Page 88 of Castor
I saw red as I hit him. Arms came around my middle and dragged me off Bellamy.
“Stop!” Raiden growled in my ear. “I know you’re angry, but it’s not Bell’s fault.”
“Like hell it isn’t!” I thrashed around, trying to break his hold. “He’s been fucking Elon for weeks. He should’ve noticed the guy was bad news.”
“You know that’s not fair. Elon tricked us all, Bell included.”
“Then what about Phoenix? If he would’ve killed that demon bastard, Kyo would’ve never gotten hurt. Let go of me, Ray, or I swear to fucking god I’ll kick your ass too.”
“Enough!” Alastair stepped in front of me.
My body responded to his command, and I stopped fighting Raiden’s hold.
Bellamy stood up from where I’d knocked him to the sand. With a busted lip and swollen eye, he didn’t look so pretty anymore. He would heal quickly though.
“Now is not the time for fighting,” Naida said, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her calm tone only pricked at my nerves even more. “The dead need to be put to rest.”
Baxter knelt beside Kian’s body and bowed his head. Was he saying a prayer? Afterward, he gathered the fallen warrior and carried him over to the grass. When I’d first met Baxter, I had pegged him for an arrogant prick, but there was definitely a gentler side to him.
Raiden, after making sure I wasn’t going to attack Bellamy again, helped gather the bodies. His gaze swept among them, and a pang of dread twisted in my gut, an echo of his own feelings.
He glanced at me. “I lost track of Titan during the battle.”
He’d been keeping an eye on him? I knew there had been mutual interest between them. A lot of good it did him now. The odds of finding Titan alive were slim to none. An hour into the cleanup and we still hadn’t located him.
Sirena hadn’t lost nearly as many warriors as I had initially thought. Out of the eight hundred in her clan, the body count looked to be around two hundred. Many were injured though. Over half of the remaining warriors needed time to heal their wounds before being able to fight again.
“I can’t believe Tatsuya showed up,” Sirena said as we took a short break a while later. She stared at the sea. “If not for him, I have no doubt we would’ve perished on this beach. He didn’t stick around long enough for me to thank him.”
“He didn’t come here for us.” I swept my gaze up to the sky. The barrier around the island had slowly reformed itself, but it would need more enchantments to fully mend from the damage caused. If only my heart could mend so easily.
“I’m sorry about your dragon.” She looked at me.
Sadness swirled in my chest. “He’s not mine. Not anymore.”
***
It was hard sleeping in the same bed I’d slept in with Kyo.
After a long, taxing day, we’d returned to the cottage, and I’d taken a shower so hot it was a miracle my skin hadn’t melted off. Yet, I still felt that stickiness of blood no matter how hard I scrubbed. When I’d fallen into bed late that night, Kyo’s scent lingered on the sheets.
I grabbed his pillow and buried my face in it, a lump in my throat.
Was he alive? He had to be. Even though we hadn’t bonded our life forces together, we were still connected. I would feel it if that connection broke. Right?
The next morning, we woke much like the previous one. Much was different though, of course. It wasn’t the same at all. We grabbed our bags and met downstairs. There was no breakfast like yesterday morning. No laughter or Titan blushing as Raiden gorged himself on food. The light-hearted atmosphere from that shared breakfast seemed like a lifetime ago.
Sirena and her clan mourned the death of their sisters. She hadn’t returned to her cottage last night, instead staying with her warriors.
Baxter and Naida grieved over Kian and struggled to process Elon’s betrayal. They nodded to us as we gathered beside the living room where they sat, and then they continued talking amongst themselves. They were discussing the return back to their island.
“Where’s Raiden?” Bellamy asked. He had healed from the beating I’d given him yesterday, but he was careful not to meet my eye. Probably worried I’d go off on him again.
A part of me knew I should feel bad for lashing out at him, but I was still too pissed.
Alastair glanced toward the staircase. “He’s with Titan.”
The Nephilim had been found at the bottom of a pile of dead bodies, barely clinging to life. He’d been stabbed in the gut, and his left arm had been torn off. Raiden had been the one to find him. I didn’t think he’d left his side since.
