ONLY AMAROSE ACADEMY would have immaculate basements.  Any other place they were dank and dreary like the one demon Stein had brought me to.  Or like the one Rex had been in when the Kye look-a-like demon carved the crux sigil on him.

A shiver rippled down my spine at both memories.

Unused training equipment was stacked neatly, and the air smelled like laundry detergent.  No rodents scurried along the shadowy edges, and the usual mildew scent was absent.

 “Are you going to tell us what’s going on, Kory?”  Rex stood in the center of the room and crossed his arms against his chest, his muscles bulging even larger.

How did every demon not run away when he showed up for a fight?

“Yes, please.”  Kye casually leaned against a cinderblock wall.  “I’m starting to choke on the holier-than-though fumes wafting off of Rex.”

“I’ll gladly put an end to your suffering.”  Rex brandished his knife.

A smirk curled the demon’s lips.  “Too bad Kory won’t let you.”

“Guys!”  Was I dealing with children or mortal enemies?  I stood near the wall opposite Kye, twisting the ends of my hair.  This was a bad idea.  Nothing good could come out of this.

But I had to tell them.  I knew what it felt like to discover dark secrets about the people I was close to, and I didn’t want either of them to experience that.

“The groundskeeper told me something the other day, and I believe him,” I started.  “He has no reason to lie, and it makes sense in this weird, screwed up way.”

Kye’s brow furrowed.  “The crazy old human who slaves over Aurora’s altar room?”

How much time did he spend on campus?  “Yes.”

“Aurora spoke to him before and told him things.”  I picked up a wooden knife used in training the younger students and new recruits.  “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth.”

“Not that crazy,” Kye snickered.  “Of course Aurora would choose to confide in a crazy old human.”

Rex shook his head.  “You really think the goddess speaks to him?  How can you be sure it’s not just in his mind?”

“It’s not, Rex.  And that’s not the important part.”  I stared at the wooden knife, hesitating.  This was going to be a complete disaster.  “I need you both not to freak out at what I’m about to tell you.”

Rex’s muscles stiffened, sensing my trepidation.  “Go on.”

My eyes shifted to Kye.  I swallowed hard.  “You had a caetera.”

He scoffed.  “No, I didn’t.”

“You did or you were supposed to.  The children first born to Aurora were supposed to be reborn many times, keeping her blood alive.  You should have met your caetera after a few lifetimes.”

“So what happened to her?” he growled.

I placed the practice knife on a box and shoved my hands in my pockets.  “Aurora knew if the girl met you as a demon, she’d be doomed to the same darkness as you.  She broke the link to save her soul.”

That got Kye’s attention, and he leaned off the wall.  “How is that possible?” 

“Aurora kept her soul from being born until she found another match.  A better match.”  My eyes slowly drifted toward Rex. 

His face was a mask, but I could see the gears moving in his mind, anticipating where I was going. “No.”  The one word was barely audible over the blood rushing through my head.

I turned back to Kye, my pulse fluttering wildly.  “It was me.” It was hard to breathe after those words crossed my lips.  “You were supposed to be my caetera.”

Kye blinked and remained silent for several long, heavy moments.  And then he laughed—big, loud laughter.  “You’re not serious.  That’s impossible.  And ridiculous.”

That was the last thing I expected. 

I crossed my arms against my chest.  “It’s not.  Think about it, Kye.  The more time you’ve spent with me, the more you felt for me.  You were obsessed with me.”

“He still is.”  Rex’s growl sent chills down my spine.  He wasn’t happy about the turn of events.

“Not like in the beginning,” I said.  “First you wanted to kill me.  Then you met me when I was thirteen and changed your mind.”

He looked startled.  “You remember that?”

“I dreamed about it a few weeks ago.”  My eyes flickered toward Rex to gauge his reaction.  I hadn’t told him about that dream.

Rex’s face remained blank, but the gold flecks in his irises flared brighter.  He didn’t like this at all.

“When I was older,” I continued, my stomach knotting.  “You wanted to break me so I’d turn dark—and be with you.”

Kye shook his head.  “So?  I still want that.  Nothing has changed.”

“Yes, it has.”  I slowly stepped closer.  “You told me you quit turning ferrums.  For me.  You stopped being consumed by your new world of super demons and started becoming more involved in finding a way to stop your brother.  You knew I didn’t want to be a demon so you stopped trying to turn me.”

“That’s only because I want you and I can’t have you if you’re dead or you hate me.”

I tossed my hands in the air.  “But why do you want me?”

“Because.  I just do.”  His nostrils flared.  “It doesn’t have anything to do—”

“Would you put a pavor on her again?” Rex interrupted.

Kye blinked.  “What?”

The heat of Rex’s body seared my back, and he grabbed my arm, yanking up my sleeve to show the pavor scar.  “Would you carve this sigil into her again?”

Kye’s eyes widened at the mark, and some of the color drained from his face.  It was like he was seeing it for the first time.  “No.”

Rex released my arm but remained close.  “So what?  You have two caeteras now?”

“No.  The bond was broken between Kye and me.”  I licked my dry lips.  Rex wasn’t going to like what I had to say next.  “But the more time we spend together, the more our souls recognize each other.  We won’t ever be caeteras though.”  I was babbling like a crazy person.

Rex wasn’t looking at me.  His gaze was trained on Kye who was standing frozen, anguish twisting his features.

“Do you remember everything bad you ever did to her?” he growled.  “Are you feeling a crushing guilt?”

Kye’s face hardened as his cold blue eyes fixed on Rex.  “What about all the things you did to her?”  He moved too fast, his body brushing against mine.

I was sandwiched in between two massive creatures snarling at each other.  I felt like the awkward chick in that movie, standing between a werewolf and a vampire.  Except I wasn’t going to be the one hurt.  They were.  “Stop or I will kick both your asses.”

Kye shook his head.  “This, this is…” He cursed and kicked a shelf of boxing equipment, splintering the wood.  He spun around and bolted up the stairs in a blur.  The wood hadn’t even finished settling by the time he was gone.

I turned to Rex, staring up at him.  His body was rigid and his face a mask.  “Say something.”

His nostrils flared, his usual control about to shatter into a million pieces.  “I don’t even know where to begin.”

My chest tightened, and I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. 

A line formed between his brows, knowing his silence was killing me.  “I just need some time.”  His hand brushed my cheek, the touch so gentle it surprised me.  “I need to process this, okay?”

I gave a quick nod, afraid my voice would crack if I spoke.  Rex pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning and disappearing up the stairs.

 

∞∞∞

 

I stared at the television in the common room of my dorm without really seeing it.  The actors’ voices were underwater and possibly in a different language.  Not literally of course.  That was just what it sounded like through the fog surrounding me.  I was in a daze, separated from everything except the thoughts whirling through my head.

Rex had barely spoken to me in two days.  Two days.  It felt like a lifetime.  We’d been through disagreements before, but never had it been so unsettling.  Maybe it was because I knew he was my caetera.

Either way, it sucked.

Rex wasn’t trying to hurt me.  He needed time.  I’d dropped a nuclear bomb on him, and he was trying to hold himself together.  I just hated he needed to do it without me.

“This movie is so awesome.”  Braelyn tossed another peanut into her mouth.  “She is such a badass.”  She tilted her green smoothie toward me, offering me a sip.

I shot her a narrowed glare to which she shrugged off.

Kelsey nodded beside her.  “I have to agree, Brae.  J.I. Jane could totally kick some demon ass.”

Alec tossed a paper ball in the air.  “Could you imagine if a trained female ferrum tried out for the Navy Seals?”  He laughed.  “Those guys wouldn’t know what to do.”

“We’d totally kick ass,” Braelyn held her fist out to me.

I gave a half-hearted tap. 

“They’d flip out if it were Kory,” Alec said, grinning in my direction.  “She’d do a hell of a lot more than break the boss’s nose.”

I savagely bit the end of a piece of cherry licorice.  “He wouldn’t be able to walk for months if he tried that crap with me.”

“Totally.”  Braelyn slurped her disgusting drink.

The two hunter trainees started arguing about who would make the better soldier while Kelsey went back to painting her nails on the clipboard in her lap. 

How was this my life right now? 

Had I been back in Bishop before I was training and felt this way, I would have run off to Red’s to drown my sorrows in a bottomless glass.  Instead I was watching a movie with three other teens, listening to them argue over trivial shit.

“Oh!”  Braelyn nearly spilled the peanuts in her lap as she bounced up and down.  “Someone’s got a birthday coming up soon.”  Her aqua eyes were trained on me.  “We have to throw you a party!”

“No.”  The word was sharp and filled with harsh edges. 

Braelyn’s happy dance ceased.  “Why?”

My nostrils flared, and I clenched my jaw to keep from unleashing a torrent on her.  It wasn’t her fault.  She didn’t know what turning eighteen meant.  “No parties.  No presents.  No nothing.”  I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure I’d be alive on my birthday. 

I bolted from the couch and marched out of the room, the atmosphere suddenly choking.  The mention of the day Lorne was waiting on had dropped a heavy weight onto my chest.  It instantly consumed my thoughts.

The cool night air still lingering rushed over me as I stormed outside.  An Amarose hunter on duty gave me a sideways glare, but she kept walking.  I leaned against the rough brick wall, letting the coolness of it seep through my sweater.

My birthday was getting closer, and we still had no idea how to stop Lorne.  We couldn’t kill him, and we didn’t know who else he needed to complete the trifecta.  The lastborn could virtually be anyone at this point. 

The door opened, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Alec trotting down the steps.  My lips thinned.  “I don’t remember asking you to follow me.”

He gave a casual shrug.  “I don’t remember needing an invitation.”

I shook my head and crossed my arms against my chest.  “What do you want?”

His lips pursed as those sharp green eyes scrutinized me.  “Was this a demon flashback thing or is there something about your birthday you don’t like?”

A long sigh drifted from my mouth, and I stared up at the pitch sky, the stars winking through a thin layer of clouds.  “It’s my birthday.” 

“Did something bad happen on a prior birthday?” he prodded.

For crap sakes.  I couldn’t believe I was talking to this guy.  He was the same douche who tried to make my first few weeks here hell.  He’d even beaten me in The Gauntlet. 

But in all honesty, he was different since Trey and Daniel had disappeared.  Bringing them back hadn’t taken away the seriousness of what happened.  It didn’t make Alec forget our lives were precarious.

“Not a previous birthday.”  I shook my head.  “Something bad might happen this birthday.”

He leaned against the wall next to me.  “Does this have something to do with Kye?”

A bitter laugh slipped out.  “I wish this was only about him.”

A shadow crossed Alec’s face.  “Lucius?”

I nodded and watched as his lips turned white.  “We know what he wants, why he’s in town.”

He swallowed hard.  “I’m guessing it has something to do with you.”

“Of course.”

I told Alec what Lorne wanted.  There was no point in hiding it from him.  He already knew about Lorne and Kye and had been sworn to secrecy.  He’d kept his mouth shut thus far.

When I finished, he sagged against the wall and dragged his fingers through his hair.  “That’s some screwed up shit.”  He let out a long breath, shaking his head.

“Tell me about it,” I said, my fingers absentmindedly running over the broken infinity marks beneath my sleeve.  “Time is running out, and no one’s had any luck on finding out who the lastborn ferrum is and what family is now directly descended from him or her.”

Alec chewed his bottom lip, his eyes pensive.  “Maybe I could ask my mom.”

My brows knit.  “Why would your mom know?”

“She’s into that kind of stuff.”  He shrugged.  “I never paid attention to what she said, but she traced our family pretty far back.  She knows about other families too.”

“Well, it’s something.”  I shot daggers at him.  “But do not tell her why you’re asking, Alec.”

His palms lifted.  “No shit.  I don’t want to get my mom mixed up in this.  I’ll tell her it’s for a school project.”

“Now if Kye could figure out what the third thing is, I might not feel like I’m on a one-way road to hell.” 

Alec drew a pack of chocolate covered peanuts from his pocket.  “No lead on that?” He poured a few in his hand and then offered me some.

“It probably has something to do with bloodlines.”  I rubbed my temples as a headache pulsed behind my eyes.  “I’m part of the first bloodline of ferrums and the second thing is the last bloodline.”

“Maybe the third person is from a random bloodline in the middle.”  He shot me a grimace.  “Yeah, not helpful.  I know.”

A groan tumbled out of my mouth, and I cracked my neck.  “I need to go workout or something.”

His brows lifted.  “Want to spar with me?  I’m sure Max or Rex will sign off on us using the gym now.”

“Nah.  I need to think alone.  Maybe next time.  Kicking your ass always brings a smile to my face.”

Alec flipped me off and grinned.  “Anything I can do to help.”