Veils of Storm

36. The Truth Behind the Madness

Cage thought he would black out from the pain of holding Kat. He would surely catch fire and die, his last act in this world being to protect Jazz and Cecile from the woman he loved and whatever had possessed her.

"Let her go!" Cecile ordered. There was a note of fear in her voice, maybe of regret for her actions, which had led them to this point.

He didn't have the strength to argue and refuse. He didn't even have the strength to let Kat go. At least he was dying while holding her in his arms.

"Cage!"

He couldn't tell who was calling out to him. His vision had blurred, and his hearing was fuzzy. The heat was much more than he ever thought he could bear, the flames tearing through his flesh. Until water soothed his burns. Before he could wrap his mind around what happened, Kat slipped out of his hold, but not to step away, but to fly upward. His body hit the deck, and he cried out in pain.

His head spun, and bile rose to his mouth. He tried to move, but his body was heavy and unresponsive. Everything hurt. Tendrils of flame danced before his eyes.

"Say the word," Kat's distorted voice said. "What have you been searching for? What is it which you hope to find?"

Cage knew he had to stop Cecile before she made Kat explode into pieces, but he couldn't even breathe properly, let alone produce coherent words.

A gentle wind soothed his aching burns as Cecile walked past him, her storm-grey dress swirling. Her gaze was fixed on Kat, a mild frown between her eyebrows.

"I am searching for the heir of Endir," she declared.

"And now you found me."

Cage finally managed to push himself to his hands. The effort had his blood rushing to his head and distorting his hearing. It was the only viable reason for imagining such a statement coming from Kat's mouth.

"But how?" Cecile said with mild confusion, as if twenty-three plates had been set for a dinner of twenty-four.

Kat didn't answer, and Cage hoped that he'd imagined everything after all.

"Why are you searching for the heir of Endir?"

The question sailed off different lips as Leila decided now was the perfect time to join the party, her pale skin glittering in the fire still coming from Kat, her washed-up blue eyes glittering. But she was no longer meek and cowering. She walked with a certain step, her chin held high, an unnatural grin on her face. It was like seeing a sheep with the smile of a wolf.

Cecile's eyes widened, and she took half a step back.

Even if he was still broken and barely breathing, he caught the gravity of the situation. Who could make the High Fairy Cecile cower?

As if she too had realized that it just wouldn't do, Cecile frowned, and something happened so fast, Cage couldn't see it. He only felt the whoosh of magic filling the air before it seemed to implode.

"Too slow, as usual," Leila said with the same predatory grin. "Why don't you come clean, Cecile? This isn't about the heir of Endir." She threw Cage a glance, but it lacked all sentiment. "Or the heir of Iride for that matter. You couldn't care less about either kingdom. It has always been about me."

"You always think everything is about you, Lucille," Cecile said, the spite in her voice obvious.

"What?" The word managed to escape Cage's lips, and both fairy and fae turned to him.

"Yes, young king. Your protector has been lying to you. She only wanted to use you against me." Leila's gaze zeroed in on Cecile. "To end my line."

Cecile didn't deny it. She didn't even bother to produce an explanation. The strange energy filled the air again, and this time, the wind was cutting against his face. Leila's high laugh proved that Cecile had failed again at whatever she was trying to do. Which could mean only one thing. The young girl Kat had rescued from Yarik really was Lucille.