Page 88 of Hidden Sacrifice
“I think you’ll want to explain that a little more, mate,” Jace cautioned.
“I don’t know when or how, but one day, I die. There was a prophecy. With the mate bond, when I go, it will result in the eventual death of everyone else,” Jax admitted, looking at Jace with remorse.
“So, you die one day? That’s the big deal?” Jace asked; his tone was gentle.
“It wasn’t a big deal until I got a mate. Now, my death means the death of you all,” Jax said a bit louder this time. As if he could force his voice into inflection.
“What was your experience like in the veil?” I asked, looking at Jace. I didn’t want us to get too carried away with discussing Jax dying. I didn’t think I could handle much more thoughts of that right now.
“I met a mouse that showed me a hole. I went inside, then everything changed,” Jace said as I watched his eyes relive the memories. “I was back in mid-realm. I tried to make it to my throne before my father graced the court with his appearance. My mother was still alive, and my father wasn’t sick anymore. I hadn’t met you,” Jace said as his eyes slid to me.
“Like you were inside a memory?” I asked, knowing that his mother meant a lot to him. Her death caused his real-life mission until the moment he met me.
“It was more like an alternate universe. It was here and now, just with her and not with you,” he said with a sad smile. “My mother wanted me to stay there with her. I think my test was vampire or demon: Morrigan or my mother. And even without my memories of Mor, I felt a constant tug. There was something vital missing in that life.”
“You chose me over having your mother?” I asked as I thought back to our conversations.
“I chose to open the door to your room in the castle rather than going with my mother. Then, I was standing next to you in the next place with all my memories back.”
“Jax?” I said, giving Jace a firm nod. We didn’t need to discuss the emotions and implications he revealed.
A grunt sounded from Jax. His hand rubbed against his neck, something I noticed him do when he wasn’t comfortable.
“You don’t have to if you’re not ready yet,” I suggested. Now that I heard from Jace, I realized that each test was individualized to reveal a more profound hidden truth about that person. It poked at a weakness, and I knew how Jax felt about weaknesses.
“They’re important; it seems,” Jax sighed, placing his hands down on the bed. “I was a child again. Like Jace, I didn’t have any of my recent memories. I was lying on my back on top of my bed. The room I was kept in until I mastered my powers. But I wasn’t alone.”
I watched as Jax swallowed, his gaze shifting toward Jace.
“There was another demon child with me. His hair was dark just like mine.”
Jax’s gaze shifted as he took in Jace’s hair. The image of Jace as a demon child flickered into my mind as Jax pushed the idea over with whatever power he could gather.
“We were born twins in that reality?” Jace asked as his forehead wrinkled.
“We still shared a soul the same as now. But we didn’t share the pain,” Jax said. The look on his face was broken.
The veil had tortured us all.
“My father did to us the same as he did to me when I was a child. My father had us both restrained to the bed, and he cut into Jace first. Muttering the same insane shit he used to say to me.”
I watched as Jax’s hands balled into fists. Anger coursed from him, and I peeled back a tiny portion of my shield to get a real taste of it. It was white-hot rage mixed in with paralyzing fear, leaving my entire body rigid other than my hands which balled into fists. I sealed up the space in my shield, wrapping myself with comfort.
“How did you escape?” Jace whispered.
“I didn’t,” Jax said with a pained smile as he turned his head towards Jace. “I helped you escape. Or whatever it was pretending to be you in the illusion. I let father catch me; it was the only way to get you away from what he did. I knew I could take it, like some part of me knew I had withstood it alone in a different life.”
“It wasn’t me in there, though. It was a test for you. You could have tripped me and escaped on your own,” Jace said. His face suggested he wasn’t sure why Jax would have given up everything to save him.
“No one else should have to endure that,” Jax said as his finger came up to swipe across the scar on his neck.
“Did it let you go when he escaped?” I asked the room, heavy with emotion.
“No,” Jax sighed, looking down. “I moved on after I was butchered. I passed out, then awoke with Wren.”
I felt a strange tickling sensation in my chest, almost an insistent hum. It rattled deep inside my bones, urging me to get to my feet.
“Fuck,” Jax groaned as his hand came up to his chest.
