Page 51 of Gift from the Tree

At that moment, Corentin storms in and heads straight for the bar. He changed out of the rest of his suit, so he must’ve made a detour to his room before coming in here. “Draken’s walking her to her room, then he’ll be here. There will be no fighting, Caspian, and no instigating him.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Caspian looks at him, dumbfounded.

“Because you’re pushing him on purpose and it’s uncalled for. Whatever’s going to happen between them is going to happen. There’s no fucking reason for you to drive a wedge between the two of you for nothing.” Corentin’s voice is getting louder as he speaks. The argument at dinner has him pissed. He told all of us prior to dinner to cut the shit with her for the night.

“So we’re just going to sit back, let him fall head over heels for the deceiving bitch, then get his heart broken or get himself killed?” Caspian argues. His drink goes flying all over him, the glass shattering into a thousand pieces against the wall as Corentin jumps in his face.

“Don’t call her that, Caspian.”

His tone drips acid as his eyes darken, staring Caspian down. I can see the perfectly fucking constructed walls around his control start to crumble. I don’t appreciate Caspian calling her a bitch either, but something about this has Corentin on the verge of snapping his neck.

“What’s going on in here?” Draken asks, confused, as he stares at the brothers’ hostile stance.

“Apparently, you aren’t the only one who’s falling for her bullshit,” Caspian mocks, standing toe to toe with Corentin.

“Enough,” I shout, hearing Corentin’s intentions of laying his fist into his brother’s teeth.

“Is anyone going to explain what I missed?” Draken asks again, coming to stand beside me.

“Caspian going off about Willow, called her a bitch, and that set Corentin off.” I give him the shortened version of events.

“You called her a what?” Draken takes a step toward Caspian, but I place my hand on his chest, halting him.

“I said enough. This is getting out of hand. Corentin, what do you need to talk to us about? This is getting no-fucking-where.” His thoughts are trickling in and out as he tries to rein himself back in, but I pick up enough to know he’s got news. He turns from his brother and walks over to the bar and fixes himself another drink before turning back to us with a stricken look on his face.

“The Nexus awakening happened this morning between Willow and me,” he says with a slump in his posture.

“I knew it,” Draken shouts at the same time Caspian growls, “No.”

I’m frozen like water from a glacier has just been poured over my head. This is fucking real. It’s already started.

“What happened? What did you see? Was it amazing?” Draken goes off, looking at Corentin like he hung the sun.

“No, it wasn’t amazing, Draken. I don’t know what she saw of me, but what I saw was awful. She’s spent the majority of her life getting beat, raped, and isolated from the world at the hands of her father and hus—that fucker.” His chest rises and falls quickly.

“You didn’t see any of the memories that could be locked away in the Memoria stone?” Caspian asks in a casual tone, like that news doesn’t affect him. But he can’t fool me so easily. I see the way his water is flowing through his fingers and around his wrist. His worst fear just came true.

“No, I don’t think I did. But I think it showed me what happened the night her powers burst out of her,” he says with barely contained anger.

“I don’t think we should discuss this without Willow here. She doesn’t like her personal business being discussed without her permission,” Draken says, his voice laced with anger but also a tinge of sadness. It looks like he knows more or has more to say but thinks differently.

“Do you know something, Draken?” I ask him, wanting to see if he’ll tell the truth without me looking for myself.

“Yes, but not about the night her powers came out. A different night and she asked me not to tell you all,” he answers immediately.

“This is important, Draken. I understand you feel like we’re adding another secret to the list, but this needs to be discussed without her for right now,” Corentin speaks softly, knowing this is bothering him, and sometimes you have to proceed with caution when it comes to Draken’s mood. Defeated, he nods and sits on the couch.

“The visions were a series of her from a child until that night. Her father beating her, locking her in a closet, tying her up outside, and leaving her there overnight. Him forging her signature on a marriage certificate, then him throwing her down in a white dress at the feet of the man he sold her to.

“Then that man holding her down, blood soaking her white dress as he forced himself on her. She fought him hard, so fucking hard. She never gave up. When she scratched his face hard enough to draw blood, he knocked her out and had his way with her until he finished.” Corentin stops speaking as his body begins emitting a light glow and he throws another shot back, shaking his head.

My massive body is shaking like a fucking leaf. I lose myself for a moment, the floor beneath our feet shakes violently with the strength of my element, going still again once I rein it in. I’ll kill him. I’ll find him and tie him up with vines and carve pieces of his body out.

Looking at the other two, they aren’t faring any better. Caspian’s hands are swirling orbs of water, his chest rising and falling in deep inhales and exhales, while his eyes turn nearly pitch-black, matching the darkness of the shadows surrounding him.

Draken’s leaving scorch marks in the carpet where he’s pacing, and his eyes are shifting, snarls falling from his lips as he wrestles with his beast for control. Fuck, the rest of this story is going to send one, if not all of us, over the edge.

“Then the vision changes again. She’s being held down on a desk, her ankles tied down and her arms stretched above her head by two men. The man who she was sold to was holding her hair in a death grip, keeping her head held in place. More men were holding her thighs apart as another came to stand between her legs. Before he could force himself inside of her, she let out a blood-curdling scream and the room around her exploded. I’m assuming that was the air blast Gaster felt.” Corentin finishes telling us, slumping down in a chair, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes.

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