I am tired and I am of no use to you rotting here, so I would rather finish it."
I look at him in silent contemplation. I would neither forgive nor forget but after listening to him, I could (to a degree) understand.

"I will think about it. I will not make any decisions or promises here and now. I am also not sorry your brother was killed, he deserved what he got, so there will be no apologies or condolences."

"Nor will I apologize for your parents, but I will for your brother, his child, his mate, and your pack members. But I do apologize the most for what was done to you. You have no idea how much I wish things were different, that I could undo it all. I am truly sorry." His voice breaks and he looks away.

"Least your accommodations are better than mine were." I snark, uncomfortable with the feelings he's creating in me.

"Are you recovered fully? No after-effects?" He asks with his voice hopeful. I shrug. There is no answer to give him. I will always be haunted by it, but I'm alive and functioning, so that must count for something.

"Bonding times over, I need to go." He nods and I gather my lantern and stride away.

"Eve?" He calls. I pause and look at him. "Thank you for coming to see me, letting me talk to you. It has been an honor. I wish I could have seen you grow up. You are truly magnificent." He bows to me as I carry on silently. I don't look back and I don't let him see the tears forming.

Dad always told me I needed to be more ladylike and have female friends. Less training and more hunting down my mate. He was always disappointed, I was so very unlike my mother and more like one of the boys. He wasn't a bad father, just not very understanding, possibly a little resentful of the power he knew I had over him. Dad never called me magnificent. His proudest moment was probably the moment he realized Darius was my mate.

But Sirus thought I was.
Glad one of us thinks so. I'm not feeling very magnificent. Confused and lots of other emotions, but not that.