Page 5 of Moonlight Bonds (The Nexus #4)

I only stop because it’s my go-to when speaking about my past. Finn links his hand with mine. “It’s me. You’re only talking to me. I want to know all of your past.”

“My whole life has been secreting and lies… Gods, I don’t even know how to tell you everything.

It’s odd to talk about everything.” I clear my throat.

“There were a lot of times when we didn’t have food, when we were starving for days and sleeping on dodgy floors of abandoned buildings.

They told me it wasn’t safe going outside, and I wanted to believe them, but sometimes I think and wonder, if we had all that money…

couldn’t they pay for us to disappear safely?

To guarantee at least we had food. There’s a lot of questions I would love to ask my parents, but they’re gone, and I’m starting to realise that I loved them too much.

Maybe love clouded my judgment of their behaviour—especially when I now know they gave my twin sister away to the Vian like she was nothing, gave her to them to be turned into a monster, yet hid me, and I was a monster too. It doesn’t make much sense, does it?”

“No, talk about favouritism,” Finnegan mutters. “But she is your twin sister, Gwenieve. Your family. Do you want to try to speak to her? Without the Vian king around?”

“After what she did, she’s nothing but dead to me,” I snap, but it’s too quick, and Finnegan knows it. He sees right through me but, to my relief, he doesn’t push me on the subject of Georgina.

Finnegan’s hand is tight in mine as we come to a clearing.

Every tree here is the same, oak and covered in shadows except for one.

Moonlight pours down onto a single silver tree in a bright clearing.

Despite how beautiful it is, my skin feels like spiders are crawling all over it.

Finnegan trusts me, and it’s never clearer as we walk straight up to the tree.

I lift my hand and let my Nexus crawl out, turning my nails black and long.

I run my nails roughly down the tree, scratching the bark, and it bleeds red.

As soon as the blood starts dripping down the silver oak, a portal rips out the centre of it, the whole tree creaking as it bends apart, revealing an arch of shimmering magic, showing something more than the forest on the other side.

“We need to watch our backs,” I warn Finnegan.

There will be Vian here, and worse monsters than them lurking about.

News of what happened to Starlight City will be everywhere by now, and we are walking targets.

I imagine the Vian king has a hefty price on me and my safe delivery to him.

Money turns even the pure-hearted dark. I pull up the hood of my sweatshirt, and Finn does the same, concealing our faces the best we can. “Let’s get what we need and go.”

For a minute, all I do is remember my trip with Alek to the black market.

I remember us fighting. I remember him pinning me against a tree.

I remember his tongue. Heat flushes my cheeks.

When I blink, Finnegan is staring at me, eyes darkening in a delicious way that makes me lose focus all over again.

“You can tell me what you were thinking about when we’re alone in the car later. ”

I wink at him before I nudge him forward through the portal with me.

The warmth of the market hits me first, from the crackling fire baskets that line the middle of the market.

Tents and stalls sit on either side, vendors being visited by hundreds of cloaked customers.

I don’t stare at anyone too long as we slip into the crowds, and I lead Finn to the lockers, rows of them that line an old tent.

It’s dark, but I find the locker easily, the number twenty on the outside in black ink.

I rest my hand on the metal, and it glows black before clicking open. “They are all linked to my bloodline.”

Finnegan hums as I open the bag, checking the hundreds of thousands in different currencies inside before taking a bunch and handing it to Finnegan.

I zip it back up and put it on, closing the now empty locker.

“One day I’ll empty all of them, and then they are really gone.

My parents, I mean. They won’t still be looking after me anymore. ”

“But you will never be alone, Sun.” He kisses the side of my head.

I close my eyes for a moment before taking his hand and going back to the main part of the market together.

We visit a few of the tents, stocking up on weapons.

Finn looks like he’s shopping for his birthday present at nearly every store we go to, his questions never ending, and he buys a shit ton of weapons, holders for them and a few poisons.

Eventually we get to the back, to the old tent that’s withered and covered in red leather and so much smaller than the other tents.

The door’s slightly open, and I step in, Finn coming in behind me.

There she is—the witch I remember from my childhood.

Eternally beautiful is the only phrase I can ever think to describe her.

Her smooth pale skin is the perfect olive colour, and there isn’t a scar, a blemish or anything to be seen.

Her dark black hair hangs over her shoulders in delicate soft waves that no curling iron would ever have gotten as perfect as this.

She has thick eyelashes, and there is no need for makeup when she naturally looks perfect.

A red dress hangs off her curves as she lounges on a throne-like chair in front of a wooden desk. The tent is bare other than this.

She glances at us both before resting her eyes on me.

A challenge lies in her eyes, and I don’t lower my gaze.

Her eyes are the only part of her that’s not beautiful.

Her eyes are nothing but endless pits—almost black.

She blinks once. “Even as a child, you commanded a room, Gwenieve. Oh, how your mother was intimidated by you. Did she ever tell you how she feared you so? Fear can often be the only feeling in the world that overrides love.”

“Fear only overrides the weak,” Finnegan answers her question as my heart races. I don’t look away from the witch first, even though I can tell she wants me to.

Time ticks on, and finally, she looks away as a low growl echoes from my Nexus.

She just laughs. “Come in. I’ve been expecting you for a long time, Gwenieve, and one of the star-crossed mates.

It seems you found each other in this lifetime.

” What the fuck does that mean? Finnegan and I glance at each other.

“Do you Nexus beings say one for good luck, two for a favour, and three for a wish? That’s what the old Gods used to say when they flipped a coin.

Should I flip a coin on our meeting and see if I should help you? ”

“No.” I drop the massive bag of cash that I pulled out of the locker. “Money talks better than riddles. This will pay for what we want and more.”

She opens the bag before clicking her fingers, and it disappears. She makes two chairs appear out of nowhere, and we sit in them. The room seems warmer somehow. “What do you want?”

“I need to hide. From the Vian and from my Vian mates. I want a potion strong enough to hide just for a short while—a month,” I ask.

“You’re hiding from your mates, yet one of them stands beside you?” She hums. “Others are looking. Why do you want to hide from them? Mates are born to?—”

“Not all of mine.” I stop her. Her eyes flash with annoyance. “They let someone hurt me. They betrayed and lied to me.”

She clicks her fingers, and a small vial appears on the table. “Very well… You wish to know your future, as do many, but I cannot be paid in money for such a wish. This time, I’ll allow it for a deal.”

“What deal?” I snarl.

She smiles, revealing black teeth. “When the war is done, you will come and release me from this prison. I was bound to this market a very long time ago by someone your Nexus knows well. I want to be free, and you can free me.”

Finn tenses, but I consider her. We need information, and our lives depend on it.

Setting her free might be a very bad idea, but it feels like a problem for the future.

I look at Finnegan, and he nods. My choice.

“Fine. You have a deal, but only if you answer all of my questions and you hide nothing. You do not lie. If you break any of these, magic will know and there will be a cost.”

Her laugh is like a child’s. “So, we are bound, Nexus.” She looks at Finnegan. “We could make a deal… Creatures like you are almost as rare as I. You’ve only touched your power. Why do you hold yourself back?”

Finnegan is still as I look between them. “I am commanded by one, and she has not needed it…yet.”

“Time will change that,” the witch answers.

“Do not focus on my mate. I don’t like to share, especially not with a witch,” I snarl at her. “He is mine.”

She shrugs a slender shoulder. “I don’t dabble with Nexus beings…they are the reason I’m trapped here. Too much trouble.”

My Nexus relaxes an inch, and Finnegan touches my hand, linking our fingers.

“Why are you the only one left?” Finnegan questions. “My knowledge of witches is low, and I’m curious.”

“And yet your mate is the only one left too. Why not ask her Nexus why she is all that remains to fight the darkness? Why they hunt her?” I swear the room freezes as my Nexus watches her.

She looks at me, at my one grey eye, where my Nexus never hides.

“Should I call you Gwenieve, or should I call you the Morrigan? What do you prefer in your reborn state? Should I bow as many did before?”

“Are you saying she is the Morrigan reborn?” Finnegan demands.

“I am and we prefer Gwenieve. I have no memories of before, only that I was once called a Goddess or a witch to some. Darkness to others,” I answer.

My Nexus told me as much on that cliff. Finnegan only stares at me, and I can tell he is pissed I didn’t mention it.

I promised my Nexus that it would be for us alone, and I will not betray her, not even for my mates.

She is the other half to my soul and sent to me for a reason.

“I have no intention of making anyone bow. I want peace.”

“Oh, you are na?ve.” She laughs. “Only the Morrigan could have killed half a city and threatened the entire world yet still want peace. They would have drained your body of every inch of life, and who says they haven’t done this before? The king has been alive for a long time. Even I remember him.”

My Nexus is silent, and I wonder if she remembers that. Now is not the time to ask. “How long would you say he’s been alive?”

She grins. “Perhaps you should ask one of your mates as they have served at his side for long enough to know.”

I straighten my spine. “The prophecy, anything of my future. You know what I want, and I want to know how I can do it without dying in this lifetime. I want to kill the Vian king to get revenge for what happened.”

“Yes, I see that, but your fate is not to kill the king.” She waves a hand.

“He is readying for war, and he has an army. Your power was only really a warning, an easy way to win, but he will not stop until the world is ruled by Vian, and that means the Nexus, the humans and all of us are slaves or dead. He’s been growing an army of thousands for years.

They have at least five hundred thousand, and this world will be destroyed.

From what I can see, we are on a stone, balancing on the edge of a cliff.

One stumble either way will make a difference in which way the stone lands and what world will be left.

An army like that would take over the world in minutes—an army that’s been feeding on Nexus powers for years. ”

My mouth dries. “How do we stop him?”

“Only a betrayal will end him. But, like I said, that is not for you. If only you’d come here with the other.” She sighs.

“The other who?” I demand.

She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes at me. “You need power to protect your people. You need to go to Morriganis City.”

Where my aunt lives. I can’t see her or the people of Morriganis being welcoming to me right now. “Why?”

“I will not give you all the answers. I see that telling you too much will skew the future. But you need an army—they’re the biggest city left for the Nexus.” She shrugs. “Maybe the answers you seek there are all you need to win this war. Then the world will bow, dear Goddess, to you.”

I don’t want a world bowing to me.

Finnegan shakes his head. “How could they possibly have five hundred thousand that they were hiding? Where? For years, our reports were that we’ve been running them into the ground.”

“Well, they were not telling you the truth.” She looks at me.

“But I am. For my own release, I swear this to you, Goddess. You need the power to save your people, and you know what you must do. A hard, delicate choice, but it must be done. Maybe you should ask me a story of the past. There’s little I can tell you about the future anymore. ”

“What story of the past?” I ask, gritting my teeth. I feel like she’s playing games with me now.

“I am aware you know the old legends of the five Gods that walked the earth, and what they were said to be, yes?” I nod to answer her. “But the Mortal God had a twin. There were six born, not five. The Morrigan was his twin, but she was cast out, forgotten by history, unwanted almost.”

It doesn’t surprise me that the Nexus lessons weren’t honest. “Why?”

“Many do not know. I’m sure there are old records that would tell us exactly why.

But the Morrigan went to the Vian—some say she even created them—and became a Goddess to them.

She helped them, and in the end, the Mortal God killed her.

” She watches me closely. “Be careful fate doesn’t repeat itself.

Gods are walking this world again, and they wish for you to be gone.

” She stands. “They’re not done with this world or the games they like to play.

You entered one… Do you think they just gave up on you?

” She looks at the door. “It’s time for you to leave. ”

I pick up the potion and drink half of it, and Finnegan drinks the rest. When I look back, the witch is gone.

Finnegan touches my chin. “You’ve always been a Goddess to me…but tell me about the Morrigan?”

I open my mouth to tell him some of it when I feel a tug in my chest, in my very soul. One of my mates is here.

I don’t know what to expect, but I rush outside with Finnegan behind me. Alek? Onyx? Severi? Did one of them finally find us? The smile drops from my face when I see Rhodes standing outside the tent.