A Shade of Kiev 2(24)

“I lied to you about what brought me to this island,” I said, sighing.

They both raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“I came to steal away a witch from you. Celice has already agreed to come with me.”

Helina’s eyes widened. Erik leaned forward in his chair.

“Why?” Helina asked.

“I’m in alliance with Matteo Borgia. He took me in after I escaped from Aviary. I came because I needed a witch to protect that island. They suffer every day from not having a protective spell over them, and I promised Matteo that I would do all within my power to help him… I, I owe him more than I can ever repay in so many different ways…”

I trailed off, thoughts of the night I’d murdered Natalie flashing through my mind’s eye. That too was an episode of my life that I had avoided including in my story to them.

I had also omitted Mona from the story, for I saw no relevance. And it was—if truth be told—painful to talk about her.

Silence took over the room for several moments.

“Can I have a private word with Helina?” Erik asked.

I was taken aback by their request for privacy. I was their older brother. What couldn’t they discuss in front of me? Still, I nodded.

They got up and left the room. They must have gone far away, because although I tried to pick up on their conversation, I couldn’t hear any of it.

They returned several minutes later and resumed their seats.

“Matteo’s clan and our coven have been enemies for a while. Honestly, we can’t stand him. But of course, if Celice wants to go with you, we’re not going to stop you taking her. We understand.” Erik placed a hand on my shoulder.

“But Kiev,” Helina interjected. “What on earth makes you think you can keep her there even if she does agree to go? She’s a fickle little thing. You say you told her you’ll be with her…”

“I know. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stand her for more than a few days. But I owe Matteo this. I’ll stay there with Celice and figure out a way to wean her onto someone else. There are plenty of vampires and werewolves on that island who would happily keep her busy. More importantly, she’d be the only witch there. Independent of her sisters. She’d have free rein to be with whomever she wanted to be. Hell, we’d make her queen if it meant getting her protection. Matteo would do anything to get her to stay.”

Erik and Helina looked dubiously at each other, as though they doubted even that could keep Celice from fidgeting.

“Look,” I said, “Even if she does want to come back to her sisters after a few weeks, I still have to try.”

They both looked me in the eye and nodded.

“We see that you feel very strongly for Matteo and his people,” Erik said. “He’s done well to gain your loyalty, that you’d do all this just to help him out.”

“In that case,” I said, getting to my feet, “I promised that I’d return as soon as possible—”

“We’ll come with you, Kiev,” Helina said. “All of us. We’ll take the ship and drop you off there.”

“What? Why?”

She looked at me and smiled.

“A friend of our brother should be a friend of all of us. Clearly, Matteo has treated you very well. We owe him our thanks for that. And an apology… Maybe this will be a good way to resolve things with him.”

I stared at my siblings.

I still didn’t know what caused Matteo to speak so harshly against them, but whatever it was seemed to have been unwarranted. They seemed to be cool-headed and reasonable.

“All right,” I said, a smile forming on my lips. “Let’s go.”





Chapter 14: Mona





Home.

That was what I was supposed to call this place now. This tiny island north of The Sanctuary. I shivered as we approached the castle. When I hesitated, Rhys turned back to look at me.

“What’s wrong, Mona? Are you scared?”

I shook my head and followed him. He withdrew the key to the door from his cloak. Before he opened the door he turned round to face me.

“Efren and Isolde don’t know that I went to get you. Just keep your calm if they are… surprised to see you.”

Mention of their names made the knots in my stomach tighten.

He gripped my hand and led me inside. The castle was exactly how I’d remembered it—cold and gloomy. The floors were bare in all communal areas, as were the stone walls.

The entrance hall was empty, for which I was grateful, but as we exited it and started walking around the dim corridors we came across a number of witches and warlocks. I recognized most of them, and they all looked shocked to see me. But seeing that I was by Rhys’ side, they didn’t stop to talk to me.