Chapter 67

Adeena couldn't seem to stop smiling. Not when Cleo refused to let her out of her sight and stayed by her side, her hand tight around hers, as they walked through the palace toward the dining room where they were to meet with everyone. Not when they met up with Kav halfway there and he immediately grabbed Cleo up in a hug, planting a kiss on her laughing mouth. Not when Malik and Janan appeared a moment later, her arm looped through his as they smiled shyly at one another, or when Urell came in behind them, rolling his eyes. Not even when Malik's eyes widened so much at the sight of his brother and Cleo, especially when he caught sight of the glittering ring on her finger.

"What the hell is that?" he demanded when Kav finally put Cleo back on her feet.

"You already knew about us, idiot," Kav told him, rolling his eyes.

"Don't think I find it absolutely bizarre to see you two like this...but what about that ring?"

Kav laced her fingers through Cleo's, lifting her hand to kiss just below it. "And like I told you all those years ago, it would take her a while to finally answer yes to marrying me."

Janan grinned up at Malik, putting a hand on his arm. "I told you they were adorable."

All he did was grumble.

Cleo, on the other hand, almost immediately glared at the crown prince of Krahzara as she slowly strode over to him. The look even had Janan stepping away from him as the leopard Shamira curled protectively around her.

"For almost all our lives, you've kept my sister a secret from me," she told him, poking a finger to his chest. "You never once hinting that she was alive, never gave me the glimmer of hope I could have her back..."

He didn't back down, didn't even flinch even as her shadows curled around her wrist.

But he relaxed as soon as they disappeared and Cleo dropped her hand to her side as she blew out a breath.

"But you did make sure she was safe, even though she could probably take someone out faster than you could even think about drawing your sword. You made sure she knew about me, that I still loved her every single day, that I missed her more than anything. And I understand why you couldn't tell me about her. Because her secrets weren't yours to tell. I'm still mad at you about it, though."

Malik nodded, staring at her with regret in his eyes...and a small glimmer of hope. "You have every right to be...but I hope having her now allows you to forgive me even the smallest bit."

Cleo watched him carefully as everyone including Adeena held their breath...before she closed the short distance between them and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. "It does," she told him quietly. "It definitely does. Thank you, Malik. Thank you so much for bringing her back to me."

"There's no reason to thank me, Cleo," he told her with a shake of his head, holding her just as tight. "If it had been up to me, I would have told you a century ago."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Malik. I have my sister back...and will have my grandfather soon, too. So, thank you."

They hugged each other for a few moments longer before Cleo finally let go, but then she was right back at Adeena's side, gripping her hand again while reaching for Kav's with the other.

"All right, dinner time," Cleo grinned over at Adeena. "And time for you to officially meet a small part of our Dalcaine family under normal circumstances."

Adeena smiled at the thought. She hadn't really gotten to say hello to Dessa, Elys, Milena, Eamon, or Archer, not when they were in the middle of a fight and certainly not when she was trying to help save Elys's life.

But as soon as they all made it to the dining room, they weren't the first ones there. Milena, Eamon, and Archer were seated at one end of the twelve foot table playing a simple card game that was getting heated with two empty bottles of wine and a third half full beside them.

"That's cheating, Archer, and you know it!" Milena cried out as soon as they were in the dining room.

"No, it's not," he grinned as he lounged lazily in his chair. "Now draw four cards."

She smacked the back of her hand against Eamon's arm. "Eamon, tell him that's cheating!"

"Sorry to say he's right, love."

Milena stuck her tongue out at the both of them...but drew four cards from the deck in the middle of them.

"What are you doing down here already?" Cleo asked as soon as they saw they were no longer by themselves. "You look like you've been here for hours."

"That's because we have," Milena snorted as she reached over to grab her glass and down the rest of her wine. "Dessa and Elys forgot to put up a ward. The sound of the shower running definitely didn't drown out any noises."

"They're going to be worse than these two," Archer sighed heavily, pointing to Milena and Eamon.

Eamon rolled his eyes, turning to face them. "So, we ran down here as fast as we could."

"By the way, when did that happen?" Cleo asked them with a grin, referring to the brand new mating bond between the Dalcaine princess and the Seer of Ikreus. "I've been gone for barely any time at all."

"Literally last night," Milena grinned. "I don't think that fire's going to fizzle out anytime soon, especially with all the sexual tension pent up between them." She winked at Eamon. "Though I'm now five hundred gold coins richer because of it. Kalla started laughing as soon as I thanked her for the advice."

As soon as Adeena saw the youngest Dalcaine prince clearly for the first time, her heart jumped into her throat. Of course, she knew he was Destan's little brother, but seeing how much he looked like him had her drawing back into herself in silence as a fierce longing gripped her tight. They looked almost identical except for their eyes. While Destan's were a warm russet color, Eamon's were a deep sapphire blue, same as Dessa's. Even Archer, the son of Destan's twin sister Laurel, looked like him.

When Cleo squeezed her hand, it pulled her back to the present just as the three of them stood from the table.

"I want to officially introduce you," her sister said with a slight smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. Oh, yes. Cleo could still read her like an open book. After all the time that had passed, that hadn't changed. "These are Milena, Eamon, and Archer. Milena is Lyv and Jai's best friends Gideon and Thia's daughter, Eamon, of course, is Jai's little brother, and Archer is his sister Laurel's son."

Adeena smiled at them all. "It's nice to meet you."

Milena was the first one to skip up to her, then wrapped her in a tight hug. "It's very nice to meet you, too, Adeena, Lady Addie Merlo, the Lady in White...whatever you want to be called." She pulled back with a smile. "Momma and Aunt Lyv are going to freak out when they realize who you are since Cleo talks about you all the time. The Lady in White, I mean. Not to mention Kalla, Allel, and Mik..."

The doors on the other side of the dining room flew open and crashed against the walls as Dessa and Elys strode in, both of them with fierce determination on their face and their magic practically tangible in the air between them. Both of them had their sights set on Adeena, but it was Dessa who got to her first.

The question she asked her then as she gripped her shoulders tight had Adeena looking at her in shock.

"How do you know my uncle Destan?"

Hearing his name on someone else's lips...

Dessa shook her once, hard. "Tell me!"

Cleo was the one to pull her hands off her. "Dessa Jai Deverell Ayveri, what the hell are you doing?"

But she wasn't going to let it go. "Tell me how you know him," she choked out. "Please."

Eamon seemed just as shocked by the question as she was. "What is she talking about?" he asked in a quiet voice, looking at Elys for explanation.

But Elys was still staring at Adeena. "A few minutes ago, my visions what what's going to happen shifted. They altered my prospective, allowing me to see more of how it would come to be." He nodded to Adeena. "It happened because Adeena's not hidden from me now. She's the one who's changed it. When I saw him before, I always assumed it was the Destan from the time before, especially when Kalla, Allel, and Mik talked about knowing him, but now..."

Dessa once again gripped her shoulders, making her look straight at her. "Please tell me how you know Destan," she begged. "After hearing stories about him all my life..."

"The in-between," Adeena said in a rush. "When I can't reign in my magic, I have to go to a place I started calling the in-between to help me get back to myself. It's the space between the living world and the land of light and shadows...but over the last twenty or so years, I've had someone else with me. It's only been in the last few months that I've been able to help him. He never remembered himself until I helped begin to untangle the mess of his own mind."

Dessa's face twisted with emotion. "You've been seeing Destan."

Adeena nodded, eyes prickling with tears. "He was the one who I knew would be waiting for me when I went into the in-between. I was the reason he was trapped there, why he could never move on. I didn't realize it until those final few moments with him."

"Lyv," Eamon said as he sat down hard in his chair, shock written all over his face. "She saw you two after that fight with Mik when she almost died, when she herself was in the...in-between, as you call it. She said that you were..."

Cleo finished for him, knowing the answer, too. "Mates."

"We were...are," Adeena whispered. "But it won't happen. It can't happen now that he's gone. He's moved on."

What Elys said next had her tears finally falling.

"Not from what I've seen," he stated softly, looking at her and then to Eamon. "I don't know how just yet since I've only seen flashes of him, but somehow, someway...we're getting him back. But right now, we're going to need you to tell us everything you can about your magic...since you're the one who's going to be the one to do it."